History YMMV / WanderingSon

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The series portrays puberty and LGBT issues — especially transgender ones — quite seriously. This puts off many people (mostly cis heterosexuals) since it's outside of their comfort zone or they're so used to comedies about the subject. And even people wanting to read the story for its transgender themes get turned off by the revelation near the end that [[spoiler:one of the transgender characters actually isn't trans]].

* TheWoobie: Both Nitori and Takatsuki. But Nitori more because she's hit harder by DoubleStandard.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Takatsuki in the final few chapters. Was Takatsuki [[spoiler:deciding she is fine with being a girl]] something that was {{foreshadow|ing}}ed and made sense character-wise? Or is Takatsuki [[spoiler:in denial/confused about being trans due to a lack of support system (with Takatsuki barely talking with Nitori, Mako, and Yuki within the past few years) and people pressuring her to be cis (with her best friend Saori being unsupportive about Takatsuki transitioning and her job as a FashionModel making her increasingly feminine presenting)]]?

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The series portrays puberty and LGBT issues — especially transgender ones — quite seriously. This puts off many people (mostly cis heterosexuals) since it's outside of their comfort zone or they're so used to comedies about the subject. And even people wanting to read the story for its transgender themes get turned off by the revelation near the end that one of the transgender characters actually isn't trans.

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** It's arguably this to ''Manga/MizuiroJidai''.
** It can also be seen as one to an earlier manga by Shimura called ''Shikii no Juunin''

* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Takatsuki, specifically because of the way Takatsuki is treated after middle school. Many fans were fine with how [[spoiler:her identifying as a girl (as detransitioning isn't unheard of)]] in the end, but others, especially real-life trans boys, who previously found Takatsuki relatable, were ''not'' very happy about this.
** Saori is either an interesting and troubled AloofDarkHairedGirl who deconstructs several tropes or she's transphobe for repeatedly trying to get Takatsuki to detransition and a toxic friend.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Takatsuki in the final few chapters. Was Takatsuki [[spoiler:deciding they are fine with being a girl]] something that was {{foreshadow|ing}}ed and made sense character-wise? Or is Takatsuki [[spoiler:in denial/confused about being trans due to a lack of support system (with Takatsuki barely talking with Nitori, Mako, and Yuki within the past few years) and people pressuring them to be cis (with their best friend Saori being unsupportive about Takatsuki transitioning and their job as a FashionModel making them increasingly feminine presenting)]]?

* BadassDecay: You'll often hear complaints how in elementary Takatsuki was a confident badass who beat up boys and stood up for her friends but by the end of the story she's far less secure in herself. In-series it makes sense, but that doesn't make fans less sour.

** Takatsuki, specifically because of the way Takatsuki is treated after middle school. Many fans were fine with how [[spoiler:they identify themself as a girl (as detransitioning isn't unheard of)]] in the end, but others, especially real-life trans boys, who previously found Takatsuki relatable, were ''not'' very happy about this.
** Saori is either an interesting and troubled AloofDarkHairedGirl who deconstructs several tropes or she's transphobe and a toxic friend.

** Takatsuki ends up with an AmbiguousGenderIdentity, but most fans don't see them as cisgender. It's usually thought that they're either non-binary or a trans man but are going through a confusing period due to lack of support.

** Many fans are calling DeathOfTheAuthor [[spoiler:about Takatsuki not considering themselves a boy by the end of the manga.]] Also to a lesser extent [[spoiler:because [[FanPreferredCouple Takatsuki/Nitori or Takatsuki/Saori]] never occurred]].
** Due to that DeathOfTheAuthor issue above, an inverted version occurres when many fans refuse to read the manga, only watching the anime where the ending is open.

** Takatsuki's storyline [[spoiler:could've delved into the topic of trans-people who personally don't want to transition, don't identify exactly as one gender, or have doubts about their gender. But nope, she was a cis girl all along.]] Some feel the story might've benefited from more trans boy characters in general. [[spoiler:YMMV of course, as Takatsuki's AmbiguousGenderIdentity and bittersweet reactions to their feminine presentation and Nitori means that they could still identify as trans and are choosing not to come out, or that they are confused about their gender and unable to voice their feelings to anyone. It's still a wasted plot and DownerEnding at best though.]]

** Takatsuki, specifically because of the way Takatsuki is treated after middle school. Many fans were fine with how [[spoiler:they identify themself as a girl]] in the end, but others, especially real-life trans boys, who previously found Takatsuki relatable, were ''not'' very happy about this.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The series is actually {{Seinen}}. It however has been referred to as being aimed at kids, and is occasionally [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForLittleGirls mistaken]] for ''{{Shojo|Demographic}}''. In America it's actually marketed at young adults and teenagers, which probably adds to the confusion.