Aud1o Blood wrote...
Episodic doesn't mean bad, there's just nothing holding it up.
Cowboy Bebop had a rough plot, but it only really happened in five episodes of a thirty episode series.
Otherwise, all the stories are contained. This lack of larger things at work is held up by the depth of the characters (absent in my example), the weight of the themes (also absent), and the quality of the comedic breaks (this is arguable).
The point is that these are full quality narratives. All I saw in the other are half-made ideas, which resolve themselves with next to no real character participation, growth, or exposure.
The "lack of larger things" you speak about is exactly what they tried to achieve with this anime. It wasn't meant to have drama - notice that even before the concerts there is no tension at all. This is all done on purpose; nor ecchi - they clearly proved that you don't need it to make a good anime; nor a complex story.
All in all, they focused on keeping the story light and interesting at the same time (which I think was done perfectly), along with loveable characters and insane animations/character design. And of course, moe is part of the plan.
But to each their own. If you can't enjoy it for that, then too bad. I wish there were more animes like this nowadays.