心連‧情結 1

Kokoro Connect Manga #1

by Cuteg (Comic), 庵田 定夏 (Original Story), 白身魚 (Character Design)

在私立山星高中的文化研究社裡，
5名男女社員間發生了不可思議的現象──人格交換！
透過心靈上的連鎖，他們所察覺到的是…
人氣輕小說漫畫化第1集！

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Slice Of Life, Romance, Anime, Comics, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2011

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earlier this month, I wrote a review of the first volume of Alice in the Country of Hearts. In that review, I talked about how I was growing to suspect that Shojo just wasn’t for me, and that no matter how hard I tried to enjoy it, I couldn’t help but start nitpicking. That was the first review of a Shojo manga I did for this blog, but I read several in the past, and in some ways, I tried to make my review of Alice in the Country of Hearts into a cumulative review of all the Shojo I had read. That manga was going to be my last-ditch attempt at finding something to enjoy in the genre before giving up on it altogether. And when, as I predicted, I didn’t like the manga, I thought to myself, “That’s it. I’m done with shojos now - I’ll just stuck to other genres when I want to read manga.”

Well, I already feel silly for thinking that. Because less than a month later, I read this shojo, and I absolutely loved it.

Kokoro Connect is the story of five high school freshman who make up a club at their school called the Student Cultural Society. One random day, they all begin switching bodies back and forth for no apparent reason. This causes all sorts of wacky hi-jinks, as you might expect. Eventually, an alien possesses their counselor to tell them that he’s the reason he started making them switch bodies, and that he essentially did it for fun. He says that he’ll stop when he’s satisfied with what he’s seen, so for the time being, they’re stuck switching like this.

Apparently, body-switching stories are an established sub-genre in Japanese storytelling, with their own tropes and cliches. I suspect, then, that among those stories, this one doesn’t high on the originality scale. But that honestly hardly matters, because this isn’t really about body-switching, in the same way that A Monster Calls (2011) isn’t really about being haunted by monsters. This manga is really about the five characters who switch bodies, and the sorts of interactions that they undergo because of the switching. In this way, this book fits in perfectly with the YA that I review on this blog - if Patrick Ness wrote a manga, I could easily imagine it looking like this.* I was initially worried about how any sort of character development would work, because of how much time the characters spend in each others’ bodies. I was worried that I would forget who was really speaking, and quickly lose track of who was who. But Anda’s writing was clear enough about who was speaking that this never happened. The backdrop of this book isn’t the most innovative or groundbreaking thing I’ve ever read, but it does work well enough that nothing stands in the way of the characterization.

Which is good, because Anda’s eye for characterization is impeccable. The characters seem to be painted in broad strokes at first, but given the generic conventions of manga, this makes sense. (Also, giving each character a couple simple, distinct characteristics made it easier to remember who was occupying who’s body.) Anda is smart enough to interject moments of subtlety even in the very beginning, mainly in how the characters interact with their families. This means that the characters aren’t stuck as hollow archetypes until Anda has a chance to explore their hidden depths - from the very beginning, they feel like real people. And they’re very relatable characters. It’s hard to describe this, but their interactions feel human to me, even during the more cartoon-y scenes. It’s easy to see yourself in these characters, and very easy to relate to them.

I should also give a mention to the humor, because it’s some of the most successful humor I’ve ever seen in a manga. One of the biggest problems I’ve had in manga is just how weak most of the humor is - in what I’ve read, it tends to be little more than overly-silly, juvenile gags, usually with some sort of slapstick element. (This probably goes a long way toward explaining why my two favorite mangas are the mostly-humorless Attack on Titan and Death Note.) But Anda’s humor is a lot more clever than that. She tends to base the humor in the personalities of her characters, which she’s very good at. I won’t spoil any of the jokes for you, but this has one of the highest gag-to-laugh ratio I’ve ever read in a manga.

On the whole, this feels completely different from any other shojo manga I’ve read. And if there are more like this, I’d definitely consider reading them. This wasn’t perfect - the most obvious flaw to point out is that the characters’ constant preoccupation with sex feels kind of exaggerated, even for teenagers. But for the most part, I really loved this. The story and characters are well-written, and the artwork looks great. I’m not the biggest manga fan, but this is a huge standout compared to most of what I’ve read so far.

*Alright, this isn’t actually as good as a Patrick Ness book. But it has a similar tone.

This review can also be found on my blog.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute with a lot of potential to put these characters in some deep, soul searching situations... as long as the fan service doesn't go overboard. We'll see in volume 2.

[Wei Le · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if it was the translation, but it's really bland. Dialogue felt like a dumbed-down American sitcom. Can't imagine anyone actually being able to say some of the lines without physically wincing. Great premise, but the anime adaptation was better.

[Momo · Rating 1 out of 5]

A DNF almost immediately.

[✶ henry ✶ · Rating 4 out of 5]

sillu silly and then deep przemyślenia

[Iza Bela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoko ale nie wiem, nie trafiło do mnie 😞

[Ondřej Halíř · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, tohle bylo úplně něco jiného než jsem čekal. Klasická tropa, pět členů školního klubu si začne náhodně mezi sebou prohazovat těla na kratší dobu, max na dvě hodiny. Klasicky pak máte v jiných mangách komické eskapády a hromady fanservisu, jenže tady ? Připravte se na to že vás sice čeká nějaká ta klasická sranda spojená s body swappingem (za který tu může podivná entita). Jenže zároveň je tohle dost hořká dramedy o tom jak vlastně tenhle život může být náročný na psychiku, jak se začnou postupně odhalovat každého tajemství (například se do sebe převtělí v moment kdy jedna z postav si prochází depkou) a zda vůbec budou moci stále být přátelé.

Moc se mi na tom líbilo jak autorka citlivě a hlavně lidsky řeší problémy hlavních hrdinů, kdy opradu si spolu sednou a několik stránek spolu charaktery jen sedí na lavičce a rozebírají co se jim stalo a je to fantastický. Opravdu tahle manga mě dostala svým jiným přístupem k ohrané látce. Tím že se tu vlastně zabývá vážnými tématy které tahle absurdní zápletka přináší. Fakt pecka.

Pro každého kdo chce trošku osvěžující a smutnější pohled na prohazování těl, tak tohle ! Jo a kresba je taky super, skvěle podtrhuje místy melancholickou atmosféru !

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted it to be like the movie "Your Name" which I loved. Great idea for a story but confusing execution. Too many characters which are unlikable.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I picked this up because I liked the artwork on the cover, and it ended up being more interesting than I was expecting! The members of the Yamabishi Academy's Student Cultural Society start swapping bodies with each other at random. The story gets into the more realistic side of body swapping, like identity and personal boundaries. It reminded me of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Vol. 01, but it's more focused on the characters' feelings and relationships, which appeals to me. I thought the storyline with Yui being afraid of men and Iori being neglected by her parents were interesting, and unusually dark for this type of manga. I also like how to-the-point Inaba is. I'm looking forward to seeing where their stories go!

[Szczupak · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5
Jest dość specyficzna, momentami trudno połapać się w humorze autora, który miesza go z poruszaniem bardzo trudnych tematów. Sam pomysł doskonale wykonany, ale przyznam, że będę ją kontynuować, głównie, ze względu na bohaterów. Są oni przedstawieni niezwykle szczegółowo, każdy z nich jest inny, a jeden zwyczajnie podbił moje serce.

[Jessica]

It's just really boring. I love gender-bending manga, and body-swapping can be interesting, but this ...wasn't. It was sometimes confusing, but the overall theme was yaaaaaaaaawn.

Don't recommend.

[Tati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, it's not like you normally expect much when reading a manga as a teen, so this manga was simply lighthearted and easy to read. It's cute and humorous, but I wouldn't really bring myself to finish the whole Kokoro Connect.

[IziashS3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

too lewd to read in class

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing and a little obnoxious.

[Ski Nakamura · Rating 2 out of 5]

usually I'm into the body swapping but there was something about this that I just didn't like I just couldn't put my finger on it.. the art style was good though.. just didn't like it...

[Shelby (bookshelfworthy) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pointless. There’s no real plot to drive why they are swapping body’s. Like “I did this because I was bored” trope is so lame. It just comes off as phoned in. And usually I like body-swapping.

[Juliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

The anime is really good. I remember this being important to me because of all the angst.
Might write a proper review upon a rewatch.

[Anna ♥️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

I watched the anime years ago and this feels like a warm hug being back with these characters ❤️

[LordOfDorkness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating cast with an equally fascinating premise. Genuinely funny at times. Sometimes a bit porny, but I'll forgive it as its still damn fun to read

[Lena Perużyńska · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nie powiem trochę zboczone…

[PinkVanilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept

[Jenna D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see the potential, but the fan service outweighs the rest, making it difficult to fully connect with the characters. But I can see where this can get good, even with the gratuitous fluff.

[Mania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found all 5 volumes of this locked away in my attic, where it's been sitting for the last 2 years, and I finally decided to give it a shot.
I have all these in Polish, and to be honest I am a little rusty with my vocab, so there were quite a few words I didn't know, which means I definitely missed a few details/didn't understand a few conversations. - I don't think I missed anything too significant but just keep that in mind either way.
A friend group/club group of 5 teenagers one day just randomly start swapping bodies with each other (unconsciously). Of these 5 are 3 girls and 2 boys. Of course they are very surprised and unsettled. The most mature of the group, Inaba, sets a bunch of ground rules and also knows literally everything, even that the boys are in love with the other girls in the group. Because of the body swapping, a lot of misunderstandings and funny moments happen involving other classmates/the people around them. They also learn more about each other through the body swapping thing, and they notice things they never did before. There's a lot of jokes about dating and talking about romance between the characters.
I don't know exactly what the aim of this series is (like if it's focused on solving the body swap thing or if it's more about romance) but either way I can't wait to read the next volume. I enjoyed this way more than I ever thought I would. It's cute, and I like how you can see the clear difference between each of the characters and the way they think. If you like either comedy, high school drama, or romance, I recommend this, and if you like all 3, I DEFINITELY recommend this. When it comes to romance, I usually prefer yuri, but this is an exception.
Also the artstyle is SO CUTE!!
4.5 stars.

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is rated Teen and is considerably more tame then many of the books I have seen come out of Seven Seas Entertainment. I thought it might be important to point out the description of this book is not particularly accurate considering it makes it sound like the 5 teens discover dark secrets about one another unless it is generalizing about the entire series. The darkest secret involves a past assault upon one of them but thus far the body switching between two guys and three female teens has only made them closer and not into enemies...so far.

This series deals with five seemingly normal teens who are among the student body that are required to be in a club. However having failed to getting 5 students to create clubs they wanted to join instead they were combined into a club called the Student Cultural Society and became friends. Then one day two of them switched bodies as unbelievable as it seems then the other club members began switching as well. Soon they meet the Heartseed Vine taking over the body of their teacher to explain what is happening and the group is left to a life of swapping bodies randomly until the Heartseed Vine tires of his experiment.

Probably one of my favorite parts of the book is when both boys are inside their female friends' bodies and gave into the temptation of recording confessions and posing. Revenge is sweet as the girls find them so if you don't mind a gender bending drama with comedic timing then you might want to try this book. :)

[David Doel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five high school students (3 girls and 2 boys) are in a nondescript school club together because they have no common interests with their classmates. At the start of the story, they begin swapping bodies (usually in pairs, but once as a threesome). In an hour or so they switch back.

They talk. And then they talk some more. There's not much action in the story -- mostly one-to-one talking. At the end of volume 1, I learned that this manga was derived from a series of light novels; maybe that explains the lack of action and the extensive talking.

The art work is good and since people mostly just sit around, the artist can savor various parts of the female anatomy. Not classic fan service, but still it will appeal to some.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm baffled by this series. The beginning was rocky and the characters were predictable in the swap body response syndrome, which was honestly boring and kind of sad. As for the last couple of chapters, the volume starts to take a good turn and is actually insightful to the characters and their feelings rather than just their actions. I might give the second volume a chance, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend this confusing first volume to anyone.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moja przyjaciółka powiedziała, że jest to jedna z mang, która jej się nie podobała. Według mnie z kolei jest w porządku, ma fajne elementy humorystyczne, nieco za bardzo horny if you ask me. Przyjemna kreska, likeable postacie, co prawda wątek zmiany ciała jest dziwny. Mogłaby się ta manga obyć bez tego i zostać przy komediowej historii o licealistach.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this five volume series, students of the Student Cultural Society go through various psychological experiments by an alien entity only known as "Heartseed." The idea is interesting, but in the end, this series doesn't go anywhere.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historia:
★★★★★
Postaci:
★★★★★
Kreska:
★★★★☆

[Eden Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute characters, interesting premise, not enough fanservice.