Kobato Drop 14B translation

[starlady]

Is it me, or is the new character really androgynous?

!!! page 01
Takashi: Ah--

He's gone.

Though I said I wanted to speak to him--
Kiyokazu's the same as always.

Kobato: Um, um--
Are you a friend of Fujimoto-san's?

Takashi: I wonder if "friend" is okay.

Kobato: Huh, but, you call him by name--

Takashi: I think of him that way, but--

Um, and
You are?
------------------------
!!! page 02
FX: Ah!

Bow!

Kobato: I'm Hanato Kobato!

Ioryogi: Don't move so fast--

Kobato: I live next to Fujimoto-san!

Takashi: Very courteous.

Doumoto Takashi.
I attend the same college as Kiyokazu.

Well,
Maybe scratch that.
------------------------
!!! page 03
Kobato: Huh?

Takashi: Kiyokazu and I have been together ever since middle school.
And now at college we're in the same department.

Kobato: What are you studying?

Takashi: Law.
Since Kiyokazu's been saying that he wants to be a lawyer.

Kobato: That's great.
------------------------
!!! page 04
Takashi: Since a lot has happened in the case of Yomogi Kindergarten--

The head of the school died, too--

I wonder if he doesn't want to be a help to Sayaka-sensei, who's trying her best.

Do you know Sayaka-sensei as well?

I helped out at the Christmas party.
I lost at rock paper scissors, and played Santa, but--

Kiyokazu was a reindeer.

FX: Thought-steam

Kobato: Fujimoto-san as a reindeer.

I can't imagine it.
------------------------
!!! page 05
Takashi: I wonder how he is now.

But in the past, though he was unsociable, he smiled.
Particularly when he was with Sayaka-sensei.

FX: Thump
------------------------
!!! page 06
Kobato: ......

Takashi: Something the matter?

Kobato: Oh,
no.

Ioryogi: ......

Takashi: You know Sayaka-sensei too, huh.

Kobato: I'm helping out at Yomogi Kindergarten.

Takashi: Have they hired helpers?

Kobato: I'm not really helpful at all.

No, I'm not hired or anything.

I'm really just lending a hand.
------------------------
!!! page 07
Takashi: Kiyokazu really approved it?

Sayaka-sensei said it was okay?

Even if she had,
I think if Kiyokazu really didn't like it, he'd get rid of you.

Kobato: Oh,
At the start...

Kiyokazu: He bullied you?
------------------------
!!! page 08
Kobato: Since all I did was fail.

Takashi: Then you'll just be forbidden entrance even faster.

Kobato: But,
But--

FX: Profound

Kobato: I always annoy Fujimoto-san,
And I just make him angry--

Takashi: He's one of those who can't see
What they don't like.

Kobato: .......
------------------------
!!! page 09
Takashi: Whoops,

Does that mean that today
Is possibly also a day to go to Yomogi Kindergarten?

FX: Freak out!

Kobato: Augh!
Tha--that's right!

Takashi: Sorry to delay you.

FX: Shaking head

Kobato: Not at all!

Takashi: Can we meet again?

I want to ask about Kiyokazu, and--

Kobato: Huh--
Then shouldn't you, directly, ask Fujimoto-san...
------------------------
!!! page 10
Takashi: I'm on the outs with him.

Since I tell him to come back to college whenever we meet.

Kobato: Fujimoto-san is on a break from college, then.

Takashi: He has three part-time jobs every day.

Kobato: Even so,
Even a little, Yomogi Kindergarten...
------------------------
!!! page 11
Takashi: Since he wants to help Sayaka-san, I think.

FX: Thump

Kobato: ......
What?
------------------------
!!! page 12
Takashi: Oh, we're standing and talking again.
See you later.

FX: Turning

Kobato: Oh, yes!

Takashi: I'll look forward to meeting again.

Kobato: Ri--right!

Later!

FX: Footsteps

Kobato: Why does my heart hurt all of a sudden?
Is my body's condition out of whack?
------------------------
!!! page 13
Kobato: No,
That can't be.

Then

Why....
------------------------
!!! page 14
Ioryogi: ...This is becoming a fundamental problem.

---

I feel like I had more to say, but what it all boils down to is, Isn't this angsty and adorable? OTP!

Comments

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

i kinda wish the females in this manga were a tad more strong and smarter. although it's supposed to be cute and sweet, it's not like we are in 1960. c'mon clamp, clones reproducing themselves..yay...interesting (at least smart) females for once, please.

Takashi sounds very squishable and soft.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

In general I agree (though I do think Sayaka-sensei is very strong in the sense of enduring--which is a traditional female trait, esp. in Japan). I think we have to wait for Gates 7 for strong females (though TRC and HOLiC have a few--I think even clone Sakura may get in on the action before the end). And in a way it's not Kobato's fault she's naïve, she's a girl who just fell to Earth.

Takashi strikes me as a typical nice Japanese boy. Which is enough said re: soft and squishy, really.

[radiantdove.livejournal.com]

I second what nokiirat said.... CLAMP's girls need to be stronger xD or have different besides having a personality sweet & cute.
C.C is a example.

This chapter was very good!

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I ♥ C.C.

Yeah, I don't know. Clamp are really good at heterosexual romance and homosocial bonding, but they're not exactly storming the bastion of established gender roles with pens blazing. I mean, I suppose CCS!Sakura and Arashi may be their strongest, or at least most proactive, women--and look what happens to Arashi! She incarnates the shôjo love-trap.

This is true of a lot of manga in my experience, though--even stuff that looks transgressive, like Rose of Versailles or Revolutionary Girl Utena, can be read as affirming traditional heterosexual romance (and the power dynamics inherent in the tradition). Probably the most radically transgressive manga I can think of, in terms of gender roles, is Ôoku by Yoshinaga Fumi.

[laury-kos.livejournal.com]

Thank you soo much!!! ^____^

wow, lots of information :O
eeee..is Fujimoto in love with Sayaka??, kinda knew it :/
and... Is it me or Kobato is a bit jelous of Sayaka-san???
then, why is her heart hurting whenever Takashi mentions:"fujimoto this and that..because of/for Sayaka"
*ponders*

Loved this chapter!!! :D

[lovelessinma.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the translations! And I agree... OTP ♥

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

Being sweet and cute =/= being weak. Kobato stood up to the mafia guys despite being terrified. She ran to tell everyone about the bazaar, despite everyone thinking it was pointless. She's always trying her best.

She's naive and innocent and doesn't know about how the world works, but she's definitely strong.

But hay, if it's a matter of wanting a main character that isn't sweet and bubbly, that's entirely different |D;

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the translation!

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

yeah, kobato is sorta like chii and kohaku, but her moronic efforts at saving the kindergarten and filling the jar get tiresome at times.

have to say fujimoto is a letdown, too. a law student who thinks he'd make more money with 3 part time jobs rather than stick out 2 years and make ten times more..or at least think up more intelligent ways to help.

anyway, i gotta stop trying to make this manga relevant to today and enjoy the fluff.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Law is very different in Japan. Even if Fujimoto graduated top-class from his college, he'd still have to go to law school for two or three years, and then he'd have to pass the bar exam, which has been liberalized, but still generally takes at least a year of full-time study to pass, and then a year of clerkship is required after that.

Clamp do have a thing for girls who've lost their memory/have no idea about living in society for various reasons, don't they?

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're right, and personally I don't mean to deny that Clamp heroines are capable of being strong/have great personal integrity--Kobato standing up to those goons, or Sayaka soldiering on at the kindergarten, are good examples from this manga. But imo, neither of them (and most Clamp heroines as well) are really good examples of "proactive" (or arguably even "active") characters. Even Yuuko, who has to be the most powerful woman in Clamp as far as I can recall, has her life dictated for her by a man's intervention, and spends her time mostly waiting--she does things while she waits, of course, but she's far more a spider in a web than someone who actively goes out to do things (and of course at the end, she's revealed to be a (butter)fly pretending to be a spider). All of which is why I like CCS!Sakura best; she does go out to do things, and has adventures like a boy would, and additionally her transformation from "Oh but I can't!" to "Zettai daijoubu yo!" is brilliantly handled.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I think Kobato thinks that Fujimoto is in love with Sayaka, and that the thought of Fujimoto in love is causing her pain because she loves him and doesn't realize it.

But I don't actually think that Fujimoto actually loves Sayaka. I don't think Kobato has a very sophisticated grasp of human emotions yet. ^_^

[outou.livejournal.com]

Although, the man's intervention was completely unintentional on his part--and may have been inspired by his caring for Yuuko as a dear friend, not as a lover. (Even though I like the idea of Clow/Yuuko, it's still entirely possible that they weren't in a romantic relationship. The fandom jumped to conclusions in this case.) One of the things I enjoyed about the Soel and Larg stories is how Clow and Yuuko were portrayed as equals, despite the former's greater powers; of course, TRC hasn't handled their relationship well.

Even so, it's true that Yuuko acts passively throughout both TRC and xxxHOLiC: she gives others the means of reaching their goals while never taking direct action to reach her own.

I definitely agree with you about Sakura being one of the, if not the most, "proactive" CLAMP heroines. In fact, that's why I'm so often disgusted with how she's treated among Japanese fanartist circles--she's more often than not made to play the weak, blushing schoolgirl to Xiaolang's stoic hero.

[outou.livejournal.com]

Oh, and thank you for the translation! I'm glad Takashi has an unusual family name to counteract his ridiculously boring given name.

[la-vie-noire.livejournal.com]

This is true of a lot of manga in my experience, though--even stuff that looks transgressive, like Rose of Versailles or Revolutionary Girl Utena, can be read as affirming traditional heterosexual romance

"Looks transgressive"? Compared to what? Western works? Because if you bring Utena and Rose of Versailles as an argument that manga can be very heteronormative, when these work do much better in sexuality and gender that most, uhm, western TV of their time...

Just saying. Thanks for the translation anyway.

[la-vie-noire.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Ooku, but what I have heard of it is pretty good. I won't talk about it as, "it's pretty "feminist"! For a manga."

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Oh, completely! I'm very much making these comments from an ideal position of gender equality, which doesn't really exist. And while I do think there is something to readings which point out possibly problematic (at best) aspects of RoV and RGU/SKU, I very much more think that at least part of the reason both those works are still so popular--indeed, are classic--is that they are far more revolutionary (if you'll pardon the pun) in their portrayals of what women and girls can do than they are reinforcements of traditional gender roles. Speaking personally, Utena was the first anime I ever watched, and I knew immediately that it was like nothing I'd ever seen before--and ten years later, that's still true.

That said, though, I'm not sure how much value I see in setting up a dichotomy between "Western" and Japanese popular media in terms of questioning heteronormativity and/or traditional gender roles. Which isn't to say that it doesn't seem like many Japanese popular media don't contain more portrayals of women and girls who are active agents than equivalent media from other countries, since I think they do (though this is very much a genre-by-genre basis)--animated movies spring to mind quite readily (compare Miyazaki flicks with Pixar flicks); but it's important to remember that in just about every respect but unfettered access to abortion Japan lags far behind other (post-)industrial democracies in terms of women's rights.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Though I am definitely one of those people who jumped to that conclusion about Yuuko and Clow, I definitely agree that their relationship could very well be the same as that that exists between Watanuki and Doumeki, or between Fay and Kurogane: what Clamp themselves called "a trust that goes beyond love" or something like that. But, unintentional or not (and however much I do think that they were pretty equal), she still is playing the role Clow chose for her.

Those portrayals of Sakura are one reason I don't really seek out Japanese fanart. I find that English-language fandom's interpretations are usually much closer to my own than those of Japanese fans--not surprising, since both fandoms obviously arise from different cultures.

[outou.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more about Clow unintentionally stranding Yuuko between life and death, but if you're writing about how she waited for all of those years for the "children" while he died several years after he left for the kingdom of Clow, then I would say that he very well could have chosen the role she would play in ending the "dream." CLAMP was vague about who did most of the planning between the two of them, but considering how much planning we've seen Clow do already...

I wish that, if something similar to the CLAMP no Kiseki series is published for CLAMP's 20th Anniversary, some interviews with Japanese fans would be included. It would be interesting to see just how much their views differ from those of Western fans--or how similar some of them are. (I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but I can't help but think of the unexpected similarities of the Japanese and American fans' reactions to Serial Experiments Lain.)

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I met ABe-san last year, but most of the questions in the Q&A focused on Haibane Renmei. What was the story with Lain?

And you're right, it's much more common for fan reactions to vary widely, particularly to anime.

I meant Clow unintentionally doing that to Yuuko too, but you're right, who was the major architect of the plan is still unclear, and may remain so.

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

I don't get how Kobato isn't "proactive". Because she's not out there beating the crap out of the yakuza guys, or something like that? She decided to help Sayaka and she's doing it already, she's there every day working with her and helping at the nursery, just like Fujimoto does. Doesn't that count at all?

I... don't really agree with the description of Yuuko :/ Her time was stopped by Clow Reed, yes, and that was an accident which they BOTH tried to stop. But also, how does she not do things? We see her throughout HOLiC doing Important Things while Wata is out on missions; things like granting Ashura-ou's wish or locating FWR, for example. Or creating the Mokonas with Clow, or the shop and Maru & Moro, before the timeline of the series. And if she doesn't intervene more in the story, it's because she's not meant to. That yumemis can't intervene more than necessary is something that's told to us in X and TRC and HOLiC and even CCS, to some extent. Yuuko can't go out and tell everyone everything she knows right away, because it doesn't work like that. The characters from TRC and HOLiC have to make their own decisions and all. And despite this, she does all she can do in order to help them.

[outou.livejournal.com]

The producer of Lain, Ueda Yasayuki, apparently expected American audiences to have a radically different reaction to the series. In an interview with Anime Jump, he said the following:

"I'm glad that everyone likes Lain! But at the same time, I kind of wonder, do people over here [the United States] really understand Lain? The way I percieve things, the way Japanese viewers percieved Lain would be different from how Americans viewed it. But when I was in L.A., the fans I met seemed so very Japanese in their perception... and that kind of isn't what I wanted, because like I said earlier, I wanted there to be a clash between cultures. I wanted American fans to see Lain and think, 'No! That's screwed up! That's so wrong!'"

There's some more background behind that in this interview (http://www.cjas.org/~leng/o2klain.htm) with both Mr. ABe and Mr. Ueda.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Another awesome icon.

Interesting. I wonder if (American) non-fans would have the reaction Ueda was hoping for.

I'll always kick myself for not bringing my Lain DVDs for ABe to sign.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, I agree with your interpretation, for the most part, too.

I'm not trying to say that either Kobato or Yuuko, or most of Clamp's other female characters for that matter, aren't doing everything within their power to bring about, to change, or to prevent certain situations according to their wishes, because they totally are doing that. But I do think that for most female characters in Clamp, their powers are circumscribed in a way that the powers of male characters usually aren't. The yumemi phenomenon is a good example--I can't think of a single male in Clamp who's a dreamseer.

And I can totally think of exceptions to most of these statements--I can't believe I've forgotten to mention Misaki from Angelic Layer, for example. She might be my second favorite Clamp character, actually. But in any case I'd like to see more girls picking up swords/blasters/magic wands/what have you, and less girls sitting back giving other people guidance/giving up their powers/manipulating situations indirectly.

[laury-kos.livejournal.com]

not sure if she has a knowledge of what love is, maybe her heart just hurted cuz she wasn't the one making Fujimoto smile or the fact that he cared more for sayaka than he does for Kobato etc , still she is pretty much falling for Fujimoto 8DD

Hmm, dunno, can't say: "he does love her", or "no,he doesn't love her", haha CLAMP is rly unpredictable :P

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

I can't think of a single male in Clamp who's a dreamseer.

Kakyou from X :3 And Clow and FWR, but I think Kakyou is a better example?

Oh, I thought of Misaki, too :D And there's the MKR girls, and Yuzuriha, Karen, Satsuki, etc from X, and Chun Hyang, and Kendappa, Souma, Karura-ou, etc from RG Veda...

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Kakyou's a pretty good example of someone whose actions are circumscribed, literally. :-)

Chun Hyang is my other favorite Clamp character. Oh how I wish they'd written more of her story.

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

Same here! I love that manga so much, it's so sad that it's only three chapters long.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I KNOW. That manga is criminally underappreciated, I say, criminally.

[dragon-tearz.livejournal.com]

Okay, so this is way late, but I'd just like to add Hokuto onto the list as well. xD

Also, CLAMP isn't exactly known for their strong males either given Kamui and Subaru and Kakyou and Yukito and Hideki and...

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I think Hokuto is particularly egregious--she has practically no powers, and then she lets herself be murdered by Seishirou for Subaru's sake. Not that I don't love Hokuto, because I do, but really in some ways Tokyo Babylon encapsulates the argument I've been making--woman who is passive-aggressive/dies, clueless/semi-passive young man, experienced older man who drives the entire plot.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know about that. In the beginning chapters, he (and sayaka too) used to blush a lot, in a lovey-dovey way. Yet in these later chapters, it seems like he's a brother figure... either CLAMP changed their minds about making fujimoto and sayaka an item or they just want to confuse people (lol which they do perfectly).

Also another thing I was wondering about: a lot of people speculate Kobato might be an angel. I recently started reading Wish and Kobato does resemble Koharu in many, many ways, except that Koharu can't stand seeing or eating animals that were sacrificed. Kobato, so far, hasn't shown that. Do you have any ideas as to what she is?

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if the story had changed, what with all the drama about serialization this manga has had. How long has it been since Kobato has put a drop in the bottle, for instance?

I never finished Wish, but I do remember Koharu being a vegetarian, etc. I still think, though, that Kobato is an angel (and that all the plushie characters are angels as well)--there seems to be something of a hierarchy among the angels where power equates to height, and since Kobato is shorter than Koharu, I think she's less highly ranked in Heaven, and therefore maybe less sensitive to meat-eating, etc. The plushies, though, seem to have been very tall, which would fit with their having been highly ranked before they did something to displease the Powers That Be--they certainly seem a lot less clueless than Kobato. Koharu was actually mentioned (though not by name), I think, a few chapters back.

[tiljaunique.livejournal.com]

First of all, thank you for the chapter! I'm really behind in Kobato but I just read this and the next one.

Then to the subject of Wish, height has nothing to do with power or rank. Toki, the archangel of water, is really small and yet one of the first 4 in Heaven. What defines the chibi aspect they get when they have little power is age; when they have more than a hundred years they stop changing. What Kohaku says in Wish is that no angel can eat anything that has been killed, that includes vegetables that have been cut from the earth, that's why he only drinks milk. And that was a subject with Hisui as well. Because Hisui left to be with Kokuyo, he started eating regular food which meant he could no longer go back to Heaven afterwards. This means to me that Kobato can't be an angel and by the way she talked about hurting people and how she used to feel, I'd say she's from a very different place than Heaven.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Very interesting--thanks for the info. I was never able to finish Wish.

So when they're more than 100 years old, they have -no- chibi form? I guess it makes sense that all the angels in Kobato are pretty old. But where else could Kobato be from--have we actually seen her eat human food?

[tiljaunique.livejournal.com]

We have. At the old fortuneteller's and at Chitose's houses. she even took food with her, I think. I'll have to check.