Well, this best of the rest series is coming to a close soon. With the next one being 2013, it will be the last until the 2014 season finishes up. I usually don't get personal in my posts, even though this is technically a blog, but I thought there is a first time for everything. I'll take a moment to explain why I made this particular series of posts, and also to a lesser extent the entire site.
The main reason I decided to try this best of the rest series is simply because I've seen, and enjoy, a wide range of shows. That gives me some perspective when judging if an anime is worth the watch. When I make posts, I usually have no idea if the anime in question is popular or even generally well liked. I would like to think that gives me more objectivity than most, but probably not... let's just say I am objective and leave it at that. Anime fans in general seem to gravitate towards a specific genre or two, like shonen (some popular examples would be Naruto, Bleach, Onepiece, Hunter x Hunter, etc.) for example, and that is perfectly fine. That just isn't me. I didn't start out that way of course. Like most people in my age group, I started with DBZ and Sailor Moon, being the only airing anime in the US, and later Toonami around the age of ten. I've always had a strong imagination, so when I saw anime for the first time it was like someone's imagination in motion. It wasn't life changing, but it was influential in giving me the desire to create something from my own imagination... now that's enough about me... I just realized I'm a person who dislikes talking about themselves who has a blog. Oh the irony lol... anyways, let's get to the reason for this post. So without further adieu.
My choice for Best of the Rest '12 is...
Kokoro Connect
This anime, out of many of the anime I've seen, is one of the more unique series. The story is about five high school friends -Taichi, Iori, Himeko, Yoshifumi, and Yuri- who are all members of the Student Cultural Research Club. So, it seemed like your normal slice of life with the standard beach and festival episodes in its future. This is where they throw a curve ball. One day, they begin experiencing a phenomenon in which they randomly swap personalities, essentially body swaps, amongst themselves. Throughout the series they have to work through and overcome various phenomena placed on them by an entity called "Heartseed". The show covers the first four phenomena they experience from the light novel it's based off of.
When I saw the first "body swap", I figured there would be some comedy, but not much substance to the show. I was wrong. The show avoids the archetypes we are accustomed to in anime, and created characters that felt real. Real feeling, real reactions, and real emotional baggage. There is some good comedy to be had, but this show can get surprisingly dark at times. Not as dark as "Bokurano: ours", another decent anime about a group of people affected by an unknown entity, or "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" but still surprisingly dark for its start. The show doesn't care about the larger issues, just the everyday lives and tragedies of five friends. I liked how the opening was light and cheerful when the show can be dark and disturbing. The show is also fine for a younger audience, but does deal with some mature topics. Ages 13 and up should be fine.
The show is a great show, but it doesn't have a true ending, the animation, music, and backgrounds are all decent but unremarkable, and they reused many locations, probably to save time and/or money. This is a classic "read the manga" or in this case, since the manga is currently ongoing, "read the light novel" ending. They try to wrap it up as best as they can, but there are more phenomena they leave out that happens later in the series. If there was a second season, this anime could become one of the best in its genre. Right now it feels good but just incomplete, so I name it the Best of the Rest '12.
Now, here is the opening. Keep in mind that the anime gets dark, much darker than the opening would suggest. I had no knowledge about the show before I started, so the opening did make the show's content a bit more surprising. As always, thanks for reading.
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