Kobato episode 1
So, I just finished watching the first episode of the new CLAMP manga-based anime series, Kobato.
In short, it’s very cute. ;) The titular character is a cute girl with long brown hair. I didn’t understand enough to know exactly why she’s there, but I think it has something to do with trying to make people happy. Spoilers/episode synopsis after the jump.
***EPISODE SYNOPSIS***
(At least as far as I could understand from watching it.)
Here’s what I remember from watching the episode.
Kobato has arrived in our world and is discussing her mission with her blue animated stuffed dog. He gets angry and her and blasts her with a huge fireball, knocking her back and proceeds to lecture her more. I noticed that his fire seems more like forced (heated?) air than actual fire, as nothing seems to actually burn, it just seems to knock people over.
She explores around a bit and runs into some guys who offer to treat her to some tea (I believe). However, the stuffed dog is having none of this and blasts them with a fireball while their backs are turned. She’s saved from them beating her up by this stoic guy with a long ponytail.
We then see him at his part-time job, waiting tables at some kind of food stand in a park, I believe. He gets a phone call and has to run off for some kind of emergency. He runs past Kobato, who’s walking into the park to check it out.
Some kids are playing with a ball and it lands at her feet. She tries to throw it back and ends up throwing it behind her at the aforementioned stand, breaking some dishes. She profusely apologizes, then asks to help the proprietor to make up for it.
After waiting tables for a while, she’s asked to help make some kind of stew thing… I think it’s some kind of traditional dish or cooking style that I’m not familiar with. Anyway, furthering her cutely clumsy image, she ends up dumping a whole bunch of random stuff in there, including chocolate. Everyone thinks it’s going to be bad, but it actually ends up tasting pretty good.
She then runs across a crying infant in a stroller being tended by his/her grandmother. If I’m understanding the dialogue correctly, her mom was busy or something and couldn’t be there to take care of the child. To calm him/her down, Kobato sang a beautiful song. Her voice was truly beautiful. I hope we get to hear her sing again. ^^ A group of people heard her singing and carried her off with them after she finished.
Afterwards, it seems the animate plushie was grading her performance that day, seems those people gave her some sushi, as the plushie was munching on it while talking. In the middle of his tirade, the old grandma came upon Kobato and expressed her thanks for helping her that day.
After the woman left, Kobato learned that she passed and some kind of bottle materialized out of thin air. Not exactly sure what this bottle is or is for yet. ^^;; This bottle features in the ending theme, with a couple of what look like some kind starburst sugar candies bouncing around in it. The ending credits were fascinating, essentially being “written” on the bottle she got at the end of the episode. The bottle rotated around, new lines rotating into view and old ones rotating out of view.
***END SYNOPSIS***
Well, that was a bit long, and perhaps boring, but I wanted to write my understanding of the episode when it was still fresh in my mind. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch a subbed version to check my understanding soon. ^^;
[Image trimmed down from background image on Kobato's Official Site.]
