Kobato. (こばと。, Kobato.?) is Clamp's latest manga series which premiered in Monthly Sunday Gene-X in January 2005. Seven chapters were released under the title of Kobato ("Temporary"), but the series was put on hiatus in late 2005. It returned to publication in Newtype magazine's November 2006 Japanese edition; the story has subsequently been restarted at an earlier point in the original timeline. The story features a mysterious young girl, Hanato Kobato, who works in a local kindergarten.
On April 4, 2007 Newtype USA announced a special agreement with manga powerhouse CLAMP to exclusively serialize Kobato, in the pages of the magazine.
Kobato began its serial run in the June 2007 issue of Newtype USA, and was to continue its exclusive serialization through the May 2008 issue, comprising 12 installments in total. However Newtype USA ceased publication with the February 2008 issue, having serialised 9 of the 12 installments.
Furthermore, Kobato appears in Clamp's second music video, CLAMP in Wonderland 2. This is the first time the characters Kobato and Ioryogi will be animated. The first volume of the manga was released by Kadokawa Shoten on December 26, 2007.