(Quick note - I’ve seen a few episodes of the anime, but this review will focus exclusively on the first three instalments of the manga)
One important fact you should know about me - I totally adore Clamp! I love their artwork. I love their interesting stories and varied characters. I love how they show that love has no limits on age or gender (or species or whether you’re a robot). I love the whole little Clamp multiverse that they have created throughout their 20 years of creating manga. Chobits was the very first manga I ever bought and Cardcaptor Sakura remains my favourite anime ever.
The latest Clamp manga is Kobato, a shojo supernatural drama series. The premises is relatively simple - Kobato, a typical ditzy shojo heroine, must first learn enough about the human world to earn a magical bottle. Once she has the bottle, she must fill it to the brim with wounded hearts in order to go to an unnamed place which she longs to go to. She is aided in her quest by her guardian Ioryogi, a gruff, fire breathing spirit thing in the form of a cuddly little blue dog. Kobato eventually ends up working at a kindergarten run by the kind hearted Sayaka, who she senses has a wounded heart that she wants to heal. But she gradually learns the true extent of what is plaguing Sayaka and the kindergarten, and it may be too much for sweet, naïve Kobato to deal with.
Characters
I may have described Kobato as a ‘typical ditzy shojo heroine’ and yet she is still undeniably lovable, funny and just so heart-warmingly nice. The kind who stumbles through life not knowing a single thing, yet somehow makes it through with just a cheerful smile.
By far my favourite character is Ioryogi. On the surface he may appear to be the compulsory cute mascot, but within just a few pages of the manga, he is shooting fire from his mouth straight at Kobato! Scenes like these make for some of the funniest moments in the series. He is also quick to yell at or punish Kobato whenever she does anything to anger or annoy him. Which is a lot.
But even so, as you read on you sort of get the feeling that he’s the type of character who uses his harsh exterior to hide his good heart. You can tell that he’ll do anything to help Kobato with her mission and no matter how annoyed he gets, he never gives up on helping her.
He's not always this cute...
The two other main characters are Sayaka and Fujimoto. Sayaka is Kobato’s boss and owner of the kindergarten which serves as the main location of the manga. Fujimoto works part time at the kindergarten and is almost destined to be Kobato’s love interest.
Sayaka works hard to keep her kindergarten running and is kind to all the children in her care. She is also very trusting, as she gives Kobato a job very soon after meeting her. But these good qualities seem to have also caused her some troubles…
Fujimoto is a bit like Ioryogi - The jerk with a heart of gold. He takes an instant disliking to Kobato when he mistakes her for a….well…A prostitute….
He is one of very few people who Kobato doesn’t like and they fight like little children. But they also seem to be developing feelings for each other, so maybe it really is playground love. But to add to the soap opera even further, Fujimoto and Sayaka also seem to have a thing for each other and have a connection from their childhood. Is a love triangle in the works?
There are also some secondary characters, mostly cross over characters from other Clamp works. Any Clamp fan knows how obsessed they are with this. It’s getting nearly impossible to tell which ‘world’ is which!
There’s Chitose from Chobits, who once again acts as the landlady who knows a secret. The children of the kindergarten obviously show up a lot. Ioryogi’s ‘rival’ Ginsei occasionally shows up to have a cuddly toy scrap with him. Hiroshi Ueda and his bakery from Chobits also show up quite a few times.
The series is littered with Clamp character cameos (whoa, tongue twister!). Some of them work very well, such as Toya from Cardcaptor Sakura at one of his many part time jobs, but some of them feel a little forced to me. Like, why the hell is Misaki selling beer?! It is nice to go ‘oh hey look, it’s that character!’ but I get enough of that in Tsubasa. I’m reading this comic to see the new characters, not the old ones. Still, it doesn’t get in the way too much.
Story
Like all my favourite Clamp mangas, this series is filled with all sorts of mysteries and puzzles that hook you in and keep you guessing. Each one of the main cast has a mysterious back story that I am just itching to find out more about.
However, the first volume of the manga actually starts out very slow. The story starts with Kobato showing up clueless in the human world and having random adventures as she learns new things. She has a few near misses with Fujimoto and Sayaka, but nothing particularly important happens.
Yes Kobato, it’s nice that you can sing, but could we get back to the plot please?
It’s only in the very last chapter of volume one that Kobato has her bottle, moves into her apartment and gets her job at the kindergarten. It may have something to do with the fact that in it’s original Japanese run, the manga went on temporary hiatus and was restarted in a different magazine. I guess Clamp used this to revamp the story and make it more interesting. It does change dramatically and gets much grittier and more dramatic, yet doesn’t lose the charm that it had in the earlier chapters.
Visuals
I’m not an artist. I’m great at writing and filmmaking (apparently) but totally useless at drawing or paining. So I can’t give an in depth review of the art style like some reviewers would.
What I will say is that in the opinion of an untrained artist, it is gorgeous and beautiful. I think one of the many reasons that Clamp are so popular because their manga is just so great o look at. Everything from the backgrounds to the clothes. Oh the clothes! Did I mention the clothes? How different the world would be if Clamp were fashion designers!! As a girl, part of the fun of the manga comes from finding out what beautiful outfit Kobato will be showcasing next!
In general
Kobato reflects the things that Clamp are known for, yet is so unique in it’s own way.
My favourite thing about reading this manga is the mystery that surrounds it. In three whole volumes, there hasn’t even been a slight clue about who or what Kobato really is. Is she an angel? Is she a ghost? Is she a supernatural being? And what is the place that she needs to get to? Why is she always seen wearing a hat or something covering her head? And most important of all, if she is dirt poor, where does she keep getting all these beautiful elaborate outfits from?! Seriously, her room doesn’t even have a bed yet she is decked from top to toe in a new outfit every single day! *Mind boggles*
As the series goes on, there are more and more subtle hints about Kobato and the rest of the characters. But so far, they’ve just raised even more questions and made me even more desperate to read on.
One more thing I’ll mention. A few days after reading the first volume, Mary Poppins was on tv. As I was watching, I was amazed at how much it was reminding me about Kobato. A lady in elegant Victorian era clothing descends from the heavens to look after children. I wander if Clamp got their inspiration from old moves like this and The Sound of Music. Who knows…
Hi Mary Poppins. What are you doing here?
In summary, despite the slow start, Kobato has grown into a really fun and enjoyable series. It’s not the type of manga that will interest everyone, but fans of Clamp and lovers of shojo will certainly enjoy it. Oh, and Fujimoto is very bishi. Did I forget to mention that?
My score for this manga: 9/10
Phew, tired now! Time for me to go back to bed…
But I have a whole lot of other books, mangas and dvd’s I want to talk about, so I won’t be gone for too long!
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