When I was compiling my list of spring anime series to watch, I wasn't sure if I was going to include Acchi Kocchi in it. If it weren't for the fact that I made sure to watch at least a couple of episodes before deciding to drop an anime title from my viewing list, I would have let it go based on the rather unexciting summaries that I found online.
In the end, it was the one series that I actually immediately watched as soon as I could get my hands on a new episode.
Acchi Kocchi or All Over the Place (or Place to Place, according to some) chronicles the school life of Miniwa Tsumiki, Otonashi Io, Katase Mayoi, Inui Sakaki and Haruno Hime. Tsumiki is a tsundere who has a crush on Io. The usually stoic but caring Io is blissfully unaware of Tsumiki's feelings, despite their friends' constant teasing. The series follows the group's experiences, which can range from the
mundane to the more outrageous adventures suggested by Mayoi and Sakaki, in and out of the school.
Right at the beginning, it's easy enough to find the word to describe Acchi Kocchi.
Adorable.
Adorable, I tell you.
Just to reiterate it further.... Ah-Doh-Rah-Ble.
And I'm not saying that because Tsumiki is beyond cute, especially when she suddenly sprouts cat ears every time Io pats her on the head.
One of the reasons why people originally had misgivings about watching Acchi Kocchi is because the summaries used to describe the series indicated that the premise and characters are cliched. Yes, there are cliches, plenty of it, in fact. Yet, it works for Acchi Kocchi, because the series never tried to pretend they weren't there. What's more, Acchi Kocchi uses those same cliches effectively in order to create a series that's just so much fun to watch.
You are never meant to take Acchi Kocchi seriously, especially with its outrageous humor and random action sequences. Girls experience nose bleeds every time they feel that a guy is being romantic or sweet. Certain characters find themselves in situations leading to physical injuries that surely would have landed a normal person in a hospital. Out of this world inventions crop up from time to time. And normal activities enjoyed by students get leveled up to dangerous proportions.
The story telling for Acchi Kocchi is episodic, with each one composed of two to three mini-stories revolving one of the group's experiences. The seasons change quickly, which sometimes make you feel as if you're not really watching their experiences in sequential order. But you don't really care about that. Well, I didn't, at least.
Despite the seeming randomness of the storytelling, the overarching elements of the entire series are the experiences of the group as a whole, and the not-quite-there-yet romance between Tsumiki and Io. Aside from the great comedy and using cliches to deadly effect, Acchi Kocchi is successful because of how it portrays the relationship between Tsumiki and Io. Despite the cliche of a tsundere girl and oblivious boy, their relationship is one of the more genuine parts of the series. They are at a point in their relationship where they are more than friends in closeness, but far from stepping over that line into something romantic. And I was okay with that, since it's so much fun to see Tsumiki getting teased or Io spouting casanova level lines that just make the girls go weak kneed and anemic from nose bleeding. Although, I do have to admit that there are moments when I involuntarily squee (yes, I'm declaring squee to be a verb) over the two, especially when they find themselves removed from the teasing and are just comfortable with each other. And the last few minutes of episode eleven.... I die, I tell you, I die because of the squee moment (yes, I'm also declaring it possible to die because of a squee moment, if the level of squeeing involved is high enough; I just had to recover from dying because I had to finish episode 12).
So, never mind that the series is full of cliches.
Never mind that Tsumiki looks like a child compared to her peers, especially when she clutches Io's sleeve. (Her flying kicks and inhuman speed more than make up for that.)
And never mind that I think Mayoi or Sakaki will die an early death because of the various accidents they get themselves in and the aforementioned deadly kicks courtesy of Tsumiki.
Acchi Kocchi is just plain adorable.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Acchi Kocchi, Adaptation, Anime, Comedy, Must-Watch, Romance, Slice of Life, TV
