IMHO... Chobits, Mahoromatic? and HandMaidMay are all shounen. Despite the interesting plot developments, characterisation, and philosophising: it just seems to me that they're all done in a style that's "primarily aimed at" males. --AlexChurchill
I would not say Chobits is done in a style aimed at males. It might be that you are considering it as such because you enjoy it and you're a guy. - SunKitten
Meep! I do enjoy Chobits, and I do consider it shounen, but the reasons for each are pretty separate. I'd call it shounen because of the SociallyIneptMaleMainCharacter, the repeated mention of internet porn sites, the frequent focus on female underwear from a male-fantasy perspective, etc. I'd say I like it because it's got a RobotGirl?, it's highly funny, there's suggestions of romance, and there are interesting hints (from what I've seen - 6 eps) of depth of plot :) --AlexChurchill
So you label it shounen despite the plot and characters and I label it shoujo despite the fanservice, right? :)
It might be interesting to know that I am not bothered by the fanservice in Chobits - it is not gratuitous enough to annoy me and I tend not to notice it - so from my point of view it is aimed at both genders. It's also by CLAMP, who tend to shoujo (or used to). -- SunKitten
Just to say, having a plot does not necessarily denote Shoujo. Something like SailorMoon is just as FightOfTheWeek as any Shounen series (yes, I know it has plot in the long run) and, at the other end of the scale, I believe that FistOfTheNorthStar is supposed to have quite a strong story. It also has more blood and gore and interesting ways of killing people than I would care to watch but apparently it does have a story. -- Kazuhiko
The best explanation I ever received on the difference between shounen and shoujo is that it's a matter of where the show's focus lies: is more time spent on the disembowling blasts of ki, or on the cherry blossoms gently wafting by afterwards? --Nataku
FlameRider writes: It's just as weird as you might expect, but it deals with some interesting issues (fortunately ones which won't come up in the foreseeable future. The art's good and stuff. I also think it is the inspiration for the character Ping in MegaTokyo: the whole "Can Machines have emotions?" thing is quite common really, but the similarities between Ping and Chi are very obvious.
Piro has denied this in previous rants (he didn't see Chobits before creating Ping). But it's a common theme, like you say :) - SunKitten
FlameRider read it and quite enjoyed it, although it was nothing very special. (And, for the record, he doesn't see much point in such deep discussion over whether something is Shoujo or Shounen.)
RobHu thinks it's the most pornographic non porn thing he's ever seen. How can you guys tell me it's not porn?! Apart from the pantsu! episode there is the episode where Chi is working as an internet peep show girl (where she is told to and starts to put her fingers between her legs to 'spice things up' !!!!!!11). I'm not complaining of course...