Kobato 01: In CLAMP I Trust (Kind Of…)
November 16th, 2009
Ever since I became an anime fan I knew that CLAMP was the bandwagon for me. Is it the pointy faces? The impossibly wide shoulders? Or is it the strange undercurrent of bisexuality in all of their works? I may never know, but one thing I do know is that CLAMP is a team of four super-genius women who know exactly how to catch my attention again and again.
CLAMP’s newest manga turned anime has once again achieved instant success in my heart due to overwhelming cute. You see this time, in the city of Townsville Tokyo, there is some girl who in the opening floated down from space…
This is the star of the show, Kobato Hanato herself. Note the wide-eyed innocence, the far-off blank stare and the cherry blossoms everywhere. Honestly the only way this could be cuter is to add a mascot.
Uh, not quite like that. This blue dog-like stuffed animal is Ioryogi – a somewhat mean spirited instructor for Kobato. Kobato is trying to fulfill her own wish by creating a flask and filling it with mended hearts. Unfortunately, she must past Ioryogi’s test before she can even have the flask. The test? Pass as a normal human for the entire day in the park using human common sense.
At least it’s normal for homeless people.
Her second test involves a woman who dropped her trash. Kobato must dispose of it correctly. The image above is horrifying and will haunt me in my dreams for nights to come.
Needless to say, she fails. Though Ioryogi seems to think she needs “human common sense” I’m getting the feeling any type of common sense will do. After enacting a scene from The Birds, Kobato is approached by some men who want to have a drink with her.
Kobato is sufficiently in awe of these possibly raping thugs.
No! It’s a trap Kobato! Use your alien common sense! (For those guessing along at home she does not actually use common sense in the next scene.)
Of course it’s the first episode so there’s no horrific rape scene as Syaoran-kun this guy comes to her rescue. He’s pretty angry in general and runs off too quickly to even leave us his name. I’m sure we’ll never see him…
…again. We learn that his name is Fujimoto-san and he’s very busy working a part time job at this food stand during the cherry blossom festival. His phone rings and he leaves quickly for an emergency at a nursery.
Beautiful scenic la-la land.
Meanwhile, Kobato is enjoying the cherry blossoms. When she sees a bunch of children who’ve lost their ball she throws it to them and I’m not sure what. It happens off screen but I assume she really stuck it to some guy.
Is there anyone in need of cute sir? It’s all I have left…
She apologizes to the owner of the shop and offers to help him because she’s mortally wounded someone.
Soon after a man asks her to put the ingredients in his hot pot and she freaks out. Apparently this is very stressful for Kobato even though I’ve done it many times myself and have never seen the difficulty in sliding food into a pot.
Let’s just say there was no common sense to be had.
Natto is so gross. Seriously.
And the thing she makes is so horrific that at least a half-dozen people gather to be grossed out by it. When consumed, it’s delicious much to everyone else’s surprise.
After her job is over, Kobato sees an old woman with a baby. This baby to crying at a volume so loud I had to mute my speakers for a minute.
Since the woman says the baby cries unless its mother sings for the first time all episode Kobato finally puts two and two together correctly and sings.
Somehow Fujimoto-san also hears her and is impressed and/or annoyed.
After she’s done everyone is overjoyed but not me. The song is plain and she struggles really badly on the high notes but yes, let’s all clap anyway because she’s the main character.
Going back to the park they started in Kobato is upset that Ioryogi decided she failed the day. He determines that the only thing she did that was okay was her singing as everything else was a mess.
Old woman comes to thank Kobato for her singing. Considering I think this is only a short while after the park incident I assume the old woman ditched the baby nearby since it’s nowhere to be seen.
Ioryogi decides that because the old woman thanked her that means Kobato should pass the test. I got excited for what I assumed was going to be a magical girl transformation….
And am totally disappointed with the fact that it’s just the flask Kobato wanted. The angry dog thing reminds her to fill the flask with mended hearts to get her wish.
Kobato loves it and hugs it and names it George.
END EPISODE 1.
Final Thoughts:
Opening: A familiar voice, Maaya Sakamoto sings the opening theme “Magic Number”. I can tell it’s not composed by Yoko Kanno though making it at best a 5 out of 10. It’s there. I probably won’t be listening to it again as Sakamoto’s voice is soothing but boring sometimes. The animation in the opening is minimal and forgettable as well.
Closing: The closing is about as interesting to watch (it’s just a bottle spinning around with credits) as the opening and reminded me very much of the Tsubasa 1st closing “Loop”. The song is called “Jellyfish’s Confession” and is sung by Megumi Nakajima who you may know from Macross Frontier as Ranka. The song is interesting lyrically and may need a second listen before I decide if I just like it or love it.
Overall: If you already liked the Kobato manga, you’ll probably like this show. The first episode was painstakingly slow but depending where it goes I could see myself really getting into it. The voice acting seemed pretty strong and the animation was clean. I found myself inadvertently smiling as Kobato did everything wrong. I can’t help but cheer for the idiot characters, I blame Sailor Moon and give it a solid 3 out of 5 stars.
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