First impression: 'Kobato' is sweet as sugar

“Kobato” (Sentai Filmworks) – Kobato arrives in her eponymous series very Mary Poppins-like — on the wind and with a mission to bring a spoonful of sugar to people with wounded hearts.

But she’s no taskmaster. She’s flighty, clumsy and not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. But her big heart is sure to inspire others, and that’s her purpose in our world.

The first four episodes of this 12-episode set don’t reveal who she is exactly or where she’s from, but she’s here with a mission. She needs to heal the wounded hearts of ordinary people until she has enough to have her wish granted: to be sent to a special, as yet unnamed place.

Supervising her mission is Ioryogi, who in this world appears as a stuffed toy dog. But when they’re alone, he’s animated and tends to breathe fire when he’s mad at Kobato, which is often.

Healing hearts isn’t as easy as Kobato expected, though.

“Kobato” is a series as sweet as its protagonist. She may not always heal hearts, but she certainly melts them as she finds work at a struggling kindergarten and meets the people of her neighborhood. But then there’s Fujimoto, a cynical young man who also works at the kindergarten (among other odd jobs). His heart will probably be Kobato’s biggest challenge and, I’m guessing, success, as the series progresses.

And to add a bit of a twist, there are other’s like Kobato in our world, such as Kohaku, who has water powers. She and Ioryogi know each other by reputation, but little beyond that is explained at first. Having Kohaku is a good way to change things up a bit, as the show could very easily have fallen into a simple pattern of a healed heart or two per episode.

It’s all done up in a colorfully animated package with some nice voicework (subtitles only).

Kobato certainly melted my heart, and while Ioryogi’s temper tantrums get tedious, the show is a nice addition to the magical girl genre.