「甘い宝石⇔チョコバーリトゥード」 (Amai Houseki to Choko Baari Toudo)
“Sweet Gem ⇔ Chocolate Vale Tudo “

After an entire season of watching Acchi Kocchi’s antics, I’m actually quite sad that it’s come to an end. And even though there wasn’t any type of closure as the series came to a close, I can accept what we were given.

Overall, I don’t think anyone could have asked for a better final episode. With the beginning of the episode kicking things off with Valentine’s Day for the second time, things started off great as memories from the last Valentine’s Day episode began flooding in. Besides remembering Mayoi’s interesting frog chocolate while she was vigorously whipping that batter of hers, it was nice to see just the girls get some of the spotlight without either Io or Sakaki getting in the mix since it’s not very often we get to see someone like Hime really get a chance to express what’s on her mind.

While the humor was clearly shining through, I was a little disappointed how the show decided to end things with Io and Tsumiki. After last week’s little hint at what could happen, I thought that there were a lot of prime opportunities this week for the episode to make all of our wishes come true. Because after watching the first half of the episode end with something like this, I felt terribly depressed after watching the final half end with something like this!

Final Impressions:

I know, I know. The premise of this show never speaks about two people getting into a relationship with each other. But I’m sure that if you asked anyone who’s watched this show what they really want — I’m willing to be that most of them would respond with something along the lines of “Io and Tsumiki really deserve to get into a relationship with each other!” But seeing how this show isn’t a romantic comedy and really a comedic slice-of-life, you have to give credit where credit is due. Because I think it’s been quite a while since I’ve watched a really fun and engaging slice-of-life that just happens to have all these cutesy moments that enhance the viewing experience.

Seeing how most slice-of-life shows end up having pretty generic characters that tend to follow some sort of stereotype, you usually have to hope that whatever the writers have planned manages to accentuate the quirks of each character. In Acchi Kocchi’s case I believe that it was a smash hit in terms of keeping things fresh every single week. Unlike other shows that come to mind (A-Channel I’m looking at you!) I don’t think I’ve ever had the problem of sitting through an episode and thinking that it was boring. Sure there are times when the show tends to follow the same patterns but when it happens something different or out of the ordinary also tends to happen which give each gag that extra bit of oomph to make them standout from one another. Which is why I thought it was brilliant how Acchi Kocchi had two main sources of comedic relief — Mayoi and Sakaki. Instead of one character being the main source of jokes, which tends to get boring about halfway through the season; their use of two characters not only increased the number of unique jokes but when we don’t know who’s going to start a joke it just makes them that much funnier!

Overall, this show has been one of my favorites of the season. While it may not have some of the flashy scenes that some of the bigger action shows had or the storyline of something like Clannad had, I truly believe that with its quirky characters and interesting plot (if you could even call it that) Acchi Kocchi has become one of my new favorite shows. While I’m going to miss my daily dose of Tsumiki and friends, I’m glad that this series had a good run. Now, if only they would announce a second season…

 

23 Comments

  1. It’s not surprising how the relationship between Io and Tsumiki was handled. After all, the manga is still ongoing, and I doubt that they’ve done anything “major” during the serialization (since it is a 4-koma manga, and their awkward relationship is one of the main things played up for laughs). And there was no way that the anime was going to end with something like that, when the manga hasn’t even covered yet.

    Nyangoro
  2. Actually no, if you ask me- I wouldn’t want them to change a damn thing =D

    (Well, except for more Saki teasing Kyouya and the latter going tsundere, but that’s a minor thing…>.>)

    Chaos2Frozen
  3. This was one of my fun’r series this season. I agree with you Takaii,
    the formula worked well with the characters and there’s a slow-steady
    growth between Io and Tsumiki (I liked how he understood what she went
    to get and rescued her by bringing the umbrella). Actually, I got more
    than I expected.

    Although, I admit this last episode went a little slower with all of the
    baking-filler stuff. Still a good series.

    mac65
  4. I always felt that this series could use some more Sakaki, as he was one of my favourite characters in this show. Oh well, this show has been greatly entertaining, and have been filling my “HNNNNNG” quota brimmingly full every week. I’ll miss this show, that’s for damn sure!

    Wuz
  5. i’d just like to mention that i loved the little motion graphic/design tidbits. they’re really nice and refreshing in a way i can’t really explain (besides the fact that i probably get off on cool designs). so there!

    Nitro
  6. and so my weekly dose of sugary sweet diabetes inducing cuteness ends….
    You shall be missed T^T
    on a more serious not I agree with not wanting to change Io and Tsumiki’s relationship. I just couldn’t imagine things being the same between them if they were actually in a committed long term relationship D:

    Naske
  7. Thanks for Covering Takaii >D! *sigh* I’m going to miss this series’s humor. Between Io being a total boss, Tsumiki being the most adorable tsundere ever, Hime being adorable, and Sakaki and Mayoi keeping us laughing. Will have to pick a random ep to watch whenever I’m feeling down~.

    Kumakaori
  8. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Kyouya and Saki in this episode more than any other characters. For a final episode, our two leads really only got the spotlight at the end of each part. And while we’re talking about endings…

    I never really got what I wanted for an ending, but I got everything else I could possibly ever want out of this show. I guess I shouldn’t be greedy and just live with what I received, which was an excellent show in a season of excellent shows. Instant recommend, and probably just at the edge of my top 10 favorite shows.

    Jimhawk
  9. I kind of wish they chose a different manga chapter to animate for the second half of this episode.

    There was a chapter in the manga following the Valentine’s one, after Tsumiki rushed back to get the chocolate she made for Io. But because she ran through the rain, she caught a cold, and Io went to her house to take care of her. It would have been nice to see the two lovers together in a room, alone with just their thoughts and affection. ^^

    MasterDragonKnight
  10. As sweet as it would have been to end the show with a Io and Tsumiki confession that will change the entire dynamic of the show and prevent any future season(s) from happening.

    You have to look at these sort of the situation from a longer perspective. No studio or manga publisher is going to purposely write themselves into a dead end unless they are absolutely sure they’re going to never picking the work up again. They’re in it for the money you know.

    Doesn’t prevent people from doing it accidentally but a relationship resolution of the kind you, me, and lots of others want is a GIANT, HONKING example that only complete dipsticks can miss.

    Zzz...
  11. Man gonna miss my weekly dose of comedic antics and cuteness. Show was a lot better then I thought it would be from reading synopsis. Glad I decided to give it a chance and stick with it.

    Sherylfan
  12. The funniest moment for me is still Saki getting double team during the volleyball and frizbie episode, normally you see the sidekick getting hit once and that was it but when he got double team I definitely wasn’t expecting that and had a great laugh.

    Benz

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