OK, it has been 63 chapters and I am officially tossing in the towel. Until this manga manages to do something with itself, I'm probably not going to come back to it.
The biggest problem with Hibi Chouchou is how utterly, well, bland it is. It has nice art, sure, but the characters all feel like really flat cardboard cutouts, drawn to act in the most inoffensive and least interesting ways possible. I usually like slice-of-life romantic fluff (in fact, it's my favorite choice of romance), but Hibi Chouchou just somehow... doesn't work.
The main problem, I think, is that the mangaka doesn't seem to understand how to depict day-to-day life without making it seem... trite. It's not the lack of drama or conflict, it's more of how utterly directionless every scene seems. When I watch the two main characters together, I don't think, "Oh, how cute, they're getting to know each other." No, I think, "Man, these people really need to take some classes to learn how to communicate." It's not cute how shy these two are, especially if there's no significant character development. (There is some, I guess, but its pace is as slow as a snail's.) It's actually really, incredibly boring to see the same everyday scenes rehashed over and over again, with basically no advancement in their relationship--or even their communication skills! Hibi Chouchou isn't romantic fluff, it's just a slog through a borefest.
You know which shoujo mangaka are good at writing slice-of-life romances? Ozaki Akira (尾崎あきら), off the top of my head. Oh, Tsukuba Sakura definitely (though she often veers off into supernatural territory, but same idea--nice, long, fluffy romances that don't drag). Heck, I'll even concede that Taamo (who I find a bit drag-y with her longer stuff) is better at this than Morishita Suu.
The art, for what it's worth, is really, really nice. And the overall storyline is pretty inoffensive. Does that mean it's good? Well, it's not terrible, but the fact is that Hibi Chouchou would've been a decent manga if it was much, much shorter. Like, maybe oneshot length. Because with the way it's dragging, I find myself barely able to feel anything except tired resignation and boredom anymore. And that's as sure a sign as any to quit while I'm still marginally ahead, I guess.