After rereading Kenichi again, I've realized why this manga feels so sterile. First is Kido. She's supposed to be our Miu, but the mangaka ripped away all of Miu's actual personality to create a somewhat ditzy anime girl. At least Miu could, y'know, have a conversation and act like a normal human being. Miu is just a better character than Kido so far.
Second is…whatever the MC's name is. Kenichi's whole shtick is "learning to become a good man" since he was such a coward before. Also, he's literally motivated by his lust for Miu, but that's a good thing! Because that initial thrust of motivation eventually becomes him not wanting to be a weakling. What's MC's motivation? To learn more about his dad? Not to mention that in the first 30 chapters of Kenichi, we get about 4 fight scenes and multiple training scenes with some of the most interesting side/mentor characters I've ever read in manga.
And, let's not forget, the side characters. Crazy wizard Judo guy, crazy muay thai guy, crazy Chinese guy, crazy scary karate guy, crazy weapons chick, and crazy grandpa. Notice a pattern?
Ultimately, I just have to say that I'm disappointed. I actually found Tokiwa Kitareri!! to be way more interesting than this manga. But there's a silver lining. This current chapter is friggin great. It's the author finally doing something interesting. Maybe this will give us the narrative thrust to become a spy/action manga that focuses on MC's classmates, who actually seem kinda interesting!