While the formula stays relatively the same - Balloon Vine screws with our group of protagonists (this time by randomly communicating their thoughts to one another), one of the female members struggles, but through the combined efforts of their friendship each member is able to grow.
Yui gets over her fear of men.
Inaba is scared of losing friends, but reveals that she likes Taichi, even though Iori does as well.
Iori is unsure of her personality and hates her past, but decides against going back and changing it, as she realizes that her past is part of her.
-Story- 7/10
This arc focuses on Iori being unsure about her character and hating pretending to be an "ideal" version of herself ... once again, delving into this "I don't know who I am" mindset of Iori. The story this time seems forced, even past the Balloon Vine plot device. While the other arcs focused on our group of friends having a "never give up" attitude with regards to helping each other (especially in the Yui arc), for half of this arc the group simply decides to ignore Iori and have a "she'll snap out of it" mindset. For this reason, the story is extremely stagnant.
-Art- 10/10
The art for this arc is extremely consistent. The animation is very fluid, and there are almost no shortcuts involved in the animation. For example, even in a classroom scene, certain students are seen twitching. The fighting towards the end of the arc is also fluid and believable.
-Sound- 9/10
The new ED is most certainly an extremely catchy tune. Of course, Kokoro Connect does not focus too heavily on music, but the music does not get in the way and adds to the experience.
-Character- 6/10
This is where this arc was lacking: the characters. While our whole cast and crew makes an appearance, they seem lacking. Yui and Aoki may as well not have been present, for the amount of help they bring to the table. Thus, the show is mostly the viewer being frustrated at Taichi for not doing anything (contrary to how he was portrayed in the first arcs) and rolling his/her eyes at Iori's angst. Iori's entire reason for not talking to her friends is extremely childish and even at the resolution of the conflict is not fully explained. Iori states that she doesn't want to be an ideal version of herself... but in all honesty, the way she acts at the end of the show is pretty similar to how she acts at the end of the last arc. Thus, the lack of true character development is disappointing, as the only "development" occurs because of Iori's character regression.
-Overall- 7/10
I would say this is the weakest of the 4 arcs in the first season of Kokoro Connect. While the first arcs I saw this as a heart-warming show about the power of friendship and trust, this last arc was simply stagnant in comparison.
Please rate and comment! Any and all feedback is appreciated, as this is my first review =)
