Manga
Chobits began as a manga written and illustrated by Clamp, a collective of four Japanese manga artists. It appeared as a serial in the seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from the 43rd issue for 2000 to the 48th issue for 2002.[5] Kodansha compiled the eighty-eight chapters into eight bound volumes and published them from February 14, 2001, to November 29, 2002.[6][7] In 2002, Tokyopop licensed Chobits for an English-language translation in North America and marketed it as part of its new unflipped manga line, which reads from right-to-left.[8] Previously, translated manga was typically flipped from its original reading order to a left-to-right one to better suit Western readers.[8] Tokyopop published the series from April 23, 2002, to October 7, 2003,[9][10] and its translation was distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.[11] Tokyopop's license concluded in 2009.[12] At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, Dark Horse Manga announced an omnibus edition of the series in celebration of Clamp's 10th anniversary.[13] In 2010, it published the two volumes on March 24, and September 29, respectively.[14][15]
After Dark Horse Comics' license expired, Kodansha USA Publishing announced its publication in 2019 under the Kodansha Classics line.[16][17] Chobits 20th Anniversary Edition was announced in 2020.[18]
Chobits is also published in Hong Kong in Traditional Chinese by Jonesky, in Singapore in Simplified Chinese by Chuang Yi, in South Korea by Daiwon C.I., in France by Pika Édition, in Spain by Norma Editorial, in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in Italy by Star Comics (which serialized it in Express), in Germany by Egmont Manga & Anime (which serialized it in Manga Power), in Poland by Japonica Polonica Fantastica, in Brazil by JBC, and in Sweden by Carlsen Verlag.
An artbook based on the series, titled Your Eyes Only, was published by Kodansha; it was licensed in North America by Tokyopop.[19] In addition, A City with No People, the fictional picture book written in the series by Chitose Hibiya, was released in Japan as a picture book;[20]
Anime
An animated adaptation of Chobits was produced by Madhouse, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Pioneer LDC and Movic and directed by Morio Asaka, with Hisashi Abe designing the characters and Keitarō Takanami composing the music.[21] The series was broadcast in 26 episodes from 2 April 2002 to 24 September 2002 on TBS. It was later released on 8 DVDs.[22] The original episodes 9 and 18 are "recap" episodes, summarizing previous events. These episodes were re-numbered for the DVD release as episodes 8.5 and 16.5, respectively, and removed from their original sequence by being published together on the final DVD. As a result, the series is 24 episodes long on DVD. In addition, there are two DVD-only OVAs: a 27th episode recapping the series (numbered episode 24.5) and a 6-minute special, "Chobits: Plum and Kotoko Deliver". The opening theme is "Let Me Be With You" by Round Table featuring Nino. The ending themes are "Raison d'être" (Reason to Be) by Rie Tanaka (episodes 1–13), "Ningyo-hime" (Mermaid Princess) by Rie Tanaka (episodes 14–25), and "Katakoto no Koi" (Awkward Love) by Rie Tanaka and Tomokazu Sugita (episode 26). The ending theme for the OVA is "Book End Bossa" by Round Table featuring Nino.
Chobits was licensed in North America by
Soundtracks
Two soundtracks from the anime were released by Pioneer. Chobits Original Soundtrack 001 was released 1 July 2003 and Chobits Original Soundtrack 002 was released 7 October 2003. Three singles were released, the opening theme "Let Me Be with You" by Round Table featuring Nino, and two ending themes by Rie Tanaka, "Raison d'être" and "Ningyo Hime". In addition, a character song album, Chobits Character Song Collection, was released on 17 February 2004.
One piece of music in the anime nicknamed "Dark Chi's Theme" by fans (because it appears in "Freya mode") appears on the Best of Chobits soundtrack. Original name of the track is "Fuuma (Dialogue Mix)" and "Kamui (Dialogue Mix)", which are available on their respective singles "Fuuma" Single and "Kamui" Single from the X soundtrack.
Video games
In 2002 Marvelous Entertainment released in Japan only a Chobits game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance called Chobits: Atashi Dake no Hito. The game was available bundled with a clear blue Game Boy Advance with a decal of Chi above the A+B buttons and a Chobits logo above the D-pad.[29]
In 2003 Broccoli released a Sony PlayStation 2 game titled Chobits: Chii Dake no Hito, a Bishōjo visual novel. Like the Game Boy Advance game, this too was released only in Japan.
Another PC-version game was also released in 2002, using Macromedia and QuickTime as the background support. This game is called Communication Game, in which the player can "talk" with Chi and teach her to speak. It also contained some small games inside such as a keyboard typing game.
