Final Impressions / First Impressions / Kobato.

Episode 23

Summary:

Ever since the nursery closed, Kobato has been sticking to Kiyokazu and trying to help him with whatever he needs. She even tries to get him to have some fun, but Kiyokazu just wants her to leave him alone. Ioryogi is more concerned about Kobato running out of time to gather konpeitou, but Kobato has made up her mind about what she wants. When Kiyokazu questions why she’s so concerned about him, she explains that he’s important to her. They return later to the apartment building, and Kobato receives a flower from the sky, so she tells Kiyokazu that she won’t be able to be with him the following day. He’s glad to hear this, but what he doesn’t realize is that it’s time for Kobato to leave. She departs the next day after saying goodbye to Chitose, and Kiyokazu doesn’t find out until he gets back home that evening.

At the park, Ushagi floats down, examines Kobato’s bottle, and shakes its head because the bottle isn’t full. Ioryogi’s pleas fall on deaf ears, but before Ushagi can use its powers on her, Kiyokazu comes running. Since Kobato can’t explain what’s going on to him, Ioryogi finally reveals himself and how Kobato is bound by a contract. He has Kobato remove her hat, showing the crown-like object on her head that signifies that she’s dead. Her soul doesn’t belong to any world, but because of the contract, she was given the chance to be reborn. Kobato, however, chose to spend her remaining time with Kiyokazu rather than to fill the bottle, thereby breaking the contract. Ushagi then reappears and casts a barrier around her, and Kobato explains that she now must disappear. She tells Kiyokazu that she was happy being by his side and reaffirms how important he was to her, and this causes him to tell her not to go. That in turn causes the barrier around her to shatter, and a giant konpeitou emerges from him, filling Kobato’s bottle. Since the contract is now fulfilled, Kobato has to go to that certain place, and she vanishes in front of Kiyokazu after saying goodbye.

Episode 24

Summary:

After Kobato disappears, Ushagi erases all traces of her from the world, including those in people’s memories. Kiyokazu thus forgets her, but certain things that should remind him of her, like her empty room, triggers something in his memory. Sometime after talking with Sayaka who has decided to restart the nursery, Kiyokazu returns home and finds a konpeitou that had been in his jacket pocket. Staring at it causes all of his memories of Kobato to return, and Kiyokazu doesn’t understand what’s going on. Nobody else he talks to remembers her, but he eventually thinks to visit Kohaku. Kohaku still retains her memories of Kobato, and she explains that Kobato lost her life a long time ago in an unfortunate incident. Kobato’s wish was to be reborn so that she could be at the side of the person she liked, and to get that wish granted, she undertook the konpeitou trial. Kohaku doesn’t know if Kobato reached where she wanted to go, but she does tell Kiyokazu about how she and Shuuichirou have been separated numerous times over the years, and each time he’s reborn, they are reunited even if he doesn’t remember his previous life because he still has the same soul.

With this in mind, Kiyokazu continues with his life for the next several years. He becomes a lawyer with a small firm and one day gets sent out on an inheritance assignment to the countryside. There he finds an empty house, and in one of the main rooms is a piano. Since he’s kept the konpeitou with him all this time, Kiyokazu decides to sit down and play Kobato’s song, and he recalls all the memories he has of her. After he’s done playing, he hears a girl in the distance singing the same song. That girl looks and sounds just like Kobato, and although she doesn’t recognize Kiyokazu, he remembers what Kohaku told him. Since she’s the client of this assignment, Kiyokazu goes over the inheritance stuff, but he also gives her the konpeitou and asks her to sing again. He plays the piano for her, and while she’s singing, she experiences fragments of her old memories. This tears to form in her eyes, and when a tear falls on the konpeitou, it activates in a bright flash. When the light clears, Kobato recalls how, if she met the person she wanted to be with again, she would smile this time. She then turns to Kiyokazu and shows him a tearful smile, and the two are reunite with an embrace.

Epilogue

Wow, this was without a doubt the two most emotional episodes out of the entire series. Episode 23 was built up around the fact that Kobato decided to stay with Kiyokazu instead of gathering konpeitou, and we finally learned the truth about her towards the end. It was the separation scene though that got me choked up a little. I never thought of Kiyokazu and Kobato as a great pairing because Kiyokazu was always so pissed off and uninterested (never mind the fact that he seemed so much older than her), however that changed when he finally showed how much he cared about her in that scene. I felt it was a little cheap that his konpeitou was so big that it filled the rest of her bottle, but in general I enjoyed the music and the emotion in that scene. They also made good use of Kohaku, and I noticed that through her they brought up the oft-used-in-CLAMP-series theme of hitsuzen.

Watching episode 24 right after felt a little weird at first because it seemed anticlimactic compared to what had happened in the previous episode, and plus it was following Kiyokazu’s point of view instead of Kobato’s. The first half was predictable for the most part, helped along by that konpeitou plot device, though I liked how they sort of paralleled Kohaku’s and Shuuichirou’s relationship with Kobato and Kiyokazu’s. It was nice to see the plot then jump a few years ahead for the second half so that we could see how Kiyokazu accomplished his goal of becoming a lawyer and how that led him to Kobato. I think the multiple versions of Kobato’s song really softened me up for the end of the episode, because unlike the previous episode where I only got a little choked up, I couldn’t help but shed a few tears when Kobato finally regained her memories and showed that she wanted to be with Kiyokazu all along. It was such a powerful scene emotionally, and the epilogue wrapped things up as perfectly as could have been expected. All of the shots in there were nice, but it was particularly sweet to see Ioryogi still watching over Kobato.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, these two episodes gave the series a much, much stronger finish than I ever would have imagined several months ago, and thinking about it now, I consider Kobato to be a worthwhile watch. I still feel that the show suffers from how episodic it was in the beginning and middle, and while there were some decent one-shots (episodes five and thirteen come to mind), things didn’t really become interesting until they left that format and worked on developing the main plot and relationship. If I were to recommend Kobato to someone – and after these two final episodes, I would recommend it if you like drama and romance or just CLAMP titles in general – I’d probably suggest the person skip some of those middle episodes that had no bearing on the final outcome.

Now I’m going to go listen to the soundtrack a few more times…

54 Comments

  4. Omni: Yeah but…FFXIII. >_>
    I’ve just now caught up on all my weekly anime, with episode 10 of Vampire Bund all that’s left. Ahh, the trials of following practically everything a season.

    PLH
    Reply

  11. Definitely marathoning it. I didn’t watch the series yet because I was waiting on your review, Omni. So now I’m going to put it on my iTouch and geek out. 8D Thanks for blogging this show! :}

    Le
    Reply

  12. I can’t help feeling the story is incomplete. What about Ioryogi-san? We never find out his complete back story or his future! T_T

    But besides that, it was wonderful to watch. We applauded her triumphants and laughed at her mistakes, it was fun.

    <3

    Elegant Destruction
    Reply

  13. Finally this trainwreck ended.

    Hopefully some day someone will animate Kobato manga FAITHFULLY.

    Well, thats another shitty adaptation of great CLAMP manga.

    Kobato, please line up behind X, trc and xxholic in the line of “waiting to be re-adapted”…

    UnknownVoice
    Reply

  14. A crown was under the hat? It was unexpected. I’m glad that CLAMP went of with the bang. Though, I noticed that anime adaptation of CLAMP works are better than the manga itself, but that was just my opinion (Angelic Layer, CCS, Chobits) except for xxxHolic of course.

    underMebius
    Reply

  15. @UnknownVoice: TRAINWRECK?? If this simple and easy to understand story is a trainwreck, then what does that make Tsubasa? Madhouse did a much better job adapting this than BeeTrain and Production IG ever did with Tsubasa. I come here wanting to share some of the good feel from the moving ending with you guys, and YOU have to come in and attempt to ruin it with your “trainwreck” bullshit. FFS, have some perspective and stop being a bitter manga purist and dismiss an adaptation completely just because it doesn’t follow the manga 100%! Not even FMA Brotherhood is exactly 100% manga-accurate.

    At last, Clamp has redeemed themselves with Kobato after Tsubasa got stuck in its own complex quagmire. The story may be cliched, but in the end, Clamp pulled it off by keeping things simple and easy to understand.

    Didn’t expect a crown. Thought she would have ears or even an angel halo. So a crown represents that her soul is in limbo until she accomplishes her task?

    Only pity is that we never get to see Ioryogi’s true human form, or that of his pals.

    If only 4 years have passed between Kobato disappearing and her reuniting with Kiyokazu, does that mean all this time that we’re watching Kobato, her future incarnation, who is 4 years younger, is already active in that remote village?

    Hanazawa Kana’s singing certainly improved a bit for Kobato’s theme song this episode. I grow ever more impressed by her voice acting.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  17. I’m rather disappointed with how things turned out. I mean, it was rather predictable considering how things had been going but I just really would’ve appreciated her “wish” to have been something…else. It’s a shame, since I was really attracted to the show’s premise in the first place.

    Thanks for all your hard work, Omni!!!!!

    anna
    Reply

  18. I’ve never been happier to finish a series. This was by far, the worst anime I’ve ever seen. I only finished it barely) because I hate dropping anything. I admit, I’m not their biggest fan. I personally believe they’re unbelievably overrated. Their cliche plots, typical CLAMP retarded heroines, typical CLAMP douche male lead, and recycled endings get old, fast. But that’s beside the point I’m trying to make! I personally think this was better than the manga. Still terrible, but better. As someone previously said, the anime adaptions for their work tend to be better, by a mile. I’ve never seen X/1999 though so I can’t speak for that one. Kobato should be an embarrassment to them.

    AS FOR THE ENDING OF KOBATO. I knew it. I guessed the entire ending. Kobato was basically WISH:THE SEQUEL. Ughhh…

    Steph.
    Reply

  21. It was a nice surprise the crown, she looked like a princess. I’m not completely happy that Kobato ended with Kiyokazu. He really was mean to her all the way thru. They did show how she fell for him and decided to forgo her collection just to be with him. Still if only he suffered more for her, it will do it for me. Oh love… just a mystery.
    I’ll miss this series and Kimi ni todoke. Two good romance stories that hook me up without any fan service just plain growing love. Comparing both to Nogizaka Haruka I have to say the difference is really huge.

    Island Esper
    Reply

  22. *left click hold, highlights kobato episodes 1-24* “ZERO HESITATION” *left clicks highlighted files, drags to recycle bin, drops. right click, “empty recycle bin?” YES!*

    *sighs* 24 eps, the hat comes off and guess what everybody!? it’s Hellboy’s little sister.
    if i were to suggest kobato to someone else i would do it while wearing an R Kelly Zoro mask and speaking through a voice modifier. that’s not particularly a diss…its just how i get down.

    later gators.

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

  27. The ending actually made me tear up a little. I’m happy the two got a happy ending.

    I would say Kobato is an okay anime, mainly because some episodes dragged on too long, but it shines in the very important episodes and it gave us this emotionally powerful ending. Also, the production quality is top notch with its gorgeous animation and art. All in all, Kobato has been an enjoyable watch for me and I’m wondering what CLAMP will throw at us next…

    akani
    Reply

  28. This anime was not very good. Granted I liked the ending and it was really sweet but the jounrey getting to that point was weak. There was so many episodes that were so unneccessary but oh well. They left alot of questions un answered like why did ioryogi start a war with God? what did he want? Who the person in kobato flashback? was it her father who just happened to look like fujimoto-san? Seriously where did she really want to go? Another complain that I have is the waste of okiura character. I thought he was the coolest character I have ever seen in terms of clamp. He could have been so much more (heck maybe a twisted love story with kobato) but I felt he was wasted in this series.

    All in all this anime was not the best this season but I did enjoy some episodes alittle bit. I love slow stories as much as anyone but if not probably executed it will fail. I’m afraid kobato falls under this category. Those who enjoyed all power to you. I’m just stating my opinion about I disliked about the whole series.

    Kyoko-han
    Reply

  29. For those haters out there, let me just make this clear (seriously, this has to be the third time I’m writing this out): for the most part, the anime uses about 25-45% of the manga and then goes into it’s own storyline. It’s not going to follow the manga since, what, 5 or something volumes are out? And besides the fact that it really is different than the manga (since it’s coming out in May, I suggest everyone read it). The anime seriously took a lot of liberty with the story, but I think they did a fairly good job of it (better than most CLAMP animes end up, anyway). And I also think they didn’t go into Kobato and the Spirit World characters because there’s only so much you can change and create in 24 episodes. While it would have been nice, the simple fact is is that none of that stuff is even in the manga yet. If even the official source doesn’t have it, I don’t think there’s a point in coming up with something totally different. Of course, the ending had to be created, but we all knew that one. But that being said, if you think the anime didn’t hold up well, read the manga. It’s a lot different from the anime.

    For everyone saying that Kiyokazu is an ass and had no real reason to love Kobato, remember, you can see the change in attitude that he has from around the halfway point on. And he only becomes an ass again when Kobato won’t stop trying to change the kindergartens fate, which probably made him mad since that was what he was trying to do all along (for how long, of course, we don’t really know) and failed. I’d be mad too. But it’s obvious that he loves her a lot, so its not really all that hard to see the change in character.

    ANYWAY, I’m throwing down the towel and saying that Kobato. is a good series overall. Sure, there’s the amount of filler you need to get through to get to the good parts, but I’ll say it again, CLAMP isn’t writing it, so it’s going to have the standard anime cliche’s in it until the important stuff goes down. I suggest just going with it till the end and you get a big reward. I don’t think its really WISH: The Sequel in that only small bits and pieces are used in it (the manga makes it more interesting and well done), and it was intended to be in the same universe (much like Chobits/Angelic Layer), so it’s not a big surprise. The ending was really heartwarming (probably CLAMP’s best Moment of Heartwarming since CCS) and I honestly did tear up at the last 10 minutes. Kobato. wasn’t perfect, but it was still a fairly good series that does deserve some credit.

    queenie
    Reply

  31. Well, after watching this series I think that its nice but also not really outstanding. I had some guesses here and there that Kiyokazu would be one of the people Kobato eventually heals, but its quite surprising that his konpeito had such a great significance, well if you ask me it would make some sense since she took like 1 year in order to heal Kiyokazu’s worries. And maybe konpeito from a lover has extra weightage. The ending was emotional, but yeah I’m still interesting in finding out more about Ioryogi’s past. After watching the anime I feel I should go read the manga too! Hope the manga is more interesting as people say. I should also go read up on Wish even though I read a sypnosis of the manga already and there’s some spoilers mentioned. Looking forward to yet another new season of anime!

    Tenkou
    Reply

  32. Well articulated, queenie. Sometimes Clamp can get too obsessed with so much of their own complexities that the story became rather confusing, as seen in X/1999 and Tsubasa. I thought Madhouse handled the ending of the X anime well, even though Clamp is still suffering from “development hell” for the manga.

    Besides, in case no one has noticed, no Clamp manga and anime are exactly identical, mainly because Clamp themselves requested it to be so. Ohkawa Nanase has always had a “hands on” approach when it comes to anime adaptations of Clamp’s works (except Bee-Train’s Tsubasa, her name is credited as producer in almost all other Clamp animes I’ve seen), so if you want to blame anyone, blame it on Clamp themselves. Or else you wouldn’t have wasted your money going to buy their “shit”. (Sly bastards they are. lol ) In fact, I’m now intrigued to go and read the Kobato manga.

    For those that thought Kiyokazu is an asshole, simply apply the term “tsundere” on him as you would on most other female tsunderes and you’ll instantly see him in a different light. 🙂 (Yes, male tsunderes DO exist. )

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  33. You know, I gotta say, in the middle of the series, Kobato really left me feeling sad. It wasn’t up to par as I hoped it would be.

    Having expressed that though, the ending is AMAZING. Just finished watching it, and I feel as if everything redeemed itself. No Anime follows the Manga completely, and I’m fine with that. This anime has a little bit of charm that makes it worth the watch. Plus, being a huge fan of Chobits, the extra bits of Chi make it THAT MUCH better.

    I’d recommend (and I do recommend) that this is a for sure watch. As Omni said, I would probably take out some of the middle that had nothing to do with the ending, but I would definitely say give this one a whirl.

    chingoo
    Reply

  34. @BROOKLYN Otaku, your comment made my day. I didn’t think anything even slightly related to Kobato would make me laugh. You, are my hero. I needed to let that be known…

    I can now, finally, put this nightmare, to rest

    Steph.
    Reply

  35. choked up in both episodes. I knew it would be worth it to stick to this show. Too bad it got awesome a bit too late cus other people dropped it already because of the lacking middle parts. All in all the ending redeemed the series and this is one series that i’ll never forget.

    Somehow the scene in episode 23 where kobato was in that circle tube and fujimoto was on the other side kinda reminded me of tsubasa.

    ahelo
    Reply

  36. It made me cry so much. Both episodes did. This was a really nice end, and parallels nearly exactly with the end of Wish.

    I felt so sorry for Fujimoto living several years being the only human to remember the girl he loved even existed.

    Satoida
    Reply

  37. the ending was nice and everything, but I would have proffered if she didnt have the deus ex machina part in the end where the curter Kobato remembered her previous life.

    i would have prefered if she was a reincarnation, just like shuichiro’s case. that would add abit more DRAMA to it… its not a happy ending, but its 100% better than the current ending.

    Alec
    Reply

  38. me, who didn’t even shed a single tear when jack died in titanic cried a little when Kobato left at the end of ep 23. CLAMP’s plots may be cliched, but its still beautiful. Except for Tsubasa. I can understand advanced calculus, but for the life of me i STILL don’t get what the hell happened 0_o

    QnTiria
    Reply

  40. i actually found kobato. to be very funny…i kept laughing at how naive she was, it was just so cute! so it wasn’t just romance and drama…it had comedic scenes (i love it everytime ioryogi breathes fire on DABATO! pawns lol)

    all in all, Kobato. is a great watch for anime enthusiasts esp. CLAMP enthusiasts…it’s really good…tugs you’re heart strings in all places

    Befuni
    Reply

  41. @Befuni

    anyone who has read CLAMP manga would HATE this anime 😉

    Its a total deconstruction of Kobato manga.

    Anyone who likes this and “claims to be a CLAMP fan” is a silly poser who knows nothing on how CLAMP girls work.

    UnknownVoice
    Reply

    1. Personally I’ve been a CLAMP fan for over 15 years now. I’ve faithfully followed all of their works and even sought info on the less known titles from their past, even their doujinshi. Derayd, Shoten, Cluster, Combination, 20 Menso ni Onegai, Shira-Hime Syou, Rex, Koi, CLAMP Campus Strange Phenomenon Society Case Files, etc.

      Do tell me if you believe yourself to be such a great CLAMP-fan. What series has been animated to the text?

      We wouldn’t had seen Hikaru fight Debonair.
      We wouldn’t had seen Sakura earn the Love Card.
      We wouldn’t had seen Kamui end up alone… or we wouldn’t had seen Fuuma surviving due to Kamui’s sacrifice.
      We wouldn’t had seen Misaki’s awesome fight against her mom.

      Forgive me. But if you didn’t like Kobato that is fine. But I find insulting you claim that anyone liking this adaptation is not really a CLAMP fan.

      I love CLAMP’s manga and anime. In the end I may end up liking one version more than the other… but overall this adaptation hasn’t dissapointed me.

      RyougaZell
      Reply

  45. I think it’s been summed up perfectly, but I issue my support for the statement that while certain middle episodes were less well executed, the ending of this series really boosted the quality incredibly. I managed to tear up during both episodes cursing the writers for making me such a sap. I’ve never been one to look too hard into CLAMP anime let alone manga, so I’m happily surprised that I enjoyed Kobato alot in the end.

    LongTimeLurker
    Reply

  47. I would have been angry if Kobato ended at the second last episode but luckily it pulled through~ Despite it being predictable, Kobato is actually ok, though I wouldn’t recommend it to people who are not into shoujo. I didn’t read the manga so I don’t object to the ending, though it would be interesting to see more background stuff on Ioryogi and his friends.

    Tala Grey
    Reply

  51. For anyone who called this a unique or original ending or story, this is basically a rehashing of A Chinese Ghost Story (look it up) Allthough i did enjoy this series for the most part, the ending felt rushed and left me a bit confused. Wasent Kobato reborn? If so hadent only 4 years passed (as someone states in the final episode somewhere) If so then shoudldent she only be 4? If it was more than 4 years (which would make sense seeing that the children in the daycare were in Jr. High)lets say more around 10, wouldent Kobato still only be 10ish. I didn’t really get emotional either. I’m sorry, was it not obvious that this one was going to end happily?

    Jayhoo89
    Reply

  53. i cried so much these two episodes.I thought that he lost her forever but when he found Kobato again and alive,i was so happy and i cried again with a smile on my face.It was so beautiful,so touching!!!!I really love it,best ever ^.^

    danielle
    Reply

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