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REVIEW: Kokoro Connect episodes 1-8


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 12:06 am Reply with quote
This is one of my favorite series of the Summer Season and even with the controversial incident (which has little to no effect to my enjoyment of the series itself) that happened awhile ago continues to surprise me every Saturday with its well executed drama.

My score would probably be a bit higher but I agree with the part about the "good characterizations, interesting use of central gimmick for each arc, likeable cast.".

Btw, I noticed that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is mentioned in this. I was a big fan of Joss Whedon and enjoyed many of his works. There was an mini arc in Season 4 based on some major drama that occurred as result of a some intertwined events. I believe it involved the main character (Buffy) as well as a main supporting character (Faith). Ah, such the nostalgia..

Overall, pretty spot on review though and I'm looking forward to see how the new/current arc will progress soon.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 12:27 am Reply with quote
I'm curious as to which issues are resolved too simply, because one of my favorite things about Kokoro Connect is that issues are not resolved all at once. Sure, Yui learns about how frail a man's body can be, but that doesn't stop her androphobia, as relayed by her actions when her desires get unleashed.

As far as I can tell, Iori and Inaba still retain the same certain doubts that bothered them since the beginning. So I'm a bit confused as to that statement as I don't think anything is actually resolved at all in this span of 8 episodes. Some characters gain confidence through the the help and support of others in the group, but it would be foolhardy to think that the support provided a complete resolution.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 3:12 am Reply with quote
A better title for this would be Kokoro Conundrum. BTW I'm actually a lesbian in a man's body. Laughing
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 3:31 am Reply with quote
Did they swap bodies with the K-On gals?


Mohawk52 wrote:
A better title for this would be Kokoro Conundrum. BTW I'm actually a lesbian in a man's body. Laughing


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYmg3lrX374

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Mohawk52



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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:00 am Reply with quote
Laughing
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aereus



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:28 am Reply with quote
I think the reviewer failed to notice that the reason the designs look reminiscent of K-on is that it's the same character designer responsible for K-on... But if you compare the designs to the original light novel art, they are still following those closely .... just... K-on-ified? Smile

I also wouldn't say that things are resolved too simply per se -- simply because it's obvious that nothing is REALLY resolved so far -- the immediate crises get wrapped up for the characters, but those underlying issues are far from totally resolved and continue to crop up.

This is why I like Heartseed as a villain so far. Some may say he's just a convenient deus ex machina, or hate him for being "evil" or such. But I would say it's not so much that he's immoral as Amoral. Much like QB from Madoka Magica as it were. Because while he's entertaining himself, a byproduct (a conscious one to him I believe) is that he's actually helping them grow closer as friends and overcome their problems.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he trolls them in the end to say that none of it was for his own entertainment, but all merely to help them with the above. Because he does comment at the end of Arc1 about how he would never do anything to hurt anyone, even saved the phone, etc.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:34 am Reply with quote
aereus wrote:
Because he does comment at the end of Arc1 about how he would never do anything to hurt anyone, even saved the phone, etc.


And yet he made spoiler[Iori jump off a bridge so now her family and teachers must think she tried to commit suicide. I'm a bit peeved off that the Anime didn't go into the ramifications of what happened.]
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Fencedude5609



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:37 am Reply with quote
Heartseed is, effectively, a Q.

I wouldn't trust it at all.

Oh yeah, also. Horiguchi Yukiko. You may want to consider consulting your database when writing reviews. Just a tip.
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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 9:22 am Reply with quote
This was a pleasent surprise for me in the summer season as I was content with just watching sword art and binbougami, but after seeing some randome pictures with the oddest one liners ever I wound up giving the show a try and I don't regret it.

I'll be honest and say it was the humor that really kept me in the whole time(that kick to the balls as well as the masturbation confession killed me) and the serious side was really alot better done in the first 3 eps of the second arc but I have to say before we found out spoiler[Iori wasn't going to die, which in hindsight I should have realized because it was only a fall in some water and she didn't seem to hit her head on anything] I was just looking at the screen with this somber mood and when it was all over I felt quite trolled. though in that second arc, in the end it feels as though the first one topped it... at least to me anyway. Even still I'm glad to hear it won't just be a 13 ep show and we'll have some more eps before the run ends.
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Moonsaber



Joined: 16 Jan 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 12:53 pm Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
aereus wrote:
Because he does comment at the end of Arc1 about how he would never do anything to hurt anyone, even saved the phone, etc.


And yet he made spoiler[Iori jump off a bridge so now her family and teachers must think she tried to commit suicide. I'm a bit peeved off that the Anime didn't go into the ramifications of what happened.]


Well, I do believe that as far as the authorities go, that was reported spoiler[as an accident instead of as an attempted suicide. Thus, the lack of drama and counseling. It's true too! Iori didn't jump.]
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here-and-faraway



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:14 pm Reply with quote
I might give this one another go. It looked like something I would like, but after two episodes I didn't care about any of the characters and dropped it. Thanks for the review.
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Annf



Joined: 20 Feb 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:21 pm Reply with quote
aereus wrote:
I think the reviewer failed to notice that the reason the designs look reminiscent of K-on is that it's the same character designer responsible for K-on... But if you compare the designs to the original light novel art, they are still following those closely .... just... K-on-ified? Smile

To clear this up a little, the Kokoro Connect novels are illustrated by the character designer/animation director/lead animator for K-On!, Yukiko Horiguchi.
The Kokoro Connect anime character designer, Toshifumi Akai, isn't related to K-On!, but did the character designs for SoRaNoWoTo and now Magi.
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Riddley



Joined: 14 May 2011
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 3:32 pm Reply with quote
I would have scored this higher but I do agree somewhat with the character designs (though I disagree with regards to the animation) and music criticisms. But at the same time, I'm GLAD they aren't stealing the thunder. It puts more emphasis on the voice acting and story.

I'm pretty sensitive to poor animation though and I didn't see anything to complain about. Sure, it's not outstanding or ground breaking, but then I didn't expect it to be.
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aereus



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 574
PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 3:39 pm Reply with quote
Annf wrote:

To clear this up a little, the Kokoro Connect novels are illustrated by the character designer/animation director/lead animator for K-On!, Yukiko Horiguchi.
The Kokoro Connect anime character designer, Toshifumi Akai, isn't related to K-On!, but did the character designs for SoRaNoWoTo and now Magi.


Which it should also be noted then that Akai is a big fan of Horiguchi, which is why "his style" so closely resembles hers. I guess because Horiguchi did do the original designs, I'm fine with Akai's designs. But for Sora no wo to it's a great shame that Mel Kishida's original designs weren't used instead -- they were wonderful, and Akai's so generic in comparison.

And to dtm42:
Yes Heartseed did do that spoiler[But I feel like he would use one of those "from a certain POV" excuses to say he was in control of the body at the time, so she felt nothing. Indeed, he may have completely protected her from harm on the fall, and just kept her body comatose long enough to force the doctors to do an examination. Thereby letting the characters jump to the worst conclusion when he asked them to decide who dies with her body, etc. Because she goes back to school only a few days later and seems completely fine, etc. ]
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 4:42 pm Reply with quote
aereus wrote:
And to dtm42:
Yes Heartseed did do that spoiler[But I feel like he would use one of those "from a certain POV" excuses to say he was in control of the body at the time, so she felt nothing. Indeed, he may have completely protected her from harm on the fall, and just kept her body comatose long enough to force the doctors to do an examination. Thereby letting the characters jump to the worst conclusion when he asked them to decide who dies with her body, etc. Because she goes back to school only a few days later and seems completely fine, etc. ]


Yes, it does seem like spoiler[he was controlling her 'injuries', as it was odd that he knew exactly when she'd awaken from the coma. But I was referring to the fact that it was Iori's body that jumped off the bridge, no matter who was controlling it at the time. Anyone but Taichi who saw her body jump would think that Iori was trying to commit suicide, because they wouldn't possibly have known about the body-swapping business. Therefore, unless Heartseed ensured that there were no bystanders watching from any of the buildings and streets nearby, and picked a spot where there were no security cameras watching, then Iori might have had some explaining to do once she woke up.]
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