In addition, it has spawned two video games as well as various merchandise such as model figures, collectible 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.

The series centers on the life of Hideki Motosuwa, a held-back student attempting to qualify for university by studying at Seki prep school in Tokyo.

Hideki assumes that there must be something wrong with her, and so the following morning he has his neighbor Hiromu Shinbo analyze her with his mobile persocom Sumomo.

A major part of the plot involves Hideki attempting to teach Chi words, concepts, and appropriate behaviours, in between his crammed schedule of school and work.

[3] The idea for Chobits originated from the group's experiences with computers, which would present indecipherable error messages when experiencing difficulties, to which they added a "sexier spin" to the concept.

[5] The title of the manga has its origins in "Chobi", the name of a cat at the place of Nekoi's former employment, which the group made into "Chobits", as the characters Elda and Freya were twins.

[4] The artwork was done in ballpoint pen to evoke the sense of "rough" lines,[4] and colored pages were done in acrylic gouache.

[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.

[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.

[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 [de]), 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] 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.

This release is redistributed in the United Kingdom (on 6 DVDs instead of 7, placing the recap episodes and special as extras on disk 6) by MVM Films,[24] and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.

[29] In 2003 Broccoli released a Sony PlayStation 2 game titled Chobits: Chii Dake no Hito, a Bishōjo visual novel.

[32] Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies stated that the OVA's main strength is "its questioning of how we use technology, and whether it can be a substitute, rather than a support, for real life".