It’s finally here! The anime adaptation of my second favorite CLAMP manga! Maybe even my second favorite manga overall~ We’d have to wait and see how the series ends before I can decide something like that.

And I am just so pleased that not a thing can bring me down. This was as perfect as I could imagine it would be and anyone who says otherwise needs to kindly show themselves out. Because you’re wrong. And that’s that. Because Kobato is just as perfect in anime as she is in the manga. And I will spend this post telling everyone why you should all love her as much as I do! Except that’s impossible, so just try your best.

(Warning for a super long image-spammed post )

I’d like to start this post off by reminding people that whenever I say clearly unreasonable things like, “If you don’t like this you’re stupid” that I’m really not serious at all. So with that out of the way.

!nyone who complains about this episode is an idiot! I say thisbecause I saw someone complaining about how the anime adaptation was too cute and Kobato was about comedy so I was like “wut.” Yeah, a series about a girl healing the wounded hearts of others is totally about comedy and shouldn’t be cute at all.

But bad Fuyu! Sarcasm has no place around my lovely~ Kobato-chan~ <3 The poor girl probably wouldn’t understand it.

I would also like to say that anyone who says that the episode doesn’t “fit” with Kobato. has to be wrong too since Ohkawa herself wrote the script. So uh…yeah.

Now as much as I do love the episode, I felt a few things were off, but I understand each of them so they don’t really count. I just thought I’d mention them anyway…to you know, be fair.

• Kobato passed her test already when it took her months in the manga. But I’m sure the anime has a lot of things they want to get to in their 24 episodes…like maybe even some sort of conclusion? I wouldn’t mind an anime-original conclusion since the manga’s been so slow~ As long as it’s happy.
• Kobato’s singing doesn’t match what most people would imagine. But this is a given. Kobato’s got the voice of AN ANGEL and Kana Hanazawa is human. So…um…don’t expect the impossible. (Only Yucchi has an angel’s voice fitting and she’s already Sakura property anyway )
• As expected, Kobato’s AMAZING long hair can’t move the way it does in the manga. But I knew this because in the CLAMP in Wonderland II video it looked amazing, but the people behind it said it was the most difficult thing in the whole video. Can’t expect them to do that on a weekly basis, now can you?
• Animation itself (motion) isn’t fantastic, but the art’s totally cute, so who cares?
• The circumstances in Fujimoto and Kobato’s first meeting are a little bit different, but I don’t really care because they got to meet each other in this episode. (This is the Fuyu-approved shipping for this series~)

And I think there was something else, but it doesn’t matter because none of the stuff I pointed out already matters anyway. Let’s just get to it!

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Opening

Magic Number by Maaya Sakamoto

I remember being so happy when I heard the song for the first time in the trailer because it matched the mood of Kobato so wonderfully. That energetic, cheerful, cute sound of it all~ These are really the songs I like best from Maaya-san. Maybe because my first encounter with her was with CardCaptor Sakura’s platinum? Well, that’s not exactly the same, that one is a lot more mellow. But since Kobato and CCS promote similar feelings in their anime hopefully you guys get what I mean. They’re both decidedly on the fluffier (effing adorable) side of CLAMP works. Or using CardCaptor Sakura as the best example, what I’d like to call the “Everything will be all right!” side (so uh, with that in mind happy ending CLAMP~).

Oh but on the opening itself…I love it because it fits the series to well. Another way it reminds me of CardCaptor Sakura is that it basically focuses on just Kobato until the end where she gets to the kindergarten where you get to see the kids, Sayaka, and Fujimoto. Chitose, Chiho, and Chise don’t appear at all. Poor Chi-family.

But to be perfectly honest it’s nothing special. But I love it anyway because it’s so Kobato~ There’s a lot of shots of her clothes and stuff (you get to see four of her outfits from her mysterious, infinite, magical closet ). There’s a whole big chunk where it’s just Kobato running, but it fits the music so you have to love it. As for special shots sad Kobato in the rain makes me want to cry (Kobato come here so I can give you a hug~) and this shot features my favorite outfit and hairstyle from Kobato. Which has me thinking about revoking my “Kobato cosplay is too hard, so it’s impossible” declaration. Also smiling Kobato is like…always my favorite.

The Ending was also a nice song. Megumi Nakajima’s voice really fits with the mood, but seeing as the ending has like…no animation, I really don’t have much to say.

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Summary

Kobato has a wish. She wants to go to a certain place and in order to do that she needs to fill up a bottle with the wounded hearts of others. But in order to get that bottle she has to pass a test…of common sense. (Dun, dun, dun~) Unfortunately, despite how nice and outgoing she is, common sense is one thing Kobato lacks. Also unfortunately, her companion and test…giver Ioryogi doesn’t find Kobato’s adorable mix-ups as cute as the rest of us.

So Kobato goes throughout her day, trying to do things right, but screwing up. At some point she gets picked up by a couple of guys and lacking common knowledge about nanpa she goes with them thinking they’re oh-so-nice~ But it’s okay because she gets rescued by a guy (after Ioryogi makes the situation worse) and we can start shipping them later because they leave the scene with bad impressions of each other. Woo!

Then uh…more misadventures happen, but these ones work out all right. And then the whole world stops when Kobato sings with her angelic voice that makes a baby stop crying and prompts a moment not from the manga which makes Fuyu all *squee*. And because of all of that and the old lady who comes to thank Kobato for making the baby stop crying, Kobato passes the test and gets her bottle.

Next stop! Trying to figure out how to heal people while being…well, Kobato.

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Thoughts

Or…Why Everyone Should Love Kobato.

Reason #1: Because of Kobato.

Our title character. I mean just look at her. Don’t you just want to hug her with that adorable, sweet little smile. You do, don’t you?

Because of the current state of the anime fandom at large I can see a lot of people writing her off because they think she’s a moeblob, but she’s not!!! She’s a happy go lucky CLAMP girl and there’s a difference. Sure, she’s uber-moe because CLAMP greatly influenced what it means to be moe with Sakura, the first ever winner of SaiMoe. But Kobato shouldn’t be confused with girls from visual novels because there are two vital pieces missing from shallow moe-blobbery that you get in that certain sort of series.

She’s not in a cast of just girls and you’re not seeing her story from the perspective of a guy. I think those two things are what often creates a negative conotation to “moe” and what creates a “moe” genre in the eyes of some people. But none of that is here, so if you pick on my Kobato, I’ll never forgive you!!!

Instead, we can just call Kobato the cutest thing ever, ‘kay?

Reason #2: Wind.

Kobato has it. She has lots of it. And she’s pretty and her long hair flows in it. So…wind~

Reason #3: Kobato’s Magic Closet.

We do not know where she gets these outfits from. Apparently, people behind the anime said that Kobato’s outfit will change every episode, much like the manga. So…the magic closet will continue. Without any explanation as to how it works.

Reason #4: lol Scary Talking Stuffed Dog.

Ioryogi-san~! For bonus points he’s voiced by another CLAMP character who was known as a certain Kuro-wan for bonus laughs. And I feel mildly safe is saying he is the angriest stuffed dog you will ever come across in your lifetime.

Reason #5: Kobato’s Secret Clubhouse!

Because secret clubhouses are fun! So says an extra adorable Kobato and so I immediately agree!

Too bad Ioryogi doesn’t. Which brings us to reason #6…

Reason #6: Scary Talking Stuffed Dog…CAN BREATHE FIRE!!!

Too bad he almost always only uses it to pick on Kobato… Poor Kobato. *petpet*

Reason #7: Ioryogi’s Footsteps Are Cute!

Total benefit of anime over manga because you can’t hear that in the manga (obviously…).

Reason #8: Kobato is Always So Serious~

Even when she’s spacey and smiling, she 100% believes what she’s saying~ And then when she’s specifically trying her best, that’s just way too cute~!

Reason #9: Kobato’s Common Sense.

She doesn’t have any. It’s funny and cute. It’s just too bad it usually prompts firey punishment from a certain stuffed dog.

Reason #10: That Sound Ioryogi Made When Kobato Did the Above.

So I guess we can also call Reason #10: Tetsu Inada Makes Hilarious Noises. XD

Reason #11: Kobato’s “Kyaaa!” When She Gets Blowed Up.

Or “Kana Hanazawa Screams Adorably When Kobato Gets Blowed Up.”

So the past two will count for, uh…Seiyuu Do a Great Job combined double reason!

Reason #12: Chibi Kobato.

But especially this screencap because it’s Chibi Kobato with burnt hair.

Reason #13: Throwing Away Trash is Serious Business.

Oh.

So.

Serious.

Reason #14: Kobato Gets Bad Ideas.

Kobato has many smiles. This is the one you should fear. Because it means she’s about to do something stupid that she thinks is brilliant. Like giving trash to the crow…But she does it with good intentions, so it’s okay.

Reason #15: This Image.

Just…this image.

Reason #16: It Brings Fuyu’s Greatest Nightmare to Life.

Oh wait…that’s not good. Birds are scary! Especially crows (and chickens…evil little monsters…)

But I guess it’s good because Kobato can be my hero by outrunning all of those crows. Ganbarre Kobato-chan~!

Reason #17: Alternative Name = Dobato!

It’s good, because it’s fun to hear Kobato go, “Hidoi desu~“

Reason #18: Nanpa!

Wait…Why is this good? You’ll see~

Reason #18.1: Nanpa Guys Get Blowed Up!

Yay! Ioryogi uses his fire power for good! Blow up all the guys who take advantage of my Kobato-chan’s innocence.

Reason #19: Fangirl Derailment

Ready? Ready? This looks bad, right? But you have to watch okay~ (Also: RAWR! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY KOBATO!!!)

First encounters are automatically fangirl-worthy~ <3

Yay~! Double yay! There is so much yay~! From this scene. If people are getting where I’m going with this already (and if you aren’t then you don’t know me very well, do you?) Because there are two reasons why this scene is so much yay~ness. You know, aside from, “hehe~ Nanpa guys got beat up good for trying to hurt MY KOBATO-CHAN!!” (Kick them while they’re on the ground! Make ‘em pay!!!)

But yeah…the next two reasons…

Reason #20: Fujimoto!!!

He beats up creepy nanpa guys (and old drunk guys in the manga) and he’s also a jerk, but it’s okay because he’s secretly a nice jerk. And he has glasses! Would you look at that! And he’s a tough guy, but you know that he’s totally not really because he gets embarrassed and it’s all like “kyahaha~” when that happens and he’s just a stupid distrusting guy who is secretly a big softy, but I think I’ve said like a similar thing like two times before in this incredible run-on sentence…also…also!

He made Kobato make an expression like this:

Which makes me go like this because the whole world knows what’s coming next and everyone knows how much I run on this…so that’ll bring us to the next reason…

Reason #21: OMG SHIPPING!!!!11

The obvious pair got made me more obvious thanks to a re-sequencing of events in the anime. YEAH~!

See? See! Watch what happens next!

“-super polite adorable thank you-”

“-mean stuff~-”

*frozen smile*

“Wait…what?”

“Eh!?-RAWR” Mode

Fujimoto is the only person Kobato ever gets angry at. So that’s like…awesome.

Look at that! They have bad first impressions of each other! Right after he saved her? So you know what that means, right? Right!? *totally making more out of this than she should*

I apologize, but the last ten or so chapters of the manga have been really building this up, but they’re so short so getting their meeting right in the first episode made me all like: All together.

Though I do like their meeting in the manga better. Where it looks like he’s somehow saying something nice, but he’s actually saying that and then Kobato is all ??? until she asks Ioryogi and it’s all like because…

But uh…yeah. This is freakin’ great.

Reason #22: Fujimoto Has 1001 Jobs.

Like another familiar stubborn character in CLAMP’s history. In fact, considering how Fujimoto is kind of similar to him, I half-expect him to have a little sister popping up any day now. Fujimoto is such the big brother type.

Oh anyway, Fujimoto has a reason for having so many jobs, but you don’t find that out until later. By next week I think we should at least be finding out about a second job. (Aww, but thinking about all of those jobs makes me conflicted between, “Poor Fujimoto ;cry: ” and “I can’t wait for that one scene~ “) So yeah, his infinite jobs actually are good for something other than, “wtf? lol” jokes.

Reason #23: Ooo~ Panicked Fujimoto.

Meaning that a PLOT HAS BEEN INTRODUCED and it’s actually quite honestly serious business and fairly realistic. But more on it later because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. The manga did a really good job of revealing the problem piece by piece.

Reason #24: Ahahaha~ This Sort of Thing Happens~

It happens a lot more in the manga because the testing goes on longer. Kobato briefly coming into contact, almost meeting, or walking by people who she’ll have a lot more contact with in the future.

*sigh* Actually thinking about it kind of makes me sad, thinking of all those characters from the Exam arc that Kobato might not meet. (Can I hope that they’ll fit in the Christmas chapter around Christmas time? Because that’s one of my favorites~) It means a lot less CLAMP cameos in general (since the series is so long they might try to fit some in though).

“Ee!“

“…”

Ahahahaha…

…Ah.

Reason #25: Logic-Defying Dojikko.

How did it even get behind her when she threw it forward?

Reason #26: Kobato the Waitress.

I want to be served by Kobato too~

Reason #27: Kobato’s Cooking.

She is asked to make nabe. She doesn’t know how to make nabe. So Hilarity Ensues.

Because she adds whatever comes to mind like…

All the veggie stuff on that one plate!

This MEAT!

A whole carton of milk!

CHOCOLATE!!!!

AND NATTO!

Tada~!

Ignore that odor, color, and those dark expressions. It actually tastes really good.

No seriously.

It does. (Though I doubt that CLAMP recommends you make this at home. )

This was the funniest scene in the whole episode so I wanted to give it a special shoutout. It’s like…ten times funnier than it was in the manga thanks to the magic of anime (music, voice acting, animation). Bravo to those responsible for this.

And anyone who read this post before they saw the anime, sorry but I probably ruined the funniest scene for you because the timing and surprise is part of the fun.

Reason #28: The Kobato.© Brand Smile

The best reason of all.

Because…Finally! Kobato’s glorious smile has been animated! This is when she’s really happy because other people are happy because of something she did and she succeeds and it is the best thing in the world. It doesn’t match up to when CLAMP draws it, of course, but I’m glad to see it nonetheless. This is like…what pulled me into loving Kobato so much.

Not this smile specifically, but one that shows up later which is my favorite smile ever~ When it shows up you know it will get that top image on the post.

Reason #29: Ushagi-san Eye-Catch!

Aww…cute~ Since Ioryogi can’t be cute, Fuyu approves of combining Wish with Kobato if only to get a cute mascot!

Reason #30: Kobato Makes Baby Faces and Noises

It’s cuter than it looks. Also Kana Hanazawa helps make this scene win as well. (I love the seiyuu in this anime~)

Reason #31: Kobato Sings~

Like an angel~ But as I said Kana Hanazawa is only human, but they still did a good job creating the atmosphere. The music box type music in the background was a nice touch. I’m so weak to that. This was also the best animated part of the entire episode. Better than the opening, better than everything.

Also to create the right mood…

It got Fujimoto to stop talking to Sayaka because he heard it. And I stopped to get all giggly because I don’t think he’s heard Kobato even sing in the manga yet. or if he has, I’ve forgotten. It’s something that should totally happen though, right everyone? Right~

It also did its intended job of getting the baby to stop crying. So yay for that.

Reason #32: Kobato Passes Her Test

So she has the most basic common sense after all! Yay! *throws streamers and confetti about*

Reason #33: Prettiest Bottle in the World.

Seriously. That bottle is so pretty.

It also made a much more dramatic entrance in the anime…and if I’m not mistaken it’s also smaller. So does that mean there’s some hope that Kobato will fill it and we’ll get some sort of conclusion in the anime? I kind of hope so, because like I said the manga is really slow and it would be nice to have something get finished.

Now onto the more vague reasons to love Kobato.

Reason #34: Kobato is Pretty Gender-Neutral

The manga runs in NewType and despite my “not moeblob show” rant it’s still leans a bit on the seinen side of things a lot of the time. It’s like…perfectly in between adorable seinen and adorable shoujo. And really, it falls right in line with something like Chobits and CardCaptor Sakura which are both very popular with guys (well, Chobits was really supposed to be). It’s a fluffy CLAMP series.

Which should actually be the next reasons.

Reason #35: Fluffy CLAMP Series

You should already know if you’re a fan of a fluffy CLAMP series. Just about everyone knows if they’ve seen or read at least one CLAMP series and if it was on the fluffy side and you totally loved it (which is the most common response ) then you have to watch this. Or if you at least loved the main adorable CLAMP girl in said fluffy series, you have to watch this, because this one more than any other revolves around an adorable CLAMP girl.

Uh…there’s also some good story-telling on Ioryogi’s part later on…but uh…I’m all about Kobato and the fluff and the healing~ stuff over here.

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Basically to sum it all up…if everyone in the world opened their hearts to Kobato I think we’d have world peace! The world would have to succumb to her smile!

Yeah, I’m a total sucker for anything that can be described with “heart-warming” and as the show goes on you’ll all see how very well that fits. Right now it’s trying to draw you in by being cute and funny, but some of you should have caught the few brief glimpses in the episode (seeing as I pointed them out…). So while I joke about how everyone should love Kobato, I’ll point out my very obvious bias right now.

But I did my best to get in functional reasons to watch the show scattered throughout all my pure fangirling. Though because there’s so much of it it might be hard to find.

I’d also like to say that I don’t think posts will be this long in the future. I just love this series so much and having been looking forward to this so much I really went all out. A lot of people got excited for the anime, but I’d go out on a limb and say I’m the number one Kobato fan in these parts! Or at least a top contender.

As a side note, I found a good song and after the series finishes I’m going to be making a Kobato AMV. I think I’d actually like to enter it in a convention AMV contest…after seeing what I thought was mostly a rather mediocre set for Drama/Romance I figure I can at least do that well.

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EDIT: Even with all of this stuff there were a few things I didn’t mention. Like how I didn’t know what to expect from Tomoaki Maeno voicing Fujimoto, but as I heard a few lines I automatically thought he was perfect. Also the fact that they couldn’t get all the exams in, but managed to get quite a few chapters all into the one day pretty nicely was only kind of hinted at…and I’m sure I’ll come up with more stuff as time goes by.

And to think that the next episode is still going to have more introductions for me to have opinions on.  I hope my Tuesday is wide open next week as well.

Tags: criminally cute, fangirling, Finally!, fluff, image spam, moe, ROFL

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Episodic, Kobato.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.