tromp.alexandrea - 2016-01-02 03:38:18

Cheerful and bright, Kobato is a gem amongst slice-of-life titles.

karina.carter - 2015-05-13 17:13:42

Story: Kobato is a girl who came to earth to fulfill her wish, which is to go to a certain place. To fulfill that wish, she has to find a bottle and fill it wich scarred hearts. Together with her "teacher", which is a stuffed animal, she search for the scarred hearts. However, the restriction is that she must finish before the four seasons end or else...

You're probably wondering: Where does she want to go? Where did she come from? What is she? And why is her companion a dog? Well all of them except one are sadly explained and explored near the end of the show, but they do give out hints about during the course of the show, though you still may get confused about it like I.

The first half is basically a simple formula: Kobato meets someone new and tries to help them out with their problems whether it be simple as a crush or trying to bring up their spirits with something more complicated and complex, it doesn't go well at first, but then she finds a way after all and gets a candy (or doesn't), rinse and repeat until the second half with a big story arc intertwined with her personal struggle and the show starts to get more serious(and I won't go any further than that).

Honestly I think the show does better as a drama than a comedy believe it or not. Not to say that the comedy is good, in fact its quite good and funny (including a fire joke which is much better handled here than in Maria Holic mainly cause no one really gets hurt by it and is so over the top to be taken seriously), but the drama is just so great. Shame I can't get into much detail without spoiling stuff (I'm not good at explaining anyway). The pacing is also pretty good, its just right (the first half is a bit slow and tedious at first which you may find boring but it didn't bother me as much) especially for the second half.

The second half will make it impossible to stop watching and it can also get pretty depressing at times, but its more than worth it to get to the ending, which I will not dare give away the ending, for it is one of the most heartfelt tear jerking moments/endings ever. I mean its right up there with Pet Girl Of Sakurasou and Aria.

The only thing I don't like is that it can get pretty mean spirited at times, but its not just there for the sake of it, follows the story, and the characters doing it have a justified reason for doing it and also don't show up much (if I got hit by fire all of a sudden, I'd get pretty upset about it).

I also like how almost no episode is filler, heck even the filler episodes have something relevant to the story, character, and plot. Basically you need to watch them all in order to get to fully enjoy the experience.

Animation: The animation is pretty. The background designs are average overall but in some scenes I feel they are gorgeous and well done (special mention goes to the first and last episodes). The character design of Kobato is really cute, even in her chibi form she's adorable. Everyone else looks pretty good but not as good as Kobato herself~

No problems with the movements either, everyone moves fine and lip syncing is good too. I especially love the ones with chibi Kobato and how hilariously awkward the animation can be, its so adorable :p

Sound: The sound is a bit of a mixed bag. One on hand, the OP and ED sound nice, but they don't stick with me and I find pretty forgettable and bland... least the animation for them are good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXl8lZ1Iktw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIStKxQS5AE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT85lFhlsXc

The insert song on the other hand is beautiful, it only shows up in a few episodes but every time I hear it I feel it gets better and better (and also cried a bit during them, especially during the ending). It needs to be heard to be believed, its slow and beautiful but sticks with you despite being only in a few episodes, the presence is that great :D

Characters: Let's talk about the main characters first. Kobato is a strange and naive girl with a kind heart, never wanting to see someone suffer or get hurt, and wants to help people in need (even when they push her away). However, she is frequently clumsy, clueless, and rash, often tripping on her own feet, much to Ioryogi's annoyance. Kobato does learn and show different emotions aside from being happy, which says a lot compared to other leads like her.

Iroyogi is Kobato's companion, who appears as a stuffed toy dog that she carries around. Unlike most animal companion's in anime, he's actually very foul-mouthed, short-tempered, and cruel, his features twisting horrifically when aggravated or enraged. He tends to scathingly criticize or hit Kobato for her naïveté and stupidity and often calls her "Dobato".

Despite the lack of respect he shows Kobato, he will always acknowledge her efforts when he feels she deserves it, and seems to be set on helping Kobato achieve her goal. He is harsh to her and scolds her constantly but is seen to really care for her and comforts her in his own way when she is down, such as patting her head to encourage her.

There is a reason why he is like this, and its told and explained half way in the show which is pretty well done (even though most back stories in this are told or just shown glimpses of it) actually and does change as the show progresses (like other characters). His motives are apparently better explained in the manga but I have not read it yet so I wouldn't know.

Fujimoto is a blunt, sarcastic young man working at the same kindergarten as Kobato. He is also Kobato's neighbor, living in the same complex under the ownership of Chitose. He has known Sayaka for many years and appears to care deeply for her, showing much concern over and being defensive of her. Upon first meeting Kobato, he is rather unkind and cold to her but eventually comes to accept her. He often shuts Kobato down but he also comes to respect her dedication and optimistic attitude. I did not like him at first but he does get better as the show goes on (takes a long while though).

Sayaka is the teacher and principal of Yomogi Nursery, a local kindergarten where Kobato works. She has known Kiyokazu since he was seven, which is when her family adopted him. She also went to the same high school as Chitose. She is a kind and trusting person, willing to let Kobato assist her at the school even with Fujimoto's obvious mistrust of her. Sayaka starts off bland and nice but she does grow more depth as the show goes on.

The other characters are either: Nice and help Kobato with something, or jerks who slowly get nicer as the show goes on (except for those two guys in the first episode but they do a justifiable reason for it and they only show up in that one episode).

Also, something about that bunny bothers me (besides the intermission thing with him which is not as bad as Petopeto-san but its pretty out of place and kills the mood and tone of the show, just a little bit)

Enjoyment: Honestly, I actually thought the show was decent at first and didn't see why it was so loved, but after watching more episodes, I could see why. Hell, the ending alone was so great that I bumped the rating up to five stars, its that unbelievable :D

Overall: If you like fantasy, comedy, and drama, this is definitely a must see. And there's even CLAMP cameos in here for those who love their work (this is the only CLAMP show I've seen though). I give this show 100 points.

[Themanime, you've done it again to impress me c:]

Pros: Gorgeous animation, flawless voice cast, great story/pacing, characters who developed, good mix of comedy and drama, insert song is beautiful, unbelievable ending!

Cons: First half can drag, some mean spiritedness, some characters get no development, dull OP and ED

Also recommend: Aria

Thanks for reading my 80th review~

rodriguez.sadie - 2015-02-22 18:31:20

i love kobato she's so cute and ioryogi is so funny (“⌒∇⌒”)

otis51 - 2014-12-02 03:01:32

        I love this anime. And I feel like it gets overlooked way to often. Its a simple slice-of-life with a fantasy twist, but you know what? It does an amazing job in those genres. Heartwarming, charming, adorable, sad, and beautiful, this show is a hidden gem that I think more people need to see.

 In terms of story, I find it to be very well paced. You don't get many answers until the very end of the show, but they tease you with little hints if you're paying attention, piquing your interest. I also like how the show starts off feeling very simple but gradually gets deeper and complicated as the characters develop, eventually leading to a satisfying conclusion that will probably have you tearing up at least a little.

 With the characters they're all quite good, unique enough to stand out on their own with some memorable personalities. But special mention to the leading lady, Kobato, herself. This girl never gives up and has the biggest heart you'll ever see. I found it extremely heartwarming watching her work so hard for her goals and healing the broken hearts of the people she meets, despite the hardships she comes across. You really root for this girl with the odds against her.

 The animation is pretty standard for an anime in this genre, nothing too flashy with some lovely character designs (courtesy of CLAMP). With sound the soundtrack is quite lovely, with several standouts, in particular the song "Ashita Kuru Hi", which Kobato sings herself every so often. Its a very charming song that really does capture the tone of the show.

  Overall, I really enjoy this show. Is it perfect? Of course not. Am I bias toward this show? Maybe. But I can't recommend this show enough. If you like slice-of-life, if you like romance, if you like fantasy, if you like CLAMP, this is a really amazing show that really does deserve to be seen by more people. 

legros.karen - 2013-05-22 09:19:55

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 on a 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.