Kokoro Connect
Kokoro Connect is a Japanese light novel series written by Sadanatsu Anda, with illustrations by Shiromizakana. It centers around five high school students facing supernatural phenomena that test their bonds by forcing them to reveal their secrets. The series includes 11 volumes published by Enterbrain between January 2010 and September 2013. Two manga adaptations have been published by Enterbrain and Kadokawa Shoten. A 13-episode anime adaptation directed by Shinya Kawatsura, written by Fumihiko Shimo, and produced by Silver Link aired in Japan between July and September 2012. Four additional episodes aired on December 30, 2012. The Kokoro Connect franchise was localized in North America by several companies: Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga, Sentai Filmworks the anime, and J-Novel Club the light novel series.
Plot
The story primarily involves five high school students — Taichi, Iori, Himeko, Yoshifumi, and Yui — who are all the only members of the Student Cultural Research Club at the high school they attend. They all face various supernatural, sense-altering phenomena in their daily lives, all seemingly caused by a cryptic entity which refers to itself as 'Heartseed', who is intent on using the phenomena to test the characters for an unknown goal. As the five undergo these phenomena, the strength of their bonds will be tested.Characters
Main characters
Yamaboshi High School
; andOthers
Media
Light novel
Kokoro Connect began as a light novel series written by Sadanatsu Anda, with illustrations by Yukiko Horiguchi under the pen name Shiromizakana. Anda entered the first novel in the series, originally titled Hito Tsunagari Te, Doko e Yuku, into Enterbrain's 11th Entertainment Awards in 2009 and the novel won the Special Prize. The first volume, renamed Kokoro Connect Hito Random, was published on January 30, 2010, under Enterbrain's Famitsu Bunko imprint. The main series ended with the tenth release of the novels on March 30, 2013, and a side-story collection was released on September 30, 2013. During their panel at Anime Expo 2018, J-Novel Club announced that they have licensed the light novel.Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Cuteg was serialized in Enterbrain's Famitsu Comic Clear online manga magazine between October 22, 2010, and August 23, 2013. Enterbrain published five tankōbon volumes between May 14, 2011, and September 14, 2013. Seven Seas Entertainment began releasing the series in North America in August 2014. A second manga based on the anime adaptation, illustrated by Na! and titled Kokoro Connect On Air, was serialized between the August 2012 and April 2013 issues of Kadokawa Shoten's Nyantype magazine. A single volume was released on March 30, 2013. Enterbrain published two volumes of an anthology titled Magi-Cu 4-koma Kokoro Connect on July 25 and September 25, 2012.Drama CDs
Enterbrain released a drama CD titled Kokoro Connect Natsu to Mizugi to Bōfūu on February 16, 2011. A second drama CD titled Kokoro Connect Haru to Date to Imōto Gokko was released on January 6, 2012.Anime
An anime adaptation was directed by Shinya Kawatsura and produced by Silver Link. The anime's screenplay is written by Fumihiko Shimo, the character designs are by Toshifumi Akai, and the sound director is Toshiki Kameyama. The cast is the same with the drama CD cast. Of the 17 episodes, the first 13 were aired in Japan between July 8 and September 30, 2012. The four remaining episodes aired on AT-X on December 30, 2012. The anime was released on seven Blu-ray Disc /DVD compilation volumes between October 24, 2012, and April 24, 2013.The anime has seven pieces of theme music: three opening themes and four ending themes. The first opening theme is "Paradigm" by Eufonius and is used for the first ten episodes. The episodes released on BD and DVD, as well as the AT-X broadcast, replace "Paradigm" with "Kimochi Signal" by Sayuri Horishita. Beginning with episode 12, the opening theme is "Kimi Rhythm" by Masaki Imai. The first ending theme is "Kokoro no Kara" by Team.Nekokan feat. Junca Amaoto for the first five episodes. The second ending theme is "Cry Out" by Team Nekokan feat. Atsuko for episodes six through ten. The third ending theme is "Salvage" by Team.Nekokan feat. Rekka Katakiri for episodes 11 through 13. The fourth ending theme is "I scream Chocolatl" by Team.Nekokan feat. Lia for episodes 14 through 17. An insert song titled "Milkshake" sung by Sayuri Horishita was used in episode 17.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series in North America and released the first 13 episodes on BD/DVD on October 22, 2013, and the remaining four on December 10 of that same year. Hanabee has licensed the series in Australia. After the acquisition of Crunchyroll by Sony Pictures Television, Kokoro Connect, among several Sentai Filmworks titles, was dropped from the Crunchyroll streaming service on March 31, 2022.
Allegation of bullying during promotion
At an advance screening of the anime series on June 24, 2012, voice actor Mitsuhiro Ichiki had supposedly auditioned for a character role and was invited to the event to allegedly be announced as a surprise cast member. It was then revealed at the event that Ichiki was to in fact be chosen as head of public relations, with his audition revealed to be a candid-camera style fake. While Ichiki accepted the role as head of PR, criticism of the event led to a flow of criticism directed towards the staff and voice actors involved on blog websites and Twitter accounts, as well as people not directly involved. The staff of the show posted an official statement on September 2, 2012, apologizing for "insufficient consideration regarding performers" leading to "widespread discomfort and misunderstanding," promising to seriously reflect on the incident in the future. They had also cancelled the Internet radio program Kokoro Connect Bunken Shinbun as a result. Ichiki also posted a statement the same day, mentioning how he felt no ill will towards the staff as a result of the incident and denies any bullying or harassment taking place.Episodes
Visual novel
A visual novel developed by Banpresto and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment under the title Kokoro Connect Yochi Random was released on the PlayStation Portable on November 22, 2012.Reception
Theron Martin of Anime News Network published a positive review covering the first eight episodes of the anime series. Despite finding criticism in the "erratic artistic merits" of the show's overall aesthetic and the resolution of issues being handled "too easily and simply", he gave praise to the main cast for their deep characterizations, the first two arcs having "a good balance of light humor and varying degrees of drama", and the voice actors for conveying their characters during the first arc's body switching moments, concluding that: "Kokoro Connect is not an outstanding series so far, but it exploits its defining gimmicks effectively enough to avoid being labeled as a heavily-derivative, run-of-the-mill one." Bamboo Dong reviewed the home video release for the same website in 2013. While commending the show's premise for having its characters confront personal problems through imaginative scenarios and the talents of the English voice actors, he criticized the writers for utilizing "lazy storytelling and conflict resolution" when dealing with various societal issues, concluding that: "Kokoro Connect is a fine little series for what it is, but it could have been magnificent."Carlos Ross, writing for THEM Anime Reviews, reviewed the TV series and its continuation Michi Random: He was critical of Heartseed as the catalyst for the supernatural events feeling "contrived, artificial or outright cringeworthy" but was positive towards the "impressive character work" of the ensemble cast and their interactions with each other being "realistically fluid and constantly evolving" like real-life relationships. Ross wrote that despite a "superfluous" subplot, the underutilization of Yui and Yoshifumi, and some "blatant plot holes" towards the conclusion, he praised Michi Random for putting the focus on Iori and showing the main cast being "strong-willed and determined" in their latest predicament, calling it "a fitting endcap to a light, but likable school drama, and brings this saga to a satisfying close while hinting at more to come."
Fellow ANN editor Rebecca Silverman reviewed the first volume of the 2011 manga adaptation in 2014. She wrote that it felt "decidedly underwhelming" with CUTEG's "cute and attractive" illustrations failing to portray the "emotional pull" and body swap moments of the previous works, concluding that: "I really enjoyed the anime and was excited to read this, but it fell far short of the mark with confusing body switches and art that's more cute than useful."