Kokoro Connect – Review

Kokoro Connect is an anime that was released during the summer 2012 anime season. The anime is produced by Silver Link who did the not so entertaining Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. The anime revolves around five high school students who are in the Cultural Research Club. Then, literally out of nowhere these 5 students begin to switch bodies for apparently no reason. This is the bread and butter of the anime and involves how these characters deal with such an event.

The characters find out early on that a mysterious figure known as Heartseed is the reason this event is happening and he tells them his reasons. Quite honestly, it reminded me of The Joker in The Dark Knight because he just did it to do it. He didn’t need to have a legit reason. He’s just doing it for fun. I love that. Heartseed is one of those characters who whenever he is onscreen, you can’t take your eyes off of him and once he is off screen, you can’t wait for him to be back on screen.

Taichi is the de facto main character. Each girl likes him (obviously) and he’s the one that keeps the characters in check. Plus, he gets the most screen time so that’s another reason he is the main character. As the series progresses, the characters discover secrets are being held and of course, they are said to each other and they have to deal with the consequences. In one instance, Taichi has some major guts for the secret he tells Inaba. I mean, wow I don’t think anyone would be brave enough to tell that kind of secret to anyone, let alone a friend. Everybody has secrets, as you usually do. In one episode, Heartseed plays a little game with the 5 characters. He tells them that one character must die with one personality and have 30 minutes to decide because he has grown bored with them. Of course, this causes panic and sadness amongst the high-schoolers and don’t know what to do. Heartseed did this little experiment to see just how strong their friendship was. When the 30 minutes are up, let’s just say that emotions run very high. Heartseed says he is trying to help the main characters find their true selves and for a few episodes, that is pretty much the arc we are given.

One thing can be said about this anime: The show gives these characters a reason as to why they are doing what they are doing. There are a few episodes devoted to having the characters sell out their emotions in such a way that the characters wouldn’t normally do. The characters get very emotional one minute and then retract their emotions the next. It’s not necessarily schizophrenic but it does convey the motion that if these characters were not under the control of Heartseed then these characters wouldn’t have any conflict at all. It just gives us an excuse to watch the drama unfold. It does have elements of being a supernatural show but it also says that these characters are literally perfect for each other in one way or another. These characters are under control by force with no way of going out of control unless Heartseed decides he’s bored with them and leaves. It’s kind of cheap and while the drama that you do see is very well done, the cheapness gives off a stench of odor.

Some people will be turned off by the slice of life, kawaii-ish feel to the show because of these characters one-sidedness but I wasn’t too bothered by it. This is a show that you really have to be in the mood to watch, even at just 13 episodes. If you aren’t into this sort of show, this won’t change your mind. I do admire the creators for doing something different with the genre though. The theme songs are pretty cool. I especially enjoyed the first opening theme. It fits with the show well. It’s probably my favorite one out of the multiple songs used in the opening and ending.

I will say that there are 4 more episodes to watch after the 13 because the 13 were broadcast on television while the remaining 4 you have to buy the DVD/Blu-ray for the show to watch the last 4. I don’t know about you but that seems like a crazy marketing ploy. Hey, guess what, you HAVE TO buy the DVDs or Blu-rays to watch the entire show. HAHAHAHAHA!!! Sentai Filmworks has licensed this show so be on the lookout for it if you are interested.