Kobato.

"Ashita kuru hi.."

Kobato. こばと。 is a 24 episodes anime based from a manga series with the same title created by a female mangaka group CLAMP. Kobato. was serialized in Monthly Sunday Gene-X (2005), then entered a hiatus before the publisher changed to Newtype (2006 - present).

It tells a journey of a mysterious yet sweet and perky girl, Hanato Kobato with her companion Ioryogi, a blue stuffed dog who is not what he appears to be (Ioryogi can talk, walk, and usually criticizes Kobato) to the modern world in spring.

She has a mission to search a flask, fill it with colorful confeitos magically gained from healing people's broken hearts within a year in order to fulfill her wish to go somewhere. However, with her innocence, kind heart and clumsiness in this rough world, can she complete her task?

Together with the landlady Mihara Chitose, an owner of a kindergarten Okiura Sayaka, a friend named Kohaku, and a grumpy yet handsome neighbor Kiyokazu Fujimoto, she learns a lot, also experiences many memorable events that may influence her life and her decision.

Kobato. is a magical, beautiful anime with light humour about romance and life that everyone can enjoy. It has unique, unpredictable storyline and lovable characters. In addition, the background is drawn prettily and charming, complimented with lovely opening, endings, insert songs and original soundtrack.

Pros and cons

(+) Unique storyline

(+) Gorgeous background with nice, charming colors

(+) Nice and fitting soundtrack

(-) Sometimes it's too melodramatic (for me)

(-) A bit slow pace

(-) Contains crossovers from another CLAMP anime, might be confusing for people who recently touch CLAMP's works

Story = 3.5/5

Artwork = 4.5/5

Animation and Color = 4.5/5

Character development = 3/5

Soundtrack = 4/5

Overall = 4/5

Genre = fantasy, drama, romance, slice of life, comedy

Demographic = shoujo

Original creator = CLAMP

Director = Mitsuyuki Masuhara

Seiyuu = Kana Hanazawa (Kobato), Tetsu Inada (Ioryogi), Tomoaki Maeno (Fujimoto), Fumiko Orikasa (Sayaka), and others

Kekkaishi

"Hoi

方囲

! Jouso

定礎

! Ketsu

結

! Metsu

滅

! Tenketsu

天穴

!!"

Kekkai means "barrier". So, Kekkaishi 結界師, literally means "Barrier Master".

Kekkaishi is a manga series created by Yellow Tanabe. It is serialized in Japan by Shogakukan in Shonen Sunday Magazine. The series received the 2007 Shogakukan Manga Award for Shonen category. It was adapted as a fifty-two episode anime series by Sunrise.

The series is about a middle-schooler Sumimura

Yoshimori

and his childhood friend as well as his neighbour, the high-schooler Yukimura

Tokine

, legitimate heirs of kekkai (barrier magic) users.

Since young, they were given a task to

defend their school from the spirits drawn to the sacred land upon which it is built, Karasumori.

Little Yoshimori felt it was hard to learn the techniques and was a lame kekkai user. At first he refused to continue this family task, but he did it anyway because he bears the sign of legitimate heir of the kekkai technique on his palm. Different with Tokine, she did her work out of pride. These two always work together, competing, and help each other even though their families are rivals.

Later, a tragic event happened caused by yokai (evil spirit). Because of Yoshimori's mistake, Tokine got injured. Yoshimori felt guilty for her injury. Motivated to

protect her from harm, he

continues practicing to get stronger.

Can Yoshimori be a great kekkaishi? Catch his adventure here

Kekkaishi is a kind of exorcist series, as it involves yokai and spirits, but is presented in more fun and hilarious way. I love the main protagonists! The yokai are cool as well. The story is flowing and simple with entertaining action. This anime also has moral story: be a good friend, to keep fighting for justice and kindness. All in all, Kekkaishi is a good anime to watch.

(+) Strong characters' personality

(+) Simple yet good character design

(+) Cool, entertaining actions and techniques

(+) Nice and fitting background sound track

(-) The story is quite mainstream

(-) Unexpected ending

In numbers,

Story = 3.5 / 5

Artwork = 4 / 5

Animation and Color = 3.5 / 5

Character development = 4 / 5

Soundtrack = 4 / 5

Overall = 4 / 5

Genre = action, fantasy, supernatural, comedy, romance

Demographic = shonen

Original creator = Yellow Tanabe

Director = Kenji Kodama

Seiyuu = Hiroyuki Yoshino (Yoshimori), Rie Saitou (Tokine), for full list see here