Kokoro Connect(ココロコネクト,Kokoro Konekuto, lit., "Hearts Connect") is a Japaneselight novel series written by Sadanatsu Anda, with illustrations by Shiromizakana. The series includes 11 volumes published by Enterbrain between January 2010 and March 2013. Two manga adaptations have been published by Enterbrain and Kadokawa Shoten. A 13-episode anime adaptation directed by Shin'ya Kawatsura and produced by Silver Link aired in Japan between July and September 2012. Four additional episodes aired on December 30, 2012.
The story involves five high school students—Taichi, Iori, Himeko, Yoshifumi, and Yui—who are all members of the Student Cultural Research Club. One day, they begin experiencing a phenomenon in which they randomly swap bodies amongst themselves. As these five friends face many different phenomena at the whims of a mysterious being known as "Heartseed", their friendship is put to the ultimate test.
Main
Taichi Yaegashi(八重樫 太一,Yaegashi Taichi)
Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima (Japanese); Greg Ayres (English)Taichi is the main protagonist and a big professional wrestling fan. He and four others formed the cultural club because their school did not have the club they wanted to join. He is generally selfless and will usually try to help others in need. He confesses his love to Iori in the Hito Random arc, however he gets rejected since it was believed she was going to "die". Taichi confesses to Iori again in Michi Random but was rejected because Iori believed Taichi did not know the real "her". During the events of Michi Random, his feelings began to change and then confesses to Himeko by the end of the arc.
Iori Nagase(永瀬 伊織,Nagase Iori)
Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)Iori is the easy going president of the cultural club. She lives alone with her mother who is seldom at home. Having previously had a violent stepfather, she had learned to alter her personality to fit the expectations of others to the point where she is unsure who she was originally supposed to be. She is in love with Taichi, but decides to postpone their relationship until the phenomena was over. In Kizu Random, she finds out that Himeko has feelings for Taichi, too; Iori confronts her and later encourages her to confess to him. By the end of the Kako Random arc, she starts to question whether or not she has feelings for Taichi and if people really know the real her. She is sometimes controlled by Heartseed when a phenomenon is about to end.
Himeko Inaba(稲葉 姫子,Inaba Himeko)
Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese); Luci Christian (English)Himeko is the vice president of the cultural club, who has a contrasting personality with Iori. She often reacts violently to Taichi or Yoshifumi's jokes, and is nicknamed "Inaban" by Iori. She was a computer club member but quit after having an argument with the president of that club, and then joined the cultural club. She is generally distrustful of others and worries a lot, even more so when they begin swapping bodies. Between them, she is the most calm and rational when dealing with unexpected situations. During Kizu Random, Heartseed confronts her in coming to the realization that she has feelings for Taichi when she was pretending she did not know. She confesses to him after the class trip by the encouragement of Iori, declaring that she would make him fall for her even if he was in love with Iori. Over the course of the series, she gets more and more attached to the group, especially Taichi, and softens her sharp and rational personality. In the end of the Michi Random arc she starts dating Taichi and in the end of the light novels they are still a couple.
Yui Kiriyama(桐山 唯,Kiriyama Yui)
Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese); Emily Neves (English)Yui is skilled in karate but developed androphobia after she was almost raped in junior high school. She starts having a different opinion of boys after Taichi helps her. She has rejected Yoshifumi numerous times, but she later admits that she is just not yet ready to have a relationship. She overcomes her androphobia after Yoshifumi reaffirms his love for her.
Yoshifumi Aoki(青木 義文,Aoki Yoshifumi)
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima (Japanese); Clint Bickham (English)Yoshifumi is Taichi's best friend with whom he often shares adult videos with. While having a non-serious attitude, he loves Yui and does not hesitate to show it seriously. As a kid, he vowed to live life to the fullest after a student he knew died. He is considered as the weakest of the five by Heartseed.
Chihiro Uwa(宇和 千尋,Uwa Chihiro)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga (drama CD)Chihiro is one of two freshmen that joins the cultural club. He was given a power by Heartseed called Illusory Projection, which allows him to transform into anyone by having the same physical traits of the person including their scent and voice.
Shino Enjōji(円城寺 紫乃,Enjōji Shino)
Voiced by: Nao Tōyama (drama CD)Shino is one of two freshmen that joins the cultural club. She is in love with Chihiro.
Heartseed(ふうせんかずら,Fūsen Kazura)
A supernatural being who is the cause of the phenomena surrounding the cultural club. It communicates with the group by possessing other humans, most often Mr. Gotō, and often speaks in a tired monotone voice. Its name comes from the balloon plant, whose seeds have heart-shaped patterns. There are actually two Heartseeds, the first who refers to itself with "boku" while another who uses "watashi", which possibly means that the first is a male and second is a female.
Yamaboshi High School
Maiko Fujishima(藤島 麻衣子,Fujishima Maiko)
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese); Carli Mosier (English)Class 1-3's representative who has romantic feelings for Iori. She considers Taichi a rival but will occasionally support him.
Ryūzen Gotō(後藤 龍善,Gotō Ryūzen)
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese); David Matranga (English)Class 1-3's homeroom teacher and cultural club advisor, who is often possessed by Heartseed. He also moderates the jazz club.
Shingo Watase(渡瀬 伸吾,Watase Shingo)
Voiced by: Yūki Ono (Japanese); Connor Leach (English)Taichi, Iori, and Himeko's classmate. He has a crush on Maiko.
Shōto Shiroyama(城山 翔斗,Shiroyama Shōto)
Voiced by: Mitsuhiro IchikiTaichi, Iori, and Himeko's classmate who is nicknamed "Prince" in his class and his jazz club. He has crush on Iori, but he is quickly declined.
Kaoru Setouchi(瀬戸内 薫,Setouchi Kaoru)
Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka (Japanese); Shannon Emerick (English)Class 2-2's representative in the second year of the story. In Michi Random, she has crush on Shōto. When Iori rejected Shōto, she got angry and make bad rumors about Iori. Ahe hired some bad boys from other schools to ruin the cultural club's presentation. But later on, she made up and became friends with Iori. After that, she changed her appearance, physical and mental, to be more tame and nice.
Mihara(三原) and Mikitani(三木谷)
Voiced by: Yukiyo Fujii (Mihara) and Kanako Nomura (Mikitani)Two friends of Kaoru.
Mariko Nakayama(中山 真理子,Nakayama Mariko)
Voiced by: Chinatsu AkasakiIori's best friend who is a calligraphy club member.
Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (Japanese); Shannon Emerick (English)An old karate rival of Yui's who appears to be hung up over a certain promise Yui apparently made.
Nana Nishino(西野 菜々,Nishino Nana)
Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu (Japanese); Hayley Adams (English)Yoshifumi's old girlfriend who he dated in middle school before she moved to Sendai. Her appearance is similar to that of Yui's when Yoshifumi was in middle school, but she cut her hair after moving away.
Voiced by: Asuka Ōgame (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English)Taichi's elementary school age younger sister. She often gives advice to her brother about love. Like Ryūzen and Iori, she is sometimes controlled by Heartseed, but a different one from the Heartseed the cultural club members know of.
Reika Nagase(永瀬 玲佳,Nagase Reika)
Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese); Molly Searcy (English)Iori's single parent. She has dated five different men, but has only been married to three out of the five.
Light novels
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(ヒトツナガリテ、ドコへユク), 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.
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(ココロコネクト 夏と水着と暴風雨,Heart Connect Summer, Swimsuits, and a Storm) on February 16, 2011. A second drama CD titled Kokoro Connect Haru to Date to Imōto Gokko(ココロコネクト 春とデートと妹ごっこ,Heart Connect Spring, a Date, and Playing a Little Sister) was released on January 6, 2012. The scripts are written by Fumihiko Shimo.
Anime
An anime adaptation was directed by Shin'ya 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 and were also simulcast by Crunchyroll. The four remaining episodes aired on AT-X on December 30, 2012. The anime was released on seven Blu-ray Disc (BD)/DVD compilation volumes between October 24, 2012 and April 24, 2013. 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, 2013. Hanabee has licensed the series in Australia.
The anime has seven pieces of theme music: three opening themes and four ending themes. The first opening theme is "Paradigm" (パラダイム,Paradaimu) by Eufonius and is used for the first ten episodes. The episodes released on BD and DVD replace "Paradigm" with "Kimochi Signal" (キモチシグナル,Kimochi Shigunaru) by Sayuri Horishita. Beginning with episode 12, the opening theme is "Kimi Rhythm" (キミリズム,Kimi Rizumu) by Masaki Imai. The first ending theme is "Kokoro no Kara" (ココロノカラ) 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 Chocolate" by Team Nekokan feat. Lia for episodes 14 through 17. An insert song titled "Milkshake" (ミルクセーキ,Miruku Sēki) sung by Sayuri Horishita was used in episode 17.
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.
Visual novel
A visual novel developed by Banpresto and published by Namco Bandai Games under the title Kokoro Connect Yochi Random(ココロコネクト ヨチランダム,Heart Connect Random Prediction) was released on the PlayStation Portable on November 22, 2012.
