I find Chobits a bit disturbing. While others may be saying "Awww, but it's a guy and his robot! What a cute robot!", I do not feel comfortable with a child coded character being such a blatant sex object. In other anime, characters with young appearances and young ages have been seen as sex objects. However, these characters are usually in adult or at least teenage roles. They are mecha pilots, superheroes, or just normal teens. I can deal with a person with the mentality of a 11th grader being thought of sexually, because people at that age have an idea of their own sexuality, even if it's not a very good one.

But Chii is very child like. She does not understand the implications of her actions (being a machine, she takes things very literally ) and often imitates others like a small child. The biggest offender in the sexualization of Chii is her ill fated attempt to get a job.

She starts work at a peep show, totally unaware of the implications of what she is doing. It's the equivalent of a mentally retarded person being a sex worker. They may 'decide' to do it, but they don't have the capacity to consent. This scene would have been more comfortable if I could be assured that most people would get what I assume is the intended meaning-whoa, that's creepy. However, for everyone who has that reaction, there is probably some guy polishing the meat, fantasizing about the future of robotic sex toys.

I wonder if that is the intended effect. Are we supposed to philophisize about loving an object instead of a human being or are we supposed to get out our credit cards and buy some Chii body pillows? (note towards the bottom)I hope it's the former, but I worry that too many may be doing the latter.