I recently rewatched episode 23 of Kobato (which I think is the masterpiece of the series) before it expired on AOD. One thing startled me though: at the beginning of the episode Kobato pins up the photograph of the Yomogi kindergarten outing posing in front of the tree. But in this photo she’s already missing, before she disappeared from Fujimoto’s life! I can’t believe the animators made a mistake that big, but I don’t see how it makes any sense if it’s deliberate. Can anyone shed any light on this?
I love this show! One of the best I’ve ever seen. One of the very few that actually made me cry, near the end. The only other one that made me cry was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds, when it seemed that Nausicaa had been killed in the Gorgon stampede.
spoiler
I sort of suspected something wasn’t quite right with Kobato, but I had no idea she was actually DEAD! That scene where Kobato is “leaving” and Fujimoto finally realizes and admits how much he cares about her was simply beautiful, and terribly sad.
I have the discs, so this wil;=l be the next anime I rewatch, after I’ve watched the rest of my stockpile…
MOD EDIT: added spoiler tags
spoiler
It was the beginning of the process Ioryogi started to erase everyone’s memory of her. The reason for Fujimoto’s reaction is that his heart wouldn’t accept the she didn’t exist. THAT’S why she hadn’t yet been erased from his memory. She never really was.
To quote River Song-“SPOILERS!”
spoiler
That makes sense, thanks!
I remember I felt a thrill run down my spine when Ioryogi said in that gruff, matter of fact way, “She’s dead”.
I’m looking forward to seeing the series again, knowing the secret.
I must have missed episode 5 the first time through, maybe it didn’t get posted or something.
It’s not that it’s that unusual of a story, but for some reason, well, I don’t really have the words, it hits close to home for some reason.
spoiler
Kobato in trying to get better at reading a picture book story about a firefly, is told not to read it by an unahppy man in the park. Eventually it’s revealed he’s the author, but hasn’t written since. Kobato insists he come out to see the fireflies at night and we find out the man once had a girlfriend, who insisted he come see the fireflies with her long ago (she also made the illustrations for this book) - but he was too busy and had no time. When he finally found the time and agreed to meet her, she never made it. She was hit by a car. He sees her in the hospital and asks if he can do anything for her; she still talks of seeing the fireflies. They don’t tell you if she survived or not, but it’s implied she at least lost her vision. He deeply regrets not making the time, which is why he stopped writing books.
The man then decides to leave and Kobato follows, but slips and falls, sliding down a hill. The man finds her and picks her up. After seeing she’s okay he turns around and realizes through one of the pictures from the book, he was standing in the same spot she’d painted, the spot she wanted him to come to so long ago. About now, the fireflies begin to come out for the evening. Finally, he sees what she’d wanted to show him.
Because of this, he’s able to move on and write again, and Kobato gets another kompeito for her bottle.
But then this series if you watched it in one session would be good for at least two boxes of kleenex anyways. Save the money, just use a big bath towel.
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