Review of Kokoro Connect
~STORY~ 8/10 Kokoro Connect or Hearts Connect in the literal translation is the story about 5 middle schoolers who are part of the Students Cultural society. They basically meet up every evening and try to come up with stuff to publish in their monthly issue. One day , two of the kids (yui and Aoki) discover that they switched bodies . The other members follow suit soon enough . The 5 are confronted by a magical entity(called HeartSeed) who tells them that they are part of his experiment to study human behaviour . And reluctantly they are forced to face various challenges that this being ofunexplained power throws at them, not knowing when it will end..or if it will at all!
~MAIN CHARACTERS~
1) Taichi - A very selfless guy , who just cant take it when he sees others suffering and always wants to help. Wrestling fanboy.
2) Himeko Inaba - The strong silent type who really comes forward as the leader of the whole pack .
3) Iyori - A happy go lucky person, who can make just about anyone smile
4) Yui - She's the brawns of this gang . A black belt and skilled fighter with a soft core.
5) Aoki - The Ron Weasley of the group .
~SLICE OF LIFE TAG~ 9.5/10
The anime was really popular. But that success wasnt down to the cutesy stuff or the dark undertones or even the sexually driven scenes. It was more to do with its Slice of Life tag .
On the surface , the story is mainly driven by the various trials the MCs face. The way they deal with each is unique and entertaining to watch . But the real reason i give so much plaudits to the writers is the excellent story writing. Before you read further, just look above at the description i've given for each of the 5. Their challenges all involve facing off against who they are . Each and every one of these challenges brings the MCs to their knees and face bitter truths about their life.
Ofcourse these can all be easily missed by most people and be mistaken as just some dark undertones. But look carefully at each of these episodes and you'll see an amazing message hidden in them . The story you may forget over years , but that simple message may probably stay with you for life . Which of the 5 characters you associate with is something you'll have to find out for your own. Once you do , its upto you to discover how that particular message is relevant to you. That is why i personally believe that this anime succeeded so much - because it embraced the slice of life tag better than any other anime I've yet watched (i.e anime that really had any sort of relevance in the real world) .
That being said , its pretty obvious how well the characters were developed (10/10 for that).
~SOUND~ 9/10
One can tell an amazing story via anime . But the anime will not become great if it does not have BGM to back it up .. to hit you right in the feels when it matters ( A fact excellently elicited by FMA and FMA Brotherhood -Slightly varied stories yet much different ratings on MAF) .
Together with a great opening and ending songs, Kokoro Connect has an amazing BGM to make every emotion transmitted to the viewer.
~ARTSTYLE~ 9/10
One word - BEAUTIFUL
~FINAL VERDICT~ 9/10
While the anime invokes the mind to rethink our lives, it does have some flaws. Well i cant really call them flaws, but things that left me disappointed. For one thing , i can hear the unanimous voice of the fandom for a second season, one which we never got. The manga does have a few volumes after the events of this anime, but it never got a second season. Secondly , a lot of things about HeartSeed were told very vaguely . Going by the trend set by other anime such as Noragami , this could have been a plot device to milk out a second season, or even a reboot with entirely new set of characters. But to this day we have not gotten a second season.
If you are looking for just a fun time , probably you will be better served elsewhere. But if you do have the patience to actually listen to the message that is being provided via this story , then you wont be disappointed