In other news, I needed something new to run while painting/playing WoW, and while wandering on YouTube I found Chobits. In usual Yoshi-ness I am nearly 10 years late in picking up on this (though I coulda sworn Chobits was MUCH older, I didn’t know it was an ’02 thing). I read the first manga volume back when I sorted for the library, so I’m familiar with the basic concept. I guess in hindsight this is why I got some lulz when others heard about the avatar versions of Blastoise, Dinah and Iggy. :P
Short version: country bumpkin-dood Hideki goes to prep school (I want to say equivalent of community college but it’s more like “night school to take the GED”) and finds a girl-sized PC in the garbage on his way home. Hilarity, double-entendres and considerations of man’s relationship with tech ensue. Did I mention Hideki is a massive horndog (and drawn to always look skeevy, with those tiny eyes and messy hair) and knows nothing about computers beyond “they can go online and give me porn?”
Also? For the dub side of things, lots and LOTS of Crispin Freeman (VA for Hideki) yelling, flailing and making a scene and everyone facepalms from second-hand embarassment XD Secondarily, you get lots and lots of Sandy Fox (Sumomo), which means my cat is all up on my desk or my bed and looking for the source of the cat-like noises coming from my speakers.
*ahem*
If you’ve ever watched any part of Saber Marionette, the concept of a persocom (“personal computer”) should be familiar, except in this world there are both male and female variants. (They are predominantly female, but you do see the occasional dude walking around in the crowds) Chobits is obviously less combat-oriented and more cute/slice-of-life. If you’re a tech-head, you might find all the Internet vocab being flung about to be a bit… uh, simplistic and “overdoing it” but it’s worth bearing with it for the punchline that is usually Hideki flipping out over some nonsensical detail. :P
You can watch the first four episodes dubbed (or all of it, subbed) on FUNimation’s YouTube channel. If you want to continue with the dub after the fourth episode, Netflix currently has it all available for streaming. :D