I really don’t want to do this. Look, before I continue any further I need you to understand where I’m coming from. I have a weakness for moelodramatic anime, from the iconic Angel Beats! and Clannad to the obscure Sola and U.F.O. no Natsu. If these kind of shows aren’t your thing it’s likely you would avoid Kokoro Connect as well. That’s fine. But this is directed at everyone who has an overall positive track record with these kind of anime and want their heartstrings pulled again. Though if my words weren’t enough indication, I don’t like this anime.
Granted, it starts harmlessly enough. We’re introduced to a group of high school students going about their lives when they find themselves walking in each other’s shoes. After all, they’re switching bodies with each other at random points and frequently at inopportune times. They call each other if possible during a switch and fill them in on what’s happening, sometimes being inconsequential, other times becoming too close for comfort. Through this body switching, and other supernatural phenomena, we learn a lot about the characters. We learn their insecurities, their pasts, their embarrassments, their fears, their feelings for each other. They don’t overcome themselves very easily, but there’s so much about them—the good –and- the bad—that we learn that it’s hard not to feel for them. It’s a good thing Kokoro Connect has a solid cast of characters, because with the story the way it is, they’re going to carry this anime.
So as the characters are trying to deal with the body switching, we’re introduced to what is quite possibly the biggest slap in the face to every fan of moelodramatic anime ever: Heartseed. It turns out he’s the one behind the characters switching bodies with each other and the other supernatural phenomena happening to them. Heartseed says this is some kind of experiment, and throughout the show—especially when things seem to be going well for our characters—he interjects himself and causes them more grief. He then says something along the lines of this experiment being successful in connecting their hearts together. This process is repeated a few times throughout the show.
Heartseed, for all intents and purposes, is the story element of moelodramatic anime becoming a character and outright telling us what we can expect. The experiment he conducts is the drama, the way he interjects himself is the same as things suddenly taking a turn for the worse, and the experiment being successful in connecting their hearts together is the moment when we’re supposed to realize that our heartstrings have been pulled. I say “supposed to” because the introduction of Heartseed is doing that instead, and with a name that plays off the term “heartstrings,” it’s like the show is telling us “we’re going to start making you like the characters a lot now.”
And quite frankly, it’s insulting. I like moelodramatic anime because even though I know my heartstrings are going to be pulled, I never know when it happens. Sure, I –realize- at some point that I like the characters a lot more than I thought I would or did, but I never know –when- I forgot I was watching an anime and started feeling genuinely enamored toward the characters. Never knowing when I –really- start to feel for these characters is its own reward that lets me indentify with them in the same way that they never know when they started falling in love, for example. Combined with everything else the show is spelling out for us, from explaining the premise of the drama to interjecting itself instead of tragedy happening naturally, and it kills the immersion for the story. Sure, all of these clichés are something you can see in a moelodramatic anime in hindsight, but the thing about Kokoro Connect is that you’re not seeing them in hindsight but –as they happen-, and it tells you –that they happen-.
Some of you might ask if that’s the entire point of Heartseed existing. That he’s supposed to troll the audience with his exposition. No, I –do- understand the point of Heartseed. I understand that he’s a sign of the writers not being confident in how well they can write a moelodramatic anime. I understand that he’s a sign of the writers thinking the audience needs everything spelled out for them. I understand that he’s a sign that they don’t know the difference between a well-written antagonist and an antagonist that’s hated for all of the wrong reasons.
Overall, I can’t really recommend Kokoro Connect to anyone because of how insulting, self-explained, and self-referential the story is. Even if you’re a fan of moelodramatic anime—no, -especially- if you’re a fan of moelodramatic anime—it’s all the more reason to avoid this show. If you’re still intent on watching it and don’t mind the story literally telling you everything, you might be able to find some salvation in the solid cast of characters because they’re really carrying this show. But even at its best and with the most praise I can possibly give, Kokoro Connect’s severe imbalance of good characters and poor story –barely- prop up the overall show to avoid being bad. Otherwise, this is one moelodramatic anime you won’t be Connecting your Heart to.