jose44 - 2014-01-20 18:31:45

No spoilers (:

Story I really enjoyed the story. The storyline is a little ambling, not a lot of high-speed action moments, but there is definitely lots of tension and emotion. My only really big problem is that the story lacked a lot background information (home lives and pasts of the characters (I mean, they had some, but not a lot), how they all came together, the Heartseed phenomenon, etc.). I'm not sure if this was an executive decision on the part of the animators or if this is how it is in the manga.

Animation Clean, pleasant, beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Sword Art Online art.

Sound I liked the songs they used: appropriately heart-tugging. Sound effects were fine. I loved all the voices. Very talented voice actors and actresses!!! (esp. during the switching phenomenon... you will see)

Character I loved the characters! I thought, for the most part, the characters behaved pretty realistically, and a bit of me could relate to each of them. They are very distinct in looks, tone, behavior, hobbies, and actions. I also liked the side characters. I kind of wish we saw a little more of the rest of the school, though. The show was very centralized. Also, as I mentioned, there was not a lot of background on the characters. For instance, we learn a lot about Iori and Yui's pasts, but I came out with barely any knowledge about Aoki and Inada's home lives and pasts.

Enjoyment I had some laughs and some tears, a lot of gasps, and a lot of smiles. Thoroughly enjoyable. I couldn't stop myself from clicking on the next episode.

Overall 9/10, would recommend (:

deangelo98 - 2013-12-29 23:28:24

This was a decent story about how supernatural events that conflict with a group of friend's sense of being can effect their relationship. The production quality was about average, as was the characters, but the premise is solid, and there are plenty of "small victory" moments and comedy to make watching it enjoyable. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys both romance and psychological thrillers, seeing as the show attempts to meld them into a tasty treat!

ydooley - 2013-08-08 11:08:29

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), Animation (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!

spencer.romaguera - 2013-08-04 23:57:34

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 than most other anime; (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 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 of a 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. However there is a four-episode sequel titled Kokoro Connect: Michi Random, which I don’t know why they separated from this series.

So, all in all “Why should I watch this?” you maybe thinking, well if you enjoy a reasonably 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!

schamberger.precious - 2013-07-08 22:11:21

This is an anime that some will appreciate and some will not. I love the series mostly because I know that it is just for fun and I shouldn't seriously analyze it. The story is well designed in some episodes.

The music is beautiful and fits the mood of the show. The characters are all enjoyable and all get proper development. And the enjoyment I have with this show is incredible. The animation is very well done and always keeps me interested.

Overall, I love this show alot and think it deserves higher reviews but I respect their opinions.

farrell.kendall - 2013-06-23 12:08:31

I'm not good at making reviews because I never do it. There's just one thing I'd like to say: This anime was so pleasantly different than the other animes I've seen in a why. The only thing that bothered me was that it was way too short. They could easily have pushed this series further, made it more interesting and added more plot. The idea of suddenly being in someone else's body and suddenly "losing" yourself is quite intriguing and this anime and it's characters fit the the entire aspect of it. Despite the fact fact that there's four OVA episodes, this anime in itself was too short of it's awesomeness.

percival.moore - 2013-06-07 20:17:37

Long story short, Kokoro Connect is a series that centers on and explores human relationships. To that end, the Cultural Research Club, your typical five man band, is thrown into one fantastical situation after the other, all by a character dubbed Heartseed. These situations range from body switching to randomly becoming a 5-year-old to being able to hear the thoughts of your friends, and they are what serve as the foundation for the underlying premise of the story.

Since relationships are at the heart of all this, KC is, for better or for worse, packed with drama, and this will more likely than not factor into the decision to either pick this series up or turn away and never look back. Hardly an episode goes by without people yelling, crying, or some combination of both. That said, I think the yelling and crying was for the most part done quite well. Inaba and Iori's characters in particular had some memorable moments, but there will be people on both sides of the spectrum; some find all the drama contrived and cheesy, while others will find it emotionally moving. 

Personally, I lean towards the latter, because while the problems the characters face are ridiculous, the way they dealt with and reacted to them was mostly very human, often making me wonder how I might behave were I in their shoes. Over the course of thirteen episodes, the viewer sees each of the five characters from many different perspectives and through each of these lenses we see how their relationships with one another are tested, strained, broken, and rebuilt. We have personalities placed under the magnifying glass and boundaries challenged. Through all this, the five gradually grow to a deeper understanding of each of their friends and become able empathize with one another more, and this was probably the part of the story I enjoyed most.

Of course, KC is not without its faults. Some of the bigger issues that the plot attempts to tackle are poorly handled or touched on and then brushed aside. There are definitely segments where the drama was much too heavy handed, and there are definitely parts that made me cringe a little on the inside to watch. But in the end, more often than not I found myself enjoying what was on the screen. Perhaps not as invested in the characters and world as I could be, but certainly looking forward to finding out how they would adapt to the mess heading their way next.

Overall, though no masterpiece, a satisfying watch.

rau.ashlee - 2013-06-02 04:33:17

Hey, I'll be reviewing Kokoro Connect, and it'll contain spoilers, so be aware. This will also include the Michi Random arc, which factors into the score I give. Knowledge of other popular shows helps here, as I refer to other anime a lot.

Ah...where to start with this?

Story Your premise is interesting. Heartseed, some otherworldly person conveying his message through the club supervisor, causes five cultural research club members to switch bodies, forcing them all into some intense drama. Really, the drama and romance is very good for the most part. But where it's flawed is in its basis: these strange gimmicks Heartseed forces upon the club. Switching bodies, being forced to act out your desires, randomly being turned back in age, or spontaneous mind reading. The show;s drama has to rely on supernatural events, and the entire thing feels so forced. Not to mention that the way things panned out with Iori started getting really repetitive, as was the way they solved the problems with her. It was at an all-time low in the Michi Random arc when you had 3 episodes in which there was absolutely no progress on the plot until the 4th episode wrapped it up with the same old thing for Iori. Not to mention that it's entirely inconclusive and absolutely no progress is made on explaining Heartseed and his abilities, the supernatural side of the show only being used as a ploy to force in drama. There's potential, but it's wasted. 4/10

Art & Animation The looks of the characters on this show immediately warmed my soul. I am a huge fan of K-On!, and the vibe they give off makes me smile. If I remember correctly, the character designer for both shows is the same. The look on the MC guys in the show is different from usual, and if male characters existed in K-ON!, this is what they'd look like. Solid overall design on the show and not much sticks out. The scenes did help set the tone in certain areas, like the dark vibe given on the rainy day in the last episode of the age-changing arc. There's a lot of attention to detail in every shot, take this one for example. 7/10

Sound Let's start with voice acting. There were a couple VAs I immediately recognized, I'm bad with the Japanese voices but even I didn't miss Inaba as Celty from DRRR!! and of course, Iori as Yui from K-on!. These two had a lot of emotionally breaking down in the series and their voice acting had to reflect that, and they did a solid job, which surprised me, as I hadn't heard either of them the way I did in Kokoro Connect. However, it was these emotional breakdowns especially that made the voice acting so cheesy and just corny overall. It was very scary to hear the depressing side of Iori, something I can never imagine when I entirely associate her VA with the iconic, happy, fun-loving Yui Hirasawa. As for the soundtrack, it's really nothing special. Some of it actually really annoyed me, like this uppity one they play when "everyone is friends again" at the end of every arc after all the drama clears. That's subjective, though. 5/10

Character The characters are a little different from usual this time around. Finally, our protagonist isn't a total macho tool, and nor is he a wimpy bitch! But Taichi still gets all the hoes and is all loving and caring and whatever, so no change there. Inaba and Iori are two very inconsistent characters. Inaba will be serious, but next thing you know she's an emotional mess. Then Iori will be happy, but next thing you know she's an emotional mess too. And I know from firsthand experience that most teenage girls are emotional messes, so this is surprisingly accurate. Also, these emotional teenage girls in real life force themselves into being depressed and overemotional, and similarly, Inaba and Iori are forcing all of their overemotional crap onto themselves. Still very accurate. This is exactly what makes teenage girls so annoying to deal with though, and likewise, Inaba and especially Iori can very annoying characters. You can forget about Aoki and Yui though, they're just pointless extras and it seems like there's no effort to make them have any relevance in the story. Well, Yui has her moments, and she's probably my favorite character because she's can be emotional without being annoying and repetitive about it like Iori is, but poor Aoki has just about no involvement in this show whatsoever. It's even said outright by Heartseed in the Michi Random arc that he's not interesting at all compared to the others. Poor Aoki, he needs some love. He's a good guy. 4/10

Enjoyment This one's a little up and down for me. The first few episodes had me hooked. Kokoro Connect's comedy is similar to Clannad, where the comedy is so perfectly intertwined with the drama and it makes you want to laugh, then cry, then laugh some more. Although Kokoro Connect suffers from the occasional comedic tropes like the lesbian creep or the booby-grab scene. Like I mentioned in the story section, the drama is also very well done, but the emotional breakdowns from Inaba and Iori was getting to be too repetitive, and by the time I got to the Michi Random arc I felt like I was watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's endless eight. I had a really hard time settling on a score for this because if I lean on all the good, I want to give it a 10, but if I think about the bad, I want to give it a 1. That's how I felt about the show overall as well, and spoiler alert: for that reason, both sections will end up getting a 5/10

Incoming Kokoro Connect funny moments!

Iori's sexy panty flash.

Taichi: resident pedophile.

d-d-delicious ;D

b-b-boobies?!

That's gross, Inaba.

Overall Kokoro Connect suffers from SAO syndrome. Parts of the show are so absolutely amazing and I love so much, and it makes it stick out compared to other anime. I may sound negative in much of this review but don't get me wrong, I loved this show. Other parts are just appalling. It pulls off drama and romance so well compared to your typical high school anime, it's almost on par with Toradora!. But it's all forced, the entire show is inconclusive, and there's just too many flaws, despite how much I was on the edge of my seat at parts. And so, Kokoro Connect receives the same score as SAO, despite its drama being on a whole different level. I feel guilty about it, but it's just too critically flawed. If only half the show is perfect, then it's getting half of a perfect score, like SAO. 5/10

To wrap up this review: some anime easter eggs! K-on! fans, take a look at this.

Azunyan can be found in the wildest of places. But then again...SO CAN INABA!

zachary58 - 2013-05-18 23:54:06

I never really write reviews so go easy on me if you don't think it's "professionally" written. As of the first day of 2013, the last four episodes of Kokoro Connect were leaked, and I thought I had to wait until March 2013 like the news said. Anyways,Story:You have 5 friends in the Cultural Research Club. Sounds like your typical high school friends or slice of life anime right? Well it is, kind of. A man by the name of balloon vine decides to show himself to the group. He puts them through various "phenomena" mentally. At first I had no idea what was going on, nor thought it was interesting enough. I only found it funny at first. As the story goes on, more interesting things happen and it really sucks you in. Between the relationships inside the group and the challenges set by Balloon Vine, the story really picks up and becomes amazing.Art:One thing I loved about the show was the art. The way they were drawn reminds me of K-on in a way but a bit more detailed. I liked it a lot.Sound:The background music during the scenes and the 2nd ending are the ones that stood out to me. The background music really set the mood during the good and bad times. The 2nd end theme doesn't quite match the show but it's one of my favorite ending themes of all the anime I've seen.Character:You have the wrestling fanatic who tries to put everything on himself, the guy who's expresses his love to the same girl but gets rejected, the girl who rejects the guy and she loves everything cute, the bossy yet smart girl who is computer savvy, and the girl whom everybody loves. Really does sound like your typical high school life anime, but each character has their own time to shine and each one of them are so individualistically great and have their own flaws as well.Enjoyment:I enjoyed almost every bit of it. The good, the funny, the sad and the bad parts are all enjoyable. You can't tell how love I've been waiting for the last episodes to come out, that's just how much I enjoyed it. A very heart warming, comedic, and great anime.Overall:I highly recommend this show to anyone who loves to watch the slice of life genre. It's pretty high up there in my opinion with an original kind of plot and it also has it's own concept as far as dealing with it's story. So many twists and moments you will love.

ppredovic - 2013-03-17 20:05:22

I loved this anime, only anime I've decided to purchase a wall scroll for.  Another tearjerker I've seen.  No, it's not always a serious anime, but that's fine with me, in fact, it adds to the enjoyment even more!  To each their own I guess, but this was stunning!  I found myself cracking up and shouting "WTF" to some scenes.