Line #17 YMMV/PhantasyStarOnline2TheAnimation


1	* AmericansHateTingle: The English-speaking fans ''despise'' the anime, citing its SliceOfLife elements, lack of meaningful character development, and flimsy plot as reasons why it's so terrible. In Japan? While it was still relatively poor, it at least did enough to increase the playerbase by a noticeable amount.
2	* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Apprentice is ultimately dealt with in rather mundane fashion. Not only does [[NiceJobFixingItVillain she pull off an undeniably stupid move that permanently cripples her,]] she does absolutely nothing for the rest of the finale until she is defeated when Itsuki recovers Rina. The only display of power she had was to [[TheWorfEffect worf]] a squad of AIS.]] The ''Darkers'' do more harm to the protagonists than she does!
3	* BizarroEpisode: ''The Animation'' is frequently seen as one to the main ''[=PSO2=]'' plot. Nothing actually gets accomplished aside from some plot points that have very minor affect to the game's story[[note]]The ending of the show sets up an excuse for Matoi to get PutOnABus for the first half of ''[=EP4=]'', and the show's characters make appearances in ''EPISODE 5'' and ''EPISODE 6''[[/note]]. Furthermore, the show frequently bends the established rules of the series for no discernible reason, such as [[spoiler:Itsuki and Rina getting Photon powers[[note]]the ''[=EP4=]'' characters almost exclusively run on Ether as the AppliedPhlebotinum of choice[[/note]]]], Darkers having noticeably exaggerated power levels for the sake of drama and plot, and [[spoiler:Apprentice being ''even more'' of an AntiClimaxBoss than even the game makes her out to be]]. This is part of the reason why some fans [[FanonDiscontinuity disown the anime]] and would rather watch ''Anime/PhantasyStarOnline2EpisodeOracle'' instead.
4	* BrokenBase: The anime having SliceOfLife elements became a huge turn-off for certain parts of the fanbase. The fact that it also takes place on Earth, in Japan, and stars a high school kid and his pals also had English-speaking fans crying "generic" til the cows come home. [[spoiler:The fact that it's a StealthPrequel is even more base-breaking because some believe it makes the anime worth watching [[AllThereInTheManual for the additional background information]], while others believe it degrades the ''Phantasy Star'' name even further by linking it to a generic SliceOfLife show.]]
5	* ContinuityLockOut: The anime isn't well focused on attracting new viewers/players, but rather those already familiar with the game and its upcoming content. This is prevalent in several areas where they expect the viewer to retain prior knowledge of ''[=PSO2=]'' to "get" what happening.
6	* EnsembleDarkHorse: Kouta and SORO are popular with fans, sometimes even better liked than the main characters themselves. Unfortunately, Kouta gets the short end of the stick in a lot of his appearances, and [[spoiler:SORO gets shafted in Episode 5 in favor of RINA, [[DemotedToExtra reducing his role]] down to appearing in the opening and in the final episode.]]
7	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Quest 6 has Koa receiving an invitation to enjoy a soak in the hot springs [[spoiler:in-game from Rina, with Koa believing she would do so with her RINA avatar. This is accompanied by a cut-in of Dudu, the infamous item grinder clerk of the game, commenting on his luck. Rina then appears with her SORO avatar, and only soaks for a brief moment. This is accompanied by Dudu commenting on Koa's lack of luck.]]
8	* GrowingTheBeard: If you're willing to muddle through the first six episodes, all of which are generally considered mediocre at best, everything begins picking up ''extremely'' quick by Episodes 7 through 9, during which its overall quality also improves immensely.
9	* HilariousInHindsight: In Episode 7, [[spoiler:Last Samurai, who last saw Mika Konoe in Quarry Free Field, wonders aloud if ''[=PSO2=]'' has the Seiga Academy outfit as an available costume.]] When the first ''[=PSO2=]: The Animation'' Blu-Ray/DVD was announced alongside its included Item Codes, guess what costume it came with?
10	* LesYay:
11	** Rina Izumi is stated to have admirers male and female, among them fellow student council member Mika Konoe.
12	** When Aika Suzuki transfers to Seiga Academy, one female student straight-up asks her for her views on lesbian relationships.
13	* MemeticMutation: ゲイ[[labelnote:Explanation]]Shouta Aoi has a very strange pronunciation of the English word "day" in the opening theme, as it sounds like he says it with a "g" instead of a "d", making it sound like "gei". This is largely memetic among the Japanese fans.[[/labelnote]]
14	* SoOkayItsAverage: The anime can generally be graded by fans on two different scales: its quality as a ''Phantasy Star'' title, and its quality as a SliceOfLife title. While the former scale is polarizing, the latter scale can fall squarely into "unremarkable" as far as the non-''Phantasy Star'' fans are concerned, if not a tad bit higher.
15	* SpecialEffectFailure: The CGI is generally derided for being bad at times. Especially Episode 2's Rockbear, which is ''very'' choppily animated.
16	* TaintedByThePreview: "OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent is forced to play a popular video game by the school's perfect StudentCouncilPresident" sounds rather dull even as far as anime plots go, and fans of the game aren't that excited to watch a show where someone plays a game they're already playing. [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2016-01-10/nico-nico-users-pick-most-anticipated-anime-of-winter-2016/.97381 A Nico Nico Douga poll amongst Japanese]] picked ''[=PSO2=]: The Animation'' as the least-anticipated show of the season.

Context YMMV / PhantasyStarOnline2TheAnimation