Manga Discovery: Kobato

Kobato
by CLAMP
Hanato Kobato is a cute girl who has a mission: fill up a mysterious bottle she carries with her in order to grant her wish. For that mission, she's counting with Ioryogi's help, a little blue dog who seems very cute but who has a terrible foul mouth and bad manners. Now, Kobato-chan has to heal the people whose hearts are wounded. The only problem is that she doesn't really know how to do it. The more people/hearts she heals, the more her bottle fills itself. She only needs to take care to not fall in love with the person she's healing.
For what purpose Kobato needs to fill that bottle? Who sent her for this mission? Will she succeed? (CLAMP Lumierre)

I'm no CLAMP loyalist but I did love several CLAMP series, especially Gohou Drug and xxxHolic. When I've heard of this new series by CLAMP, it automatically made it in my to-read list. Much more when I've heard that its anime adaptation is going to be aired very soon. So I gave it a try...

Honestly, the first few chapters already gave me tons of headaches . . . also bored me to death. I could no longer how many times I have yelled the elading girl to die already.

Yeah, I hated it.

But for some miracle, I managed to read upto the most recent scanlated chapter.

I thought of giving it a chance. For some reason, though a CLAMP series usually gives me headaches, they're also pretty addicting. In other words, they have fanservice that appeal to me. Like with Tsubasa Reservoice Chronicle for instance; it is very VERY confusing and had a lot of WTF twists, but as I freakin' love the two Syaorans, Fai, etc. Damn it.

Kobato is also like that.

I'll start with my reasons on why I think it sucks, and I already have a lot to tell on the leading girl alone:

• This may be a little bias but . . . SHE'S A FREAKIN' SAKURA CLONE!!!! NOT TO MENTION SHE'S JUST SAKURA WITH LONGER HAIR!!!!!
• She's energetic but often late, very stupid and gullible, freakin' clumsy....yet damn lucky. She won't ever be in grave danger. NEVER! Something will always happen RIGHT ON TIME!
• When she says something dumb, it's drawn so cutely that readers will find it cute instead of lame. BUT SHE'S REALLY VERY LAME!!!! (Fine, maybe it depends on preferences . . . . but aarrrgghhh . . . I just hate her)
• She works hard . . . she tries her best . . . SO WE MUST ALWAYS SUPPORT HER, OKAY??? SHE IS SO SLOW IN IMPROVING SO WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR HER TO DO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL WHILE SHE WASTES TIME LOOKING CUTE AND ANGELIC!!!!
• Despite her faults, she is loved by everyone and even the bad guys will be interested in her. SHE IS OH SO PURE!!!!!
• When she is saddened, disappointed, or angry . . . .IT'S A BIG ISSUE!!! EVERYONE'S GOING TO BE WORRIED!!!!
• And when's she's relieved or happy, IT WILL COVER MAJORITY OF THE PAGE OR A SPREAD BECAUSE SHE WILL LOOK SO PRETTY AND OTHER CHARACTERS AROUND WILL BE STARING AT HER!!!!
• And oh, I almost forgot, have I mentioned that SHE ALSO SPARKLES????!!!!! WE HAVE TO EMPHASIZE HER LOVELINESS SO SHE HAS TO SPARKLE OR SHINE OR WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!
• And oh! Oh! When she sings, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL THAT EVERYONE WILL BE MYSTIFIED AND FEEL HAPPY BECAUSE IT'S OH SO WONDERFUL AND WHEN SHE SINGS IT'S MAGICAL THAT EVEN HEAVEN WILL REJOICE!!!!! Oh duuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh . . . . .
• Is she a freakin' lesbian that she only admires the prettiness of women??? I have nothing against lesbians; but characters that admire the prettiness of other women to waste screentime annoys me. Yes, they're pretty, SO STOP STARING BECAUSE YOU ARE THE PRETTIEST OF ALL WITH ALL THOSE SPREADS AND COLOR PAGES YOU HAVE!!!!!! (In other words, those pretty women deserve such pages instead of her, imho)
• Speaking of which, YOU SEE HER IN A LOT OF PAGES LOOKING VERY PRETTY!!!!!!!! I think 50% of the released chapters consist of her pretty face. SHE'S EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!! Oh gawd please don't let this be as popular as Cardcaptor Sakura . . . seeing that face in every freakin' CCS merchandise drove me insane!!!!
• We also get to know that Kobato doesn't have much money . . . nor does she have much stuff. THEN WHERE THE HELL DID SHE GET HER DIFFERENT SETS OF CLOTHES???? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE???!!! ....AH!!!! WE WANT THE MAIN GIRL TO WEAR DIFFERENT PRETTY CLOTHES EVEN IF IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!!
• I don't get why the exam arc had been implying that she might not be human because she's actually studying human traits . . . . BECAUSE THERE REALLY ISN'T ANYTHING SPECIAL OR ALIEN OR MAGICAL ABOUT HER AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Oh yeah, our leading girl isn't exactly a fighter. Even if her little sidekick is actually one, SHE WILL ALWAYS NEED SOMEONE TO RESCUE HER!!!! ALWAYS!!!! AND IT'S OFTEN THE LEADING GUY OF COURSE!!!!!!!!! AND SHE WILL STILL DO MORE THINGS TO HARM HERSELF BECAUSE SHE'S OH SO INNOCENT!!!!!!!!!
• And ah, she's also one of those kindhearted individuals who would want to help anyone even her enemies. She is too nice and easy to fool so it's no surprise if she ends up in trouble. BUT DON'T WORRY!!! WHATEVER DANGER SHE'LL BE IN, THERE"S SOMEONE TO PROTECT HER!!!! OR SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN FOR HER NOT TO GET HARMED!!!! AND SHE WILL CONTINUE BEING NICE BECAUSE IT'S HER NATURE AND IT'S A GOOD THING TO DO, EVEN IF SHE'S GIVING PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR HER TROUBLE!!!! SHE'S A FREAKIN' MARTYR THAT ALWAYS NEEDS SOMEONE TO WATCH OUT FOR HER!!!! ALWAYS!!! ALWAYS!!!! ALWAYS!!!!!!

Oh gawd I hate her. It pains me that CLAMP keeps on creating these kinds of characters. Maybe they can't help it because that's the majority's type? Sadly, I'm not part of the majority . . .

Well, my hatred to Kobato might have something to do with my hatred towards Sakura (of CCS, especially of TRC), but even if I ignore their similarities, I would really still hate Kobato. Guuuuhhh . . .. some of my reasons are biased but . . . . I can't help it. Kobato annoys the hell out of me. And yes, I have been sarcastic on some lines.

And oh please, though I despise Kobato a lot, it doesn't mean I hate the fans as well. I just hate the character, not the fans. I will not hate fans for such a stupid thing. It's just difference in tastes. So yeah, I'll bash the character and the series all I want, but I won't even think of bashing the fans (unless they're fan bashers)

Anyway, as for the series in general, honestly, it wasn't that great. The story was pretty interesting but overall it's boring. It had been somewhat like Nanatsuiro Drops, minus the magical girl transformation thing. The examinations are prety stupid by the way. Each mission had been all the same . . . and come on, Kobato got the highest mark (on the doing good deeds thing) from her singing? The hell . . . .

And the talking stuff toys in this series? They look stupid . . . especially that battle/duel/argument. Kero's and Spinel's from CCS had been more exciting.

The yakuza thing should be something frightening, right? The fighting stuff toys, even with their looks, still have dangerous superpowers, so they're pretty dangerous, right? But how come I don't feel threatened!!! I understand that it's PG but oh come on . . . . the villains from magical shoujo crap seem more threatening than the villains from here. Yeah, even the smiling bishie. He may seem creepy, but he hasn't really done anything . . . . that can kill or hurt someone badly.

And oh, if Kobato's a Sakura clone, then Fujimoto's a Syaoran clone (he's just Syaoran with long hair as well, also older). CLAMP ships Syaoran x Sakura and they should be together in no matter what dimension. Age difference doesn't matter either. Kobato shouldn't fall in love with the person she's healing, right? Well, making that happen will make the story interesting. And who else could be the most likely candidate other than the leading guy, who's been protecting her all this time? And oh, same with Syaoran x Sakura, Fujimoto also teases Kobato a lot . . . but also cares very much about her. Should I be surprised if one of them will finally realize their feelings eventually?

Overall, this series is so boring and it sucks. However, CLAMP has this magic that no matter how their series sucks, there's something in it that will make readers be interested to read more. In my case, though I hated this series, I'm very curious on the real forms of the stuff toys (they seem human form!!!! Supernatural bishies in CLAMP are hott!!!) and I kinda like Okiura and Fujimoto (bishie bias perhaps). I wish there'll be someone who'll just spoil me on the events that interest me in this series. I don't want to bother to read this in every release. Weekly headache isn't healthy!!!

Anyway, I believe the majority of CLAMP fans will certainly love this. So if you've loved a lot of CLAMP series, then you like their style, so extremely high chances of you liking this too. There' s a lot of prettiness, CLAMP always has gorgeous artwork, so if you just want some eyecandy. then this would be a nice read too. If you want some light shoujo with cuteness with a little magical/supernatural elements in a slice of life setting, then you may also appreciate this.

But if you're also bothered with the things that bothered me, then save yourself. But if you're also some masochist that will endure crap for the sake of fanservice, then let's suffer together.

READ: 16 chapters out of 16 scanlated chapters of an ongoing manga
VERDICT: I WANT TO DROP IT BECAUSE IT SUCKS . . . . but I've got some fan bias. Damn .
It's a CLAMP series and its anime is airing soon, so I thought of checking it out . . .
AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE CRAP!!! IT SUCKS DAMN IT!!!!!
ESPECIALLY THE LEADING GIRL!!!! I WANT TO KILL HER!!! NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!!
However, there's something in it that will keep me reading . . .darn my fan bias. Maybe I'll just spoil myself. I should look for some spoiler site or blog or something. Or . . .I hope someone in my friends list reads it and just spoil me on the parts that interest me.
YEAH I REALLY HATE IT BUT . . .DAMN!!!!!!
*ehem* but if you appreciate this kind of CLAMP series, and have loved a lot of their works, then you may like it. It has a lot of fans actually. If you read for the cuteness and fluffiness, go for it! Or mybe just read it because it's by CLAMP. There are a lot of possible reasons why the majority has appreciated this.Just . . . leave me out. Yeah, maybe I'm just weird.