Episode 22 marks the end of the winter chapter in Kobato. Kobato has spent the past three seasons on Earth trying to fill her special bottle in order to have her wish granted. But while the Spring and Summer seasons were largely dedicated to introducing the viewer to the characters and their personalities, the Autumn and Winter portions feature Kobato dealing with the darker side of the human experience.

Episode 22 exposes us to what Ioyorgi, Kobato's stuffed puppy protector, has feared most - Kobato regaining the memories of her previous life. Kobato exists in a liminal state. Her sole purpose on Earth, right now, is to achieve her dream of "going to the place where she belongs", but that is something even she can't clearly describe. This particular sequence of 8 scenes shows us Kobato and Fujimoto's past lives in Meiji-era Japan.

We never know what really happened with Kobato's past. Who died? We know that someone did die because, when Sayaka ends up fainting due to exhaustion in an earlier episode, Kobato worries about death. While an interesting question, its answer is not so important that one can't understand that Fujimoto and Kobato have been together in previous lives, and will likely be together in future lives.

I'm really surprised how much artwork from this particular episode survived. The majority of Kobato artwork was destroyed, but I'm quite pleased to say I own a good chunk of backgrounds from this particular episode, including all backgrounds from Kobato's dream sequence.

From Episode 22 - ...The Day to Say Goodbye


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