Kobato

❤  Story ❤

★ Characters ★

Kobato Hanato (花戸 小鳩, Hanato Kobato)

Voiced by Kana Hanazawa

A strange and naive girl with a kind heart, never wanting to see someone suffer or get hurt. She is very innocent and dedicated. It is also noted that she is a beautiful singer. Despite her role as the titular character, she is a bit of an enigma within the series, as her origins have yet to be explained. She seeks to heal the hearts of others, resulting in the filling up of a mysterious bottle called a "flask" with the suffering of those people's hearts so that someday she will be able to go to a certain place that she really wants to go. It has been implied that she came from another dimension. She seems to have no memories of her past.

She has several restrictions: it appears to be that she cannot fall in love with anyone she heals the heart of and she cannot tell anyone of her wish. Curiously she is not allowed to take off her hat in public; in the anime, due to the fact that she has a spiritual crown upon her head which represents her death (no reason has yet been given in the manga). Kobato has a very cheerful and enthusiastic outlook in life and her wanting to aid others in need is very heartfelt and sincere. However, she can also be clumsy, rather clueless, and rash with her actions, and often trips over her own feet, much to Ioryogi's annoyance. Currently she works as an assistant alongside Fujimoto at the Yomogi Nursery run by Sayaka. Kobato struggles through the series with her feelings for Fujimoto and comes to realizes that she is in love with him. Unfortunately, Kobato is forced to pick between two options - complete her wish and never be with Fujimoto or stay with Fujimoto, keeping Ioryogi and the others trapped in animal form.

At the conclusion of the anime, it is revealed that Kobato's hat conceals a crown-shaped mark above her head indicating that she is dead, but is in a liminal state where she is not alive either. When she finally fulfils her task to fill the flask, she is reborn without any memories of her past life until she meets Fujimoto again several years later.

In the manga, it is revealed that Kobato had died due to the war caused by Ioryogi and the gods. The angel Ioryogi fell in love with and felt pity for the girl who died before her time was up and transferred her soul into Kobato, being able to since they both have the same soul but belong to different worlds. The time limit Kobato has is the time before the angel disappears.

Ioryogi (いおりょぎ)

Voiced by Tetsu Inada

Kobato's companion, who appears as a stuffed toy dog that she carries around. He's actually very foul-mouthed, short-tempered, and cruel, his features twisting horrifically when aggravated or enraged. He tends to scathingly criticize or hit Kobato for her naïveté and stupidity and often calls her "Dobato" (lit. Stupid Dove). Despite the lack of respect he shows Kobato, he will always acknowledge her efforts when he feels she deserves it, and seems to be set on helping Kobato achieve her goal. He is harsh to her and scolds her constantly but is seen to really care for her and comforts her in his own way when she is down, such as patting her head to encourage her. His real name is "Iorogi," but has forced to respond to Ioryogi only because Kobato has been unable to pronounce his name correctly. Ioryogi was originally Tsubaki Nekoi's mascot, Iorogi, on Clamp's self caricatures.

His origin is still unknown (in the anime he comes from the Spirit Realm), but he can produce a powerful fiery blast from his mouth when offended, like when he protected Kobato from the perverted old man in an early chapter of Kobato, though he also often uses it on Kobato whenever she messes up. It has been heavily implied that his stuffed animal appearance is not his true form. Ioryogi's true form has yet to be revealed but several 'shadows' of his original form have been seen. One being that of a sinister, large, wolf like creature with horns, which manifested during one of Ioryogi's sparring matches with Ginsei. Another form appears to be a man with spiky hair and a long, battered looking cape or coat, manifesting when he watched over a sleeping Kobato. It is implied that Ioryogi's current form is a 'punishment' from causing some sort of serious trouble back in 'Heaven'. In the anime, it's mentioned that his punishment was for attempting to start a war with Heaven. The exact reason is still not clear but Ioryogi started the war for love. Being from the other world royal family, he was rude and careless and skipped an important meeting where the three worlds were meeting. He met an angel sitting in a tree and helped her out when she fell. In return, she sang for him a song so sweet, he instantly fell in love. The manga has revealed that Kobato and Ioryogi's angel share the same soul because they are the same person belonging to two different worlds. When Kobato died, Ioryogi's angel used her power to bring her back to life. However, as a result, the angel will not be able to reincarnate. Ioryogi begged God to help him bring back his angel and came to an agreement: if "Kobato" is able to fill her flask with wounded hearts, then Kobato and the angel can live. If not, he would lose them both forever.

Kiyokazu Fujimoto (藤本 清和, Fujimoto Kiyokazu)

Voiced by Tomoaki Maeno

A blunt, sarcastic young man working at the same kindergarten as Kobato. He is also Kobato's neighbor, living in the same complex under the ownership of Chitose. He has known Sayaka for many years and appears to care deeply for her, showing much concern over and being defensive of her. Upon first meeting Kobato, he is rather unkind and cold to her but eventually comes to accept her. He often shuts Kobato down but he also comes to respect her dedication and optimistic attitude. Kobato notes that he appears to be hiding some emotional pain of his own. In the conclusion of the anime series, when Kobato regains her memories of him years later, Fujimoto remarks, "You've kept me waiting so many years," after which he embraces Kobato.

As a child, Fujimoto was an orphan taken in by Sayaka's father and did not get along with his peers. He had been studying to become a lawyer, but stopped going to his college classes when it became apparent Sayaka's need for help had become increasingly desperate. He works at various part-time jobs throughout the day in order to help support the kindergarten, as he is attached to Sayaka and feels indebted to her family for taking care of him in his youth.

Sayaka Okiura (沖浦 清花, Okiura Sayaka)

Voiced by Fumiko Orikasa

The teacher and principal of Yomogi Nursery, a local kindergarten where Kobato works. She has known Kiyokazu since he was seven, which is when her family adopted him. She also went to the same high school as Chitose. She is a kind and trusting person, willing to let Kobato assist her at the school even with Fujimoto's obvious mistrust of her. Upon meeting Sayaka, Kobato wishes to heal the apparent emotional pain in her heart. Sayaka is in debt due to an event in the past involving her father; in spite of this she continues to try her best at keeping the school going. Sayaka was once married to Okiura, the debt collector who frequently pesters her to close down the school. Despite having already divorced him, she has yet to change back her last name for unknown reasons.

Chitose Mihara (三原 千歳, Mihara Chitose)

Voiced by Houko Kuwashima

The kind and generous landlady of Kobato's apartment and Sayaka's old classmate. She is married and has twin daughters, Chise and Chiho. Fujimoto also lives in Chitose's apartment complex. She is a cross-over character from Chobits but not the same person, as the dimensional theorem of xxxHOLiC.

Voiced by Megumi Nakajima (as both characters)

Mihara Chitose's twin daughters, presumably age 11-12. Like their mother, they are crossover characters from Chobits, known in that series as Freya and Chī/Elda. In Kobato, they are normal girls and live with their mother and father. Like many children in the series, they are apparently very fond of Kobato. In the anime, while the two had helped Kobato find an owner for an abandoned kitten, the two had begun to remember how lonely they were. Kobato sings a song to cheer them up, and their hearts are healed.

Kazuto Okiura (沖浦 和斗, Okiura Kazuto)

Voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki

A debt collector who appears at the end of the fifth chapter, a man who has some association with Yakuza. He is noted in the series for smiling a lot and smoking. Okiura appears to be responsible for the constant impending closure of Sayaka's kindergarten and is also Sayaka's ex-husband. He seems to enjoy pestering and aggravating Fujimoto, the latter whom despises him for hurting Sayaka in the past. He seems to have developed an interest in Kobato following his first meeting with her. Despite his cheerful and collected nature, he has shown hints of a slightly more sinister side, possibly due to his Yakuza background. Okiura seems to show what may or may not be some genuine concern for Sayaka, despite his continuous threats to close down the school. His given name has yet to be revealed in the manga, though is given as "Kazuto" in an article pertaining to the Kobato anime.

Ginsei (銀生)

Voiced by Daisuke Namikawa

A mysterious creature who wears an eyepatch whom shares a history with Ioryogi, though he now appears to be on poor terms with him, and often challenges him to fights. Ginsei also has frequently stated that Ioryogi's current form is not his true form and also seems to be aware of Kobato's mission. He does not think highly of Kobato or Ioryogi's relationship with Kobato. It is implied that he wants Ioryogi to return to 'Heaven' for unknown reasons, as it was Ioryogi who took Ginsei in and trained him. In fact, it has been mentioned that Ioryogi was the one who gave Ginsei his name. Ginsei's appearance, like Ioryogi's, is implied to not be his actual form as when he stands atop a building overlooking Ioryogi and Kobato's apartment, his shadow is that of a young man with short hair. He is from the other world.

Genko (玄琥)

Voiced by Rikiya Koyama

Ioryogi's acquaintance. A bear that runs a baumkuchen (European cake) shop in the middle of the woods in another dimension. One has to walk through the narrow space between the wall and a specific street light pole in order to have access to that dimension. Like Ioryogi, his current name, form and job are not his real ones. By Ioryogi's request, Genko will use his information-gathering skills to find out the whereabouts of Yomogi Nursery School and its employees. Ginsei reveals that Genko is an aristocrat from the other world.

Takashi Dōmoto (堂元 崇, Dōmoto Takashi)

Voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya

A friend of Fujimoto, a polite young man. He has been friends with Fujimoto since middle school and has been concerned that Fujimoto has dropped out of college in order to help Yomogi Kindergarten.

Hiroyasu Ueda (植田 弘康, Ueda Hiroyasu)

A kindhearted baker and owner of the Tirol Confectionery (also known as the Chiroru Bakery). He gives Kobato a job at Christmas and gives Sayaka free chocolate on Valentine's Day when he notices how fixated she seems on the box of chocolate she is holding. He makes several short appearances in the Newtype installment of the manga. He and his assistant, Yumi Ōmura (大村 裕美, Ōmura Yumi), are both crossover characters from Chobits