Ranked #374

Kokoro Connect

Disclaimer- this review takes into account the 4 episode "sequel" to the show

With the massive rise in access to entertainment and media/pop culture, we have gotten to the point where our options on what to watch are so stratified that we have the privilege of not liking something because its not our particular taste. In the world of anime and manga this leads many to disregard shows that simply don't fit the criteria of what we find entertaining. However, this does not mean that certain shows are objectively good or bad, it sometimes means that a show is an excellent version of whatever style or genre it is supposed to be.

Kokoro Connect is a perfect example of this concept. I am relatively new to Anime, and (despite my actual list) my tastes range from the classic DBZ (im old) to my new favorite Spice and Wolf (season 3 please!). I try to watch each show objectively recognizing how it is supposed to fulfill its role in its particular genre. Aside from Toradora (the show that made me pay attention to slice of life shows) i cannot think of too many shows that do such a great job of showcasing compelling drama, laughs, and heart warming romance. For what it is supposed to be, Kokoro Connect is almost perfect.

Story- 8
The story of Kokoro Connect (KC) revolves around a supernatural conceit that drives the drama of the story. Simply put, a group teenagers (already known for not having the best sense of control) are put in a position where they no longer truly control their own bodies. Over the course of the story this takes on several different forms (some more compelling than others), but the awesome thing about it is that the writers were clearly creatively inspired by this seemingly silly premise. A show that could have easily went on an ecchi, slapstick, "accidental pervert" fest, decided to use this as a way for the characters to learn more about themselves and each other, and we as the audience end up doing the same. Toward the end the show does wander into some of the inane melodrama that plagues a lot of animes, but understanding that this is an inherent characteristic of the medium, such things cannot be helped. To put it in perspective, this is the first anime i was able to get my completely uninterested wife to watch (most of it at least).

Art/sound-9
As a relatively new serious fan of anime (i had been a casual fan for decades) I really can't speak from confidence on sound and art. I have not developed a discerning eye for these things. Ill just say that i personally enjoy clean, smooth, and crisp visuals/sound in my anime. I have seen my fair share of shows in the past few months, and with many, i just cant get past the visuals. Whether it be an awkward and uninteresting art style, (Bokura Ga Ita) bland sound (Kimi No Todoke) or dated visuals (Peach Girl). Kokoro Connect is great in all categories, its just not anything spectacular (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions).

Character-10
I am an English teacher by trade (writer by fantasy). I know what good character development is and how it is supposed to be done. Although the techniques are gimmicky, and there are a few one note main characters (Aoki) i was still very impressed with the amount of depth delivered by the characters in this story. More significantly, this was not the typical anime that made me roll my eyes at their behavior (most of the time). When the inevitable love triangle presents itself, it makes sense. When the guy starts choosing, it makes sense, when people get hurt- it makes sense. When the drama and tension rises- it makes sense. All of the characters motivations are not fully developed, but they are developed enough to make you care and not swoon over how contrived they are. Again, for the genre and medium, this was an amazing job of characterization.

Enjoyment- 8
I have a short attention span when it comes to anime. So when i actually watch all the episodes of a show (instead of wikipedia searching the plot til it gets to the good parts) i have to give that show high marks. My favorite thing about this show is that it is an almost perfect length. They dont draw out the inevitable sooooo long (I love you Toradora but im talking to you) and they dont end it anticlimactically (every 3rd SOL romance does this). The second to last arc was a little weak and less compelling and funny than the first two, but it was short and still entertaining. Again, if you are looking for a SOL/romance/comedy anime that doesnt make you embarrassed to be a fan with ridiculous characters, gratuitous fan service, and a blah ending. You cant do much better than this.

Overall-9 read more

Kokoro Connect (KokoroCo) surprisingly manages to present a meaningful and emotional story to the viewer, but unfortunately the presentation doesn't manage to bring out everything the series has to offer. The content is magnificent yet the packaging is of a poorer quality, like how the experience of recieving a new shiny toy is ruined by the difficulty of getting it out of the damn plastic. The 'package' KokoroCo has been forced into makes the content appear equally disappointing, yet luckily it can still be enjoyed, lingering in the back of your head, once you manage to pull it out of its poorly constructed cardboard box.
This review also concerns the final four episodes known as the Michi Random arc (ep. 14-17), because there's absolutely no reason not to include it or watch it as it matches the regular show perfectly and provides us with a more satisfying and resolving conclusion.

Setting
The main drawback of KokoroCo's package is the setting; a high-school location with some really strange events being made possible by reasons which remain unexplained. The setting which allows for these strange happenings was obviously chosen merely for the possibilty to draw out some interesting dramatic events and character interactions. Though as I wonder whether all the drama the cast finds themselves in wouldn't have been equally plausible without all the paranormal mysteries, it does make for some interesting stuff to think about and allows certain story aspects to move along at a faster pace. The fact that all the mysteriousness remains unexplained therefore doesn't harm the story directly persé, but does make for some poor development at crucial plot points, mainly at the ends of each of the seperate arcs which comprise the story.
Also the locations chosen for many scenes seem to be decided mainly on what would be the most convenient and desireable for the characters to find themselves in and certain events to happen. Characters find themselves sulking upon a bridge they've never been on before, which sets up the story perfectly for a major plot device; bumping into a side character while passing through a snowy alley, so that they don't have to stay and talk for too long; hiding in appartment buildings without a set location and running into empty warehouses which are oddly placed nearby a high school. And many locations for dramatic events don't just seem to conveniently exist, but lack the presence of other people as well.

Plot
The 'poor development at crucial plot points' I just mentioned can easily be explained by the overuse of the deus ex machina, which has been known as a poor plot device since even before the year 0 (which the more critical readers will tell me doesn't exist). The story develops up to a point where it seemingly gets 'stuck', the characters find themselves in a position they can't easily find a way out of unless something unexpected happens. And these unexpected events do happen, a lot. They are perfectly catered by the setting, which allows for random and easy manipulation of characters and dialogue, and combined with the convenient locations provided the series manages to pull off some ridiculous feats. And though the setting allows for these kinds of the things, it remains clear that the plot devices are chosen so obviously in favor of the dramatic endings and continuation of the story that it makes the lack of any further explanation or reasons given unacceptable.

Characters
But let's move on to something a bit better, the characters. The main cast is definitely based upon already existing archetypes but they managed to add a lot of variety to them. They are not reduced to stereotypes but remain recognizable as such and are thus easy to understand for most anime-watchers. Because of this they lack the complexity for truly deep character interaction and development, but are definitely on par with the rest of the series, which gives me only a couple of small things to comment on.
Even though the main cast has some depth to them, this is not the case for the few side characters the show has. The side characters often remain one-dimensional, though because of the small role they have to play this does little harm anyways. Though the large role the main cast has to fulfill still doesn't carry them beyond being merely two-dimensional. What I mean by this is that they often seem to have a serious and non-serious side, but not much in between, the details of their personality remain a bit vague which is also made worse by the lack of a real backstory for most of them. Their background is often mentioned in a few words or sentences but not much more is shown or made available to the viewer. Especially Taichi remains very bland in the first half of the series even though there he has the most important role by far, he is basically put above the rest of the main cast but fails to fullfill his role as a character.

Development
The development of the characters however is fantastic, you can see them slowly and realisticly change the further the series progresses. They don't gain much in terms of depth or complexity but their reactions and changes follow the natural flow of the story very well.
The plot development is also good, but can't work around the implementation of all the deus ex machina, the arcs end and start very suddenly and without warning. Several problems also turn out to be easily solvable by the characters raising their shoulders and saying 'we don't care' or 'it doesn't matter', often accompanied by some misplaced dramatic reaction. Though the development up until these kinds of happenings doesn't disappoint, but that might also be contributing in the conclusions being just that little bit more disappointing.

Immersion
The good development manages to suck you in as long as the story is moving along nicely, though the seperation of the story into some very distinct and isolated arcs distracted from the continuation of the story. It gives you a feeling that the story has ended and another is starting, not carrying on the interest that had developed in a previous arc.
Yet if this 'lack of carry-over' was limited to the arcs itself it would've been only a tiny issue, mainly depending on my own dislike of dividing a story into arcs like that. Yet with this series I noticed something I had never noticed before, namely that the scene-transitions are equally bad. It's hard to say whether the problem lies with the directing or editing, but one scene doesn't progress nicely into the other. This may be part due to the random locations, many of which aren't introduced in previous scenes but appear out of nowhere, leaving you unknowing of what mood or environment the scene will take place in. But part of it is also the sudden changes in athmosphere, without the latter scene being properly introduced. Leaving you lagging behind in your mindset and first having to adapt, making you lose interest and not being able to immediately identify with an on-itself well executed scene.

Emersion
Though if you manage to keep your focus and involve yourself in the story, there is little to complain. The characters are, as mentioned, understandable and believable enough. Their emotions and responses are usually relateable and capable of getting you involved. The setting allows for many thought-experimental situations, which will make you reflect not only on the characters, but also upon yourself. Thinking about what you would do in the (sometimes poorly) given situations is a fun experience in itself, and this makes the series eventually into a meaningful experience.
The drama is overdone at parts however, as mentioned the solutions are sometimes very simple and obvious, and an overly dramatic reaction in such a situation is not something you will find necessary, and is often uninteresting to watch. Drama is only interesting when it gets you involved, unlike action or comedy which can be enjoyed more easily. The series tries to put some of that easy entertainment in in the form of comedy, and even though it's a nice break from the continuous drama it is often poorly timed and constructed. Very few moments would do more than make you smirk, and it is often more of an interruption than an addition to the scenes. The series' main focus is interesting enough and could've done without the sloppy comedy in my opinion.
The inconsistent nature of the series makes it hard to watch and enjoy every minute of it, but the enjoyment here lies more in the afterthought. The story and the meaning behind it is great and upon reflection it will teach you more about yourself and will make you appreciate the characters and emotions more than you would while watching.

Voice Acting
Despite some issues with the recording (which I will get at in the Sound section) the VAs did a great job acting out the characters and having them express a great deal of emotion. The dialogue and characters being a crucial part of the series, their role for bringing expression and life into them was highly important, and they well succeeded in doing so. Honestly, it were the VAs who were mainly getting you involved in the drama, and without them the series wouldn't have succeeded in effectively putting the scenes on display. With main non-story aspects of the series (dialogue, visuals, directing etc.) being somewhat mediocre, the skill of the actors managed to bring the drama and dialogue up a level. Except for a bit too much of a perfect articulation at times, which did a little bit of harm to the 'genuinety' of the more vivid emotions, the acting was basically spot on. Special mention for Kanemoto Hisako, who did a great job acting out her character Yui.

Art
Not much can be said about the art, mainly because it surprises very little. It's simple, unoriginal and just about average for modern day standards. At times they try to mask how incedibly bland the series would look with some fancy lighting effects, but they help very little. The poor colour selection makes it look weird sometimes and just plain boring in general. The backgrounds have some nice complexity at times, but often lack the detail to be really impressive.

Sound
The sound is also one of the poorer qualities of the series, and for a melodramatic series, the sound and music should be of fairly high importance I would say.
It starts with the voice recording, which is a major issue. I have stressed the importance of the voice acting for this series already and it's a shame they apparently lost their pop filter when they were recording it. The loud breathing and sharp consonants make it hard to listen to yelling and whispers especially, and makes for an overall terrible listening experience. Soundeffects can be equally bad at times, often being a bit too loud and also poorly recorded it seems.
And even though the music is fairly good, it is often not used in scenes where it was needed in my opinion. Music is great for accompanying scenes in order to set a certain mood and to help emotions get transcribed to the viewer more easily, yet some scenes didn't seem to have a song which did it properly for the mood required, or they just didn't have any music at all. It is that the VAs had the job mostly covered, but for a drama it's a pitiful loss anyways.

Overall personal experience
In the end though, it is a series you can and probably will enjoy having watched, but having to watch it can be a challenge at times. You have to readily accept a lot of things, ignore the bad visuals and sound design and correct some very poorly directed scenes in your head by yourself. Another pain you'll have to struggle through sometimes is the repetitive dialogue and needlessly extended and overly explained scenes, while at other times it feels rushed and poorly thought out.
But, I do feel that the struggle was worth it, and despite many points of criticism, the end result may be appreciated nonetheless. Once you finally decide to just take out those scissors and simply cut right through the plastic instead of trying to open it nicely, you'll be rewarded with your shiny toy in the end.

Comments
Story (setting, plot, development), Art (art), Sound (sound, voice acting), Character (characters) and Enjoyment (immersion, emersion, overall experience) were split up into more manageable portions so I could remain focused on 1 aspect of the series in an attempt to remain objective and spoiler-free. Also no unnecessary synopsis, and the OP and ED of a series aren't an actual part of the anime! Know that all feedback is appreciated, please use the helpful button like you should, and thanks for reading! read more

Is it just me, or do I only review shows beginning with the letter K?
Anyway, just so you know, I'm also including the Michi Random specials in this review.

Story: 10
What would you do if you and your friends started randomly switching between each other's bodies? Or if your deepest darkest desires were suddenly brought to the surface, out of your control?
Here we have a series that takes a supernatural storyline, adds some well-written high-school romance and plenty of compelling drama, and pulls it all together into one amazing package. Although some of the ideas may have been done many times before, Kokoro Connect manages to make it fresh and funny, whilst also being surprisingly realistic with how it portrays the effects of each of the phenomena. I felt the drama wasn't overdone at all and every arc introduced interesting new aspects of the story and allowed many sides of the characters to be shown.
Ultimately, Kokoro Connect succeeds in blending its comedic school life shenanigans with more serious emotional moments, a testament to the quality of the writing and the great direction.

Art/Animation: 10
I really liked the art for this series - everything is crisp and smoothly animated. The characters instantly reminded me of K-On!, though upon checking, I was surprised to find that these two series don't actually have the same character designer.
The settings are fairly detailed and we have some beautiful backgrounds and lush scenery. As far as I could tell, there were no off-models or problems with animation.
The characters are all very expressive when they need to be. Whether they are happy, angry, embarrassed or otherwise, their on-screen demeanours fit very well with the excellent voice acting.
Whilst I enjoyed the colourful and upbeat opening animation, it was the endings that really shone in my opinion.
Overall, Kokoro Connect is a very attractive looking show - Silver Link doing a commendable job here.

Sound: 9
The background music is great to hear; they fit the scenes nicely and add to the drama and emotion.
The ending song also fades in before the ending animation, which I always find to be a nice touch when executed well like this.
My personal favourites were the 2nd OP (Kimi Rhythm by Imai Masaki) and the 3rd ED (Salvage by Team.Nekokan [Neko] feat. Katakiri Rekka), though they are all really decent.
In terms of voice acting, I think it was a job well done by all the seiyuu. Even Heartseed with his tired, monotone voice I found to be sufficiently entertaining. Throughout the series, a wide range of character traits and personalities were portrayed.

Characters: 10
The characters are what really make Kokoro Connect. Unlike some other school-based romantic comedies, Kokoro Connect features fully fleshed out, three-dimensional people, each with very real pasts and flaws, which was what made me really care about them as I watched their story unfold. They are apparently all somewhat misfits, so they form a Culture Club of sorts.
Without going into too much detail, we have:
Taichi, an altruistic pro-wrestling fan who has a selfless urge to help others;
Iori, a friendly energetic girl who is popular and loved by all;
Himeko, the cool and responsible one of the group, with considerable skill in information gathering and analysis;
Yui, an expressive karate practitioner, who loves cute things;
and Yoshifumi - their casual friend, who is attracted to Yui (though she resists his advances).
I also have to mention one of the cutest imouto in anime - Yaegashi Rina - who is a caring sister that looks out for Taichi and, despite being younger, seems to give him advice about his relationships.

Enjoyment: 10
Kokoro Connect was really one of if not the best show of its season. Watching the characters mature and develop was very compelling. Over the course of the series, their pasts are revealed, along with their own shortcomings and how they overcome them. The highlight is the character drama, and all in all, the series was practically perfect for me.

Overall: 10
I have to say, Kokoro Connect is a must watch and I recommend it to everyone. It was fully entertaining throughout. As the supernatural phenomena start to take their toll on the five main characters - will their friendship be able to survive? Join them on an emotional rollercoaster as you see them handle various unusual situations, all the while learning more about themselves and each other.

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When I first heard the plot summary for Kokoro Connect I thought it sounded like some hentai series. Even if it wasn't, it seemed obvious that it would be a provider of ample fan-service, it of course wasn't though. After all, if you swapped bodies with someone of the other gender, what would be the first thing you do?
Yep, the obvious, see how well they masticate. Read it again, what were you thinking of?

Kokoro Connect revolves around the daily, not so normal lives of Taichi, Iori, Himeko, Yoshifumi and Yui and their encounters in the Cultural Research Club. Up until recently they thought that they and their friends lived normal happy lives, but now the Heartseed is pulling their lives apart and exposing their inner secrets through body switching, urges and age regression.
The love and teen pentagonal comedy follows the strange phenomena at the Yamahoshi Academy's Culture Club, starting with the five male and female club members switching bodies with each other.

Mix two parts school uniforms and setting, two parts moe, and one part original detail. Blend thoroughly. Serve warm.
Production values are quite good, and there's a good level of detail to go around most of the time. Some scenes are picturesque. At other times, there's an unfortunate loss of detail in mid-ground elements that makes it difficult to focus, but this doesn't happen very often over the stretch.
While this is not a show whose events are ever intended to push aural or visual envelopes, Kokoro Connect is well-animated, and there is never a point where this show looks anything but nice. There is a bit of fan-service here and there but nothing so intrusive that it distracts from the relationship dynamics.

In terms of the animation, I am personally getting tired of the K-ON-like moe look; whether you like how the characters are designed is really based on personal preference. As for quality, Silver Link doesn't offer anything as stunning as a P.A. Works anime, but it manages to hold its own. There were no noticeable mistakes in body proportions, angles, or object size and the quality remains consistent throughout the series.

I have to commend the main cast for the first arc they essentially had to act as five (and in some cases six) different characters, since each character used the voice that went along with the body when they switched, and they all did a rather good job. I've heard some complaints that this studio Silver Link isn't known for hiring really great actors but I think they did a mediocre job this time.

Both OPs and EDs are quite catchy and serve well as introductions to the series though nothing to memorable. Sound effects are nothing remarkable but do their job throughout the series.

Everything this series does is for the emotional and dramatic effect, and thus the characters all have very interesting backgrounds. What the show does do a good job of, however, is not washing over things. Whatever happens to the characters their pain isn't easily fixed like some anime likes to do. Throughout the series you still see traces of the pain in the characters and that everything that has happened has strongly affected them one way or another.

They're forced to develop at a rapid pace is a direct product of the supernatural elements of the plot. The point can definitely be made that these elements are a contrivance. When it comes to the concluding arc I'd even tend to agree more often than not. That doesn't entirely eliminate the effect of more than half a season of strong build-up, however the worst thing for me was that, despite the title, I couldn't "connect" with any of the characters, they was more like actors interpreting their roles. Almost everything they said or did felt like forced for the sake of the plot, and Taichi out of them all, is just a place holder for a proper main character, as his personality was not actually explored.

I appreciate that it had the guts to go for actual drama and to ask interesting questions. Ultimately though, you have to deliver results. I also think the series suffers quite a bit due to a cast that’s fairly weak in the final analysis. Taichi’s issues I’ve already covered, and with Inaba the problem was simply that I never liked her very much – she’s easily the most clichéd member of the cast and I never really bought into her self-important self-pity and overcompensating and overbearing arrogance. Aoki and Yui had a definable plot arc, at least, but they were largely plot devices, as Taichi was. It was really only Nagase that emerged as both a likeable and well-defined character, and she too tended to be manipulated for the contrivance of the plot far too often.

Interesting, original premise. Strong opening. Mediocre mid section. Poor ending. It's a downward slope all the way past the first arc - which is a real shame, because the initial episodes hint at the potential for a truly exciting series. Instead we're left with an unfinished mess that takes those pieces that had a chance at greatness and just kind of drops them on the ground.

So does will this series connect you your heart? Possibly. Perhaps not.
Will I stop with these stupid puns? Never. read more

Story: 8
Angsty teens switching bodies at random, and now having to deal with the awkwardness of being someone they are not ?
sounds like a "Freaky Friday" remake...we all know where this is going...right?

WRONG!

Not only the series expand far beyond this anomaly to incorporate far crazier (and somewhat disturbing) phenomenons. This is the only spoiler I will provide.

Art: 6
This is the same studio that brought you guys gems like Usagi Drop, and Bakemonogatari, the latter of which got uber bonus points for style without having to dump too much into the art budget. KC however, is more like Usagi in that it isn't known for its art. Don't get me wrong, the characters do still look good, despite the mundane setting & background.

Animation is mediocre, and if you pay close enough attention, you will notice that the creators cut corners in some scenes by using the same sequence of images over and over again.


Sound: 6
1st opening theme is pretty catch, as was the 1st ending theme.
I don't really remember the other theme songs in the series. Background theme's within each episode fit the tone/mood of each scene fairly well.
Overall, the music and sound effects did their job, but nothing that really blew me away.

Character: 10
Some viewers may dock a few points for the characters being a bit 1-dimensional in the beginning. But I justify my 10/10 in that I was absolutely floored by how these characters developed throughout the series. Whether it is the rich back-story of each character (minor one's too !) , or the fluidity with which these characters interact, it is clear that the makers put a lot of effort into creating people out of the main protagonists, as opposed to archetypal and cliched caricatures.

Enjoyment: 10
I laughed, I cried, I wanted to watch it again, nuff said

Overall: 9
I took the average of the previous 5 and added 1 because the characters were just that strong. I believe that it is the people that drive a series. One can create an absolutely ridiculous universe that transcends all suspension of disbelief, but still have awesome characters that really absorb viewers into that universe. Kokoro Connect's star characters did precisely that for me, and i hope it does for those of you reading this review!

Thanks for reading!






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I've already finished this series, and the last 4 as well. I would like to post my review on the 1st 13 episodes. Since Kokoro Connect really made my day. And I want to share it with everyone who are thinking about watching this truly amazing anime.

There are so many things I can say about this anime. But to be on the safe side I won't say any spoilers to first time watchers. I would rather want them to watch it themselves to see how great this anime really is. You guys should already know the Plot of the story. But I would like to give you guys my outlook and impression on how Kokoro Connect left for me.

The reason I made this account is because of this anime "Kokoro Connect". I've seen a lot of anime, enough that I understand that it's pretty redundant, and repetitive how most animes are. But, hey it's not my kind of preference. I'm not picky. I enjoy all anime, even though it's not my taste. I'll always give it a chance.

I gave this anime all 10. Not just because it's perfect in every way, no anime is perfect. It's doesn't matter how the sound, or quality it's in. What matters is how the anime gave you that "feeling" in the end. How it impacted on the audience, how it will end with a strong impact that leaves your mind lingering. Any anime that does that to me is what I consider an amazing anime, and this anime is the perfect example of that. Kokoro Connect.

Kokoro Connect definitely succeeded it's purpose on expressing my emotions. The impression it gave made me view life in a different aspect. It taught, and gave me a realization that this is how humans are. We're powerless. Even when we try to settle things all by ourselves. We will always need someone in our lives to help us at one point. Life just works that way. This. Is. How. We. Are... No one can live all by themselves. We will always strive for love and comfort. These are human instincts. Hardships will always come. But everyone will always get through it. Just when you are about to break. Your friends will always be their to help you up, and that would be one of the great aspects of Kokoro Connect.

This had to be one of the strongest point this anime has shown me, Inspiration. It inspired me to become a better person! and obviously changed my perspective on how life is! If it doesn't with you? well... I doubt it. I wouldn't say this is the grand of grands of all animes. But I think any anime should strive to become like Kokoro Connect An anime that encourages oneself in a more positive way. All an all it's rare to watch any anime that are like this. Veryyyy rare. I highly recommend it! it'll definitely will be in my memories forever. I'll never forget it.





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Yet ANOTHER update on this review. This is one tricky anime to write a review on- Here goes.

In a school where extracurricular activities are mandatory, there exist five "outlaws".

Yaegashi Taichi, the pro-wrestling maniac
Nagase Iori, your typical spunky, bubbly, lovely character type
Inaba Himeko, the intelligent, cool computer expert... who is maybe just a tad bit too cool at times
Kiriyama Yui, lover of all things that are cute
Aoki Yoshifumi, frequently subject to rough treatment by the girls around him.

These five students form their own club, the "Bunkenbu" (Bunka Kenkyuu-bu)- and each day spent together is as ordinary as can be.

Until.

Kokoro Connect is best described as unique. It does not follow the plot of traditional romance anime, but instead, adds its own splash of color to what could have been considered "trite and overused". The first arc -Hito Random- sets the story off with the odd-at-the-very-least phenomenon of body-switching among the five main characters. Subsequent arcs deal with various phenomena (including a release of all desire and a manifestation of one's past self)- all quite intriguing and entertaining... but not limited to "fun"/

While the events in Kokoro Connect are obviously not realistic, the audience is lead to think "What if?". Imagine suddenly being thrown into a mess of body-switching. Everyone has his or her own darkest secrets, desires, painful memories, and insecurities. Now, throw in the condition that four other people have access to all of the above at any given time. These people are close friends... but can they really be trusted? Would you want them to know about your past? Your thoughts? Your secrets? The answer is probably "Some things are better left untouched".

In addition to a superb cast that really brings life to the characters, Kokoro Connect very realistically displays how a person would react when facing situations such as the ones listed above. It takes a concept that may sound lighthearted and shapes it into something deeper- even deeper and more complex than love ties that exist elsewhere in anime (which is saying quite a bit).


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Kokoro Connect begins with a pretty ordinary setting. 5 friends belonging to the same club with an absentee adviser, spending almost everyday loafing around. Then everything took a downturn when a mysterious entity named Fuusenkazura appeared and forced them into his game so they could entertain him. His "game" involves abnormal phenomena that often take place at random intervals. The first arc features body-swap, during which the 5 may switch bodies at random, and every arc that follows has them deal with other similarly bizarre situations.

Before anyone starts watching, all of this might sound pretty entertaining -- except each of these games that Fuusenkazura brings them into produces big waves in their lives. Just imagine for a moment that your deepest secrets and darkest thoughts are dug out and exposed for your closest friends to see. Everyone needs to have a little privacy sometimes, but the games Fuusenkazura brings out always end up destroying their psychological defenses and put them in the spot to be honest with their friends, and also themselves.

Through the challenges the 5 of them face, the vulnerabilities of each person are shown to everyone else in the group. From there, the series soon turns into an emotional roller coaster that produces some serious drama. For the record, the drama doesn't feel forced at all. These characters are just what you'd expect of some regular high school kids who haven't had a firm grasp on their own identities. And it's the way they overcome each of these games and bond in the process that makes this series endearing.

Kokoro Connect is also no ordinary rom-com. There's romance and comedy, but the emphasis really ends up being emotional development more than anything. If you carefully chew through some of the things they say as they walk out of their slumps, you'll find nuggets of wisdom here and there applicable for just about everyone. The animation is decent and consistently fluid with no break in quality. The characters, while not necessarily coming out of unique molds, collectively form an lively, entertaining, and endearing cast. The plot is refreshing. The script is strong as well. Even though I personally found the soundtrack weak, it's a minor shortcoming in the face of everything else -- the story, the enjoyment, and the uplifting moments where they see the light at the end of the tunnel.

To close, I think Kokoro Connect is one of the most entertaining series I've picked up thus far, and I had a great deal of fun watching it. Simply put, it was a satisfying run. Although the format of struggle-then-triumph gets overused sometimes, the characters and the plot drive the series too well for that to interfere with the experience. True, it's a bit heart-wrenching and depressing sometimes. At the end of the day though, it maintains a positive message throughout and is in my opinion a very well-crafted series that deserves almost everyone's attention.

[Note: Although MAL separates the first 13 episodes of the series from the 4 episodes of "Michi Random" arc aired later on, the 17 episodes together feature an unbroken sequence of events and this review covers all of them.] read more

“One of the most beautiful qualities of friendship is to understand and to be understood.”

What Kokoro Connect essentially delves into, is exactly that, the notion of what friendship is, and how do we keep it alive when your true desires, love, selfishness, fears, pasts and fragility are all unleashed and out in the open.

One day a sudden paranormal occurrence of body-switching haunts a small group of five friends, which in turn alters their relationship and every day lives.

Since the plot is pretty much straightforward with a slight twist, Kokoro Connect is more of a character motivated Anime; with it being more ambitious on the interactions and chemistry front between the characters. I think the characters are not only convincingly believable, but have a real depth and insight to them; (Yui; androphobia, Iori; multiple personality disorder?) we truly see a good portrayal of emotions and human nature.

The supernatural occurrences definitively disrupt the harmony amongst the five friends as it not only, sends their feelings in turmoil, but also makes them closer friends simultaneously. The initial idea of body-switching is, in itself a charming premise but also happens to open a can full of funny situations too, as you can imagine.

What I also liked was the atmosphere that Kokoro Connect gives; the orangey sunset sceneries at the beginning feel reminiscent of high school nostalgia with intentions to keep it light-hearted. Alongside that, there is also an eerie, sinister tone when the entity Heartseed enters the fray (his gormless, creepy, unpredictable look about him also contributed to this xD). That is certainly one factor that kept me interested, the eagerness to find out what is behind the mysteriousness and ambiguity of this Heartseed entity that was causing all the supernatural phenomena, the enigma of his powers, what he actually is and what his real intentions are.

Although those are the defining factors I liked in particular, there are also many evident blemishes I could also point out. Being a slice of life drama set in the high school timeframe following both female and male students there are predetermined hints to your conventional genre clichés, we have seen it all to often with the overplayed depictions of love triangles and pour-your-heart-out, lovey-dovey confessions scenes; all I can say is Kokoro Connect doesn’t differ from this nor does it attempt to, while it tries not to overly focus on these things, the fact remains is that these overdone concepts are embraced, and the way it’s pulled off may be too generic for some.

We also have the character designs and art style that are nothing special to be honest; all plainly bland looking, nothing outstanding, it’s what you would expect from most other Anime. The characters themselves could also be considered cliché, as you might say it features some of your common personalities in Anime shows, although I still think it’s one of the more stronger aspects of the show.

While the general premise of the Anime starts quite well, what with the body-swapping idea, it eventually moves onto other mind-boggling notions. With the original idea still fresh in your mind, I feel the episodes gradually drop its appeal with each supernatural premise, and swings its tone to a less light-hearted, funny atmosphere to a more darker and dampening one at the ending stage of each phenomena; this also inserts more exaggerated, melodramatic and overemotional moments. Although this tonal shift could in my opinion be handled in better fashion, it also effectively brings in, deeper more meaningful themes.

However the most unsatisfying thing was undoubtedly the ending, lets just say there are so many unanswered questions and left with a sense of bewilderment and discontent. (This thing really irked me xD)

So, all in all “Why should I watch this?” you maybe thinking, well if you enjoy a well thought out Anime, which makes you think about the real meaning of friendship and puts you into empathetic scenarios, albeit engaging you into an emotional roller-coaster of a drama with heartwarming conclusions at times, while still keeping it funny and light-hearted, then I say go for it!


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**Please take note: I am writing this review now, after seeing the first six episodes of Kokoro Connect. No spoilers are included in this review.***

I decided to write this review because as I looked at the reviews for Kokoro Connect I noticed that many reviews were rated not helpful despite any good points the authors might have had. So I am writing to try and win over some readers and get people to at least try the anime.

Kokoro Connect is a story about five friends who end up experiencing an unnatural phenomena where they switch personalities with each other and have their friendship tested. At first the show seems like a slice of life anime with a nice gimmick, but this show offers more than that, I promise you. In just these first episodes the viewer is perplexed with the question of what makes up a person, their body or their personality? But the story continues from there as we see laughter, sadness, struggles with past experiences,current issues of self identity, relationships between friends, and much more. Lighthearted moments are shown mixed with deeper stronger emotional themes that have at points almost brought me to tears.

Story- 9/10
Overall the story so far has worked out well and has been quite original. Kokoro Concect will have you on the edge of your toes the whole time. As I said earlier, you will see lighthearted moments as well as deeper emotional themes, all of which create a well balanced story.

Characters- 10/10
All of the characters in this show are likable and are well done. The characters have their place in the story and do not neatly fit into generic roles found in other anime. Some characters may be described as shy or strong-willed but they each have their complexities. I will not expand on the complexities the characters as to avoid spoilers, but you will see for yourselves. As for the character design, there is nothing to complain about. The characters are detailed and all fit their personalities.

Art- 8/10
I am not and expert on animation art, but I can tell you the art in Kokoro Connect is decent. So far I have only seen this anime in 720p and I can say backgrounds are detailed, CGI is avoided, characters are detailed, and scenes are well animated. Overall the production values are decent with this anime, and the art does not distract or take away from the story or enjoyment.

Sound- 10/10
The voice acting for this show is spot on. The voice actors fit the roles of the characters they are portraying and are especially good at acting out scenes where personalities are switched between characters. There is not one annoying voice that distracts me from the story. As for music, The intro song is decent and the animation will make you smile. I do not listen to the outro very often, but it is decent as well. The soundtrack fits well with the tone of the show and is not intrusive to the viewers experience.

Enjoyment- 10/10
This show has been very enjoyable to me. I actually care about the characters and want to see how they advance and develop. The plot has not been very predictable and has kept me intrigued.

Overall- 9/10
I see no reason why anyone should not give this show a chance. So far, so good


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Note: At the time of writing this review, i have only watched up to 11 episodes. Thus, the review might not be too accurate as more episodes air, but i will try my best to give a good review with my understanding of these first 11 episodes. (at the time when this review was initially written, it was only 6 episodes watched, i added in several things about the new arcs in the series this time round.)

To be honest, Kokoro Connect was not in my list of anime to watch for the season initially, nor did it catch my interest at first. When reading the story synopsis, i was expecting it to be a light hearted series overall with mainly humorous events when the characters swap their bodies.

How wrong i was.

The episodes pace pretty quickly as the anime starts to get dark. This whole body swapping business starts to get worse as time progresses with even more implications in the daily lives of the characters, as well as how they interact with one another. For those who like a fair share of drama in their anime, Kokoro Connect is your cup of tea.

The characters have shown distinct character development as the story progresses. We get a deeper look into their lives, and their personalities as well. We come to understand why the characters behave the way they do because of circumstances in their lives, and that makes the viewer attached to the characters. We can emphatise with them, and it draws us in to want to watch even more.

The anime enters a new arc in episode 6. Just when we thought body swapping was the worst it could get, the series throws us another curveball. This lets us think even more deeply to what might happen to the characters we know and like. Kokoro Connect sure is addictive to watch.

Unleashing your true desires makes you aware of how you really feel and what you really want. However, it brings fear at the same time. Fear of unleashing these desires at the wrong time. Its interesting to see how the characters cope with the inevitable, as even though there is the fear of being unable to suppress one's true desires, one cannot distance themselves from people forever. All humans are sociable in nature and enjoy company. No matter how anti-social a person is, he/she will get lonely eventually. We gain a nice insight on how the characters takes things in their stride and face the events that happen in their life, as well as how events slowly unfold and true feelings are revealed.

Coincidentally, episode 11 is another new arc, where the characters periodically revert back to their young selfs for a few hours at a time. The catch is that they are able to remember things from when they are young even after they revert back to their original selves. This brings forth a lot of new possibilities. Everyone has things from the past which they want to conceal from others, as well as themselves. Everyone wants to avoid thinking about bad memories from before. However, as memories from the past surface and haunt the characters again, how will they deal with it? Will they stand up to it bravely, or will they shy away and avoid the truth? We shall see in the later episodes.

In my case, Kokoro Connect is a hidden gem. If you are a person who likes a nice mix of drama and humour in the premise of high school life, i definitely recommend Kokoro Connect. I enjoyed every minute of it (even when up to episode 11 so far), and i'm sure you would too. read more

I've recently only just finished episode 5, but I think that's enough to give a worth opinion of this anime.

Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting when I first started watching "Kokoro Connect". Maybe a lot of shoujo vibes, with a lot of fluff and comedy. But what I got was that, and then some.

I won't go too much into detail, because that's spoiling, but I just keep getting more pleased with this anime as the episodes continue to air. It starts off as a normal school life anime, and then BAM, plot twist, and your entire perspective is thwarted. In a good way, of course.

I desperately recommend everyone to watch this, because it's really good. Even if shoujo isn't your thing; you can't really consider this a shoujo. Think of it more as...a school life comedy with some of it's deeper moments thrown in. read more

Just what are emotions? Academia is still at a loss when it comes to a comprehensive definition and explanation for one of the biggest mysteries of our nature. But for Kokoro Connect's teenager main characters troubled by complexes and phobias, the answer couldn't be any simpler; they are nothing but trouble. This becomes painfully obvious when supernatural forces abruptly intrude their lives and strike right into their hearts to expose the hidden worries that make them cry on their pillow alone at night. What will be the consequences of forcing open these people's emotional packages? Will this finally drive them over the edge, or could this be a chance for them to overcome their inner demons and become confident about themselves once again? The series definitely answers these questions and we'll learn to know the characters well enough to understand what everyone thinks and feels at all times, but this happens at the cost of turning an intriguing premise into nothing more than an exessively blatant character development method.

Unsurprisingly enough, the main actors are high school students and the stage is a high school setting. But to make it a bit more unique, club activities are mandatory at the school in question. And in that shool, there exists a club about nothing, a last resort for people who can't find a place in a real club. The residents of that club make up our main cast. And to make things even more unique, the characters immediately get mixed up in a completely abrupt case of random bodyswapping. But still, the anime doesn't really stand out at the very beginning. High school is still high school, and even something outrageous such as bodyswapping is a pretty common trope that tends to lead to the same old drama or comedy derived from misunderstandings and embarrassments. But then the unthinkable happens.

Since these people couldn't find their place in a real club, isn't there some kind of an explanation for it? And those obstacles, or psychological issues, are exactly what the bodyswapping will drill right into. Instead of dwelling on the superficial side effects of separating body and mind, the weird phoenomenon will lead the group to experience the physical manifestations of each other's hidden worries first-hand. With the unpleasant truths shoved right against their face, the elephants in the room become too much to ignore. Their old perspectives are broken and they start to ponder about themselves and each other more deeply than before. All of this leads to some very thorough characterization for all of the main characters.

The use of supernatural phenomena to crack open the skulls of the cast and dive inside their minds works out pretty well all things considered. Everyone in the main cast has their distinct issues and each of them is uniquely, but not independently, influenced by the supernatural weirdness around them. Their issues, although mundane and blown out of proportion from the point of view of an outsider unless they are unfortunate enough to happen to relate to it, reflect the mentality established for every character. They worry needlessly much and the questions they think about are kind of awkward, but fittingly suit their level of emotional maturity and shaky states of mind. And the bodyswapping is only the first stage, but we'll get back to that later.

The detail in which the main characters are introduced is, even outstanding in some ways. The anime reaches a high level of depth for its characters' personalities and interactions between them. The narrative uses a very methodical approach to drill right into the characters' core essence; a lot of the dialogue we hear as well as gestures and facial expressions we see can be considered rather blunt exposition that immedately lets us understand what they truly feel and think. Although the protagonist is a narrator of sorts and therefore the only one who gives direct access to his mind, dialogue and use of projection between the characters actually make characters other than himself get a more complete characterization. And finally, their entire character becomes obvious when hey talk clearly and in detail about how miserable they feel they are. All in all, as long as you aren't too concerned about the amazing levels of adaptability demonstrated by the characters concerning the existence of supernatural, the characterization works well.

The protagonist, Taichi, is a man of justice who values sacrifice above all else and is extremely empathetic. Sounds pretty plain and cheap, but his role in the story is really dynamic and he has some pretty interesting solutions for helping out his friends in their trouble, and even the borders of his selflessness get some trials so it's nowhere as bad as it sounds. And he also interacts interestingly with two of the other characters; Iori and Inaba. Iori is a bunch of issues that aren't really issues, but try to convince her out of that. Well, they try to, and she herself tries to. The supernatural trials affect her more comprehensively than anyone else and she's basically the extreme case. That makes her an intriguing subject, but she's also a fun person whenever she's not in full angst. And Inaba is another one who stands out as a character, she has a really likeable personality, great leadership abilities and a sharp sense of humor. This makes her issues emerge as a surprise whenever they do, and they are well connected to her position as the most reasonable person of the group and are also quite interesting.

So three of the main characters stand out positively, with personalities that would be interesting even in a story that would stay on a more superficial level. But less fortunately, the other main characters can't be made interesting no matter how much we learn about them or whatever happens to them, they are too plain and distant. The interactions between the three good characters are always interesting, but the other two main characters, Aoki and Yui, can be written off somewhere between the real main characters and a handful of extremely flat supporting characters. Those supporting characters in particular are half-assed. While I could potentially haven seen their simplicity something that could be compared to the troubled main characters and draw attention to any unusual behavior among them, the difference is too overdone for this to work out at all. And yet, they let out occasional words of wisdom (basically just stating the obvious as a shortcut to resolving the arc's issue) that are timed unnaturally conveniently, as if just to let the author once again weasel out of doing actual plot development.

And back to the supernatural. The bodyswapping phenomenon that invades the lives of the main characters turns out to be not all that random, it's actually caused by a sentinent being. This being names itself Heartseed, it seems to have pretty much unlimited powers over everything and claims to use them to shake things up for the main characters for its own amusement. The idea of having such a morally ambiguous being toy with the psychological issues of a group of high school students could even be considered good with lots of potential. Heartseed has lots of tricks up his sleeve, each with sound psychological basis, so the story has a lot going on for it. And all those good bits about the premise just make it all the more bizarre how the story manages to, in the end, completely fail at making anything that happens feel truly meaningful or complete.

First of all, the characters get set up very methodically, we get to know about them in just the right order and everything serves the purpose of getting to thoroughly know everything about them. But the methodic approach is taken so far it floods plot development itself and fills it with predictability. It's already visible during the first arc, but doesn't really hurt that much because it's a set-up for the rest, but during longer arcs it gets jarring. We learn so much about the characters we can basically see inside their minds, which is of course an accomplishment in itself, but that makes the story really predictable unless something really special happens. However, after the first arc there isn't really anything that isn't simply a matter of getting over some mental issues.

Instead of taking things to a daring, unexpected direction, the story will shift gears all the time without moving in any direction. It has the plot devices and characterization to do something great, but doesn't go past surface scratches. We get very limited view of how scary uncontrolled emotions and existential crisises can be, there are small glimpses but it's all played down in the end. Instead, we are introduced to all possible varieties of moping and sulking. And as you might imagine, those aren't activities that would lead to anything great in a story that plays everything overly safe and steers clear of radical developments. Their angst forces some minor social issues, but the characters eventually tend to solve everything on their own, inside their minds. The psychological drama that was so elaborately set up most of the time gets resolved internally during the moping phase like it was nothing important, and then they proceed to talk it out pragmatically. There isn't much catharsis in that. While there are two or three cases of good resolutions with intense dramatic moments and heartwarming conclusions, they are generally far too uninteresting to make up for how artificial many of the supernatural buildup methods are.

Another major letdown is that the only things we learn about the almighty plot device Heartseed itself are unimportant, superficial and not even trustworthy. It just appears and forcibly opens the characters' emotional wounds, yet despite its apathetic demeanor everything it does seems ultimately helpful for our characters. But we don't really get any answers regarding Heartseed's origins or real confirmation of its motives and nature to let us understand how we should take what we see. There's no cost for our characters to be seen for this forced therapist aid, but are there hidden consequences that only come later? Besides, Heartseed's amusement motive contradicts the good outcomes, so leaving its nature in the dark leaves an annoying void that makes it impossible to fully know what to make out of everything that happens in the series. Heartseed is a good idea, but it's so vastly underdeveloped it ends up feeling just a cheap excuse to avoid natural progression for relationship drama and character development.

The art and sound immediately reflect the good ideas the show has. The character designs show that these guys took part in the K-ON! auditions, but were rejected for either being too gloomy or too male to make enjoying cakes and tea aesthetically pleasant for us. The sound environment during the opening scenes have rather gloomy mood at the home environments, which is good to set up a bit of a tension right off the bat. But the execution of this aspect as a whole feels only half-complete because the inspiration for scenario seems to disappear very quickly.

The art, sound and the type of characterization speak of a contrast, a what-if scenario for a high school slice of life moe of your choice. It could be effective, but Kokoro Connect doesn't really settle down for establishing normal before turning into abnormal. Things are crazy and troubled right at the beginning, so the only line between normal and abnormal behavior is on the level of association. It's hard to believe anything was ever hidden or surprising to begin unless you assume the characters see each other as kawaii-uguu-creatures. In short, "the usual", or the starting point, is introduced fairly quickly and even then it happens in the middle of unfathomable happenings. The club itself remains just a simple excuse to gather all the weirdoes in one place. The changes in color scheme based on the mood work pretty well and there are nice choices of scenery for certain encounters.

As a result of this, the generic art style doesn't really carry any of its potential benefits over. The there are some good qualities aside despite the underutilized overall plan, but even thosehave varying success. The supernatural interference with the characters is sometimes well supported with the cinematography to highlight both the abruptness and the strangeness of the situation, for example the bodyswapping works out really well. But the others are kind of boring and contrived in comparison to the abrupt changes of perspective. There are some other decent art direction arrangements to increase the level of tension and some of them work fine, but in the end they are kind of alone in a sea of mediocrity.

The sound works out well although it doesn't get to utilize its full power since the art can't really keep up, but the soundtrack is nonetheless very well balanced. There's nothing particularly outstanding, but the track placement is great down to the level of volume, and the often overlooked use of silence during dramatic scenes is very good. The voice actor choices are rather fitting, but aside from Iori (Aki Toyosaki) and Inaba (Mituki Sawashiro) none of the individual performances leave enough of an impression to noticeably affect the viewing experience. Heartseed's monotone speech works pretty well as long as the dialogue itself remains fitting for such unfeeling character.

Kokoro Connect had a lot of promise and it used a some of that potential really well, but it failed to take advantage of its great characterization creatively. Despite setting up some great ideas and fleshed out characters, the story itself fails to deliver any true conclusions to the most interesting parts about itself. But to be fair, the series is still a bit of a stub and hasn't used all of its initially scheduled episodes due to some controversy behind the scenes. It's still possible for the upcoming final four episodes to collect all the underutilized good points and deliver all the answers I want to bring the story to a satisfactory closure. But for the moment, the weaknesses are too noticeable and some glaringly unpolished sides make it hard to fully appreciate the story for what it is. It's still a pretty good anime some outstanding accomplishments, even if few, so the last four episodes are certainly a thing to look forward to.
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Story: 8
I've never watched an anime with body-switching that I can recall (though I am sure there probably are), so I thought that it was a fun premise for an anime! I think so far (since I've only seen four episodes), it's done a fantastic job of investigating deeper issues about the body switching, like how it is one maintains their sense of self when they are no longer tied to one singular body. Of course, there are a lot of funny parts about the body switching that one might expect, like what happens when a dude is suddenly in a chick's body. While I expected those type of moments, they still managed to be actually be funny!

Art: 6-7
The art is not the most fantastic in the world. I sort-of cringed when I started it--however, the story line and characters kept me going and the art grew on me as I continued! =]

Sound: 8
I think the opening theme is awful but the voice acting is pretty dope!

Character: 8
I think the characters are very multi-dimensional and interesting! Great background story so far and I think they act in a way that you might think teenagers would in this situation. Nagise and Aori are the only reason I didn't put a 10. I think because Nagise is a little too cutesy at times. That, and I hate her hairstyle. =| As for Aori, he is obsessed with one of the other characters and that is annoying in itself! Uhm, and it might be the hairstyle again.

Enjoyment: 10
It's funny, thought-provoking, and has really pulled me in! They seem like a realistic friend group trying to handle a very odd situation. And I think it is also interesting to see what kind of romances will develop. I am hoping Taichi/Himeko. ;]

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High school is essentially one of the most important four years of someone’s life. Throughout these years, not only does one fall under peer pressure, indecisive dramas, and separation into different clicks/social-groups, but you are often greeted with the unsatisfying feeling in overcoming mostly difficult, inexperienced tasks. However, the point of entering High School in the first place is to move onto secondary educations and learn not just fundamental cultures of others, but also about where you want to be in society for the rest of your life. During these times of hardships, not many people can gain true confidence; insecurities may rise from the past, make many doubtful of themselves, and as a result contemplate loneliness, violence, etc.

But what every human really desires is the understanding of others; understanding of our flaws, weaknesses, highlights, memories, lusts, hatred, emotions, intelligence, shed tears, and acknowledgement in our refined existence. In other words, we want friends, people who takes pleasure in involving us in their lives.

Established in the very High School setting, Kokoro Connect is an anime which explores the meanings of friendship in multitudes of emblematic, daring perspectives. Unlike other school rom-com anime, however, Kokoro Connect entangles its plot with dynamics by exposing the likes of evilness in characters and exaggerating certain aspects of the show to enhance not just enjoyment for the audience, but the substantiality in relationships as well. Absorbing the audiences with merely just its supernatural contents, Kokoro Connect also has a strong cast of characters to carry out its investigations of quarrels between the five trouble-children, who all happened to invest their free time into the Cultural Research Club. Of the group, the five members all embody several aspects of stereotypical adolescents. In short, there’s the nice guy who apparently always finishes first (Taichi); his sidekick, who always pursues his crush regardless of circumstances (Aoki); the tsundere female archetype who, conveniently, is a black belt (Yui); an anti-social female who brings about justice in her own elegant ways (Inaba); and, the cute klutz archetype that always brightens up the mood with her visible smile (Nagase). However, there’s always more than meets the eye.

As the story steadily progresses, a creature going by the name Heartseed mysteriously brings about supernatural phenomenon in the group meant to somehow entertain it. Indeed, it did exactly that, and more. The first arc starts with the body swapping technique, where the group is challenged to understand the physical state of others in the group, their current family situations, and not misuse this opportunity for mischiefs. Unfortunately, even the slightest intervention of someone into your daily life could reveal subtle yet obvious problems one has. Eventually, the mental instability of many in the group begins to disclose, but luckily, friends are there to give moral support and justify the significance of their friends. It would’ve been a simplex and sweet ending if the drama stopped there, but the injudicious Heartseed shows up again and screws everything up. From there on out, secrets of the past, dreams of the future, and the desires of the present are all exposed about each characters. Instead of hiding their fears, lustful thoughts, and ambitions, each character had to overcome their comfort zones, expose their contempt, true feelings for one another, and yet still wish for the acceptance of their friends. Since they're all teenagers exposed only recently to puberty, you could probably imagine what indecent, romantic thoughts some of these personal matters involved.

After many of Kokoro’s emotional rollercoasters, I became very attached to each of the characters. What Kokoro executes so well, not many productions can pull off easily. It churns each character into appealing people in some ways, and makes the audience so involved and invested in the emotional chaos the Series present. Perhaps due to their resemblances to realistic people, seeing Kokoro’s characters make such human mistakes and overcoming it through genuine sentimentalities gave me a sense of responsibility, almost as if they’re real-life, humane companions. Finally, the writers created dialogues which cleverly expressed some unique aspects of these characters and essentially, we gain our trusts of each eccentric person in the story through such techniques. For example; after several characters slowly developed aggressive, dementia-like traits due to Heart-seed's plans, it corrupted the healthy relationships between the Culture Research Club's members, instead of feeling mad or anger I felt sympathy towards the group just because of Kokoro's conventional script creations and its unhurried, deliberate pacing.

Besides these shady dramas occurring on one side of the spectrum, Kokoro Connect usually has a rather light-hearted, Slice of Life vibe to compensate for all the suffering of these characters. The entrances of some of these comedy scenes are fairly coherent due to its consistency and the lighter weight on the dramatic side of it at first. But after Heartseed’s introduction of deeper conflicts, I thought the comedy would just disappear from there or perhaps alternate into a realm of melodrama. Although Kokoro Connect inevitably executed some overly emotional scenes, the Show still managed to sneak in subliminal, dark humor and its ability to balance out the humorous yet intense sides of things impressed me. Without many spoilers, Kokoro tends to hinder at very humorous yet depraved concepts. Indeed, these comedic elements exceeded my expectation in how awkwardly situations elevated so quickly and became the most absurd stand-up comedies; yet, I don’t think I ever laughed so hard in my life. The atmosphere, set-up, and state of affairs in these jokes all achieve perfection themselves, but the fact that these jokes even makes perfect contextual sense in the script-writing smothered my mind with enlightenment.

During different times of the show where it required a certain type of mood, the animation was there to polish the atmosphere, especially with its apex of horrifying, variegated, blood dripping-like backgrounds. The character designs faired up splendidly with many embellished specialties among places where and when needed. Facial expressions and the blockings of characters also contributed to the comfortableness feel Kokoro sometimes had at first and its ability to immediately transfer that cozy texture into suspense.

The musical introduction added a nice vibe in the air with the OP, and concluded in a fashionable manner with the ED, both of which epitomizes typical, catchy, yet meaningful Jpop songs. Remarkably, the background music syncs with the elements of animation where required as well; during the committing of mischiefs, light-hearted music plays while dramatic, mawkish music spectacles uncertainty during climatic moments. Notably, voice actor(esse)s even gave spontaneousness and energy to their 2-D characters. In essence, the visuals and melodies ended up contributing very effectively.

All in all, Kokoro Connect, utilizing supernatural themes to its advantages, is a Series illustrating an accurate stance on the dangers and rewards of relationships. Through surreal artwork & humor it brings the seemingly two dimensional characters into life, and builds each character up with depth whilst still in correlation with the storyline. Although extravagantly detailed and overdramatic at times, Kokoro still succeeds in coping with the balances of its several genres, and radiated powerful messages as intriguing as its provocative, headstrong humor. As an exceptionally done Slice of Life formulated Series; I recommend Kokoro Connect to anime fans who enjoys silly comedies, complicated High School relationships, and wouldn’t mind challenging themselves with the concepts of true friendship, conformity, and being true to your instinctive, romantic feelings. read more

Kokoro Connect actually has a pretty interesting plot. Now, take this plot and turn it into a cup. A very fascinating cup, one that sort of intrigues us, attracts us with its vivid colours and neat shapes. Now take this cup and start filling it with milk. This milk is our drama. Pour too little in, we won’t really be entertained. Pour too much in and it will just start getting annoying. Well let’s just say the creators never really stopped pouring. So now we have this pretty cup overflowing with milk. Let’s work with it, we still have cookies right? Well, sort of, because these are not oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip or macaroons, they are just dough. Undefined flavourless dough. And lots of it. Enough for five full cookies and a cast of supporting cookies. Some people like a little spilt milk and some flavourless dough to go along with it. No one really seems to get disappointed at the fact that there is a perfectly good cup that got ruined by the mess. read more

okay first forgive me of any english mistake, coz Im not good at english,

I started to watch this series after episode 4 was out, I didnt watch very soon after episode 1 was out because when I read the synopsis, I felt so lazy to watch coz the main story ideas is too common ..

but !!!!

the story is not only about body switching/soul switching it's beyond all of that, it's a story about friendship, teenager secret, and love ...

I gave a 10 for the story coz it really surprised me that this anime is not only simple comedy, but also a nice slice of life complicated story

I only quite dissapointed about artwork though so I gave a 9 for artwork

so for everyone out there who read the synopsis and feel lazy to watch because of the common idea of body switching/soul switching, you really will get something new from this show read more

Friends... What can we do without them. I thought at first that Kokoro Connect was going to just be pure romance, but I was totally wrong. This anime truly brought about the emotion that the characters are feeling in to play. I would say that those who want something realistic probably don't wanna try to watch this, because it's filled with phenomenon, which I believe could be possible in a way. In any case, Kokoro Connect is a great anime, with amazing drama scene for viewers to enjoy. So if you like drama, romance, and some comedy, only some, then I really recommend this to you.

Story: 10
I've been seriously trying to find an anime that's like this for such a long time. The emotion that was in this anime was just enough to match many others that could be considered the best. The plot was arranged perfectly. Not too fast and not too slow. It might not be as sad as Clannad, but it may match it in terms of friendship wise, or relationship. For me, I personally like it because it explained so much about friendship, and how that bond could overcome many obstacle, as long as it doesn't break. I'm not sure if it's just me or not but I don't really like how they start off the anime. I'll give it about average, but since episode 1, everything after that was just amazing. Kokoro Connect exceeded my expectation, since they put "new" ideas that they came up with to build such a great anime. That's just my opinion, since this anime is probably one of those anime where you either like it or you don't.

Art: 9
The art style looks very adorable, cut, smooth, and very eye catching. I'm not so good on the art and animation stuff, but I think that the color, texture, and the motion of the movement characters make are very well made. That just might be where I watch the video though. Since the art looks like K-On, I though it was just going to be a nice, happy, and romantic anime with good comedy, but now I realize that this art style really fit into making the tears of the characters looks more "realistic". What that means is, not a Huge amount of tears flying around, comedy wise, or just a touch of tears, making you feel only a little heart breaking. Not all that, but instead, it brought out the true emotion of how the characters, or should I say, how the people should really feel, the serious emotion that all anime should have in order to make viewers sob over it.

Sound: 10
The voice acting and background noise is really, really realistic. In some anime, they tends to bring emotion, or how serious the situation is in the scene by adding either serious, sad, or funny background noise. Sometime they over did it and it sounds too serious than it was suppose to. I'm sure this happens to some of you. One minute ago you just watch and watch and sometime doesn't even realize the background noise, but a second later you just realize it since the sound doesn't match how serious the scene should have been. Kokoro Connect is what I believe to have an outstanding quality in sounds. The timing and all were very well arranged to where it's suppose to be, and the background noise isn't what really set the mood, but the voice actor who really put their feelings into every word that they spoke. This anime had a great voice actors and a great sound track which is why I gave it a 10.

Character: 9
I probably said this already, but the characters is the subject which is the building block to make an anime good, and the voice of each individual characters brought lots of emotion to the listeners, which makes the anime more realistic in terms of life situation, if this was actually going to happen. This is another anime which I believe to not have that bad of an annoying characters, but I do admit that some characters could really get out people's nerves. But that is what they want you to feel, which is great in another way. The role characters have really fit with the situation that they're in. When characters cry, they could be annoying for other anime, but Kokoro Connect made sure that you Will feel sad when you actually pay attention to the scene and what's going on. This certainly doesn't apply to everyone, but only those who truly believe in friendship, and how hard life can be if no one support you.

Enjoyment: 10
This anime certainly made my week, and a great start for new year, even though it's been a couple weeks past new year, and this anime came out in 2012. I've been watching many, many sad anime over a year or two, but this anime really bought me closer to tears than any other (doesn't apply to Clannad, 5 centimeters per second, or some others which I forgot). So I believe That to be the reason why i gave this a 10 for enjoyment.

Overall: 10
Maybe I grade this a little too high, but in my opinion, it truly is a great anime which I would totally hope for more. If you read this review and gotten to this far, thank you for reading. I don't really care if you agree or not with me, but no one can change who you really are, so you can say this is either helpful or not, but I hope it did help even if it's just a little bit. read more

*Note: This is based of the currently aired 13 episodes, and not the final 4 to be released next March; I will review them separately upon release*

I decided to write a review for Kokoro Connect as many friends of mine have differing opinions about the show so I wanted to express mine in order to give as much emphasis about the enjoyment I got out of this anime.

Kokoro Connect was a bit of oddity at first, initially I found it to be quite a typical high-school club anime, and as much as I love them, I was a bit bored at first but the story quickly took a drastic turn as the first phenomenon occurred; Kokoro Connect will often make you feel very comfortable with the way the storyline is progressing before shoving an unexpected plot-twist at your face to confuse you as much as possible.

As bad as that sounds, it was this feature of the anime that kept me hooked from start to finish, and as I say that, I shall move on to the rating breakdown;

Story: 8/10

As said previously, Kokoro Connect has a knack of throwing incredible plot-twists at unexpected moments and this massively affected the anticipation I had for every coming moment of every episode; Kokoro Connect is the very definition of apprehension. The three main storyline arcs had their ups and downs, but always made up for it in the final parts of their respective sections. Despite this fact, there was a period of time between about episodes 7-10 that were INCREDIBLY slow moving and effectively reversed the anticipation formula of which I mentioned earlier. Once Episode 11 hit though, the storyline picked up massively until the end of Episode 13 in which the show left us on a large cliffhanger for the upcoming 4 episodes that will be released next year.

Art: 8/10

A hit or miss, the art of Kokoro Connect could be considered a slightly underrated style of animation. If there's anything I hate more in an anime, it's when all the characters look the same, but fortunately similar to K-on!, this anime has very lush animation and tries to create a high level of difference in the facial expressions, clothing and just mainly the character design in general. The scenery is also created with a high level of detail and the openings and endings are just beautiful, notably "Cry Out" which is the second ending of the series.

Sound: 10/10

The voice acting of Kokoro Connect is provided by well know seiyuus such as Miyuki Sawashiro and Takahiro Mizushima, and some people might find this a bad thing, especially if they've watched many anime with these VAs. But despite this, all the voice actors in Kokoro Connect provide a smooth, detailed, emotive and most importantly realistic degree of voicing. All their voices suit the characters well and I couldn't have asked for better ones. The music in Kokoro Connect, oh man, is it good. You'll be recognising the main tune by about episode 4 in a wide variety of remixes, themes and arranges. Scenes are perfectly fine tuned with the addition of these amazing tracks and I hope the series continues with this great standard.

Character: 7/10

The characters in Kokoro Connect are both stereotypical and unique in their own ways. Taichi is the standard selfless teenage male who gets all the girls and is completely unaware of it until told so. But despite this fact, he does provide his own character and still maintains a high degree of individuality. Without revealing too much, I can say that, unlike most selfless characters, Taichi gives a reason for his character and this solely is the reason that I think he is so likeable.

Another notable character would be Nagase. Nagase is very hard to describe in this review due to most of her personality is heavily influenced by her past and describing it would be a large spoiler, but it is evident that she has a very undefinable personality and her tone and character is heavily effected through the course of the anime's story and you would have to watch it to understand her reactions and personality.

The three remaining characters of the club are Himeko, Aoki and Yui. While all unique, these characters still have a high degree of development that are yet to be described, and having read all translated chapters of the light novels I can tell you that they will be fleshed out in the future.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Kokoro Connect was an anime that I was slightly reluctant to jump into giving all the views that my close friends had on it but now I can say that I will never regret my decision to watch such a fantastic anime. The only main reasons I did not give this a 10/10 enjoyment rating was because I felt that about three quarters through the anime the storyline paced very slow, giving me weeks of anticipation for the moment that the storyline would finally pick up. The other main reason is that I felt very incomplete finishing this anime and the storyline was left at a very emotional point and that, in turn made me feel like this anime didn't give me the final impression I expected it to give; this is probably because we're yet to see the final 4 episodes.

Overall 9/10.

Kokoro Connect was a great experience, and I look forward to the final episodes with glee.

*This was my first review so if you have any comments about the quality of it or how I can improve please message me :)*

Star~

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I will update this once the anime has finished, and that will be my complete review

I hardly write reviews about Anime, but after watching only 5 episodes i couldn't help myself but to write one. Kokoro connect was one of the anime this season that i thought "Swapping bodies? that seems like one of those typical harem, with a very crap story" I was very wrong.

The story has many plot twists, that adds an element of Romance with a bit of Dark drama (drama associated with crazy stuff). It plays with your emotions quite a fair bit and gives you the most unexpected outcome possible. with each Character with its unique and different personality that interwines with each other, this anime shows how they help each other out in time of need and learning to accept each other, it adds appropriate sound effects at the right situations creating emotional, or comedy scenes but to be honest most anime now a days those that. The art reminded me quite a bit of Hyouka, detailed backgrounds and etc.

Overall just after watching it for 5 episodes i think that this is one of the best anime this season, it gives enjoyment to the viewers who like slice of life dramas that can get you emotional while adding a hint of romance that plays with your emotions more. It is definitely an anime that is worth watching especially if you are planning to have your emotions played with. read more