Kobato, Volume 1 Book

Review for the complete series



Kobato has a wish. To have her wish granted, she needs to heal wounded hearts - unfortunately, she doesn't know all that much about the world around her. With the help of Ioryogi - a soft toy dog - Kobato goes on a mission to better understand how the world and the people in it work and always hoping she might heal someone.

Firstly, Kobato is adorable. I absolutely love her design and all her outfits - I'd read this series just for that! But she's also got a very loveable personality. Granted, naive and ditzy characters can get on my nerves, but Kobato is written well; she's such a ray of sunshine and her cluelessness is explained by the plot.

In general, Kobato. is a sweet and fluffy series, there's really very little evil in it - even the villains aren't exactly bad guys. It was a little hard to get into at with how episodic it was; Kobato stumbled from one scenario into the next of trying to understand the world - by that I mean things like how to behave on Christmas or Valentine's Day. Once Kobato ends up as an assistant in a nursery, the plot gains substance and direction.

Although this series can be read by itself, I think those familiar with other CLAMP works can appreciate it more; there are many cameos of other CLAMP figures, in fact, a lot more than any other CLAMP work (Tsubasa not included as that one brings together almost all works). Some of the cameos are very brief but there's just something very satisfying seeing all these characters. Knowing these characters' stories definitely makes their part in Kobato. more meaningful.

The art, of course, is beautiful - I'm tempted to say this is actually one of my favourites among CLAMP's styles. That being said, it does use the long-limbed proportions which were quite prominent in Tsubasa. These unnaturally long limbs never sat quite right with me, so it's actually saying something that I would still consider this one of my favourite styles despite the odd proportions.

Kobato. is a light and endearing read. It's nothing mindblowing, but it doesn't need to be. I'd dearly recommend it to people who generally like CLAMP and their characters, but it can be a nice little read for newcomers as well.