Kobato.

Some­where around about epis­ode 12 it hit me. No, not that the show had sud­denly become watch­able, that wasn’t to hap­pen for sev­eral more epis­odes. No, what hit me was a per­fect way to express what it was I didn’t like about this show. I had some vague review thoughts in my head (sub­con­sciously review­ing the show as you watch it; the curse of being a critic) but most of them revolved around bitch­ing about how stu­pid Kobato her­self was and how the show relied on cute­ness as its main appeal, some­thing I’ve just never really liked. But then it hit me. I read ona blog somewhere that the way the person got through a series they didn’t like was because they spent their time also play­ing Poke­mon. So I finally got around to play­ing Poke­mon Plat­inum after the first few episodes of Kobato (why yes, I am a game behind every­one else) because I real­ised I would prob­ably smash my laptop if I had to sit through another ‘Kobato Gan­bar­rebleargh~’ without some­thing else to occupy my mind. Now nor­mally this shouldn’t work unless I was watch­ing the dub. Mul­ti­task­ing while watch­ing subs is next to impossible. How­ever it did work because I actu­ally under­stood pretty much everything that was being said. Let me explain. I have never once made an attempt at learn­ing Japan­ese. I know about as much as any wee­aboo who watches subbed anime would know. Watch­ing Kobato wasn’t a sud­den grand real­isa­tion that I was now flu­ent in Japan­ese. It was the sim­pli­city of the lan­guage the char­ac­ters used. They all had just a few stock lines they would throw out in most situ­ations which meant that after watch­ing a few epis­odes pay­ing atten­tion to the subs you knew pretty much everything that they could say. This effects the anime in far more ways than you might real­ise. Of course you get the pain­fully dull and repet­it­ive dia­logue. Of course there’s the way every scene and every epis­ode feels the exact bloody same with no inspir­a­tion, ingenu­ity or ima­gin­a­tion, bar Kobato’s ward­robe. But along­side that you also have the actual ten­sion in the series solved using the same unin­spired meth­ods in every epis­ode. Kobato throws out a few stock phrases, Ioryogi mut­ters some­thing in the back­ground and all is right with the world once again. It lim­its the dir­ec­tion any epis­ode can take. But yes, it does get bet­ter. It may take until around epis­ode 17 before I actu­ally went through an epis­ode without hav­ing beaten 3–4 poke­mon train­ers while it was play­ing, but it cer­tainly did improve. Vastly improved. By epis­ode 20 I had shut that Game Boy for good and was actu­ally watch­ing this show for real. The show took a much more dra­matic and mel­an­cholic tone that suited the style of storytelling far more. After watch­ing the pre­vi­ous 16 epis­odes of failed com­edy (bar Ioryogi dodging cork bul­lets at the fest­ival. That was quite funny) and bland stor­ies that were sup­posed to be heart­warm­ing, the effect this change to a plot-driven story had on the over­all qual­ity of the show was phe­nom­enal. Let me talk about the MAL stats for a second on this series. There’s a very high per­cent­age drop rate to com­pleted rate, around 20% of the people who watched it, dropped it. And yet the anime is rated 8.07 at the time of writing, a very respect­able score indeed. MAL doesn’t count the scores once you’ve seen bey­ond a cer­tain num­ber of epis­odes so those who actu­ally sat through the entire thing were clearly rewar­ded for their efforts. It also shows the usual reac­tion of people to rate some­thing highly because the later epis­odes were bet­ter, much like After Story. It’s some­thing that bugs me a lot because I hate hav­ing to sit through sev­eral poor epis­odes just because ‘it gets bet­ter I swear!’. I don’t doubt it does. It’s just those earlier epis­odes are a right pain to sit through. Because Kobato is, for the most part, a poor anime. It just hap­pens to end on a very high note. Plus you can’t skip those earlier epis­odes the same way you the­or­et­ic­ally can for After Story. Without those earlier epis­odes the end­ing ones don’t work. It did turn me into a romantic sap though. Good old Clamp did it again. They made me believe that, through any­thing, love will pre­vail. No mat­ter what hap­pens to you, what you go through, what form you’re in, love will get through all that. It did the very same thing Chob­its did. It made me believe in the Power of Love. I came into this anime look­ing for some­thing to rep­lic­ate the feel­ing Chob­its gave me and, in the end, I guess it did exactly that.

Amazing- that's the one word I would use to describe Kobato. I'm rather picky with my ratings, but for the first time in a good while, I decided on a ten. Story-9 The plot of Kobato. starts out simple enough- a girl assigned the task of healing peoples' wounded hearts. The first half of the series covers the bases of the overall objective- cases of Kobato doing her work. Even these earlier episodes I though were awesome, but as the series enters its second half, Kobato.'s plot thickens and the series develops into a masterpiece. In the first half, we see glimpses of the dark realities of lifebeneath the bright, cheerful character of Kobato- and from the very start, Kobato. deals with very real life details; a misunderstanding with a friend, a tragedy with a lover, family problems... In the second half, however, is revealed a whole new facet of Kobato. The show cuts deeper than a story about a girl with the objective of fulfilling her dream. Debts. Love. Death. Tragedy. Farewells. We see all of these events changing and forming a much more mature Hanato Kobato Art-10 I loved the art- I loved it! The details are intricate, the colors and effects wonderfully done. I don't think I could have asked more of the creators (especially considering this is based off a CLAMP work) except actually letting viewers distinguish the ages of the characters. Sound-10 The soundtrack for Kobato. was one of the best I've ever heard. My favorite soundtrack up until the point I saw Kobato. was the True Tears Soundtrack, but Kobato. really gave True Tears a run for its money. The sounds vary- cheerful, light, heavy, peaceful... Both soundtracks are masterpieces that fulfill their purpose, supporting and improving the show. Character-10 Character. Yes, I'm someone who doesn't enjoy a book, movie... or anything with shallow characters. At a glimpse, people may think Kobato, is just another "moe", empty-headed character, but as the series progresses, all the characters- Fujimoto and Kobato noticeably- grow and mature as they learn important life lessons through their trials. The storyline doesn't go "easy" on them: the lessons they learn are tough, yes, but also shape and define the characters. Enjoyment-10 I both laughed and cried while watching Kobato. It really is a series with contrasting qualities; it brings laughter and tears. It shows the darkness in our society, but also the hope, dreams, and goodness in it. There are trials, but also miracles and second chances. This simple, 24-episode story has all this- and what's even better is that it has a healing quality, one that warms the heart. Overall-10 Overall, I give Kobato. a ten. I would give an eleven if I could. Kobato. is something viewers of all ages can watch- I would recommend to anyone, anyday. You could watch it with the whole family, your siblings, friends... it's not something you have to filter or think through. All I can say is to give it a try- and let the show do the rest.

What are you doing with your life? What are you working for? What will you accomplish during your time? How could that time be better served improving that of another? All of these are questions you'll probably be asking yourself while watching "Kobato." "Kobato" is one of those rarities that soothes the soul. It's hard not to find yourself smiling often, since there are many heartwarming moments throughout. The show regularly brought tears to the eye--not of sadness, but happiness. It's definitely something to consider checking out if you like happier anime, or need something to cheer you up. The entire pointof the series can be summarized with one word: empathy. It shows the heartwarming inspiration and greatness of what happens when someone abandons their own interests for the sake of helping others. When someone becomes selfless, the avenue is opened up for miraculous outcomes and beautiful changes in peoples' lives. A pessimistic philosopher once said that there is no such thing as a truly selfless action, basing their argument on the premise that we're only doing it because seeing someone in need bothers us--because we ourselves would feel better and be at peace if they were happier. But what about people for whom this sense of relief is only a side effect? What about the people who truly don't care about themselves, and are willing to go above and beyond to lend a hand when someone needs it? "Kobato" shows how great your life can be when you realize that following your own dreams isn't the only source of fulfillment. I was a little nervous at first becaue of how moe Kobato herself was, but I quickly learned just how great of a character she is. Her mission is to heal peoples' hearts so her wish can be granted, but it becomes obvious early on that she is far too concerned with the well-being of others to worry about filling the jar for herself. (Ioryogi constantly observes this and stresses over how she may not complete her task in time to have her wish granted.) She'll spend days--or longer--working towards an end, even with the knowledge that it won't get her any closer to her goal. She's great with kids and loves to help out at the local preschool, even though this too doesn't directly get her any closer to her goal. She loses sleep worrying about the problems of those around her: She relentlessly seeks solutions, no matter how poorly she may be treated or how ingrateful the person may be. She just wants everyone to be happy. Kobato teaches us to take pleasure in little things as she carries out every task happily and with a smile--even ones we may not necessarily want to do. It's a combination of these things that leads to the creation of what is perhaps the best wife/mother material to ever grace the world of fiction. If we had more characters (or better yet, people) like Kobato, the world would be a better place. It's disheartening that mindless fan service dolls are more popular than characters that are actually GOOD from shows with actual substance. This show has more characterization and character development in a single episode than many anime contain over the span of their entire runtime. It's touching to see the characters change after their encounters with Kobato. The show deals with very real issues people go through and examines the power one person stepping outside of themselves can have, making all the difference in changing a life. Even the most stone-hearted aren't safe from her outgoing and caring nature: no wound can't be healed with the proper care. "Kobato" has a pretty good idea of when it's time to stop with the comedic content when things are getting serious, which is really important in a dramedy. Once misplaced line can completely butcher the mood of a scene; "Kobato" knows what's appropriate and when, but is quick to throw in a crack once the storm has passed and the happy status quo has been restored, helping complete a smooth transition and elevating the viewer's spirits. ...I guess I gotta talk about art 'n' sound 'n' stuff, too. Character design is great; there are some pretty unique ones, the most unique and appealing being Kobato. Hair movement seems to have been given a particular attention, particularly in the case of it bouncing up and down and someone runs or as the wind blows through it--again, the most attention was given to Kobato. There is some pretty great imagery, like petals, or leaves falling from trees, or snow, and the surrounding greenary is always a pleasure. Warmer, brighter, and more vibrant colors are what dominate the visible spectrum, complementing the overall tone of the series. Voice acting quality is excellent, with Hana Kanazawa completely bringing the show to life with her peppy, happy, excited Kobato. Hearing her sing was an extra special treat. The soundtrack contains some beautiful pieces--particularly those played during more dramatic or emotionally riveting scenes, although there are a number of more upbeat ones for the laid back/comedic scenes. "Kobato" made me put my hands together and clap like an idiot because it made me so happy. The show renewed my faith in humanity; it gave me hope that there may still be good people out there with actual morals who care about their fellow man. It's wholesome, pure, innocent, and clean--all endangered, unappreciated, underrated qualities in this day and age. It made me take a step back and reexamine how I was living, and radically altered my outlook on life in general. So... How might "Kobato" touch YOU?

Wow. After watching the whole series, it's amazing. Kobato is so lovable as well as many other characters. Kobato, as you know, is by CLAMP, so there are lots of similarities overall, as well as some characters. The artwork is amazing with the nice colors and the touch that makes certain characters lovely or not. The songs played in the background as well as songs that Kobato herself sings were all perfect for the anime. The story itself had times where it dragged on imo, but in the last few episodes, they were wrapped up so perfectly, and the final episode is one that I'dconsider the best ending I've ever seen. I enjoyed watching Kobato for lulz as well as just experiencing the adorableness. It's an anime I'd highly recommend to pretty much anyone.