Acchi Kocchi / First Impressions

「美味しいケーキと⇔ばれんたいんリップ」 (Oishi Keeki to Barentain Rippu)
“Delicious Cake ⇔ Valentine’s Kiss”

After getting a taste of what Acchi Kocchi had to offer last week, I was pleasantly surprised to see the story focus a lot more on Tsumiki’s unrequited love for Io while giving Sakaki a chance to shine.

I don’t think there’s a person out there who can say that they don’t feel bad for Tsumiki whenever they watch Io completely miss her feelings for him. Between missing the point of all the jokes that Hime, Mayoi, and Sakaki make at two’s expense and the lovey-dovey looks from Tsumiki; it almost pains me to think that someone as suave as Io who has the ability to get blood gushing out a girl’s nose can miss something so obvious as Tsumiki baking a handmade chocolate mouse since he doesn’t like straight chocolate on Valentine’s Day.

Luckily, this show isn’t a romantic comedy. Because if it were, I get the feeling that I’d be as infuriated as I was during Kimi ni Todoke and still be trying to thrust my fist through my monitor. Instead, it opts for a lovely fuwa-fuwa (fluffy) vibe that consistently manages to balance out the feelings of rage that could appear while trying to mentally deal with Tsumiki and Io. And even though this feeling of rage, a feeling all romantic comedy viewers should be familiar with, is relatively weak in Acchi Kocchi the feelings brought out when Io does return Tsumiki’s feelings is just as strong as any other show. Something that caught me totally off guard at the end of the episode.

Besides playing with the balance of my emotions with a good looking guy and an awfully cute little girl, I’m loving the direction the show is going with for all of its jokes. While there may not have been as many hard hitting references (like Daigo) this week, it was fun to watch our main group of characters get a chance to play off of each other. While this intimate type of humor may not appeal to everyone, I thought provided a great opportunity for Sakaki to prove he’s more than just the staple fourth charcter. Especially after getting shafted last week in terms of screen time, I was loving the extra dose of humor coming from him either in the form of some stupid joke or his combination play with Mayoi. Would you like a screw-pile-driver with your corkscrew-blow?

All in all, I’m expecting great things from this show. And even though that isn’t saying a whole lot since this genre is really limited, I’m willing to bet that every single episode will have something good going for it. Which means I’m hoping for a whole season of entertaining (and not boring) episodes!

P.S. For those of you who say that this show is a bit slow for you, I can understand where you’re coming from — even though I normally can watch a ton of slice-of-life without flinching, if I try to watch this with other people it feels like I’m waiting for an eternity for each joke to hit its climax. That said, I still think this show is going to be fun to watch privately and hope that you give it another chance.

 

Preview

24 Comments

  2. Two episodes in and I still can’t get past this:
    Tsumiki = Konata (Lucky Star)
    Hime = Yoshida (Shakugan no Shana)
    Mayoi = Yamada (Honey and Clover)
    Io = Nodoka (K-ON!)
    Miiko = Yachiyo (Working!!)

    I spent the rest of the episode trying to figure out who Sakaki reminds me of.
    (top contender is a blonde Souma (Working!!))

    This is becoming like a game, trying to figure out the similarities every time someone new shows up. They all look like cute/chibi versions of other characters!

    Knillinux
    Reply

    2. I was thinking that too, although Sakaki seems to have things a lot more together and is just trolling, unlike Sunohara, who was genuinely pathetic.

      Btw, another good match for Hime is Akira from Yosuga no Sora. :p

      Knillinux
      Reply

  7. Well the candy house and cakes were nicely done. Shining Hearts really needed this sort of art rather than semi realistic ones. Interestingly Mayoi is the main mover of the series even though she’s not the main character.

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

  8. I swear, this show is so sweet, I get a toothache from watching it.
    You’re entirely right that the frustration from seeing the usual lack of progress on the romance front is completely overridden by the overflowing amount of cuteness, sweetness and fluffiness.
    This is the perfect show to just relax to. To calm down after watching some of the heavy-hitters this season.

    DakkerDB
    Reply

    1. I totally agree that this show is something to relax to especially after a long day of projects and homework. No overly complicated plot and fun characters to appreciate. I don’t mind the slow relationship progress, but I hope that we get a tidbit of closure by the end of the season as most shows like this tend to at least do that much.

      Aoihoshikage
      Reply

  9. i love this show! it’s very laid back, and low on energy. which is a great thing! i don’t expect multiple running slapstick jokes everywhere, i can just sit back and let it play out, and appreciate the characters for a little bit more than joke delivery machines. it’s a lovely change of pace for a comedy/romance/slice of life series!

    Nitro
    Reply

  10. Kind of different from the manga. Manga tends to feel more slapstick and random, while the anime tries to milk the cuteness. The girl i the lab coat doesn’t get half-killed nearly as often in the anime, sadly.

    Prefer the manga personally, but this isn’t bad either. I wish the “Youchien” skits at the end were longer, though.

    Litho
    Reply

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