Review of Kokoro Connect

This one caught me off guard. I was expecting a somewhat lighthearted anime, the usual romcom type. I was pleasantly surprised however. Also please keep in mind that this is my first review and I'm still relatively new to anime. Story The story is driven by the five main characters, the different phenomenons that happen throughout the series and how they affect their relations. This is due to Balloon Vine (a weird "being" that can take control of people's bodies) causing the phenomenons. Sometimes a few side characters are involved, but they are usually only there to add a bit of comedy. That is fine, asthe main characters are well designed and not paper thin.

Characters
I really liked the characters. Even though they are based on existing archetypes, they manage to bring something new here. They build each character from ground up, showing their problems and pasts. The characters definitely are the thing that kept me interested. I'm not gonna spoil anything, as the story depends on character development. All the characters go through some change during the series.

Yaegashi Taichi - He's your typical nice guy type character. I'm usually not big on them, often ending up hating them. However, this one was different, without spoiling anything.

Nagase Iori - She's the cute and energetic type. At least, she starts out as one.

Kiriyama Yui - She's your delicate character and a karate trainee.

Inaba Himeko - She's the tough, cool chick. Again, changes during the show. Also my favourite character.

Aoki Yoshifumi- I suppose he's the pervert type. That is not flaunted though, only in a few instances does he act perverted. He also gets beaten up by the girls.

Art
No complaints here. I'm not too picky on art, as long as it's watchable, which it most definitely was. It was clear, not that detailed though. I feel like it does the job. Art isn't a deal breaker for me anyway.

Sound
I don't care much for anime openings or endings, so I'll let you judge those. The actual music during the show was really good and fitting, though. The VAs did a good job in my opinion, no complaints.

Enjoyment
I really enjoyed Kokoro. I was always wanting to see what's going to happen next, watching all of the 17 episodes on almost one sitting. There were no filler episodes, never a dull moment. The pacing was perfect in my opinion, it didn't feel rushed nor did it feel like it was dragging on too long. The conclusion in the end was satisfying and I didn't feel like it should've continued. Kokoro is definitely going to my top 3 ever, possibly the best I've watched so far.

I can't really say anything bad about this series. I did get annoyed a few times when the characters did something stupid a real person would never have done, but that's just me, not bad design necessarily. I highly recommend this to anyone, even if you're not a big SoL fan. If you want to shed a few tears while watching a good story unfold, go for it!