Summary:

As Christmas approaches, Kobato notices that Kiyokazu has been acting even more distant to her than usual, and she worries that it’s her fault. At the same time, Doumoto has been coming to see her more often, and when he hears about her worries, he tells her that she’s not at fault. Kobato learns later from Chitose that the reason Kiyokazu is this way is because Christmas Eve is when he became all alone and had to be taken in by Sayaka’s father. This leads to Kobato crying prior to the nursery’s Christmas party, where Kiyokazu is playing Santa Claus, because she recognizes how admirable he is. He, however, continues to act cold towards her and tells her that she doesn’t need to worry about him. Afterward, Kobato meets with Doumoto again and confesses how much it hurts her heart to think about Kiyokazu, and Doumoto realizes the best present to give her. He goes to visit Kiyokazu, who is working another job, and makes Kiyokazu understand that his behavior is hurting her. Doumoto sends him to where Kobato is, and once he gets there, Kiyokazu tells her that it’s not her fault. Kobato eventually realizes that Doumoto’s present was to let her make up with Kiyokazu, and the snow leads her to start singing.

Preview

This was the best episode of Kobato I’ve seen in a while, if not the entire series. That’s not to say it’s without problems, but I really liked what they did in terms of keeping the emotion level high and in terms of the production quality, namely the snow scenes of the entire last third of the episode. It irked me a little that Kobato continued to blame herself even after multiple people told her it wasn’t her fault, but at least she finally got the message once Kiyokazu himself told her. Given that she hasn’t healed Kiyokazu yet though, I assume we might be coming back to his past again later. Anyway, her song was definitely a nice way to end the episode, and I found it interesting that Ioryogi’s comment about how he’d have to say farewell to Kobato come springtime cast a bit of a foreboding heavy air. If nothing else, it reminds us that there aren’t many episodes left, and it looks like next week will feature Fai and white Mokona.

33 Comments

  1. Nice episode I’m a sucker for Kobato’s songs. It was really sad for Doumoto, the way he is acting looks like he’s in love with Kobato. But when she talked to him he got the impression that she loves Kiyokazu. But we know that shouldn’t happen; because her purpose is to fill the bottle for her wish. Maybe we will never discover that wish and Ioryogi revert to his true form. The way this thing is spinning we will end with three broken hearths. I’ll hate if she falls in love with either guy. the reindeer transformation was great 😛

    Island Esper
  2. pretty good episode (finally?)i just dont like the idea of using characters from other clamp series just to make viewers interested. though, they’ve been successful thus far by doing it. well its just me

    Alec
  3. This episode was really cuuute! Fujibato! <33
    I really don’t like Domoto, and I havn’t done since he got in the series. But he’s christmas present was really sweet.

    Can’t eait for the next episode! I really love Tsubasa, I hope to see the same voiceactors in this anime as in the Tsubasa one. :3

    Bell~
  4. Yay, I loved this episode. It was cute and emotional, and I love the production quality. I also love Kobato’s singing-bits too~ XD I -so- want that song to be available for download somewhere.

    Neko-Saphira
  5. @yanipheonu: How is Syaoran a douche? *lol* I guess for the most part its right.

    @Omni:
    “looks like next week will feature Fai and white Mokona”
    Syaoran and Kurogane will be there too, they’re sitting in the other corner of the room right before what you have a screenshot on 🙂

    Sarukah
  6. @yanipheonu
    Angelic Layer, Tsubasa Chronicles, CardCaptor Sakura, Chobits and Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (especially Miyuki-chan in Wonderland) all prove your theory wrong, and those are just the ones I know. :/ Seems it’s going to be the case with Kobato, though. Doumoto… ;_;

    Anyway I agree this was a nice episode, I liked the animation for the song at the end, even if it kind of gave me a seizure.

    Ami
  7. I wonder if Show Spoiler ▼

    I dunno, theories are theories.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Irational Promise
  8. After that garbage episode last week, anything else would seem worlds better. However, they they actually give us a superb quality episode. The song was out of place but still as good as ever. Seeing this makes me wish that they stop doing shit like last week, the series would have been so much better & 100X less boring.

    Megas
  9. I myself think she is some sort of a bird spirit or some other animal. Its why she doesn’t take her hat off (feathers or floppy ears or some such is hidden under it). She wants to get to heaven or something and thats why she seems clueless about alot of things that a real girl would know.

    Splash
  10. I thought this was the best episode of the series so far. I think some of the earlier stand-alone stories matched the emotional level of this one, but the production quality was amazing.

    Just looking at the screen caps, you can see how colorful the backgrounds are. Several scenes of just walking through the snow, watching the Christmas lights through a haze in the air were worth rewinding the video. It isn’t shown here, but an early scene with Domoto walking Kobato home cut to several holiday decorations for a bit and it was great to watch. Then, there was final scene with the song, the lamps in the night, the illuminated snow, and the overall contrast of light and shadow…

    Kobato is far from my favorite overall, but it might be my favorite this week just for the visuals we got this episode.

    AuroraFlame
  11. hm since syaoran’s choice to never remain in one place (in contrast to watanuki’s choice of never leave one place) must be pure coincidence he landed in this world haha (with fai kurogane and mokona^^) hm they still need to cross over with cardcaptor sakura and they’ll probs completed the clamp everything crossover… love this episode tho. I kept on feeling sorry for Doumoto, he practically had ‘REJECTED’ stamped onto his forehead

    QnTiria
  12. kobato might be a below average CLAMP series but this really does prove that CLAMP-based anime improves greatly on the second half. Other examples include chobits and Tsubasa.

    For me though kobato. has been one of the most refreshing series ive watched in a while and this episode just proves that. Visuals were just top notch in this episode

    ahelo
  13. Whoa, first a crossover with xxxHolic, I guess a crossover with Tsubasa Chronicle is just a matter of time.

    @Alec, calling Hideki a retard may be a bit harsh. That adjective should only be applied to insensitive dicks like Makoto from School Days or Rin from Shuffle. Hideki is more on the clueless harem douche side. Not to mention Hideki manned up near the end of Chobits, so sort of redeems himself. (Plus being voiced by Sugita “Kyon” Tomokazu means he can’t be that bad. lol )

    @rufe, it’s probably just you, as I have no idea what you’re babbling about. Hanazawa Kana (Nadeko in Bakemonotagari, Zange-chan in Kannagi, and Suoh in Darker than Black 2) did a fine job voicing Kobato, though I would concede that her singing certainly needs improvement, but it’s bearable.

    @viral, I’m thinking the same thing. I can already imagine Fye winding up both Kurogane and Ioryogi, with both going ballistic at him with their amplified duplicated voices. XD

    Kinny Riddle
  14. @Irrational Promise
    your theory seems promising, i meant they even have the same hair color

    i’m really curious on how Kobato gonna fill up the bottle with konpeitou in such short period, if i’m not mistaken since episode 16, she didn’t collect a single yet, no wonder Ioryogi got so anxious and kept reminding her, though i’m on the side she will manage to do it….yay, Tsubasa on Kobato next week!

    treble89
  15. this is on a separate note, but i was kinda confused as to kiyokazu’s past. i remember back in ep 10
    https://randomc.net/2009/12/16/kobato-10/
    he was brought over to the orphanage probably around spring/summer time, since that’s usually when sunflowers bloom, it’s not until late march. i’m guessing, since i don’t really know much about botany.
    but then in this ep, it says that he became an orphan at christmas eve (dec), and sayaka’s dad took him in a soon after. the timetable’s a bit off, unless ‘soon after’ means 3 months after

    maki.

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