Kokoro Connect is the probably the most underrated anime of 2012. Though its low rating is mostly because of the huge amount of hype surrounding it and as with most things hype ends up with expectations nothing can ever meet. Still now that the both the hype and hate are dead it is realized that Kokoro Connect isnt really all that bad. In fact its pretty damn good. The genres are wrongly tagged It isnt about comedy though it is funny at times and it isnt about the supernatural. While yes the supernatural is used a lot it really just serves as a plot device. Kokoro Connect is really more close to Angst Love Polygon and Slice of Life if you cant handle even one of what I listed above walk away now. That said lets get to the heart of it not gonna include Micchi random here it gets its own separate review. Artwork 9/10 The artwork in Kokoro Connect is reminiscent of moe culture and it really is quite good. Now I have never been a fan of moe but it works very well for the series. http://i.ur.com/UWp2ZAK.jpg As you can see the character faces are quite cute like KOn cute and the character models are great too. Its not outstanding but its something you cant really complain about. Some people might think that moe and angst dont go together but Kokoro connect makes it work. No wait it doesnt make it work it actually works pretty damn well. The expressions go hand in hand with the great voice acting and the animation is just icing on the cake. Almost flawless. Tears joy surprise no matter what emotion needs to be shown its portrayed in that sweet spot. The environment is also just lush detailed and colorful. What else can a guy ask for? http://i.ur.com/8vutg7X.jpg Silverlink really pulled all stops on this one. Sound and music 9/10 Perfection perfection. The voice acting is downright brilliant in terms of portraying emotions. Even though I dont really understand Japanese the voice acting just somehow bridged that barrier and reached out it almost breathed life into the characters singlehandedly. The voices actually get hoarse after shouting a bit and the sobbing is as real as anything I have ever seen. It is further complemented by great background music which is soft when it needs be and intense when required. Then of course we have the music. Kokoro Connect has a overwhelming 3 OPs and 4 EDs for its 13 episodes. While none of them are bad my favorites are ED01 and ED02. The first OP is also very good but it needs a bit of getting used to. All the OPs share the same music video while the EDs have different ones. This is probably one of the extremely rare cases where an ED is better than an OP. http://i.ur.com/iql6g2f.jpg Story 27/30 Firstly the genres. As I already mentioned KC is closer to angst than comedy so someone coming for the comedy will be repulsed by KC which is bad considering that Kokoro Connect is the probably the best in the Angst genre. Yes wrong categorization sucks. Premise The premise of Kokoro Connect relies on five members of the cultural research club who are great friends but one day they realize that their personalities have started exchanging which means A is now in Bs body and B is now in As body. This happens at random intervals and stays on for random intervals of time. Yes its problematic and now everyone will have to bare their true self to each other whether they like it or not as their friendship is put to the ultimate test. A unique and very promising premise indeed. See that is why I mentioned at the start that it is not supernatural. Even though the the personality change in itself is paranormal it is just a plot device whose only purpose is to act as the catalyst to the reaction which will destroy friendships. Just like a catalyst it lowers the amount of drama needed to snap the bonds which is a good thing. It spares the viewer from needless melodrama and still delivers the slice of life type friction we all know and love. In fact the supernatural is not explained at all it is just a plot device leave it at that. As a minor footnote Some people think plot device is a bad thing. Which it really isnt. Yeah sure bad plot devices are awful but clever ones like the one is Kokoko Connect only serve to further the seriess greatness. http://i.ur.com/1YGln2m.jpg Execution Execution is where most plotlines falter and break but KC manages to uphold itself with an engaging story and its great character development Ill ramble about character development in the next section. The strength of Kokoro Connect relies on a surprising plot. It isnt something you can just see coming in fact there are absolutely no warning signals before Kokoro Connect changes its course. Most people are shocked by the sheer darkness of the plot but then KC suddenly turns bright before taking another nosedive into darkness. While the brightness is a logical conclusion you will almost never be able to see it coming and it will be too late once it happens. In retrospect such extreme changes can also be seen as bad for those that love angst but for me I was just relieved nay happy things didnt go any further south. One thing that is really wanted in KC is continuation between arcs. It mentions a time frame has passed since the last phenomenon but it never really looks that way and the sudden change from one arc to another can be very annoying. Still for the first time since Clannad after story I cried ep05 thanks to Kokoro Connect. Which is quite a feat in itself. http://i.ur.com/dF2EXs7.jpg Characters 25/30 Most characters are alive and meaningful with great backstories with ulterior motives and childhood trauma. Despite that I couldnt help but think that something is missing and then it hit me. The characters development squads only focus are the females Inaba Inori and Yui while the development is good it isnt across the board but very specific. Taichi and Aoki get almost no development or history at all although this is remedied in Micchi Random and the support crew is left hanging too. For some reason though this never once hit me while I watched the series itself it was more of an afterthought so I guess you will be fine unless someone tells this to you Sorry? Enjoyment 16/30 While KC was definitely enjoyable it wasnt something that is for everyone. You need to have a very specific taste to enjoy KC in all its glory. Its romance is very good so it will definitely appeal to those that like romance/tragedy. But at the same time KCs romance can get nervewrackingly boring at times. Even so KC still shines out as one of the best series I watched. Final Verdict 87/100. http://i.ur.com/rrZxKsv.jpg