Chobits

Chobits (Japanese: ちょびっツ, Hepburn: Chobittsu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the Japanese manga collective Clamp. It was published by Kodansha in Weekly Young Magazine from the 43rd issue for 2000 to the 48th issue for 2002 and collected in eight bound volumes. Chobits was adapted as a 26-episode-long anime television series broadcast on TBS from April to September 2002. In addition, it has spawned two video games as well as various merchandise such as figurines, collectable cards, calendars, and artbooks. The series tells the story of Hideki Motosuwa, a college student who finds an abandoned persocom (パソコン, PasoKon), or personal computer (パーソナルコンピュータ pāsonaru konpyūta) with an anthro-human form, which he names "Chi" after the only word it initially can speak. As the series progresses, they explore the mysteries of Chi's origin together and questions about the relationship between human beings and computers. The manga is set in the same universe as Angelic Layer, taking place a few years after the events of that story, and like Angelic Layer, it explores the relationship between humans and electronic devices shaped like human beings. Chobits branches off as a crossover into many other stories in different ways, such as Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, xxxHolic and Kobato. In North America, the manga was licensed for an English-language release by Tokyopop in 2002 and was re-released by Dark Horse Comics in 2009 and later, Kodansha Comics in 2020. The anime series was licensed by Geneon in 2002 and re-licensed by Funimation in 2010.