This review will look at the first twelve episodes of the ongoing series based on the manga created by CLAMP.
Kobato is an anime that follows a young girl with that name. Hanato Kobato came from another world to present day Japan. She is a sweet girl that thinks of nothing but helping others. It is her mission to heal people’s broken hearts. She collects these pieces in a jar with the hope of having wish granted once it is filled.
These broken heart pieces appear as centimeter wide glowing stars. She and her companion, Ioryogi, gave it a nickname of konpeito, which is a type or origami. A long strip of paper is folded until it makes a round star.
Kobato's Storyline
The story is very basic. We follow Kobato as she learns the ways of this new world. As she tries to help others, she is often the one needing help since she is in a state of culture shock. She primarily helps people understand their feelings. Some of thing she does is rather trivial like signing a baby to sleep.
The anime is slow moving, almost at a snail’s pace. We see her slowly collecting the konpeito but even after a dozen episodes she is nowhere near filling her jar. There is no change in Kobato herself who always stays cheerful and smiles even though bad things start to happen.
The magical world that Kobato and Ioryogi come from is shrouded in mystery. It is only briefly shown in a small setting like the house of a friend. So is hidden the reason why Kobato needs to collect these magical heart pieces. The creators CLAMP have a tendency to leave characters’ past in the dark and reveal their tragic pasts once they have become a loved character.
Character: Hanato Kobato
She is a naive and optimistic girl. She has big eyes, rosy cheeks and strawberry milkshake coloured hair. Just by looking at her, her kind personality is obvious. She is so kind, maybe too kind. That may be the point, that her kindness is not something that can be found in this world.
What is harder to believe is the luck she has in making her way thought the world. She is allowed to stay in an apartment for free while she volunteers at a daycare. She takes on some small part-time jobs, but makes little money.
Character: Ioryogi
He is Kobato’s tough-as-nails teacher who is stuck in the form of a cute stuffed-toy dog. He often lectures Kobato on how stupid and naïve she is as he punishes her by spitting fire at her. Although he appears cuddly he is a strong and important figure in the other world. He also has a soft side for Kobato because he takes care of her even when she does not realize.
Art by CLAMP and Animation by Madhouse Studios
CLAMP has always been good at drawing pretty female characters. Kobato is adorable to look at. There are some eerie similarities with their others works. There are young twins in the show who look exactly like Chii from Chobits, another one of their works. The anime is filled with light pastels colours which gives the show an uplifting feeling.
Since the anime is a shoujo, there is less scenes of actions and motion, but the animation quality is good. It is clean and easy flowing. The regular style is sometimes shifted over to chibi style, where the characters become caricatures of themselves, for comedic moments similar to what happens in a manga.
Music: Themes Performed by Maaya Sakamoto and Megumi Nakajima
Kobato has delightful opening and closing theme songs. The opening song Magic Number is preformed by famous singer and voice actress Maaya Sakamoto. It’s bright and uplifting, just as the show tries to be.
The ending theme Jellyfish's Confession preformed by Megumi Nakajima is a short sweet song which is reminiscent of Kobato’s character. Nakajima is famous for her performance as Ranka Lee the young idol in Macross Frontier.
Kobato Overall Review
Kobato is soft and easy piece to watch. It warms the hearts and spreads the act kindness. Unfortunately the story is slow moving, and the characters unknown pasts leave the audience wanting to know more. Hopefully the story picks up in the second half of the series.
Megan Leduc - I am a Bachelor of Journalism graduate with a passion for all things that glitter. My interests involve fashion, shoes, accessories, anime ...
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