Acchi Kocchi, meanwhile, is one of those rare, brain-damaged birds whose popularity I just don't get. I mentioned Nisekoi above. One could argue that such a bland, paint-by-numbers romcom setup NEEDED the Mado/gatari team behind it to offset the insipid story. Meanwhile with Acchi Kocchi we go almost as far as physically possible in the opposite direction, with chibi mode seemingly being the main appearance of the characters; when extra humor is called for, they practically turn into plastic board game pieces, with possibly less definition than your average chess piece. The rest of the artwork isn't much better, with the background being absent for what seems like half the time.
And the story... I called Nisekoi insipid? Acchi Kocchi makes that look like quantum mechanics. ...Okay, it is rather unique to have a shy couple already an item without any drama. But that's the problem. There is almost no drama in this show. Jerry Seinfeld was wrong; slice-of-shows aren't completely about nothing. Each episode of those shows, or one of the in-episode sketches, has a character working toward some goal, however small (ie Osaka in Azumanga Daioh trying to find a hiccup cure; Renge in Non Non Biyori learning to ride a bike). With Acchi Kocchi, most scenes are simply based on a shy boy and girl trying to talk to each other or sneak off only to be interrupted by their one-note, brutally loud "friends" who seem to have been designed based on Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube Men and desperately want to watch them make out. Of course, as boy and girl are one-note kuuderes, not even the hardest liquor in Gen Urobuchi's cabinet could convince me that these two could ever so much as hold hands. Except for the WWAFITM's mentioned above, the cast, the general mood, heck, even the BGM all seem to be on extra-strength Valium. Coupled with the bargain-basement animation and character design, Acchi Kocchi almost seems more like one of those five-minute kiddie productions instead of a prime-time television anime. Yes, Kiniro Mosaic's general shtick isn't much better, but at least they put a little more effort into character design and artwork.
So yeah, I really don't get why this bit of...sloth is so highly rated and regarded. Between it, Kiniro Mosaic, and SAO, it makes me a bit worried for the future of Japanese animation.
