Kobato episode 3 and 4

The closest CLAMP series to have this much crossover on Kobato is CLAMP in Wonderland. The only reason why Kobato fails to even the odds with CLAMP in Wonderland is that the crossover I’ve noticed in these two episodes are those from Chobits only. No Cardcaptor Sakura (though Kohaku’s summon had a similar effect to Sakura’s transformation). Adding to this pleasantry is the fact that several scenes from these episodes are familiar to me as I’ve read them from its monthly publication in NewType. Yeah, I had a few “I’ve seen this before” moments. Now with Kohaku into the picture, Kobato is getting a bit more interesting. More after the jump.

Episode 3 synopsis: It’s raining and Kobato is still on her mission to collect more Konpeito. Having only the playground as a place for her to stay, Sayaka who happened to pass by offered to bring Kobato to an apartment where she will be staying. She was introduced to the landlady, Mihara Chitose, who is Sayaka’s friend. This is the same Chitose from Chobits who is also an apartment landlady. Not having carried much luggage, it was a swift move-in for Kobato into the apartment. All the excitement of the new apartment made her forgot about her new job at the nursery. She quickly left for the nursery and bumped into Mutsumi before continued her way to the nursery. At the nursery, Fujimoto reminded Sayaka about how often she was betrayed by the people she being nice with and warned her to be careful. The next day, Kobato set off without an umbrella because it did not but turned out otherwise. She took shelter at a bakery shop where the owner, Ueda Hiroyasu, offered his umbrella to lend. Ueda is also another crossover in this episode, also from Chobits. Kobato then stopped by a convenience store to find people whose hearts need healing. Because she left the umbrella outside for quite some time, the umbrella she borrowed from Ueda was taken away. Fortunate for her, Mutsumi was at the store as well and she lend her umbrella to her. There, Mutsumi met with Katsuragi and followed him back home.

The next morning, it was sunny and Kobato went to Matsumi’s school to return her umbrella. However because of this, she was late to be at the nursery. Expectedly, Fujimoto was not too happy about it. After work, it was raining again and Sayaka suggested that Fujimoto should share his umbrella with Fujimoto. He however declined to this and was willing to let Kobato have the umbrella instead. So she took the umbrella and went to the convenience store, probably for the same reason as before. Again, she ran into Mutsumi there and she offered her some food that she bought. As she was about to leave, Mutsumi saw Katsuragi with another girl. She was upset to see this and ran away. Kobato returned to the apartment and felt concerned about Mutsumi when Chitose’s daughter, Chiho and Chise, brought her a bed sheet. It’s impossible not to notice Chi seeing the faces of these sisters. The next day, Kobato decided to cheer Mutsumi up and went to the school to find Kasturagi. The two went to a park to talk it over and Mutsumi saw them together. The three went on to talk about what happened yesterday and suddenly, it rained. Kobato offered her umbrella to Katsuragi for him to share with Mutsumi. He did exactly that and added that he is not going out with girl he was with yesterday. It was a good ending for them both and because of this, Kobato earned her second Konpeito. As she walks back, Kohaku who is walking with Shuichiro on the other side felt Kobato nearby.

Episode 4 synopsis: Feeling happy about her second Konpeito, she was not bothered of how long of the time needed to fill her flask with Konpeito. As she walks outside, she met Kohaku who is crying. It turns out that this is the same Kohaku who Ioryogi mentioned before. Like Kobato, Kohaku is also from Heaven and is familiar with Iorogi, a creature similar to Ioryogi. Kobato went on to her usual routine and wondered why Kohaku cried earlier. She then decided to ask her personally the next day. Not surprising, she got up late but barely caught up with Kohaku who is with Shuichiro at that time. Ioryogi advised Kobato not to barge into the two; not wanting to make her the third wheel. Eventually, they reached a huge house where Kohaku stays. As Shuichiro left the house, Kobato came in and saw Kohaku using her magical power to water the garden. In the process however, it got both Kobato and Shuichiro soaked wet. Moments after, Kobato asked Kohaku about the reason why she cried and her feelings for Shuichiro. Kohaku could not pinpoint her feelings exactly but described everything a person falling in love would feel. Credits to Ioryogi to point it out for them. This gave Kobato to bring those two together for a date at the amusement park. When she checked out about amusement parks, she realized that she could afford to buy the tickets for them.

It was then when she stumbled upon a lucky draw that offered a prize of amusement park tickets. She did not quality to join the lucky draw as she does not have a ticket for the draw. Walking back disappointed, she noticed an unused ticket on a garbage bag and used it for the lucky draw. She managed to win a prize out of the lucky draw but won an alligator plushie instead. Afterwards, she bumped into Fujimoto who is delivering newspapers. It turns out that Fujimoto have the tickets to the amusement park and he reluctantly agreed to give her the tickets in exchange for her delivering some of the newspapers. She brought the tickets to Kohaku but she refused to accept them, saying that Shuichiro won’t have the time for it and not wanting to be selfish about it. Suddenly, Shuichiro walked in and asked Kobato for the tickets. In a way, he agreed to bring Kohaku out for a date. So they both have fun at the amusement park while Kobato and Ioryogi watched from outside. That is when Usagi-san, a messenger from Heaven, appeared before them, bringing the message that Kobato has a time limit of one year to fill her flask with heart fragments. Returned home, Ioryogi reminded Kobato of the urgency of the situation she currently have of which Kobato promised to do her best.

Thoughts: I was aware of the crossover before I began watching Kobato. Apparently, this has something to do with the Tsubasa theory whereby characters exist in other dimensions though they won’t have the same role on each dimension. This is probably why only Kobato has this crossover since it’s newer compared to other CLAMP series. You can read more of the crossover in its Wikipedia entry. I still could get over the image of Chitose’s daughters who have a striking resemblance of Chi. Striking resemblance might be an understatement; they’re practically carbon copies of Chi! Not to mention their names, Chiho and Chise, are blatant to this crossover. And there are more crossovers in the coming episodes. Putting crossovers aside, I think Ioryogi is using his fire breathe on Kobato way too much. It’s on every episode, for crying out loud! But that’s pretty much what he’s able to do in the story anyway, besides from being a stuffed animal. And a cute one at it.

From episode 4, Kobato and Kohaku discovered a new feeling call love. This is significant in the plot, considering that there’s a possible match-up of Kobato with Fujimoto. I mean, these girls are basically strangers in a strange land who do not have the common sense a human would have, what more human emotions. We know how Kohaku struggled to figure out her feelings for Shuichiro, it sure will be interesting how Kobato would take it as the story progresses. Having mentioned about Kohaku, she seems to be able to use her magical powers but not Kobato. We have yet to see her doing an hocus-pocus or perhaps she can’t use her powers just yet. Also, something’s up with Fujimoto. He’s taking a lot of part-time jobs: waitstaff at a food stall, teacher at a nursery, and newspaper deliveryman. I know it’s a common practice among urban youths, especially in a big city like Tokyo, but taking 3 jobs at a time is an overkill. I guess we’ll have to wait to figure out the answer for that one.

Episode 3 screencaps:

Episode 4 screencaps: