(L) Kokoro Connect [anime]

[ultimatemegax]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I honestly hope the ED keeps switching from one arc to the next so that it matches well with whatever the premise of the arc is (presuming there's a different "game" that Heartseed will be playing after this one).

It's pretty much confirmed that a new ED will be accompanying each arc. The solitiation for the first BD stated that the CD contained "ヒトランダムED主題歌" (Hito Random ED Theme Song), so it would be logical to assume each arc has its own ED.

[Sumeragi]

Please ask in the appropriate thread.

[Hiroi Sekai]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I honestly hope the ED keeps switching from one arc to the next so that it matches well with whatever the premise of the arc is (presuming there's a different "game" that Heartseed will be playing after this one).

"Different game"- I love how well that sums it up. Since he twisted and wrung the character's minds by swapping their bodies, he switches to involuntary movement fueled by deep emotion, and who knows just how far it'll go.

Like the protagonists state, their lives aren't toys. The antagonist refuses to let up for the simple fact that the whole thing is "interesting to him", and that's so deliciously mysterious and evil to me. How sick would your mind have to be to find pleasure in taking apart people's lives by slowly running a razor through their weakest emotions? I'm sure it'll all be explained further, but at the moment it's pure madness, and I love it.

And as mentioned, Nagase Iori's entire script in this episode was riddled with hints at what's to happen next. I can't wait to see what happens, as I have a few theories.

[HinataShou]

and

Spoiler for :

[Silverwyrm]

This arc is interesting for afew reasons

First, Taichi's desire to literally throw a punch. He's not all bunny rabbits and rainbows after all, he certainly is suppressing some darker side of himself.

Second is Inaba, in the first arc we witnessed her pushing the others together, at what seemed a possible self loss. She also seemed to be the most vulnerable yet hiding it from them. In this arc, we see she likely IS attracted to Taichi, but again, suppressing it for his and Iori's sake. She may call Taichi the selfless freak but...she may be the same thing herself, even if less obviously.

[SRanger]

The plot itself of Kokoro Connect feels rather shallow and forced - a lot of the issues the characters have are surfacing inorganically - it just doesn't feel right. I know it's technically because of heartseed or whatever, but still, I think it could be done better.

Everytime heartseed comes into the scene, it just feels like a load of bull. I hate his character and how they are using him - he feels like a terrible deus ex machina, and trust me, I like tons of shows with deus ex machinas (code geass).

To be honest, this show is really propped up by the amazingness of Inaba. She's just an great character, and I'm only watching the series for her.

I prefer Tari Tari as of right now.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

@HinataShou
I'm happy that the event on your pic didn’t happen just before Yui barged in. If it did, that’ll make Taichi one hell of a “quick ejaculator” and I doubt Inaba will be satisfied that way .

[Flawfinder]

@SRanger Oh, that's right. I forgot I haven't really mentioned Heartseed in my complaints with this show (because currently, he's the biggest complaint I have). Quite frankly, he needs to stop. I don't know what he's doing, why he's doing it, what the hell he calls what he's doing, but he needs to stop. He is an awful character. He's an awful plot device. He had no right to ask for an apology regarding what he did because he didn't earn it. He is about as remorseful as Chris Brown.

[jeroz]

Originally Posted by Flawfinder

@SRanger Oh, that's right. I forgot I haven't really mentioned Heartseed in my complaints with this show (because currently, he's the biggest complaint I have). Quite frankly, he needs to stop. I don't know what he's doing, why he's doing it, what the hell he calls what he's doing, but he needs to stop. He is an awful character. He's an awful plot device. He had no right to ask for an apology regarding what he did because he didn't earn it. He is about as remorseful as Chris Brown.

Contract? /(°w°)\

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Silverwyrm

This arc is interesting for afew reasons

First, Taichi's desire to literally throw a punch. He's not all bunny rabbits and rainbows after all, he certainly is suppressing some darker side of himself.

I think I'm getting the same vibe from Taichi as you're getting, but I'm unsure on the specifics of it.

My current idea is that Taichi is getting frustrated with his friends. We see a bit of this in the next episode preview where he's calling out Inaba.

Taichi is constantly having to deal with his friends' issues and personality quirks, while he himself isn't causing similar issues (outside of romance conflict that is as much a complication for Taichi as it is for Iori and Inaba). At some level, I couldn't fault him for thinking 'Good grief, can't these people just get over their issues and take things more in stride like I do? Do they have to make such a big deal about everything?'.

I think that Taichi might be getting weary of playing counselor to his friends, and maybe feels like it's time for him to start caring about his own needs and wants for a change.

But this is all just an idea.

I do think that Taichi is a genuinely and sincerely nice guy, but there are times when the niceness seems a bit forced to me - Based more on a sense of duty or obligation than on a more natural outpouring of his true personality. The way he tried to quickly resolve the issues of his three female friends had a slight element of fakery to it to me. I do think he genuinely wanted to help them, but I also get the impression that part of Taichi is grappling with impatience with his friends (which is partly why he aimed for quick and simple solutions).

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by jeroz

Contract? /(°w°)\

Perhaps ╱/( ◕‿‿◕ )\╲

[Flawfinder]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I do think that Taichi is a genuinely and sincerely nice guy, but there are times when the niceness seems a bit forced to me - Based more on a sense of duty or obligation than on a more natural outpouring of his true personality. The way he tried to quickly resolve the issues of his three female friends had a slight element of fakery to it to me. I do think he genuinely wanted to help them, but I also get the impression that part of Taichi is grappling with impatience with his friends (which is partly why he aimed for quick and simple solutions).

That would be an awesome twist on his character.

[Ridwan]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

Perhaps ╱/( ◕‿‿◕ )\╲

Better >>

[Pocari_Sweat]

And this episode exponentially magnifies the problem that carried over from last episode. Heartseed continues to be a poorly written character in that his purpose is to be a plot device to drive the story, rather than be a character that forms part of the story. It's extremely silly and far-fetched that the purpose of making the cast suffer is for his own "personal enjoyment". Sure, I've seen antagonists that derive pleasure from the suffering of others, but it was more in the grand scheme of things such as revenge at the world for making that antagonist suffer in the first place, or as a side element to world domination. But here, here's doing it for "the hell of it" which makes a very unimpressive and unconvincing goal. Heartseed reminds me of one of those internet trolls that cause a ruckus and derive satisfaction from it because they have nothing better to do.

Because of Heartseed, most of the other problems branch from that namely the rather forced drama that's being portrayed here. This series completely lacks in subtlety and although I wouldn't call it melodrama per se, the emotions and actions that are being portrayed by the cast feels artificial in the same way [forced] melodrama artificially tries to make the audience cry. In Kokoro Connect's case, the one reaction it's definitely trying to gouge from the audience is to hate "Heartseed", which it is more or less succeeding in a literal sense. However, there is a difference between loving to hate a character and just hating a character because it's poorly developed. For example, Fate Zero's Kotomine and Madoka's Kyuubey were excellent examples of characters you love to hate because they had legitimate goals and the actions and means to achieve those goals. In Heartseed's case it's just a case of poor character development and a laughable purpose in his quest to make our characters suffer in the way they are atm.

I'm also beginning to feel tonal whiplash in this series in that it seems to shift from slapstick/"semi-ecchi" comedy to near-melodrama, a problem that existed from the very start, but now it's starting to take a toll. In particular I am starting to groan at the way the series is treating its male characters.

Spoiler for Comparison to Hanasaku Iroha:

Although at this point, it is not as bad as say Hanasaku Iroha treated Enishi or Jiromaru, it's starting to progress there in the way Taichi is beating beaten around by the various girls (kicked in the balls and now he got gut punched in this ep) and Aoki being the comedic sidekick character that everyone ridicules. It's just not funny. There's a reason why I've been avoiding Mari Okada in recent times (and generic B/C grade fanservice/ecchi series which emasculate its male characters all the time), and seeing this start to appear on a regular basis in Kokoro Connect is starting to earn a few more facepalms than needed.

So please Kokoro Connect, fix this s***. I appreciate the way Kokoro Connect is trying to be ambitious compared to the average slice of life and the way you are taking the hard route of not making a joke out of the body swapping (or in the case of this episode, body hijacking) premise, the execution of it leaves it requiring significant levels of improvement.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

...This series completely lacks in subtlety....

I "completely" disagree. For me, anyway, the feelings in this show are among the subtlest in recent shows. The situation is a fantasy, but that's just the setup. The characters and feelings are conveyed very well, for me. They come quickly, but they have their own force and subtlety.

And the mystery around "Heartseed" is interesting in itself. We know he is finding the intelligent zoo animals amusing, and we know that he sees them and himself playing roles. But we don't know his motivation. I don't "hate" him, and I don't see the show trying to make me hate him. The characters don't react with hatred, but with confusion and acceptance. Not even fear.

Crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's of normal storytelling would make this show less interesting for me. Nor I do demand absolute consistency of tone: I'm not getting "whiplash," but interesting modalities of feeling.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I "completely" disagree. The feelings in this show are among the subtlest in recent shows.

Subtle compared to what? Actual melodrama series say Anohana or parts of Ano Natsu de Matteru I'll accept, but since people (including myself) are comparing and praising this series above the likes of say Hyouka or Tari Tari, nope. And if we bring say Wandering Son or Usagi Drop into the equation, most definitely not.

Like I said though the main reason there's overreacting is because it's being forced by Heartseed. Take him out of the equation (whilst keeping the supernatural elements) and the series won't be forcing out reactions. The series would have lost absolutely nothing and actually have gained because at the point it's not making any sense...or making sense in a laughable far-fetched manner, which is just as bad.

The situation is a fantasy, but that's just the setup. And the mystery around "Heartseed" is interesting in itself.

To me, at best it's about as interesting as the low points in Hyouka (namely Eba arc) but realistically but much less than that. Alas though, our opinions differ.

I don't "hate" him, and I don't see the show trying to make me hate him. The characters don't react with hatred, but with confusion and acceptance.

The series is trying to evoke the same reaction from Heartseed as they are from various other antagonists including the ones I mentioned above. And from my perspective the characters do seem to show anger to Heartseed alongside confusion. And hell no and they accepting or him, in fact multiple times the cast requests for Heartseed to go away, which Heartseed refuses because he explicitly said because he's enjoying himself.

Nor I do demand absolute consistency of tone: I'm not getting "whiplash," but interesting modalities of feeling.

I don't mind timely comic moments in slice of life/dramas. In fact they are encouraged or else you get emotional exhausation like in the case with Anohana. What I don't appreciate is the way in particular Taichi is being handled. On top of being a White Knight he's being beaten around by the girls which frankly isn't funny anymore. Getting kicked in the balls and then punched hard in the guy, Please -_-'. I thought this was trying to be different from the other slice of show type shows? And Aoki at this point is a 5th wheel who has contributed very little to the series so far other than being Yui's romantic interest. The male characters in this series is starting to look quite pathetic.

[Sumeragi]

Give Taichi time. He'll be more than a beating bag soon enough.

[sikvod00]

@Kauro_Chujo: Hmm. Are you sure the characters don't hate Heartseed? I think they do, however they have accepted that they're powerless to stop him and can only learn to adapt (barely) to his whims. I'm sure any one of them would gladly destroy the troll if it was within their power.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

And this episode exponentially magnifies the problem that carried over from last episode. Heartseed continues to be a poorly written character in that his purpose is to be a plot device to drive the story, rather than be a character that forms part of the story. It's extremely silly and far-fetched that the purpose of making the cast suffer is for his own "personal enjoyment". Sure, I've seen antagonists that derive pleasure from the suffering of others, but it was more in the grand scheme of things such as revenge at the world for making that antagonist suffer in the first place, or as a side element to world domination. But here, here's doing it for "the hell of it" which makes a very unimpressive and unconvincing goal. Heartseed reminds me of one of those internet trolls that cause a ruckus and derive satisfaction from it because they have nothing better to do.

Because of Heartseed, most of the other problems branch from that namely the rather forced drama that's being portrayed here. This series completely lacks in subtlety and although I wouldn't call it melodrama per se, the emotions and actions that are being portrayed by the cast feels artificial in the same way [forced] melodrama artificially tries to make the audience cry. In Kokoro Connect's case, the one reaction it's definitely trying to gouge from the audience is to hate "Heartseed", which it is more or less succeeding in a literal sense. However, there is a difference between loving to hate a character and just hating a character because it's poorly developed. For example, Fate Zero's Kotomine and Madoka's Kyuubey were excellent examples of characters you love to hate because they had legitimate goals and the actions and means to achieve those goals. In Heartseed's case it's just a case of poor character development and a laughable purpose in his quest to make our characters suffer in the way they are atm.

I'm also beginning to feel tonal whiplash in this series in that it seems to shift from slapstick/"semi-ecchi" comedy to near-melodrama, a problem that existed from the very start, but now it's starting to take a toll. In particular I am starting to groan at the way the series is treating its male characters.

Spoiler for Comparison to Hanasaku Iroha:

Although at this point, it is not as bad as say Hanasaku Iroha treated Enishi or Jiromaru, it's starting to progress there in the way Taichi is beating beaten around by the various girls (kicked in the balls and now he got gut punched in this ep) and Aoki being the comedic sidekick character that everyone ridicules. It's just not funny. There's a reason why I've been avoiding Mari Okada in recent times (and generic B/C grade fanservice/ecchi series which emasculate its male characters all the time), and seeing this start to appear on a regular basis in Kokoro Connect is starting to earn a few more facepalms than needed.

So please Kokoro Connect, fix this s***. I appreciate the way Kokoro Connect is trying to be ambitious compared to the average slice of life and the way you are taking the hard route of not making a joke out of the body swapping (or in the case of this episode, body hijacking) premise, the execution of it leaves it requiring significant levels of improvement.

Chill. You are forcing yourself to find flaws with the show more than the show is trying "forced drama" or whatever it is that you see wrong with it.

And I would expect to be punched in the guts if I was Taichi and I would still say it. That's too good a tease to pass.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Forsaken_Infinity

Chill. You are forcing yourself to find flaws with the show more than the show is trying "forced drama" or whatever it is that you see wrong with it.

I'm not forcing anything. I believe Heartseed alone is almost single handledly ruining this series for me. It is from Heartseed himself that everything else is being affected.

And I would expect to be punched in the guts if I was Taichi and I would still say it. That's too good a tease to pass.

You must be a masochist then . A glare or a punch in the arm I'll accept, a full out gut punch... nope only in the anime medium does that kind beating the male characters exists let alone a kick in the balls. It just isn't funny anymore.