KOKORO CONNECT

DESCRIPTION

CAST

OVA DramaKokoro Connect: Michi Random
NOVEL ComedyKokoro Connect
MANGA ComedyKokoro Connect

REVIEWS

• 

  aabir

  86/100
  A really underrated show that is actually really great if you can look past the mexican soap opera tier drama.

  Kokoro Connect is the probably the most underrated anime of 2012. Though its low rating is mostly because of the huge amount of hype surrounding it, and as with most things, hype ends up with expectations nothing can ever meet. Still, now that the both the hype and hate are dead, it is realized that Kokoro Connect isn't really all that bad. In fact, its pretty damn good. The genres are wrongly tagged, It isn't about comedy (though it is funny at times) and it isn't about the supernatural. While, yes, the supernatural is used a lot, it really just serves as a plot device. Kokoro Connect is really more close to Angst, Love Polygon and Slice of Life, if you can't handle even one of what I listed above, walk away now. That said, let's get to the heart of it (not gonna include Micchi random here, it gets its own separate review).

  Artwork (9/10)
  The artwork in Kokoro Connect is reminiscent of moe culture, and it really is quite good. Now, I have never been a fan of moe, but it works very well for the series.

  

  As you can see, the character faces are quite cute (like, K-On! cute), and the character models are great too. Its not outstanding, but its something you can't really complain about. Some people might think that moe and angst don't go together, but Kokoro connect makes it work. No, wait, it doesn't make it work, it actually works pretty damn well. The expressions go hand in hand with the great voice acting and the animation is just icing on the cake. Almost flawless.
  Tears, joy, surprise, no matter what emotion needs to be shown, its portrayed in that sweet spot.

  The environment, is also just lush, detailed and colorful. What else can a guy ask for?

  

  Silverlink really pulled all stops on this one.

  Sound and music (9/10)

  Perfection, perfection. The voice acting is downright brilliant in terms of portraying emotions. Even though I don't really understand Japanese, the voice acting just somehow bridged that barrier and reached out, it almost breathed life into the characters single-handedly. The voices actually get hoarse after shouting a bit, and the sobbing is as real as anything I have ever seen. It is further complemented by great background music which is soft when it needs be and intense when required.

  Then of course, we have the music. Kokoro Connect has a overwhelming 3 OPs and 4 EDs for its 13 episodes. While none of them are bad, my favorites are ED01 and ED02. The first OP is also very good, but it needs a bit of getting used to. All the OPs share the same music video while the EDs have different ones. This is probably one of the extremely rare cases where an ED is better than an OP.

  

  Story (27/30)
  Firstly, the genres. As I already mentioned, KC is closer to angst than comedy, so someone coming for the comedy will be repulsed by KC, which is bad considering that Kokoro Connect is the probably the best in the Angst genre. Yes, wrong categorization sucks.

  Premise - The premise of Kokoro Connect relies on five members of the cultural research club who are great friends, but one day they realize that their personalities have started exchanging, which means A is now in B's body and B is now in A's body. This happens at random intervals and stays on for random intervals of time. Yes, its problematic, and now everyone will have to bare their true self to each other whether they like it or not, as their friendship is put to the ultimate test.
  A unique and very promising premise indeed. See, that is why I mentioned at the start that it is not supernatural. Even though the the personality change in itself is paranormal, it is just a plot device whose only purpose is to act as the catalyst to the reaction which will destroy friendships. Just like a catalyst, it lowers the amount of drama needed to snap the bonds, which is a good thing. It spares the viewer from needless melodrama and still delivers the slice of life type friction we all know and love. In fact, the supernatural is not explained at all, it is just a plot device, leave it at that.

  As a minor footnote -Some people think "plot device" is a bad thing. Which it really isn't. Yeah, sure bad plot devices are awful, but clever ones like the one is Kokoko Connect only serve to further the series's greatness.

  

  Execution - Execution is where most plotlines falter and break, but KC manages to uphold itself with an engaging story and its great character development (I'll ramble about character development in the next section). The strength of Kokoro Connect relies on a surprising plot. It isn't something you can just see coming, in fact there are absolutely no warning signals before Kokoro Connect changes its course. Most people are shocked by the sheer darkness of the plot, but then KC suddenly turns bright before taking another nosedive into darkness. While the brightness is a logical conclusion, you will almost never be able to see it coming, and it will be too late once it happens. In retrospect, such extreme changes can also be seen as bad for those that love angst, but for me, I was just relieved - nay, happy, things didn't go any further south.
  One thing that is really wanted in KC is continuation between arcs. It mentions a time frame has passed since the last phenomenon, but it never really looks that way, and the sudden change from one arc to another can be very annoying.

  Still, for the first time since Clannad after story, I cried (ep05) thanks to Kokoro Connect. Which is quite a feat in itself.

  

  Characters (25/30)
  Most characters are alive and meaningful, with great back-stories, with ulterior motives and childhood trauma. Despite that, I couldn't help but think that something is missing, and then it hit me. The characters development squad's only focus are the females (Inaba, Inori and Yui), while the development is good, it isn't across the board but very specific. Taichi and Aoki get almost no development or history at all (although, this is remedied in Micchi Random), and the support crew is left hanging too. For some reason though, this never once hit me while I watched the series itself, it was more of an afterthought, so I guess you will be fine unless someone tells this to you (Sorry?)

  Enjoyment (16/30)
  While KC was definitely enjoyable, it wasn't something that is for everyone. You need to have a very specific taste to enjoy KC in all its glory. Its romance is very good, so it will definitely appeal to those that like romance/tragedy. But at the same time, KC's romance can get nerve-wrackingly boring at times. Even so, KC still shines out as one of the best series I watched.

  Final Verdict - 87/100.

  
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• 

  Harunobu

  40/100
  A Story With a Kafkaesque Touch

  __A Story With a Kafkaesque Touch__

  Story:
  Kokoro Connect is a story about five high school students who form a club known as the Cultural Research Club. The objective of the club is to publish newsletters, but the five members just often end up doing random things because of the amount of free time they have. It may seem easygoing at first, but then a sudden phenomenon of body-swapping occurs between two of the five members. It doesn't stop there because the same phenomenon then happens to the rest of the members. They then find out that it was caused by a person known as Heartseed. Heartseed's intentions are to see how various phenomena affects the relationships between the five members and he is doing it for entertainment. As the story progresses, the five members slowly start to uncover each other for who they really are. The various phenomena throws the relationships between the five members into a disarray, but it also offers them a chance to help each other and become greater friends.

  

  Kokoro Connect is basically an anime that adds a supernatural twist to the school-drama genre. It has many interesting concepts such as dealing with mental disorders and how the value of one's identity fares against human relationships. As the series progresses, we get to see the characters overcome the various problems that happen. We get to see these characters learn to accept each other for who they really are and we also get to see revelations of a lighter note. As a first impression, Kokoro Connect can be perceived as something that is capable of becoming great because of not only the concepts which it deals with but also because of the fact that it can be described as being Kafkaesque.

  "Characters in a Kafkaesque setting often lack a clear course of action to escape a labyrinthine situation. -A setting that straddles fantasy and reality, and a sense of striving even in the face of bleakness—hopelessly and full of hope."

  Kokoro Connect starts off fast by introducing the first phenomenon and the catalyst behind it. The catalyst or "Heartseed" as he is known, instigates these events just for the sake of entertainment. By the end of the show, we are left with no story behind Heartseed. We never find out what he plans to learn or achieve by doing all of this. In short, he is just a massive troll. The characters lack a clear course of action because they never try to dig deep by trying to figure out the reasoning behind all the supernatural happenings. The story fills the characters with hope as they try to go through the various phenomena, but there is always that lingering sense of hopelessness because they know that Heartseed will just keep playing with them. This is what makes Kokoro Connect seem Kafkaesque. The characters are going through a complicated experience where in things are not made clear. They struggle and struggle against the issues, but they can never stand a chance against the force that is Heartseed. If you don't get it, then you pretty much got the idea of how complicated a Kafkaesque story can be. I'm pretty sure that the creator didn't know what he was doing though because the story does have many flaws. Kokoro Connect did have the potential to be great, but it squandered it and the fact that it was cut to 17 episodes (It was intended to be 24 episodes) contributed to that. The series was too fast, light and forced. Although it is common gimmick, the first phenomenon of body-swapping was good because it let the characters open up to each other. The execution however was so quick that they ended up needing to introduce more phenomena in order to keep things entertaining. These phenomena just ended up turning into mere plot devices. The fast pace sticks around for the entirety of the series because they never go far enough with each phenomenon and they just end so suddenly. They should have just stuck to body-swapping and used creative ways to execute the story. The second problem with Kokoro Connect is its lightness. As I stated earlier, there are revelations of a lighter note which are revealed. Things like confessing to someone that you masturbated to them. There is unnecessary humor that shouldn't have been involved such as the case with erotic jokes and jokes that prevent the series from being taken seriously. If you're going to bring in comedy then don't do it whilst dealing with a serious issue in a series because that's just insulting. The last problem with Kokoro Connect is how forced it is. There are tons of issues that are mostly dealt with through exposition and friendly chats. The ending is also forced because it puts the characters in a nonsensical situation and does not conclude everything.

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  Sound and Music:
  There is nothing much to say about Kokoro Connect when it comes to sound and music. There wasn't anything bad, but neither was there anything spectacular. There wasn't really anything memorable, but the sound and music did serve their functions well enough to make the scenes seem a tad bit better.

  

  ---

  Art and Animation:
  For the visuals, Kokoro Connect had some nice cinematography and there were some nice backgrounds that really fit their scenes because of the lighting, but everything else was pretty average. I was actually surprised that this wasn't made by Kyoto Animation because the character designs are very similar to that of K-ON. Kokoro Connect did have some drops in quality when it came to its animation. The backgrounds were spotty and there were also frames that shouldn't have been extended but used in different ways. This anime did get cut to 17 episodes so it's no surprise if they did have problems during production.

  

  ---

  Characters:
  Kokoro Connect is a story that is driven by its characters and the interactions that they have with each other. The show starts off with the body-swapping phenomenon. It's a phenomenon that has been the staple of several genres because it is not only used for humor, but also for character development. The overall screen time for the characters is unfairly balanced though. The series feels like a harem that revolves around the main character Taichi even though that is not the type of genre it is. The romantic tensions in the series often center around the female characters and Taichi, leaving the other only male club member (Aoki) to be a useless character. Taichi is meant to be a representation of selflessness, but he comes off as being selfish which is even something that he himself admitted in the series. The strongest characters in the series are definitely the female characters because they each struggle with a form of self-identity. For the most part, the characters were handled well. Apart from the screen time, they should have also given us a backstory of Heartseed. He shouldn't just be there for the sake of exposition because he is a force to be reckoned with.

  
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• 

  Scientiiaa

  90/100
  Could have been better.

  In a nutshell, Kokoro Connect focuses on the daily, but not-so-normal lives of Taichi, Iori, Himeko, Yoshifumi and Yui and their encounters in their Cultural Research Club. Up until recently they thought that they lived normal lives. This changes when a mystery being called Heartseed starts to intervene with their daily lives.

  Five students at Yamaboshi Private High School decide to form their own club, since there are no clubs that interest them. They form their own Student Cultural Society, which is primarily a social activity, which involves publishing newsletters, from time to time. The members of the club are as follows: bright and friendly Club President Iori Nagase, calm and logical, but actually a bit clumsy Vice-President Himeko ‘Inaban’ Inaba, selfless problem-solver Taichi Yaegashi, former karateka Yui Kiriyama, and Taichi's friend and everyone's mate Yoshifumi Aoki. The five go together like salt and pepper and are enjoying their lives, however, one day, they start finding themselves randomly body-swapping with each other for 30 minutes at a time. They soon learn a mysterious being that calls itself Heartseed is somehow able to swap their bodies and cause the five friends many other troubles only because it finds it funny to cause them troubles and see how their relations change, depending on the problems they need to solve together. With the course of time, the Heartseed comes up with new ideas to trouble the five friends and sometimes these ideas are a bit too ‘drastic’.

  Body-swapping stories are not something new for the industry. Though, this staple mostly used in anime to add a comic relief, Kokoro Connect, however, takes a different approach. Body-swapping here is mostly used to make the viewer anxious. As it has been stated before, Heartseed is the being responsible for what happens with the friends and the moment they get used to what is happening, start to trust each other, Heartseed intervenes and causes some real troubles. And this was really interesting to watch, while, indeed, the focus of this series is sci-fi, it felt realistic. What I mean is the way characters interact felt real and that the storyline tries to show how their attitude towards each other changes in such situation the five are in; the story-line focuses only on what is important, it never touches upon the Heartseed, what it is, why would it try to ruin the lives of the five, or maybe help them, if you would call it so. All in all, my only complaint is that it feels too slow sometimes, but I would not call it that much of a miss.

  Kokoro Connect is well-designed and well-animated, and there is never a point where this show looks or sounds anything but pleasant. There is a bit of fan-service here and there but nothing annoying that would annoy, or distract you. Sound wise, it has an enjoyable OST, great Japanese voice acting and a solid English dub.

  As I have already said before, characters is the main focus of the series. And I must say Kokoro Connect does manage to implement its ideas. It offers good character development and five totally different from each other friends, with their own characters, fears and, desires. Anyways, Nagase Iori is the president of the Cultural Research Club. She sets the mood for the club members, with her carelessness and readiness to help friends in need. Himeko Inaba is vice president of the Cultural Research Club. She excels in gathering information and analysis, has great wit, but fails to understand people and suffers because of that. Taichi Yaegashi, just like Iori, cannot rest when one of his friends needs help. Kiriyama Yui is very active and expressive karateka. Aoki Yoshifumi is that kind of people that wants to be a friend of everyone and have no enemies.

  Anyways, while the characters might sound generic, they all have a big secret about them. And this makes this series that interesting. It is slow sometimes, some of the characters do seem a bit annoying, at first glance, but when you see more than a half of the series, you actually start to understand them and the series looks pretty interesting for you. I will not hide from you, I wanted to know more about the Heartseed, the secret behind his power to control people, but that is not the main focus of the series. So, while I do admit I am somewhat disappointed, to asses this series unbiased, it does everything it should do and does it pretty well. There are, of course, some minor mistakes I will not touch upon, but overall the series is a pretty good slice of life that is never boring, drama that is never forced, comedy that actually makes you giggle a bit and helps lighten the overall mood, and romance that is never annoying.

  All in all, quite enjoyable series to watch, if you can call yourself a patient viewer.

  9/10.

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