Let me preface this review by saying that, in general, I agree with the community opinion of most anime on this site. In fact, I usually pick shows that have a high popularity/ranking because there's generally a reason these anime are getting attention and praise. Having said that, I was woefully underwhelmed by Kokoro Connect. The premise seemed promising, and I had actually been hoping to come across an anime that looks at body swapping and the moral implications surrounding it. Unfortunately, Kokoro Connect does its best to make the concept as mundane and melodramatic as possible. The plot revolves around a group of five teenagers that, for various reasons, have all joined the same club during their first year in high school. Their personalities are quite different from one another, and each character carries the weight of some personal burden that they try to hide from the rest of the group. Then, inexplicably, some unknown entity called Heartseed (I should have known it was going downhill at this point) decides that he wants to mess with them, for whatever reason, by having them randomly switch bodies with one another. This does make for some fairly amusing scenes in the first few episodes, but after the initial shock has worn off, the show degrades into a sappy romance with little substance. By itself the story isn't horrible, but it's the characters that make this anime hard to watch. Most of the time, their actions are baseless and have little foundation aside from setting up the next plot twist. Rationality is thrown out the window in favor of acting on their, often neurotic, feelings. Even worse are the miserable excuses for character growth. Rather than having the cast grow and develop throughout the show, each character is given a moment of epiphany where they miraculously overcome their deep seeded fears and resentments. The icing on this horrible cake was the lead, Taichi. He is selfless to a fault and just as stubborn. His character was bland and unlikable, and yet he was the focal point of the entire show. It was physically painful to watch him spout his half-baked logic, and even more upsetting to see everyone else buy into it as if he were some sort of emotional prophet. The show also suffers from an inadequate conclusion. Granted, I didn't watch the 4 episode sequel to see if some questions are answered, but I don't think I can stomach any more of this garbage. Moving on to the animation, I found the character designs to be pleasing, and the overall art quality was adequate for a slice of life show. There was almost no discernible soundtrack, and although the show is primarily driven by dialogue it would have been nice to hear a few accompanying pieces. Upon completion, I will say that there is a very limited audience for this show. Naturally, the premise will draw in its fair share of viewers, and I certainly hope that they are more entertained than I was.
3/10
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