Acchi Kocchi - 12 (End)

I was going to say how I was sad that we don't have anything equivalent to a White Day here in the U.S. until I realized that most of the gifts given by teenage boys would have been like the pig feet marshmallow.  Ewww.

We've returned a full circle to another Valentine's Day.  While Mayoi concocted more crazy chocolates, Tsumiki make Io a kitty brownie only to forget it at home.  I felt incredibly bad for her, especially seeing her run home to try to give Io her gift in time only to get all wet from the rain.  It was like seeing a pathetic wet kitten!  Things like that have happened to me before, so I can understand her frustration and sadness, but it was incredibly sweet to see Io go after her.

The second half of the episode dealt with White Day, as the boys think of an appropriate gift to give back to the girls.  I thought it was extremely hilarious that there's the threefold rule; it kind of reminds me of the "rule" here where an engagement ring is supposed to cost three months' salary.  Regardless, I couldn't help but laugh when Kana equated a gift that cost threefold with marriage.  Ha!  And I have to say, besides Io and Tsumiki, I really liked how it was hinted that Kyouya had feelings for Saki.  It was pretty adorable.

I was a bit disappointed that this episode didn't really follow up with what happened in the last episode, but it seems like Io is at least more aware of Tsumiki's feelings for him now, and seemingly reciprocates them.  He's always touching her hair or patting her or, in this episode, touching her face, and giving her a special gift is kind of like the icing on the cake.

Final Impressions

For an anime that I wasn't planning on watching, I was extremely impressed with it and happy that I gave it a try.  Acchi Kocchi soon came to be one of my favorites this season, and one that guaranteed to leave me a smile on my face afterwards.  For a cast that included five main characters, with at least five other side characters, it was great to see how unique each character was.  The humor was spot on as well, and the jokes never ceased to make me giggle.  And of course, Tsumiki was the best part of the entire anime.  Whether she was being tsun or dere, I just absolutely fell in love with how cute she was, especially whenever her cat ears appeared!  I'm a bit sad that we weren't given a firm resolution on her and Io's relationship, but I'm not too surprised, and the ending was fairly promising for Tsumiki.