Kokoro Connect 2012

Reika Nagase Atsuko Tanaka and the other members of the Cultural Research Club begin the story with a calm, almost routine school life, where each of the five core members seems to drift without clear goals or strong hobbies. The club room becomes a place to share small talks and light jokes, as the students—Reika Nagase, Nana Nishino Haruka Tomatsu, Himeko Inaba Miyuki Sawashiro, and Taichi Yaegashi Takahiro Mizushima—try to figure out what they actually want from their days. Yet behind the ordinary surface lies a puzzle that will test their friendships and push each of them to confront hidden sides of themselves.

One night, a shocking revelation arrives when Yui Kiriyama Hisako Kanemoto and Yoshifumi Aoki Takuma Terashima recount a strange event from the night before: souls have swapped bodies, and the swap can occur between any number of the CRC members. The bodies retain their own memories and personalities, which means the people inside each body must navigate unfamiliar thoughts and impulses while trying to keep the others from noticing. The group is simultaneously puzzled and intrigued, a mix of worry and curiosity that keeps the mood at once tense and lightly amused as they begin to test the boundaries of this bizarre phenomenon.

Enter Fuusen Kazura, the Balloon Vine Keiji Fujiwara, the moderator who appears in the club room with an air of playful menace and a willingness to turn their chaos into a game. He introduces himself as a being who has decided to watch and shape their lives, nudging them toward problems to solve and personal discoveries to make. The CRC members—facing unpredictable shifts in who they are and who they love—grapple with how much of their identities are tied to their bodies and how much to their choices and bonds with others. The arrival of Balloon Vine marks a shift from simple curiosity to a sustained test of trust, resilience, and teamwork.

Together they tackle a series of escalating challenges that not only test their problem-solving abilities but also reveal the darker corners of their lives. Iori Nagase [Aki Toyosaki] and Aoki face personal pressures that echo in their relationships, while Taichi wrestles with his own feelings and how far he should go to help a friend. Nagase’s and Taichi’s evolving connection becomes a central thread as the others watch and weigh in, their friendships strained and then strengthened by shared trials. The group discovers that the soul-swaps are more than a oddity: they expose the real desires, fears, and regrets that each member tries to hide.

The first major turning point occurs when Taichi confesses his love to Nagase on a bridge, only for Balloon Vine to seize Nagase’s body and push her from the structure. The moment is heavy with misdirection, and the act is later revealed as part of Balloon Vine’s plan to push the friends toward deeper self-understanding and tighter bonds. This revelation reshapes how the five members see each other and themselves, and it strengthens their resolve to work through the ongoing mystery rather than retreat from it.

As the events unfold, a second Balloon Vine manifestation—The Second—emerges and pushes the group into a new cycle of trials. This time, the problem setter forces desires to surface at random, unleashing impulses that disrupt everyday life. Yui’s quiet confidence gives way to a harsher exterior for some, while Taichi’s inner conflicts intensify, affecting how they relate to Nana Nishino and the others. The team must learn to weather these intense shifts without losing sight of their core friendship. Taichi, in particular, bears a heavy burden as he tries to guide his friends through the charged emotional landscape created by these unleashed desires, and Iori faces family tensions that threaten her sense of stability.

The situation grows more complex when Taichi and Nagase realize that an irregularity exists: Taichi has not experienced an age regression, and Balloon Vine seems to be operating independently of their control. The discovery brings a new piece to the puzzle as The Second manipulates events from behind the scenes, while Iori’s home life intersects with the unfolding crisis. The trio—Nagase, Yui, and Aoki—flees a dangerous moment to confront a violent intruder tied to Iori’s father, seeking to protect Iori from her past. Balloon Vine eventually offers help of a sorts, suggesting Nagase could go back in time to fix what has gone wrong, but Nagase declines, choosing instead to accept responsibility for shaping her own future.

A deeper mystery follows when Iori’s mother reveals ulterior motives connected to reclaiming a second father for Iori’s sake. The mother’s unexpected change of heart and the family’s dynamics push Iori to reconsider what love means in the face of fear and trauma. This arc closes with a renewed sense of unity among the CRC members as they resolve to face their personal histories together, even as emotions remain delicate and unsettled.

The next challenge arrives in the form of inner thoughts being transmitted from one member to others at random, a phenomenon that threatens to turn the entire group inward and fracture their camaraderie. Nagase becomes a model of cool, distant beauty in some eyes, a shift born from a misunderstanding with Taichi and worsened by the way thoughts spread through the group. The ripple effect reaches classmates beyond CRC, prompting Setouchi Kaoru Sumire Uesaka to lash out and threaten the club’s finals preparation. CRC members rally to support Nagase and remind each other of the real person behind the swapped bodies, leading to a tense confrontation with the rebellious student.

The culmination of these trials comes as the group fights to salvage their final; Kaoru’s destructive outburst nearly ruins the club’s setup for the championship. Nagase, aided by Inaba and Taichi, finds a precarious balance between her ideal self and the person she truly is, choosing to defend her friends and protect the club. Soon after, Karou’s own revelation about pretending to be someone she isn’t leads to an invitation to join the friendship circle, a moment of healing that helps to reknit the group’s trust.

In the aftermath, a violent assault injures Taichi, and the hospital scene becomes a turning point. Taichi manages to telepathically reach Nagase during a moment of vulnerability, whispering the quiet confession, and then, upon waking, discovers his other lover waiting by his side. The moment of honesty—“glad that i fell in love with you”—cements the emotional core of the story, even as Balloon Vine withdraws from Nagase, Yui, and Aoki. With the core mystery resolved and relationships clarified, the group faces a future where their friendship has endured the strange, excruciating tests and remains the center of their lives.

Throughout it all, the voice cast—[Atsuko Tanaka], [Haruka Tomatsu], [Keiji Fujiwara], [Miyuki Sawashiro], [Ayane Sakura], [Yuki Ono], [Hisako Kanemoto], [Shizuka Itoh], [Asuka Ohgame], [Aki Toyosaki], [Takahiro Mizushima], [Kaori Ishihara], [Takuma Terashima], [Sumire Uesaka], [Maaya Uchida], and [Haruka Yamazaki]—gives life to a story that blends light, humor, and warmth with a thoughtful exploration of identity, friendship, and the power of choosing togetherness over fear. The result is a long, intricate, and ultimately hopeful tale about how five students navigate a strange supernatural reality while staying true to the people they want to be.