And so Kokoro Connect’s first arc comes to its irreputable close. I’ll spare you the suspense: I didn’t really like this episode.

I didn’t like it for reasons that are likely predictable at this point, but still really harm the show’s emotional grasp. For one thing, Taichi is still just too damn good at what he does. While listening to him effortlessly disarm Iori’s lifelong anxieties, I wasn’t filled with respect or admiration – I mostly just wondered if the show was really going to make it that easy for him. It’s rare that a show prompts me to think “I wish Araragi were here,” but Kokoro Connect actually demonstrates how much Araragi’s myriad flaws add to his narrative. Araragi’s attempts to “help” his friends actually demonstrate his weaknesses, and thus his humanity. Taichi’s attempts are all successful and all based in “I just want to help people, okay,” which really doesn’t offer me anything to hold onto outside of imagining myself as his eternally competent self. Thoughtful character dramas can’t have Kiritos as their protagonists.

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Kokoro Connect’s fourth episode is about: I D E N T I T Y.

The show’s always about identity to some extent, of course. The fundamental conceit plays directly into that topic, with body switching facilitating not just romantic drama, but also questions about “true” selfhood and perception of self. It’s one of the reasons I expect my readers picked this one for me to write about – many of my favorites obsess over how we define ourselves, and how we navigate the impossibility of conveying our truth to others. Kokoro Connect uses a classic conceit to facilitate those conversations, and this episode’s conversations center on two of its main characters: Iori and Inaba.

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Adolescent feelings continued to smash awkwardly together in the third episode of Kokoro Connect. This one opened right after the conclusion of the second, with Taichi challenging Inaba on her decision to declare his love for Iori while possessing his body. And so we got a long scene that was likely this episode’s best, but still demonstrated the extreme messiness of this production.

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Kokoro Connect’s second episode has arrived, and with it an “explanation” of sorts for the show’s body-swapping shenanigans. Apparently, their trials have been prompted by a mysterious figure known as Heartseed, who possesses the body of their teacher Goto to explain his reasoning. Or lack of reasoning, as the case may be – Heartseed comes off as aimless and apathetic, and his tormenting of the show’s stars is framed as no more than a whim of boredom. They can’t tell others about their secret, because that would be a bother. They can’t hope to end their struggle, because it’s just going to end when Heartseed tires of it. All they can do is keep on keeping on.

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Kokoro Connect starts off with a somewhat uneven first episode. That doesn’t really come down to the production, or even the storytelling – the show has nice painted backgrounds that give everything something of a faded, nostalgic look, and the story moves quickly and gracefully into a compelling premise (suddenly we’re swapping bodies for no apparent reason!). The character designs are distinctive and expressive, and nothing really drags. As far as fundamental composition goes, this premiere is a very solid affair. The real issue here is based in the uneasy relationship between the show’s clear goals and its fundamental nature.

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