Review of Kokoro Connect

Story: 8 Angsty teens switching bodies at random, and now having to deal with the awkwardness of being someone they are not ? sounds like a "Freaky Friday" remake...we all know where this is going...right? WRONG! Not only the series expand far beyond this anomaly to incorporate far crazier (and somewhat disturbing) phenomenons. This is the only spoiler I will provide. Art: 6 This is the same studio that brought you guys gems like Usagi Drop, and Bakemonogatari, the latter of which got uber bonus points for style without having to dump too much into the art budget. KC however, is more like Usagi in that itisn't known for its art. Don't get me wrong, the characters do still look good, despite the mundane setting & background.

Animation is mediocre, and if you pay close enough attention, you will notice that the creators cut corners in some scenes by using the same sequence of images over and over again.

Sound: 6
1st opening theme is pretty catch, as was the 1st ending theme.
I don't really remember the other theme songs in the series. Background theme's within each episode fit the tone/mood of each scene fairly well.
Overall, the music and sound effects did their job, but nothing that really blew me away.

Character: 10
Some viewers may dock a few points for the characters being a bit 1-dimensional in the beginning. But I justify my 10/10 in that I was absolutely floored by how these characters developed throughout the series. Whether it is the rich back-story of each character (minor one's too !) , or the fluidity with which these characters interact, it is clear that the makers put a lot of effort into creating people out of the main protagonists, as opposed to archetypal and cliched caricatures.

Enjoyment: 10
I laughed, I cried, I wanted to watch it again, nuff said

Overall: 9
I took the average of the previous 5 and added 1 because the characters were just that strong. I believe that it is the people that drive a series. One can create an absolutely ridiculous universe that transcends all suspension of disbelief, but still have awesome characters that really absorb viewers into that universe. Kokoro Connect's star characters did precisely that for me, and i hope it does for those of you reading this review!

Thanks for reading!