First Impressions / Kokoro Connect

「バラバラと崩れる」 (Barabara to Kuzureru)
“Falling Apart”

Well then… that was quite a depressing episode wasn’t it? Up to date, I felt that this episode was one of the most realistic approaches to the happenings of our little group. And when I say realistic, I mean… as realistic as it can be with Heartseed in the picture.

When the episode opened up with Taichi’s “hidden desire” to sleep in, I thought I was in for a more lighthearted episode. After all, who loves sleep THAT much? Was this intended as a joke? (Because I took it as one.) But when the episode turned to talk about Yui’s absence from school, I realized that there could be a better reason than sleeping in. Although I don’t necessarily think I would’ve locked myself up at home to avoid trouble, I do empathize with her. Not only was she taken to the police station, but for someone as caring and innocent as Yui, harming other people can do just as much psychology damage to you.

What I disliked about this episode was how the issue with Yui was never truly resolved – she still didn’t go back to school. At the same time, everyone’s issues with one another (or themselves) only escalated and made their “thoughts” easier to unleash. I found this was most obvious coming from Himeko. Considering that our protagonist is Taichi, I liked seeing him “switch” on and off and it makes sense since he also seems to be the most observant of others. This way we get to see his insightful conversations with Himeko, whether that be about going to the extreme (which is dying for others) or being selfish/less. In fact, Taichi’s confrontation with Himeko made me realize that although Himeko looks out for people and even sacrifices herself in ways to avoid trouble, I still cannot (and probably will not ever) like her approach with dealing with situations. Her avoidance (like Taichi mentions), whether for her or other people, bothers me because I can never grasp her true intentions. At the same time, this makes me pity her because she’s always distancing herself from others. In a nutshell, I don’t know what she wants!

I think it’s also worth mentioning that so far, most of the characters’ “hidden desires” and thoughts deal with anger or frustration. Thus, a lot of the confrontations and issues involve people arguing or being terribly blunt to others. Aside from a few jokes, there hasn’t been much evidence of other desires that cross our main cast. I’m sure people experience many moments where they want to spontaneously gorge on food (like Yui has) or sleep in a lot (like Taichi). Less dramatic and angst moments like that would make the show more carefree. However, I can see that one of the largest appeals to the show IS the fact that it takes itself seriously and it’s not just a romantic comedy for shits and giggles. Maybe we’ll see more breaks in-between all the tension next week.

As for the direction of the story, your guess is as good as mine. I doubt the anime will finish with an original ending, so that means that it’ll likely finish at the end of this arc with an open-ended finale. I can definitely picture a bittersweet moment thrown in with hope for the bonus episodes to end happily. For the readers who don’t know, I believe there will be a total of 12-13 episodes for this season – however since the budget was for 17 episodes, the remainder may be released on blu-ray or online.

Full-length images: 04, 09, 20, 23, 26.

 

Preview

37 Comments

  1. T^T… Q.Q. ;-;. I’m out of crying emotes… The one saving grace of this ep, to me, was when… oh what’s her name. Image 31, comes up and helps Iori out. In my mind I’m screaming: THERE. THERE IS YOUR ANSWER. RELY ON HER. DO IT. DO IT. But, nope. Clearly no one in the club can be relied on in this mess, but she is someone y’all ought to rely on and probably would also be willing to do it :/…

    Yui’s broke, Aoki’s still hanging in there (as far as we can tell) Iori’s about had it, Taichi broke Inaba T^T… which we’ll see how much that comes back to haunt him. T^T I don’t like this arc~~~ *sobs*.

    kumakaori
    Reply

    1. p.s. EFF YES MOAR SLEEP~. Although, that was a pretty epic level of passed out <<;. If I were in this situation. There's no way in heck I'd make to school before lunch, ever. andthatwouldbebad. orz;;….

      kumakaori
      Reply

  4. Although it didn’t trump the bridge jumping episode, this episode opened the doors for Inaba x Taichi… although such an outcome would result in mutual destruction for both parties (one will literally sacrifice himself while the other will suffer in silence).

    An interesting thing is why hasn’t much “lewd” desires been showcased asides from the Inaba striptease. Is it just me or are the guys here impotent?

    Moreover, we’re a good way along the anime and Aoki’s still an “extra”… getting little to no screen time… ._. If their playing on stereotypes, I wonder why they haven’t gone and fully utilized it… lots of drama from an attempted rape, me thinks. The very fact that Japan is a very insular culture, rape largely goes unreported (especially since most rapes are between people who know each other).

    Ddadain
    Reply

  5. I’m loving this series- all about what teenage angst and insecurities are all about. Teen emotions are already volatile and when you amplify it with Heartseed- you’re just asking for trouble.

    Banana Furikake
    Reply

  6. I must say, once again KC delivers the drama pretty well and the humour complements it without going too much over the top.

    Just like “A death and confession”, I am not liking the name for the next episode – “And than there were none.”

    c2710
    Reply

  9. Despite the lighthearted start, the progression in this episode made sure that all viewers understood just how serious this problem is. To have all the inner desires unleashed could indeed help relieve some stress (sleep), but a violent or uncontrolled emotion is more likely to be expressed. Normal self control doesn’t kick in at the most crucial of times and all the raw emotions rush out. To make things worst, if there is a desire regarding suicide, then most likely, one of our protagonists might do another ‘Iori Jump’.

    Mixed Milkshake
    Reply

  10. I understand Taichi you are all about power of friendship etc., but sometimes it just doesnt work…
    Inaba was totally right to force down Yui’s brain the idea what might happen if everybody’s gonna turtle up in their rooms. Bored Heartseed = bad things happen!
    And then she was right to not go to Yui since her presence would only make more trouble.
    This series truly brings up some interesting psychology…

    ewok40k
    Reply

  11. The OST when Taichi’s desire was unleashed against Inaban toward the end was amazing. It really showed the intensity in the situation everyone especially Inaban is in. But seriously Inaban almost to tears makes my heart chip piece by piece :”(. Yui too. Poor Yui.

    “But that’s how you really feel” -Yui I understand better now what Heartseed meant about “Finding out your true selves”

    Swordhack4
    Reply

  13. I know they’ve announced they will be doing up to episode 17 to include Michi Random, but I was under the assumption that this means the series would go into 2 seasons, with the remaining episodes (18-24/26) to be announced later on.

    Inaba looks really exasperated, for a while, I thought she would be yelling to Heartseed in Russell Crowe Gladiator mode “Are you not entertained?”

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  14. Damn…. Never thought that this show would ended up being this depressing. I thought that it would stay light and sweet when finding out of Taichi’s desires to sleep (I literally snort coffee out of my nose). But now….

    Terrorhunt
    Reply

  16. This is my least favorite part of the LN because it sure is depressing, but surprisingly I want more of it… (maybe I am secretly a M?) the anime once again did a great job depicting the tense situation 🙂 and I can say this is what KC does really well. It is not a show to hunt for random jokes for sure xD
    As a Inaba Himeko fan, I have to say tat I was terribly disappointed at Taichi for what he did at then end to Himeko… Whether desire release or not, he shouldn’t have treated Himeko like that 🙁 but o well, these depressing moments will pay off eventually xD

    jrj
    Reply

    2. Out of all the character I have to say I totally hate Taichi selfless/self sacrifice personality, it just annoys me to no end, he desire to help others is ok but he need to realize two things, one sometimes some ppl might just don’t want to be helped and wanted to be left alone and two just because of your stupid selfless attitude of wanting to help other does not give you the right to force others to act just like you.

      I guess part of the reason why I hate Taichi’s gut is kind of personal related, I have a family member that act like that myself for example there some chocolate left on the table, I know my relative love them but she refuse to eat them cause her excuse is oh so and so loves them too so I rather save it for them, I am like god who cares if the others like them if you love them just eat them, is one thing if the person she save them for is their children/family member but no it could be just a guest or a friend that goner stop by to visit. Her selfless attitude just annoys me to no end.

      Benz
      Reply

  17. No one in here picked up on the whole Inaba likes Taichi and her letting Iori just have him? I mean, she helped Taichi and Iori get together; she said she faps to him; made a move on him; cried and said shes not good enough for him. It sounds painfully obvious that she likes him. If it continues to escalate like this (everyone breaking down and raging at each other) I wouldn’t be surprised if Inaba snaps and does something horrible to Iori, making her feel even more guilty and locking herself up in her room. Which will then bring heartseed in aaaaannnnndddddd thennnnnn…

    everyone dies
    ~The End~
    >.> But in all seriousness I really do think it will end up rather similar to that aside from the dying part; although, I would not mind it turning into a tragedy anime like “Another”, but there are probably too few characters to pull it off. XD

    PassingThru
    Reply

    1. Why would you think no one has picked up on that? Like you said it’s very obvious Inaba likes Taichi, that’s one of the major aspects of the show.

      My guess is that it’ll be more along the lines of Lori backing off because a relationship really isn’t what she needs right now (understanding who she is on her own terms is what she needs) which coupled with Inaba more explicitly telling Taichi how she feels (or breaking down enough that Taichi finally just clues in) will be where they come together.

      Foofiebeast
      Reply

      1. I think he meant in the context of why she’s behaving this way in the episode. No one realizes the reason she’s backing away from everybody is because she likes Taichi, and if she gets involved, she might say or do something horrible like the things she says to Yui. I reckon she actually said all that about taking responsibility because she was worried that Taichi might try to get involved (actually he did try) and she was worried about his survivability this time around.

        plushkin
        Reply

  18. Good episode, but i am worried about himeko, because she is in a stage of depression and it could make her have negative thoughts, like she would better dead or things like that, but it could be me being a little off the plot.

    Hum
    Reply

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