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This review covers both the first season and the OVA of Kokoro Connect, focusing mainly on the characters and their flaws.

The plot of Kokoro Connect was quite interesting, but how it was executed was terrible. In particular, the characters were very shallow and inconsistent. Even though the plot had potential, the fact that there were so many forced drama loops instead of character development and growth made the show as a whole feel bland.
- Taichi is portrayed as the "perfect character," and his only problem in the show is that he is so selfless that he thinks he is selfish for wanting to help others ... (???). This makes him seem very one-dimensional and shallow.
- Iori was shown as the very cheerful person who made everyone happy the entire first season, but then the OVA did a 180 for no reason and turned her into a, for lack of a better word, bitch. It was almost a polar opposite personality. I understand her struggle, but there was no reason for her to change so drastically. Even more frustratingly, by the end, she pretty much reverted back to her "normal" self despite constantly telling everyone the cheery, happy Iori was not her normal self.
- Aoki was possibly one of the most boring characters I've ever encountered. He barely added anything to the story and seemed like the "haha, laugh at this guy" character. The problem he had, which was portrayed in the show, was that the current person he has a crush on looks like his ex. This makes him question whether he really likes this new person or if he still loves his ex. This problem was focused on for way too long, considering how silly it seems.
- Yui seemed to be the only one who had a genuine problem where she was almost sexually assaulted in the past. However, the way the story decided to show this was by having her hole herself up in her room for several episodes. This made that whole arc very sluggish and unengaging.
- The only likeable character was Inaba, but she had her flaws as well.

Overall the characters were definitely the weakest point of this show. There were a few moments where I thought it might improve and there might be some actual character development, but they kept going through this silly character conflict loop. One of the characters has some internal struggle and shuns everyone else; the four others try to solve this problem, they have some emotional conversation, and they all agree that it is better to talk to each other when they have a problem. Then IMMEDIATELY after, a different character deals with some other problem and forgets everything that they just agreed upon.

I really wanted to like this show and kept giving it a chance because it was an interesting concept. Ultimately, I couldn't bring myself to give the show a higher score than 5/10 and the OVA a higher score than 4/10.