Review of Kokoro Connect

Slight spoilers probably hehe This review includes the 4 OVA "sequel" Kokoro Connect is about a group of 5 friends that begin to experience supernatural phenomena amongst themselves and how they deal with them. The first being body-switching (like in Kimi no Na wa). CHARACTERS - 10/10 The characters are EASILY the best part about this show. While none of them are close to perfect (especially one Nagase Iori… more on this later lol), together they form an extremely interesting and entertaining group. Their dynamics, banter, dialogue, and relationships with one another constantly had me grinning, giggling, and feeling devastated at times. Their individual developments each strike theright chords within you that makes you adore each and every character.

PLOT - 7/10
Okay so anyone that knows me even a little bit knows that I love typical slice of life (SoL) with supernatural/sci-fi/fantasy elements splashed in. That was the main hook for me to watch this show. The phenomena they experienced was definitely all extremely interesting and well executed; each able to bring unique challenges. BUT, while each phenomena was unique the conflict that the characters had within themselves seemed to be exactly the same throughout the whole show. You’d be surprised that a struggle during a new arc appears when you thought it was something they had previously resolved a few episodes ago.

This downfall of Kokoro Connect was made clear during its 4 episode OVA “sequels”. After resolving yet another Nagase issue and finally seeming to provide a happy ending to her struggles, the sequel focuses on Nagase ONCE AGAIN. Okay, that’s fine because it pushed the plot and it definitely intrigued me only to find out that once again, it’s simply her identity crisis biting her in the ass. An issue that we all thought was resolved by then. While I love all the characters, the entire way the plot flowed made me find Nagase increasingly irritating throughout the show.

ART/MUSIC - 9.5/10
Art and animation was clean and crisp, especially considering it’s a 2012 anime. Music was spot on. OPs and EDs were all bangers.

ENJOYMENT - 9/10
As I mentioned, I’m a sucker for the SoL/supernatural genre and I really enjoyed this through and through. Mix in the great dialogue and banter among the characters and it kept me very entertained.

OVERALL - 8.5/10
I really really wanted to love this show. I thought it would have a shot at being one of my favorites, but even with unique challenges through each arc, the struggles remained mostly the same which felt a bit repetitive. Nonetheless, very good show and I still recommend watching it.