KOBATO

As of now having finished the series, I can say that while Kobato definitely started out strong, just like CLAMP's other recent series, it had a rather lackluster ending. It was rushed, poorly developed, and by the time the scene everyone had been waiting for arrived, there was barely any emotional investment left in it. The beginning of Kobato was absolutely adorable, and the most of the middle was fun to read. However, once a so-called plot was attempted, things began to gall apart... as it has been recently with CLAMP. The ending was just a poor wrap-up with a deus ex machina thrown in. However, while the later parts by itself deserve a 6 or lower, I enjoyed the beginning parts quite a lot.

Which is to say, the beginning's great, the middle's pretty good, and by the end it's just a trainwreck.

First off I've read all the released chapter which would be Drop. 23d. (Which I've counted all the chapters to be about 39 if they are published by real chapters like in Yen Press so that is why it says I've read 39 chapters.) Kobato. has not ended yet, though and is released monthly. Now for the review.

O.k. I will say that when I first heard of Kobato. I didn't think it would be all that great. I was looking at works by CLAMP, who I enjoy a lot of manga from and when I got to Kobato. I thought it just looked stupid. Still if you are desperate to read some new manga, like I was, you will try anything (except yaoi or yuri), so I gave it a shot and now it is my 2nd favorite manga. I mean I LOVE it! I didn't look like much at first but the farther you read into it the better it gets. Trust me!

10/10 Storyline: Kobato Hanato is a sweet, cheery, but naive girl with a mission: fill up a mysterious "bottle" she carries with her all the time. There's a place Kobato wants to go, and she can only go there once the "bottle" is completely full. In order to fill her "bottle", she needs to find people with hurts and heal their hearts. The more people she heals the more hearts there are in the" bottle". However, there is a restriction: she can't fall in love with anyone she heals the heart of. Accompanying Kobato on her mission is Ioryogi, a foul-mouthed talking blue dog plushie who has his own reasons for helping her get her wish granted. Now I must say that following them on their quest makes for a great read. It's has the comedic times, the dramatic times, the mysterious times, and the all-around enjoyable times, which is why it really caught me! Kobato.'s story has a little bit of everything in it making it outstanding! Hopefully the ending will be as great as the story so far as been.

10/10 Artwork: It's CLAMP! What more can I say? I mean all their art is fantastic so Kobato.'s rocks as well.

9/10 Characters: Now as for the characters you've got the sweet, naïve Kobato who can be a bit stupid with her misunderstandings but you come to love her because of her caring nature and her determination and you really want to see her succeed. Then you have the bad mouthed, harsh, and mysterious Ioryogi. Although he can be mean to our lead character, he truly cares about her. His past is also kinda mysterious and you wonder why he helps Kobato. Then you have Sayaka who is like a motherly figure to everyone. She can put on a good show to hide her hurts but she can't get past Kobato or Fujimoto either. As for Fujimoto he can be very gruff and grouchy to everyone but really he cares. He picks on Kobato a lot and seems to not trust her. He will do anything to help Sayaka with the Kindergarten and he too seems to have hurts. As you read on new characters appear and some surprising things about our 4 main characters are revealed, which is what I think makes the story even more interesting.

10/10 Enjoyment: I enjoy Kobato. a whole lot, especially as the story progresses. If you like CLAMP works then you will enjoy Kobato. Or if you just like a great story then you will enjoy Kobato. too. The only thing I don't enjoy CLAMP releases the chapters too slowly!

10/10 Overall: Although at first glance I thought it wasn't much, it really captured me when I first read (and I'm still reading it). Everything about it makes it a wonderful manga that anyone will enjoy. So if you are ever sitting their bored wanting a new manga to read, like I was that one faithful day, then go look for Koabto. I'm sure you will fall in love with it too!

Please note that I haven't finished reading "Kobato" yet, because it is still in the process of publishing.

Kobato is one of those mangas that makes you smile. And I don't mean just any smile; the kind of smile that comes from seeing acts of kindness (and cuteness) that only our heroin, Kobato Hanato, could create.


Story:

Kobato Hanato is a mysterious girl who's mission is to fill up a bottle in order to grant her wish. The only problem is, the bottle can only be filled when she heals wounded hearts. With the help of her strange and foul-mouthed friend, a stuffed dog like thing name Ioryogi, she ventures off into a strange world that she doesn't seem to be familiar with.
I don't want to ruin anything for you, but I will tell you that the story raises a lot of questions. It does a good job of getting your interest at the beginning, and doesn't let up as it gets more in depth with the characters and Kobato herself.

Art:
It's CLAMP. So if you've read any of their mangas before, you know it's going to be just as lovely as the rest. Kobato is beautiful (and somewhat reminiscent of a long-haired Sakura) and Ioryogi somehow manages to be cute and scary all at the same time. As far as the art goes...this is another masterpiece.

Characters:
Kobato is perhaps the most lovable character I've come across in a long while. She's kind, ditzy, adorable, and strong. I find myself wanting to go and help someone after every chapter that I read. I also love how they manage to add some mystery behind what Ioryogi is and where he comes from. The character development is fantastic in general.
(P.S: be on the look out for characters for other CLAMP classic characters that make guest appearances)

Enjoyment/Overall:
In two words, to total it all up, I would describe it as "Heartwarming, and Mysterious." CLAMP manages to make Kobato's wounded heart healing interesting by adding in several major questions along the way. And I never find myself doubting that the story will reach a dead-end.
I highly recommend that if you are a fan of CLAMP, you should check this one out.
Thanks for reading!

This manga is the most amazing piece of artwork from CLAMP. The story is nice, the characters have a personality you can look into and have a mutual understanding. It was such a great manga that I was so happy with the ending. I could even later on through the story, understand the non-protagonist characters and the bad guys too. I have enjoyed Tsubasa, Chobits, and other works from CLAMP. But Kobato is one graphic novel that I have been enjoying even after all this time.

Spoiler: the ending chapter with little Kobato was just so cute! Seeing how she was reincarnated and how she got to meet her love (won't insert too many spoils) again made me smile with joy. And the bunny (supporter) at the end and some point throughout the story was such a cutie. I wish I could get a plushie of him in my room.

Spoiler free review! I've read the complete series of Kobato and I think it's one of CLAMP's best works. Heartwarming, entertaining, and a solid story. It starts off enjoyable but leaving you in the dark - a typical style from CLAMP to keep you guessing. It'll wrap up nice and neatly in the end, though. I'd highly recommend it to anyone. If you're a fan of CLAMP and haven't picked this one up yet - treat yourself to it!

Art style: CLAMP really shines in this area! If you're looking for eye candy, this is a good series for you.

Characters: Silly and lovable, mysterious and entertaining, short fused but big at heart, bittersweet and strong...there isn't a character I don't love in here.

Overall enjoyment is a 10/10 - No complaints from me! This one has earned a permanent place on my shelf.

This manga is by far the most fantastic , inspiring , wonderful , magical , amazing , and most funny story I have ever read by Clamp. This whole series threw me for a loop when I first read it. At first I was kind of weirded out because I saw a talking dog who breaths fire and everything but soon fell in complete love with this manga.

The art in this manga is outstanding , it completely inspires me to make my own manga and it helps me with ideas too. And just how the art is done in this manga is cute , detailed , beautiful , and outstanding. I can tell that they took their time with the drawings for the manga and the backgrounds with it. The backgrounds are like what you'd find in town which is something I really like and then when they start talking about things that deal with magic or another world suddenly see the background in some sort of mythical style or something on the lines with that. They fit in the backgrounds really well with the characters and how they are talking about things. And then how they gave the characters a unique style is really great too. Sure I've heard some people say that Fujimoto looks like Syoran from Tsubasa but personally , I really don't see it. But all in all , the art in this manga is completely amazing.

The characters in this story are amazing as well. You have a girl who got sent down to earth on a mission that was given to her by God and has someone there to help her complete her wish but also teaching her new things because she has no idea how to do things in the human world and the person watching her is being forced too because he is going under a punishment by god since he started a war because he wanted something so badly he decided to start the war. And then you got the characters that are on earth , a guy who is really super grouchy and doesn't trust anyone other than people he really knows but slowly is starting to develop feelings for the main character even if he doesn't realize it himself , and then you got the woman who is in charge of the nursery who is fighting with all her power to keep the nursery up and not shut down even if it's going to make her sick or exhausted , then you have the man trying to shut down the nursery who is her ex-husband and is a complete mystery and actually very amusing. But then you have the spirit people also going under punishment do to the war that was started by Ioryogi and they completely hold a grudge against him ( well at least some do not all ) and still they help him out. Then you have the angel Kohaku that makes a sudden appearance in the manga and anime and seems to know about some things going on but keeping it to herself.

This manga , is completely enjoyable. If you are someone like me , you will always be on the edge of your seat basically screaming in frustration and wanting to go rage at Clamp when you have to wait for an update for the manga because you really REALLY want to know what happens next. This manga will have you on the edge of your seat A LOT.

Overall , this manga totally deserves a big fat 10. It has a great plot , great art , great characters , and 100 % enjoyable and will just simply suck you into it and you will start loving it completely.

Hanato Kobato is a girl who is accompanied by a hot tempered little dog named Ioryogi-san. Her job is to fill a bottle with "fragments" of healed hearts from people she helps. Once the bottle is full she can have her wish granted (no one knows what it is yet). Soon, she runs into a woman named Sayaka and a man named Fujimoto who both run Yomogi nursery. Kobato soon realizes that Yomogi nursery may be in danger but continues her mission with the bottle. No one quite knows who she is or where she came from, but there are suspicions that she may be an angel because of the recent Wish crossover...
Kobato will not be released in english but there are three volumes currently available in japanese (the fourth volume will be released on Dec. 26 of this year). I think CLAMP may have another big crossover in store for us with kobato(like tsubasa to holic) as the series continues. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a CLAMP fanatic!!!