Kokoro Connect - Episode 12

Finally some significant progress!

Hurray for Aoki x Yui development! This episode really brought the best out of these two characters, displaying the courage and determination that each of them has towards dealing with their personal troubles regarding their pasts. Aoki really showed a great deal of maturity, which is something I didn't expect to see given his usual immature self. It takes a lot to suddenly decide to go see your childhood crush, only to officially confess that you had feelings for her and leave afterwards. Normally, people would just choose to forget about or ignore something that happened so long ago, even if it still lingers at the back of their mind. But it's a good thing Aoki decided to do what he did since it allowed him to finally move forward and focus solely on chasing and looking after the girl he now loves, whom he knows is physically strong, but emotionally fragile.

It appears the purpose of the time regression is for the characters to be able to deal with their pasts. As shown by Aoki and Yui, the phenomenon forced them to face their pasts by helping them remember it, and ultimately giving them no excuse to ignore it anymore. And while running away is an option, we all know that Heartseed (#2) will do whatever it takes to make things interesting, so in the end, they're bound to hit a dead end in their escape. So I'm glad that Aoki was able to tie up his own loose ends, and in turn, help Yui with hers. With both of them sharing a troubling past, and having each resolved it thanks to the other, it's hard to deny that they're an OTP. But aside from them, there's still the acknowledged love triangle involving Himeko, Taichi, and Iori.

Speaking of which, the next episode looks to be the climax of the arc which will almost certainly shake things up in that matter. Levels of emotion look to be high, and with Himeko catching on to Taichi's knowledge regarding Heartseed #2 at the end of this episode, things will definitely get heated in the next one. And while I ended up watching this episode later than usual, at least I won't have to wait as long until the next episode (i.e. tomorrow)!