===STORY===
The premise "in order fulfil her wish, Kobato must heal the broken hearts of people" hints to an episodic series with traces of actual plot unraveling once a while. This is true for the first half of the series, focusing on Kobato walking around town finding people to heal. Filled with (very) lighthearted comedy and fair drama, this is a good introduction to the series, but I have to recognize that its episodic nature kept me away for a while (I'm not very much of a fan of episodic series), and it was somewhat difficult to me to keep watching these repetitive and predictable episodes.
But then we have the second half of the series where the unraveling of the plot and the drama take control. There is one point that distinguishes this half from the othe: Kobato's bottle is being filled outside of the show. This leads to a much more obscure facet of the series and the cast, as comedy starts to dissapear and Kobato faces much more serious and dramatic events. This part of the series absorbed me.
The pacing of the story is very slow in the first half, of course being episodic and all the story just doesn't move on at some point; but it's good in the last half, never losing my interest despite of some filler episodes that are basically CLAMP in Wonderland all over again.
===ART===
Even if character design is very CLAMP-esque (you know, lengthy limbs and pointy joints), it never loses shape. Backgrounds were colorful and animation was ok, nothing really out of the ordinary, well executed nonetheless.
===SOUND===
Music is a key ingredient to Kobato. Many events revolve around songs, especially Ashita Kuru Hi (aka Kobato's song), which is a beautiful song of great significance to the plot. Background music is noticeable for going over a wide spectrum of feelings, strenghtening the catharsis in the second half of the series. Voice acting on the other hand is well done, even though the voices of Kobato and Ioryogi become somewhat annoying (too shrill? too exaggerated?).
===CHARACTER===
Of course the most developed character would be the title character, Kobato, the clumsy girl who is forced to experience a wide range of emotions due to her mission on Earth. However, as the hearts she heals give her lessons about life itself, her personality is constantly affected. This is true also for the other main characters, Ioryogi and Fujimoto, whose behavior may seem stoic at first, seemingly stereotypical characters, but being put to test afterwards.
Given the nature of the series there is an insight in most of the members of the cast (even unexpected ones) while heart-healing. However, this episodic nature makes most of the background characters fall into oblivion later in the series.
===ENJOYMENT===
As you may know if you kept reading this review (and if you have, thank you), the first half of the series gave me hard times, but the other half made the series redeem itself.
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So in short:
Story: 7/10
-Slow pacing
-Repetitive and predictable at first
+Good plot development later
+An actual good story
Art: 7/10
-Nothing out of the ordinary
+Well executed
Sound: 8/10
-Annoying voice acting for Kobato and Ioryogi
+Fitting music for a wide range of feelings
+Plot significance
Character: 7/10
-Background characters fall into oblivion
+Strong development of the main cast
Enjoyment: 6/10
-First half is very hard to keep up with because of its episodic nature
+Captivating second half
OVERALL: 7/10
Thank you for reading.
