Minnie: It’s been a while~ The fall season is almost out! Is anyone else excited?! As for us, we’ve been busy doing something completely different… Hey, Say, Anime is proud to finally announce our long-time alliance to a YouTube group call “Gorgeous Geek Gang”. I’m not sure whether it’s a real alliance or not because I’m the leader of both but meh. In any case, Gorgeous Geek Gang is in a competition call YTC Battle Competition and HSA would appreciate if all of everyone who read this post can support and vote “Gorgeous Geek Gang” in the first round of Competition!! We definitely will!!

The video we’re promoting for this singing competition:

Instructions on how to vote are as below:

1) Go to this link: http://ytchorus.livejournal.com/556.html
2) Read instructions
3) Post a comment
4) Put any nickname for “Nickname”, your youtube username for “YT Channel”, and…
5) “Gorgeous Geek Gang” for “Votes” in the first slot
Optional: Since there are two more votes, you may vote for “Zodiac”, “MMChorus”,  or “Banana Kurimu”
7) Submit it anonymously and…

You’re done!! If you voted, please leave a comment so then we can thank you personally~ And please look forward to our fall season of blogging as well as future music videos by our allied group Gorgeous Geek Gang!!

Miken: Kobato gets the honor of being the first show I’ve watched with this new 2-screen setup. Now I can truly double-task! No more switching between screens — and I can write as I watch much more readily now~! -shot- Okay, so maybe I spent most of my time taking screenshots anyways. >_>;; [[I'll just blame CLAMP for making her so cute~<3]]

The OP song is usual Maaya Sakamoto fare, but it works very well with the series…and seeing that Maaya Sakamoto has a strong affinity for being chosen to do songs for CLAMP series, we shouldn’t have expected anyone else. The song’s nice and light and fits the sort-of Magic Girl theme of the series very well. Also: Kobato’s magic wardrobe is so cuuuute~ I need some dresses like that!

So — Kobato is a kind girl who really reminds me of my little sister in a older girl’s body…but without the yelling for “SIIISSY” to do this and that for her. Though she does come off as a ditz, her innocence really endears her to me. It’s like watching a little kid explore the world and cause all sorts of mishaps along the way. I also give props to Kana Hanazawa not only for the great performance, but for the song as well~ We already got a taste of her cute singing with her special OP to Bakemonogatari (Renai Circulation), so it’s not surprise that she does well here too.

I also want to see more of Fujimoto — his temperament is so different from Kobato’s. Where she’s bright and cheery, he’s quiet and somewhat rough, it’ll be nice to see them grow closer and affect one another. I also have a feeling his problems will come to the forefront of the series given that he’s pretty much the only person in the series giving off a negative air at the moment.

Overall, I liked it a lot and for someone who generally likes “idiotic moe” (I’m susceptible to Oujo-sama moe, though), it means a job well done on the part of Madhouse and CLAMP. Kobato is innocent without being stupid and the way she interacts with others is so cute too~ With the 26 episode run, we can expect her to grow and become more accustomed to our less-than-perfect world while retaining her innocence and possibly strike up a “will they/won’t they?” relationship with Fujimoto and help lots of people too!

The ED song…well, I loved the song but the animation was quite dull. I’m not sure if this is a special animation they’re using for just this episode or if this ED animation will run through the entire cour or even the entire run of the series. I sure hope they get to changing it up a little.

This episode had very very cute eye candy too~ Guess who took 71 screenshots?

Miken’s Enjoyment Level: 8.5/10
Miken’s Anticipation Level: 8/10