Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Special Guest Edition: Chobits
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neocloud9
 Posts: 1178 Location: Atlanta, GA |
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Wow, this was a fascinating read! It totally makes sense when you think about this series as a precursor to current attitudes regarding moe... Great stuff, I look forward to reading more!
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Yorozuya
Posts: 332 |
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I read this series when I was 12/13 and I'll admit that I found some romance behind all the creepiness. Re-reading it now, the creepiness tends to pervade.
Still, your take on the subject was very interesting and it seems like you spent a long time trying to be fair to the subject. |
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lebrel
Posts: 374 |
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Thanks for addressing this. That essay has ben bugging me for years. |
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Losstarot
 Posts: 28 |
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Good article!
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staab99
 Posts: 123 |
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Very good article!
Chobits was one of the better Clamp titles imo, I was never a big fan of their other work besides CCS, but Chobits was a very cute little manga that dealt with a lot of interesting themes. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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On that specific point, I have to disagree. Why can't it be an ideal, platonic love? And the answer for that is because platonic love is about loving someone's mind and soul and Chi has neither. Not to mention that Hideaki is a skittish virgin. The article brings up the idea that boys can be insecure about sex and Hideaki fits the bill. When his coworker hears his thoughtlessly uttered-aloud comment on her breasts, she doesn't get angry, she tells him her cup size! Despite this very positive reaction, he's terrified. It's played for laughs, but he is still reacting to flirting with shock and fear. It's just not all about sex is what I'm saying. |
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Snomaster1
 SubscriberPosts: 2929 |
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I'll be honest here. I've never read "Chobits" so I can't comment on it. But,I'd love to see CLAMP have a manga that's set in the United States. For a long time now,I've read that they're "the most popular manga artists in America,"or so the backs of their books would say. So,I'd love to see them do a manga that's set in the U.S. I hope it happens.
[Mod Edit: That's really not relevant to this article though. Try to keep things on-topic, particularly since this is not the first time you've posted this in a thread where it was questionably relevant. - Keonyn] |
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irishninja
 Posts: 344 Location: Seattle-ish |
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Just chiming in to add to the praise for the article. Very well-reasoned look at a somewhat creepy but compelling manga. Thanks!
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Wiesteria
Posts: 141 |
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Chobits is the embodiment of CLAMP love. The running theme in most of their manga is the stress on emotional bonds over physical ones. That's why their romances often run along taboo/creepy lines: they try any moment they can to convey that true love transcends age, species, genders--all wordly restrictions. The ending of Chobits delivers this message completely. Hideki will never spoiler[ be able to have sex with Chii], but that is not as important to him as staying with her. The series itself has a lot of fan service, but in contrast to all the nudity, the romance is as pure as in Cardcaptor Sakura.
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bemused Bohemian
Posts: 404 Location: central Mizzou (Moral Oralville) |
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I want to compliment you on this column. It was a great insightful read. I've always been fascinated with Chobits as anime and the manga form for many of the reasons you cited and what previous posters have suggested over the years.
Normally I read your manga explanations in bits of time: glossing over the article in general then returning every other day when time and/or opportunity permit. But this time it was a straight, engrossing read and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Kudos to you, sir, for an excellent cerebral experience. |
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silver_deeds
 Posts: 61 |
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This was a great article to read.
A relationship I found interesting that wasn't mentioned is with the "Parents" and Chii/Freya. I don't remember their names, though. spoiler[Freya decides her "father" is the someone just for her, but he turns her down saying he loves his wife. Hence putting Chii out in the trash so it wouldn't happen again, but the landlord who is the "monther" still mothers over Chii when she can.] The fact that they want their persocom creations to be happy (especially since they were created to be stand-in children) also follows the questions brought up in the article. However, they are the ones who took sex off the table to begin with.
Is it for this reason that they placed the "reset" switch where it is? In this case it's not sexual at all but the love parents have for their children. How far did they think of Chii as their child and did it go too far? Were they being too overly-protective or did they realize Fronzel's statement and accepted the level of happiness that could be reached with Chii's programing? Where do they stand on the "is it ok to love a machine" scale. I'm probably just thinking about this too hard. |
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Anymouse
 Posts: 685 |
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I think part of the reason why a plastic girlfriend could be so appealing is because modern human relationships are already incredibly artificial. |
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Rolando_jose
 Posts: 240 Location: Ahhhh it's vacation time again! |
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Is it me or did CLAMP forgot about the other forms of sexual intercourse (didn't know if it can be written here.)
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Hash! There's a manga for younger teenagers!
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2690 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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You do know that Jason didn't write this one, right? It was Shaennon Garrity, who has done other House of 1000 Manga pieces. That's whay it's called a "Special Guest Edition", because Jason didn't write it. But, yes, Shaennon did do an excellent job here. |
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