Peps' Anime Wrap-up: Kokoro Connect

image from MyAnimeList
While it was true that I was tired out by the hodgepodge of harem/ecchi titles that seemed to crowd the summer anime season, there were a few choice titles that made trudging through anime storytelling cliches worthwhile.

In fact, one of those exceptional titles would eventually overtake my early favorite Natsuyuki Rendezvous as the ultimate must-watch title of the season.

I don't think I've encountered an anime title that made me want to read the light novel series it was adapted from as much as Kokoro Connect did.

Kokoro Connect tells the story of wrestling fanatic Yaegashi Taichi, easygoing Nagase Iori, strict Inaba Himeko, enthusiastic Aoki Yushifumi and lover of all cute things Kiriyama Yui.  After struggling to find a club that they could join, each one was assigned by teachers to the Cultural Research Club, where they would eventually establish an easygoing friendship with one another. One day, the relative quiet of the group is disturbed by a very unusual event, when Yoshifumi and Yui tell them that they experienced a body swap the previous night.  It's not long before Taichi and Iori also experience the body swap, which is then followed by members of the group randomly swapping bodies with one another for different periods of time.  As the group struggles with the unusual experience, their teacher Goto Ryuzen shows up, but is actually possessed by a strange entity called Heartseed.  Heartseed tells them that it finds their group interesting and have decided to experiment on them, observing their reactions in the process.  The group eventually realizes that Heartseed's experiments have far deeper consequences than simply trying to contend with exchanging bodies.

image from sekijitsu
It seemed hilarious in the beginning, which is why there are resource sites that tagged Kokoro Connect as a comedy.  It didn't take long for me to realize that I couldn't do the same and that, while there are lighthearted moments in the series, it was actually a drama at its very core.  And there's nothing lightweight about the individual struggles that the characters have to go through in their unusual experience.

As inconvenient as the body swapping event can be, the group would soon realize that overcoming the sudden feeling of displacement would be the least of their worries.  Each one realizes that the phenomenon actually revealed facts about their individual personalities, with some experiencing a show of character strength, while others betraying weaknesses that they wanted to deny about themselves.  This is all the more evident when Heartseed would eventually change the experiment from body swapping to acting out on inner desires or strong emotions, and when Heartseed 2 subjected the group to suddenly regressing in age for five hours each day.

There's a certain sense of foreboding every time Heartseed and Heartseed 2 would appear, possessing their teacher, Iori or Taichi's sister to convey their message.  The monotone quality of Heartseed's voice is actually more frightening to me than if it suddenly appeared as a giant version of the plant it's named after. 

What could have been considered a ridiculous concept is made successful by the fact that the five main characters of Kokoro Connect are very much relatable.  Most of the storytelling viewpoint is that of Taichi's, but every character is capable of invoking empathy from the audience because of their unique experiences or emotional state.  You will find that you are invested in their individual and collective happy endings.  I can't help but fervently wish a horrible demise for Heartseed, or think that it should at least give them something worthwhile at the end of all of the troubles it caused the group.  Yet, if it weren't for those same troubles, I don't think we would get to love Taichi, Iori, Himeko, Yushifumi and Yui with such fervor.  Nor would we consider their self-realizations and resolutions to be as satisfying.

It can be quite the roller coaster ride of emotions when you watch Kokoro Connect and the series doesn't spare you from shocking moments even in its final scene.  It is in turns heartwarming, suspenseful and even bittersweet in its storytelling, creating a wonderful tapestry of interlocking personal stories that are fused together by the misadventures engineered by Heartseed.

Kokoro Connect shows us the best of the slice of life genre, but does so in hyper drive because of the events that define the series.  Yes, you will watch the characters grow up, find love or experience events that high school students usually go through, but it never comes off as cliched. 

Never mind that it's confusing when it comes to defining the ultimate genre of Kokoro Connect.  Whether it's really fantasy, supernatural or sci-fi, all I can tell you is that light novel series author Anda Sadanatsu created something great and I can't wait to find out what happens to the members of the Cultural Research Club.

Since it seems that a second season for the series is not possible because of certain events, I will patiently wait for the last remaining four episodes that will be bundled with the BD release over the next several months.

And if I can't wait or those four episodes aren't enough, I found a translated copy of the ongoing light novel series of Kokoro Connect to read.

Happy viewing!!

.... and some happy reading for me, as well. :)

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