New Anime Series! Kobato Episode 1

All day at work I was thinking 6 more hours til Kobato, 5 more hours til Kobato, ect. I was slightly looking forward to it. After the ending of Tsubasa I wanted something happy to squeal about. I kept thinking about how much fun it would be to blog this cute series.

Then I burnt my finger at work. Remember kids: HOT THINGS ARE HOT! No seriously picking up pizza screens that came right from the oven is a very bad idea.

I had a Kobato moment today...it must be a sign!

So instead of being sensible I am going to be me…and blog Kobato anyway. With my gimp finger. That took like 10 minutes to type this much. That is just how dedicated I am to blogging and anime. Or maybe it just shows how really special I am…..

I am going to try very hard to not put any spoilers besides what is mentioned in the anime. This is always a hard thing for me to do when I am up to date on the manga version. So this is me trying…ON TO THE SPECIAL!

Time to welcome our 2009 top girl Kobato!

Summary o Episode: A young girl named Kobato “lands” on Earth. Her traveling companion is an angry dog plushie named Ioryogi. He and Kobato talk about why they are both here. Kobato is in the human world to get her wish granted. She wants to go somewhere and to do so she must collect the broken hearts of sad humans in a special bottle. But first she must earn this special bottle. Ioryogi wants Kobato to show him she can hack it in the human world and that she has common sense. Kobato continues to show Ioryogi that she doesn’t. Along the way she runs into an abrasive young man named Fujimoto who saves her from some scum bags. He isn’t the nicest savior but he has other things on his mind as he is working multiple jobs and juggling some heavy stuff off scene. Kobato ends up at a Sakura blossom festival where she continues to show Ioryogi that her heart is always in the right place for these “tests” yet she doesn’t show much common sense. Kobato starts to feel discouraged when she runs into a grandmother and her crying grandson. Kobato decides that this is a situation that she can fix. She soothes the boy by singing him a beautiful song and draws a crowd with her voice. Fujimoto also hears her song and is slightly entranced by it. Later the grandmother thanks Kobato for her song and her words move Ioryogi. He decides that even though Kobato is completely….Kobato like her heart really is pure and she is deserving of her magical bottle. It forms out of nowhere and all is beautiful and wonderful. Until Ioryogi yells at Kobato that the hard part has now begun and she must fill that bottle OR ELSE! The end.

Kobato is cute is every single frame of this episode. That is all.

Let’s start with the opening theme song. I am a fan of a slightly different kind of theme song but I can appreciate this song for what it is. Kobato is going to be a lighter CLAMP anime, a more feel good type of atmosphere and not MOG everyone’s eyes are getting poked out. So for this kind of anime the song was perfect. And people who love this type of anime will love the song. The opening sequence isn’t very spoilerish but it gets the job done in the cuteness department.

How...interesting...

The closing song while pretty was not very memorable. Nor was the animation. Perhaps because there was none. It was just of the bottle…and two broken hearts inside. I WONDER WHOSE HEARTS THOSE ARE. Errr putting that aside yeah, someone got a case of the lazies with the closing theme song.

Seems as if CLAMP loves the journey theme. XD

I love how Kobato starts off all Mary Poppins style. XD You all were thinking it too (if you have even heard of Mary Poppins….). But yes I love how Kobato comes out of the sky like some magical angel. In the manga the story starts off with Ioryogi yelling at Kobato and making her start her tests. It doesn’t really give this tiny extra detail that makes us really think that Kobato is SPECIAL. From the get go we know Kobato is not from this world while in the manga all we know for a while is that she has a wish. And she is a little strange. In any event I like how BAM the audience knows Kobato is not human from day one.

Silly sad Kobato is tons of fun. XD

Kobato’s voice matches her perfectly. I am not going to pretend I am all knowing about voice actors/actresses and that I have a favorite. But Kobato sounds like how I hear her when I read the manga. I was expecting something a little more powerful and soft when she sang (Like Sakura in Tsubasa when they were in Ōto) but she sounded very beautiful. Sometimes it is hard to bring the magic from the manga on to the TV scene ( See Skip Beat’s Kyoko and her Angel self in the manga verses the anime to see the perfect example of this) but when you have a voice that rivals the top singer in heaven that is a bit too much to live up to. XD So I think the singing went fine.

Too much anger from a plushie!

However….I am not a fan of Ioryogi’s voice. I thought it sounded vaguely familiar and then Simplicity confirmed it. Ioryogi is really my Kurogane from Tsubasa. I probably would have caught on to that fact if I hadn’t given up on the anime series Tsubasa (for totally destroying the manga version and making a really, really stupid ending and way too many fillers BUT I AM NOT BITTER) a long time ago. I remember thinking that voice was a little too harsh even on Kurogane. I know that Kurogane is supposed to be an angry but gentle character but at times his voice was too forced into anger. And that is what I feel with Ioryogi. I know that Ioryogi is also supposed to be this ANGRY creature but I just wasn’t expecting such a deep voice for a plushie. But I should have. In any event I was more like X_X when I heard his voice. It will take some time to get use to the ANGER.

Moving right along into the Kobato abuse!

I thought the episode was paced really well even if it was somewhat different from the manga. I know some people think the manga goes reaaaaaaaaaaally slow and that may be true. I just thought they were going to space out the tests a little bit more but NOPE. We already have that magical bottle and Fujimoto has already meet Kobato.

On the other hand...it is a little worrisome with the pace in regards to how much manga is available. Yes there are 24 episodes but we have already seen most of volume one in episode one! Yes a few of the tests were left out but the rest of volume one will probably be covered in episode two. That wouldn’t be so bad if there was tons of manga material to work with. But there isn’t! There are only 4 volumes out so far. Which means a lot of the material may be anime based only and that is always a bit scary (see RAGE for Tsubasa the anime).

So it could go either way. We could get a really cool story that is not based on the manga and everyone will love both the anime and manga version. Or we could get an anime that completely does the manga no justice and we have people rioting in the streets. Either way it is hard to tell off just one episode. But I think Kobato will turn out just fine. The manga is nowhere close to ending so we won’t have people going THAT IS TOO DIFFERENT. If they really wanted to follow the manga they would have only made 13 episodes and waited for new material. I will have faith that the writers crafted a suitable ending for Kobato and the fans will be satisfied.

CLAMP likes to pretend they are throwing us a bone in an attempt to hide the fact they are basically telling us NOTHING!

So as I stated before this episode covered a few of the tests that Kobato faced in the manga. It is established that Kobato has a wish and that wish is to go somewhere. To get to that place she needs to fill a bottle up with the broken hearts of people here on Earth (or an Earth like place). But first Kobato has to pass the common sense tests that Ioryogi places before her. This episode covers the park test, the trash test, the restaurant test, and the singing test. The manga has Kobato undergo a few more tests and she interacts with more crossover characters. But since this is only episode one I wouldn’t go NOOOO over parts that volume one covered and episode one didn’t. Because these events still might happen and I don’t want to be the girl who ruins things people!

Could have been better but still awesome. XD

But since the singing at the Sakura festival test did happen I shall talk about it. I didn’t like it as much as the manga version. Her outfit was much more beautiful, the song came out more naturally, and she had a real audience instead of some psycho people who are stalker like. The manga scene also incorporated a few elements of Kobato’s not humanness better. Those small details made that chapter better so the anime segment seemed weaker.

Love at first sight with a sprinkle of I HATE YOU. XD

That being said I love how Kobato and Fujimoto meet in the anime. The manga was a little bit harsh while Fujimoto comes off much more as a jerk and not an asshole. XD No one wants to cheer for an asshole pairing right? We want Kobato to have a nice yet slightly abrasive boyfriend right? So this meeting was a lot better than Fujimoto calling Kobato a gold digger or hooker. XD That and Kobato meeting up two young guys is more believable than some old dude perving on her.

Trash...in the trash can? SAY IT AIN'T SO?!

The park scene and trash test were pretty much the same in the manga so they are both are amazing. It would have been better if the subbers had subtitled the trash can text so everyone can know WHY Kobato was having a freaking heart attack with the trash and birds. I actually loved the sequence of her losing her tiny mind and running away from the demon birds. WHOOSH! But stop blasting her Ioryogi! You are much too evil.

Chocolate makes everything better true facts!

I like that the restaurant test. It was good in the manga but since they decide to tweak the plot it worked better when it occurred at the festival. It also tied in Fujimoto and his many jobs. Kobato was able to help out as Fujimoto got called away on serious business. I think the hell soup was a bit scarier in the manga but the scenes leading up to making the hell soup was much better in the anime. XD

Must not look directly into the sparkles...

Kobato earns her bottle at the end of the episode. I have already stated that it was shocking since Kobato didn’t do all her “test” yet but I guess we will get to the meat of the series a lot sooner than we thought. The tests did show Kobato’s naïve nature and we are missing that by the end of the episode. It would have been more fun to see Kobato mess up in the human world a little bit more but I am sure that we will get a chance to see the Kobato everyone knows and loves.

I could make a size joke but this is Kobato we are taking about. I don't want to be dirty.

But holy crap people that bottle is TINY. It is more like a perfume bottle and not the huge bottle that is in the manga. I like how the bottle was formed. All sparkly and magical. But still very very small. Which means less hearts which means the series can actually finish in under 24 episodes. But still not the epic bottle I was expecting. :(

And that was the episode. I think it was a really great episode and I am going to be excited to blog this new series. Not as excited as the blogger over at Simplicity but excited. If you want a more in depth summary/fangirling over Kobato seriously check out her blog. Reading her post will make everyone excited about this series.

I do think this episode lacked some VERY IMPORTANT DETAILS but they might get mentioned sooner or later. So I will be a good girl and keep my mouth shut. I thought I was going to be sad without my 07-Ghost Wednesday but Kobato is a GREAT replacement. I will be looking forward to the end of work each and every Wednesday just so I get home and watch this great show.

So everyone there…WATCH THIS SHOW! Yes it does seem very happy Card Captor Sakura-y at parts but this is CLAMP. You are either going to get a pile of dead bodies…or innocent girls in sorta scary situations. And it won’t all be fluff I promise. There will be something for everyone if you give this show a chance. So…give it a chance! Thank you, that is all.