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Ashita no Anime
Tomorrow's Anime
Kokoro Connect Ep. 1
Posted by on July 11, 2012
Initial impression – naturally smart and funny
Summer 2012 (12 episodes) (title literal translation – Heart Connect) (more info)
Kokoro Connect is about a group of high school students who have inexplicably started swapping minds and bodies. While I’m not entirely sure that everyone has wondered what it would be like to literally spend a few minutes walking in someone else’s shoes, it’s a common enough theme in storytelling that the concept shouldn’t be too foreign. The question then is really just a simple matter of execution. I’m not sure why this ought to be occurring to people within the school’s slacker club, but I suppose it can feed a bit of a mystery theme as it unfolds.
The central premise of this series sounds like something very pervy, but I think it treats the sensibilities of these young men and women with playful curiosity and never really crosses any unacceptable boundaries given the subject material. I would have liked to have gotten a bit more familiar with the character’s personalities before they started swapping bodies because this is the kind of series that is a real test for the voice actors to show just how good they really are.
All in all, I think Kororo Connect has a nice, diverse cast with men and women that clearly have some interesting tensions between each other, despite their loose reasons for hanging out together. Whether it’s going to be a story of getting to know one another and becoming better friends or uncovering the supernatural phenomenon that’s causing these mind-body switches remains to be seen. But either way, I think this anime is going to provide a lot of intellectually stimulating laughs.
You’re right about the introductions – we didn’t get to know the characters much before the major switch occurred. It was definitely confusing for me – I had to pause the show a couple of times and think about the situation. But in the end, that ended up being part of the fun. I’m really anticipating the next episode!