Kokoro Connect - Reviews

It didnt look any good at first but if you like drama, comady you will love this anime and even if you dont this anime has even more to offer. I rate this very highly for a 1 season anime, i am very picky with my animes but this one never let me down, not once, i was always hooked for the next episode.

I reccomend this anime yo those who want personality switcing or drama.

In the past, I have hinted at, insinuated, understated, was rather mild about, spoke clearly of, written somewhat boldly, phrased a touch harshly, nearly used expletives while exclaiming, and ranted about how I dislike school romance stories and love triangles. Luckily, Kokoro Connect is actually rather good. It's yet another humoristic school life series with supernatural elements, a dab of romance and a love triangle. Yes, another one of those.

Fortunately, Kokoro Connect is well executed. The humor is good fun, the character development clever (if a bit rushed at times), and the plot sufficiently out of the ordinary. While it does not have the sparkling artwork of some of the other more popular titles, the writing is definitely good. What really annoys me is that it gets somewhat repetitive in the way it chooses to deal with the issues and characters. Always "supernatural thing rocks the group's life, people struggle, find resolution" is a bit much when it is three times in a row. Listening to people being uneasy, while understandable, gets a bit monotone.

Perhaps the most important thing to this type of show is if despite all the annoyance this well troden trope elicits it manages to maintain a unique charm. Kokoro Connect does, and doesn't make the melodrama bog things down too much, which is surprising enough considering how dominant a force it is in the series. It doesn't go the full angsty route, but rather allows characters a life outside of their struggles as well, and deserves to be commended for that.

But what matter most is that Kokoro Connect is actually fun to view. It's interesting, the characters are fun and rather interesting *even if their backstories aren't anything spectacular), and the plot is unique. It even has some moments where it is beautifully emotional without resorting to cheap manipulative tricks too heavily.

Writing (Story and Characters):

Kokoro Connect has decent writing that avoids the major traps of this type of series. It doesn't keep the supernatural element consistent until they get boring. The characters aren't one dimensional, and each get their backstories and growth. The love triangle isn't a big deal, and while romance exists it doesn't get melodramatic. As opposed to other shows which rely on cliches which have been beat to death (*cough*Toradora*cough*). Still, it is not without flaws.

While the story isn't something that you would expect to work, but it does. Whlie it does get repetitive, it is still well executed and have a good feel to it. What is surprising is that the end isn't so much dramatic, but rather a "life goes on" one, which is surprisingly refreshing and open ended for a series like this. This goes without the final four episodes which were a TV special. Still, this is a character-driven show, and the plot services the characters well to that end.

What this series really has in spades are cleverly developed characters. Kokoro Connect has a well balanced group, and while their backgrounds are somewhat angsty they aren't defined strictly by that. The plot forces them to develop and mature, and yes, sometimes it skips a few steps, but the overall strength manages to overcome these smaller issues. The plot is based around the characters, and they manage to lift it out of mediocrity and make the most of the premise.

Looking with a broad perspective at the writing, it isn't the best, but it is still damn good. The characters are great and the plot is original. There are technical issues and some things feel forced while others repetitive, but the light hearted side manages to smooth that over nicely. Usually these types of shows feel recycled and dull, but the writing manages to avoid the greatest pitfalls with care. The story drags the characters forward, and the characters hold everything together, and it is definitely well executed.

Art (Animation and Sound):

Oh, how hard it is to praise Kokoro Connect after you see shows like Angel Beats! and Clannad. But while not quite on the level of the greatest school life artwork, the show manages to have a rather good showing overall. The audio and video work well together, and there are no major technical flaws. What is lacking is a wow factor, something to push the art into the top tier, but the choice was obviously for playing it straight.

Backgrounds being good is a standard thing nowadays, and Kokoro Connect doesn't manage to distinguish itself from the top tier in that. What really makes everything work is the palette choice which manages to mirror different ranges of emotion and circumstance very well. The character designs are nothing special (though extra credit for no "look at the massive boobs" character), but manage to work well. Movement plays a small part in the series, but what little of it that matters is well done (even if we get the "loads of still characters in the background" issue occasionally).

Notable is the bang up job of voice actress of Nagase, who did a fan-frickin'-tastic job. Rarely do I point out a specific strength, but it just has to be said how a character that by all rights should be the least interesting shone brightly. In general, the voice acting was good, and the soundtrack was rather well used (if a bit cliche). Effects are nearly always unnoticeable, which is a good thing considering the understated nature of the art.

The artwork makes the writing work, but doesn't manage to improve it (with the notable exception I mentioned). Still, it is by no means bad. Kokoro Connect has artwork that reflects the nature of the story, and therefore gives a nice and clean feel and helps the viewer enjoy what is special about the series. It isn't top tier, but the artwork is most definitely good.

Overall:

I found Kokoro Connect surprisingly enjoyable, yet not quite memorable. The plot differentiates it from other school life shows, but it isn't quite exceptional enough to truly stand out.

Has a lot of drama which i like, i personaly liked it 

At the date of 3/3/2023 , i am writing this to tell you this is one of the greatest animes I had ever seen. However I know alot of people will say that this anime ending is too bad, but actually there is a completion which is the OVA, so I will talk about what I think about this anime. 

1- This anime is the best Love-triangle anime I had ever seen

2- The ending (OVA) is too satisfying especially for alot of viewers, so you are most likely to be satisfied with the ending.

3- It gives you some sort of emotion due to the drama in it.

4- Inaba chan is one of the best waifus/anime girls

 However what is really not satisfying about the anime is that: 

1-Some stuff should have been avoided in ep 13 such as making the charcters dumb to reveal something

2- We need to know more about Balloon Vine and who he really is.

 SO HELL YEAH. this anime is great. highly recommended to watch it, especially that alot of new animes nowadays are shit/bad compared to the old animes