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Kobato – Final Review

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Kobato is one of those CLAMP animes where it starts off slow until towards the middle/end where it gets all complicated and they end simple. Kobato is one of them, a naive girl sent on a mission to fill a bottle with a stuffed dog named Ioryogi. To get konpieto, you have to heal people’s hearts. Since Kobato is still an ongoing manga series in a shouen magazine (yes, Kobato is a Shouen anime, not Shoujo), there are going to be filler episodes. Although they managed to pull it off, only a few episodes were mixed bags, especially Episode 21. Yes, that episode…

Down to the story, which like mentioned earlier, Kobato needs to fill this bottle to the top with konpieto to go to some place she wants to go. To do that, you need to fill the bottle, but sometimes she fails to do so because she does other things besides doing that. On top of it, there are loan sharks who want to close down the nursery, soKobato attempts to help the nursery while finishing her mission. At least the first half was about that. Second half seems to use original material including the decision of closing down the nursery, which irked me a bit since Sayaka actually liked that loan sharker all along… and yeah… The last two episodes screams Clannad and then a few years passed and stuff… Overall, the ending redeemed itself to be at least a good story, but with a good number of flaws.

Some have pointed out that the character designs are different than the manga. Kobato is stupid than naive and Fujimoto is a jerkass more than ever. I can’t recall how many times Kobato said “You are so mean” and “meanie” because of it and it’s moe as well, which is why it’s Shouen. Anyways, throughout the story, Kobato seems to mature alot and towards the end. Fujimoto tries to push her away until that very last moment in Episode 23 and it’s obvious who is Kobato’s love interest is… since it’s romance after all. Besides the main characters and the children at the daycare, as usual, CLAMP loves to make cameos in their works. These include characters from Chobits, Wish, and Tsubasa Chronicles. Yep, that hows it goes.

Madhouse seems to have done a really good job with the animation. No wonder… They animated several CLAMP productions and some notable recent productions such as Summer Wars. Music for the most part is good, although the new ED was only used for the last few episodes… ouch…

Overall, Kobato is a good watch, but has flaws as mentioned. Some people may complain about the slowness and then the complicated plot towards the end, but nevertheless, shouldn’t really write it off so quickly. What the content has shown in the anime pretty much shown that it’s somewhat rushed since it only had 24 episodes, but if it was a bit longer and there was more manga content to work with, I think it would have done a little better. Anyways, if you still want more after this, read the manga. I’m pretty sure that the manga ending is going to be different from the Anime since of length constraints and allow for a bit more in depth storytelling.

Final Grade

8.7/10, B+

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Kobato – Episode 24 Thoughts and Impressions (END)

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The ending overall is good and the last two episodes pretty much redeemed itself. In this episode focuses Fujimoto after the aftermath. His is depressed because of what happened, which made people wonder. Then, he comes home one day and finds a pink Konpieto fall out of somewhere and then using the picture, ask people where she is. The only one that knows her is of course, Kohaku. She explains about what happened to her. Few years later, Fujimoto works as a lawyer was told to go to this house and he does. He plays that very familiar song on the piano and the girl comes over and he does his thing, gives back the Konpieto he finds and have her sing that song. Soon after, something happened and that girl, well Kobato regains her memories and she runs over and hugs Fujimoto.

Overall, although the ending is cliched in some aspects, it’s really heartwarming ending. Sure the bunny has a obnoxious giggle, but it turns out well in the end and the first time ever we ever saw her hatless… Well, maybe because she was hiding that thing on her head before. Also, as you see in the credits, everyone grew up or gone on to do their jobs and also the daycare comes back, well in a different form.

Anyways, stay tuned for the final review… I have to go back and think about it before I start writing. :p

Overall Rating

8.7/10

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Kobato – Episode 23 Thoughts and Impressions

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As they all say, all good things come to the end. Kobato uses her remaining time to make Fujimoto happy by taking him to the park and stuff. They even went on a boat ride and Kobato couldn’t even row the boat correctly, which is the funny part. However the second part gets a hell alot more serious She says farewell to the landlord, Chitose and Kobato and Ioryogi leaves to the place where she first arrived. Fujimoto comes home and finds out that Kobato left and he looked everywhere to find him. After Kobato failing to fill the bottle, Fujimoto came and finds out that Kobato is actually dead all along and needed to fill the bottle so that she would reborn or revived in the world. After Fujimoto shattered the wall, the last Konpieto came, but after it filled, the contract cannot be changed and Kobato disappears along with Ushagi.

I swear, Ushagi is one mean bunny… or rather, nightmare fuel. I bet after the viewer saw what Ushagi did, well, I guess viewers are going to gain an irrational fear of bunnies now because they will giggle that makes you disappear in your dream and gold a freaking flower and do bad stuff. As Ioryogi said, you cannot change her fate at all… and that you are stuck what you have… unless you have a Deus ex machina. I think it was too late for Fujimoto to show his true feelings towards the end… and well, we don’t know how it will turn out until the next Episode… so stay tuned…

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Sora no Woto – Final Review

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Unoriginal and Uninspiring”

If you have the sense or feeling that modern anime are heading this way, I don’t think not. Yes, anime adapted from source material can be viewed by some as that following quote I have used in a editorial against Miyazaki’s views* on modern anime, but a effort to change this tend comes in from of TV Tokyo, Aniplex and A-1 Pictures, called the Animeno Chikara project, or The Strength of Anime is a project where they produce completely original Anime and broadcast it. The first project they done with the project is Sora no Woto. People when they first saw the first shots of it accused it being a copy of K-ON! and that it’s going to be a moeblob show since the characters looks vastly similar. That wasn’t the case at all when I was blown away by the first few episodes of Sora no Woto and I liked the story and the setting. Hardly any moe at all, besides that Episode 8.

With original productions, you are left with a clean slate of expectations. With adaptations, the viewers expect that it will be close to the original source material and when they find out that they changed or left something out or that the series has too many fillers, they will start complaining and drive their expectations down. I had no expectations when I first watch this production and it leave me a very good impression, allowing one to have an open mind. Original productions, you don’t know what will happen next or expect how well it is going to be until the next episode, which makes people eager to want the next episode soon. Also, they allow the producers to become more creative and original as opposed to adaptions, where you have to stick to the source material and you are pretty much limited on what new characters or plot you can put into the series without making the viewers angry.

Anyways, since I finished the introduction, first I’m going to focus on the story. The story is pretty deep and takes place in a town called Seize in Helvetia after the war have finished. This is where Kanata gets sent to and she has a very optimistic view about the future. As time goes on, we learn more about legends, past stories from various people and also Princess Iliya!!! The episodes that I felt that had a very good impact is Episode 3, where Kanata gets ill and we first hear “Amazing Grace”, Episode 5, where Noel, Kanata, Kureha goes onto the field trip and we are first introduced to No Man’s Land, Episode 6 is Misho’s story, Episode 7 with Filicia, getting over her loss of her friends and the first time we see Princess Iliya, Episode 9 with Klaus not disappointing Kureha by saving her and her keeping her faith in him and finally the last two episodes. “Amazing Grace” and legends are the most important and underlining of the story, which is shown throughout the season and time after time. However, with the seriousness, the happy and cheery ending theme ever gets so inappropriate that it becomes a mood whiplash, pretty much seen in Clannad After Story and Elfen Lied for examples as they used happy ending themes after a serious episode at the end of the episode. The story even after 12 episode seems that they could of gone a bit more in depth, but due to length constraints, they unable to do so which is fine… but if it was a little longer, I think the story can hold up even stronger. (Keep in mind, we are also getting 2 bonus episodes, possibly tie up loose ends.)

Music was pretty much good overall. Despite Kanata’s absolutely horrible playing in the beginning, but ended up turning out good when Amazing Grace was played in Episode 12 and it just sounded great. The opening theme, Hikarino Senritsu is really good considering how well it fits to the overall setting and story. However, even though I liked the ending theme, Girls, Be Ambitious, it became inappropriate several times after a serious scene happens towards the end and BAM! we are hit with a happy and go lucky tune… I would rather for them to use the other track, but oh well. For the background music, I have no opinion yet since the OST isn’t out yet, but I’m sure down the line, someone will review it.

Now for Characters. Yes, they look very similar to the characters from K-ON!, but I feel that they are different. Why? Kanata is not much of a moeblob and in contrast to Yui, I can’t picture that kind of behavior from her. Noel is the only character that has absolutely no relation to K-ON! (yep, they cut out Ritzu) and more like Nagato, but towards the end, she seems to have more emotion than the latter. Also, the voice acting for these characters are great… The only problems is character development, well mainly because of time constraints… I can’t complain much, but it’s worth saying they didn’t copy everything from K-ON! at all or if we did, well… who knows… From all those characters, I see Rio, Filicia and perhaps Kanata to be the strongest in terms of character development.

Overall, I think Sora no Woto is a outstanding series and I would recommend for those with a open mind. This is not K-ON! and Strike Witches smashed together, but I think with it’s strong setting, great storytelling and the eyecandy, I can say that Sora no Woto is a very interesting series that pretty much kept me watching. Hopefully, this production will encourage some more studios to start pumping out good and original Anime that can catch the viewer’s attention and keep it interesting so that it keeps the viewer watching. This pretty much proves that studios can produce original and inspiring anime if they work at it. They should use Sora no Woto as a model (but don’t copy the story/setting) and try to use the tactics used to create an original story that viewers will probably like.

Don’t say that I’m finished with Original Animes, the next one up is Angel Beats, which I will cover when it starts next week…

Final Score

9.04/10

Notes

*I’m no way against Miyazaki’s works at all, I think he did a good job in producing movies that I did in fact enjoyed, but I just don’t agree with any of his politics and his views on Anime

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Kobato – Episode 22 Thoughts and Impressions

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wpid-wpid-kobato-ep22-scr1.T2e2ce5t53M0-2010-03-20-21-02.jpg
Oh dear... you almost out of time.

Well, this is near the end of the journey of Kobato. In the beginning, we see Kobato as a child with dolls and someone looks vastly like Fujimoto. Well, this is obviously a happy dream that Kobato was having, but her chest hurts that indicate a feeling of love of some sort. As decided in Episode 21, we go more in depth on why Sayaka decides to close the nursery. She says it’s because Fujimoto seems to be too attached to that place, and now with the Nursery gone, Fujimoto still continues to work despite this because he is a perfectionist.

Fujimoto goes to the nursery for the last time and look at the organ and went back to work. Soon, all the belongings are hauled away and the former nursery children, Sayaka and Kobato watches the nursery being demolished. Meanwhile, Fujimoto was in a gaze and got into an accident while driving, making one of his arms unusable. Domoto was there with Kobato and while Fujimoto and Kobato walking, Fujimoto finally snaps and saying that all Kobato is doing is annoying her. This causes Kobato be upset. Ushagi-san then comes down from the sky giving a flower that indicates that Kobato only have until the next moon as Ioryogi said and if she fails to fill the bottle up, her fate will be sealed. He tries to beg for an extension, but Ushagi doesn’t allow it and leaves.

Overall, this episode was better than the last episode, although we know already the manga will definitely have a different ending compared to the Anime. Yes, some typical fetish fuel in a scene where Kobato and Ioryogi meets (and Kobato was, well… you know…). Also, the dream suggests something that Kobato desires (well, at least in the Anime), which is some type of relationship with Fujimoto. Anyways, we find out in the two part finale if Kobato succeeds or not… Stay tuned…
Verdict

8.7/10

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Fanservice and Nogizaka Haruka, What the hell happened?

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A while back in June 2009, I wrote a lengthy editorial on how fanservice can ruin the overall story of an anime. Well, this becomes a reality with Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu.

I have watch both seasons and the first season was far better besides a few panty shots is that they focused on the over lining purpose of the story. Yuuto and Haruka sweet romance and also her Otaku interest. However, the second season lost it’s purpose completely. Like Kimagure said on Melative, “sweetness replaced by pointless fanservice.” The second season of Nogizaka Haruka just proved what I have said in my editorial I wrote in June of 2009 that adding lots of fanservice makes the over lining story alot worse than it would without the fanservice. All I got from this is more pantyshots, boob groping and other stuff that shouldn’t be in the anime. If I want to watch a fanservice-oriented anime, I would of watched titles like Ladies vs Butlers, Kampfer or even Chu-Bra! I bet one minute that 90% of the fanservice seen in the second season is not in the Nogizaka Haruka light novels (yes, the Anime is adapted from the light novel…)

The problem with the route they taken is that it’s completely unnecessary and the story can do better without it, besides the other flaws besides fanservice. I felt that Diomedea is trying to use fanservice to try to attract more audience to the show, at the same time, alienating its viewers who liked the first season and be constantly let down by every episode. If there is ever a third season, Diomedea better shape up and not add the fanservice and bring it back to what the story is intended to be in the first place because viewers aren’t going to take this excessive, overdone and redundant fanservice and panty shots anymore. There are already enough fanservice laden titles out there already, Nogizaka Haruka is a series that doesn’t need to go down that path too. We already have other anime that does that.

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Kobato – Episode 17 – Thoughts and Impressions

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Can’t… resist… urge!

This is the second part of Mysterious Lifeform, in Ioryogi perspective. He goes to the “Sprit World” to obtain baumkuchen, his favorite food. On his way back, he gets hit by a soccer ball, on a sheet in midair, using his fire breath to avoid getting the box wet, be he fell into the pond, going into a dryer and also being a target of a shoot a object game. That is one rough and hilarious adventure he had.

After Kobato and Ioryogi met again, she returns to the bazaar and found out that her mysterious lifeform she stiched haven’t sold, but Domoto, the nice guy he is, buys one… and Ioryogi’s baumkuchen got sold, so he never got the chance to eat it and gave Kobato a -300 for her selling it.

Unlike the last few episodes, this one was really lighthearted. As you noticed, you saw cameos from XXXHolic and also Tsubasa Chronicle? Yes, there is a theme park named Mokona Land… it made me laugh because I instantly recognized it since I did watch a few episodes of Tsubasa with my sister a long time ago… It seems that Clamp sure love their cameos… or they are running out of ideas… One or the other… Anyways, it was good, but not as good as the last…

Verdict

8.6/10

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Spring 2010 Preview

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But it’s Winter! Why the hell you be posting a Spring 2010 Preview?! Well, because everyone else is. I will be covering two new spring shows and perhaps another old one after the Spring Semester ends… The picks are:

Thoughts: It’s been a year since a Key anime have aired (the last being Clannad After Story) and they are really good at story telling, although some may not agree. The surprise that KyoAni isn’t doing this. PA Works, which have done some rather good adaptations of True Tears and CANAAN… Heck, why not? From the looks from the trailer, the show looks very promising.

However, compared to earlier works, the characters are already dead. 😮

Thoughts: More of this stuff? Well, suck it haters… I will do it anyways because I have enjoyed the first season. Sure there is a lot of moe compared to other series, but it’s something just to enjoy. Besides, I liked the first season since brainless entertainment makes me relieve stress from my college work and who doesn’t like girls eating cake all day and play music?

Although, Sora no Woto so far is alot better at story telling than K-ON!… But then again, the main advantage of K-ON! is MOE!

Not to mention, they had to take the naming conventions from Hayate no Gotoku Second Season… They just added another explanation point at the end of K-ON! Makes sense, but they could of be more creative.

Older Series

I won’t start these series until May 2010 and by then, I will have the DVDs to start covering them.

Thoughts: I was looking at this anime for quite awhile… but when someone actually made a blog post on it, well… I’m convinced because Kampfer disappointed me and I felt like watching more trap animes… they are quite funny if you ask me, but I won’t start this until I obtain the DVDs for this series.

Compared to Bakatest’s Hideyoshi, it’s obvious that the main character obviously wasn’t forced into girls clothing…

Thoughts: I haven’t seen a mahou shoujo series for awhile since what have hit me. Somehow, this interested me since it had moe magical girls fighting whatever… Well, I find out when I actually start it in May/June.

Well, there you have it… Like with the Fall 2009 Season, this list is subject to change since one day, something can interest me and I decide to watch it. Up to date info can be seen at “Upcoming Anime” on the top of the blog.

All the info are pulled from Melative and WP plugin, melative-link.

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Sora no Woto – Midseason Review

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Sora no Woto was tainted by preview and people thinking that it’s a rehash of K-ON!, but in the military. However, when it first aired, the series proved to be more than just a moeblob series… Perhaps there is hardly any moe at all?

Well, they do alot… Rather than drinking tea and eating crumpets all day long, they go on field trips and checking safety device, checking for ghosts, finding lenses for the tank and the questionable dealing of bootlegged wine for goods or some dramatic moments like Kanata getting sick. Sora no Woto is a slice of life show more in the style of ARIA or perhaps Haibane Renmei instead of K-ON! where we have girls doing cutesy things like tripping over cords or acting childish.

The strongest point with Sora no Woto is that it doesn’t have any moe and more on serious plot like Misho’s story or Kanata getting sick. Although the story have some happy moments, it has alot of serious moments, which one can appreciate.

Another strong point is the art and music. The music perfectly fits in, especially with Hikari no Senritsu by Kalafina because of the theme of the song that sets the setting of the story. Also, it features other important music such as Amazing Grace (we know…) and others. The art is rather good, dispite the K-ON or Kannagi like art style. It’s background is appealing to the eye.. as they say.

However, “Hater’s gonna hate” no matter what (complete with animated GIF)… Just ignore them and watch it without comparing it to obviously moe shows like K-ON! You might just enjoy it.

Verdict

Rating so far: 8.88/10, B+

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