Review of Kokoro Connect

***Minor Spoliers*** ***Includes episodes 14-17 (Michi Random)*** Usually, i don't really enjoy light novel adaptions because of how butchered they become or because they don't adapt the whole story. Out of the few i do enjoy, this one probably ranks second to Suzumiya Haruhi. In fact, they are pretty alike if you try to spot similarities. The storyline is quite addictive. Basically, a person named heartseed (or Balloon Vine, depending the group that subbed it) creates a phenomenon every arc to place our main characters into a troublesome situation. Usually, the phenomenon reminds the mains of their traumas or problems they currently face. This drives the characterdevelopment. I do feel some parts of the story is rushed and the first arc is probably the most interesting arc but that's mainly because you're not used to the characters. The created a sense of originality so it becomes more interesting. After that, most of the problems and dilemmas are pretty predictable because the problems that was avoided in the previous arc start to resurface.

The art really reminded me of K-On! That's not bad though. Its the first time I've experienced an anime animated like this. There's nothing really special going on in this department. Just solid animation all around.

I loved the soundtrack of this anime. Especially the ED of the first 5 episodes. I feel like the ED playing with the preview of the next episode made it preview really dramatic and badass lol. The voice actors were all very good and the voices matched the characters perfectly. I hate it when I see a character and they sound totally different from what they look like they would sound. Its weird but that point really bugs me personally.

The character development was... interesting. I feel like the author really tried to make this as realistic as possible. Realistically, our traumas and things of that kind can't really all be cured at once. It's a slow process and you gradually overcome some of the things that affected you in the past. I feel like by trying to do that, it affected the quality of the anime. Sometimes, a character be so hung up on a problem for so many episodes that it becomes annoying (I'm looking at you, Iori). Sometimes, the problems that you thought was solved in the last arc come back and it leaves you thinking "wait, we already went over this... stfu". The internal struggles of the characters just gets old after 10 episodes of it.

Nevertheless, Kokoro Connect is still very enjoyable. I found myself marathoning the whole thing. It was addicting and it makes me wish they'd make a season 2.

9/10