9. Chi buys

A new variation on the theme of consumption and money, this episode sees Chi involved in a transaction or purchase that, as is often the case in the series, goes beyond its apparent narrative function to reveal something deeper about her personality or her relationship with Hideki. The motif of buying, recurrent throughout Chobits, regularly allows the series to address the question of desire in a Persocom: can she want something for herself, beyond what is useful to her or what would please her owner? This episode explores that ambiguity with the series' usual lightness, without ever dodging its more melancholy dimension: the very act of raising the question of personal desire in Chi mirrors her broader quest for an identity of her own. Hideki, a fond but sometimes overwhelmed witness to these situations, continues to get to know the person he houses, each new episode adding another piece to the puzzle of her personality. The series maintains here its characteristic balance between social comedy about everyday Tokyo life and a patient exploration of the themes that structure the whole work, never sacrificing one for the other.