is a Japanese manga series by Clamp. It was first published in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Monthly Sunday Gene-X from December 2004 to August 2005, under the title Kobato (kari). It was later serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine from October 2006 to July 2011. Its chapters were collected in six tankōbon volumes. The story features a mysterious young girl, Kobato Hanato, who works in a local kindergarten. In North America, the manga was first published by Newtype USA and later licensed by Yen Press. A twenty-four episode anime television series adaptation by Madhouse was broadcast from October 2009 to March 2010. Story Kobato is a sweet, perky, cute yet naïve girl who has a contract: to go to a certain place, she must fill a mysterious bottle with people's "healed hearts" to do so. However, the restriction is that she must finish before the four seasons end. As Kobato attempts to fulfill her mission, she is accompanied by Ioryogi, a spirit in the form of a dog plushie. Because Ioryogi is responsible for a punishment that has been applied to him and his friends from the spiritual world, he must guide Kobato and ensure that she succeeds her mission, so that he and his friends might return to their true forms. Characters A strange and naive girl with a kind heart, never wanting to see someone suffer or get hurt, and a heartfelt, enthusiastic, and sincere wish to help people in need. However, she is frequently clumsy, clueless, and rash, often tripping on her own feet, much to Ioryogi's annoyance. 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. She seems to have no memories of her past. To achieve her goal, she works as an assistant alongside Kiyokazu at the Yomogi Nursery run by Sayaka Okiura. However, Kobato has been forbidden from falling in love with anyone she heals the heart of and curiously she is not allowed to take off her hat in public. It is eventually revealed that the hat conceals a spiritual crown