* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Prior to the series' first airing in English-speaking territories (when all there was to go on were trailers that showed the characters to be either [[FlatCharacter flat]] or just plain awful), [=4chan=] assigned personalities to Pod 4:
** Birch is a god-tier [[OccidentalOtaku weeaboo]] with acute SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome, along with a foot fetish. (The first two turned out to be the extent of her actual personality.)
** Sandra is a [[TheLadette brassy]] SmallNameBigEgo, and is a lesbian.
** Liam has a [[AsianFoxSpirit fox]] [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom fursona]] and is a serial {{Uke}}. According to some, he's also [[CrossesTheLineTwice addicted to cocaine]].
** Raffi is a flaming homosexual [[TransparentCloset in denial]].
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Pretty much all the main characters.
** To fans, is Birch an {{Adorkable}} OccidentalOtaku who represents how many anime fans feel in school, or is she a major case of SmallNameBigEgo, who gets [[SpotlightStealingSquad way too much focus]] and is always in the right?
** Is a Liam a funny, friendly cousin to Birch; or is he a stupid frustrating character who takes advantage of everyone around him?
** Is Sandra a JerkWithAHeartOfGold [[TheLadette Ladette]] who deep down cares for her friends, or is she a flat out {{Jerkass}} who enjoys watching the rest of the Pod tear each other apart?
** Is Raffi a NiceGuy who does everything for them, or is he a boring generic character who doesn't really care for Birch?
* BileFascination: The show's infamous reputation is what drew many people to see it, and their hatred for it is more or less the only reason why anybody (including 99% of Canadians) knows the show even exists.
* BrokenBase: Whether this show is SoBadItsGood, SoOkayItsAverage, [[GuiltyPleasure actually not that bad]], or just plain terrible.
* CargoShip: CANON with Mr. Towes and his plant, Vanessa. He was singing a romantic song to it, and began to slow dance before Liam walked into the room. Suffice to say, it's the "fandom"'s OneTruePairing.
* ClicheStorm: Every single anime "quirk" known to man is crammed in as far is it will go.
* DesignatedHero: Birch [[BaseBreakingCharacter at her worst]] who can do no wrong because she's the AuthorAvatar even though by all means she does a ''lot'' of wrong.
* DesignatedVillain: With Amelia, the show makes the mistake of having her be the AlphaBitch and assume that personality alone will warrant audience hate, but seldom does she actually ''do'' anything wrong and often [[DesignatedHero the protagonists are the bigger assholes with their actions.]] It doesn't help that her SmallNameBigEgo is only ''secondary'' to that of Birch, ''the'' main character!
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Even ignoring that he probably is the only character who's not a BaseBreakingCharacter, Mr. Towes has become one of ''epic'' proportions. He's pretty much universally loved by both the genuine fans AND the series' mass hatedom and there is a mass demand among them that he be given his own show. Even the ''creator'' loves him (this being the same person who uses [[DesignatedHero Birch]] as a sort of AuthorAvatar), and even [[WordOfGod she's in support of him getting his own show]]).
** Sandra comes by a ''very'' distant second, or at least to barely make it out of TheScrappy label, mainly [[MisaimedFandom due to her enraging]] [[AuthorAvatar Birch]] constantly.
* FanNickname: Mr. Towes is affectionately referred to by some trolls as "Sensei Soulpatch."
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The show was at best deemed a footnote in the history of Creator/{{Teletoon}} programming in Canada, but due to some nicer treatment on several international networks, it managed to gain a decent-sized fanbase in a few places.
** The show first got big in Malaysia, which was where the show first aired. A lot of the early fanbase watched the show unironically, until show got canned for ''WesternAnimation/ZigAndSharko'' reruns on Creator/DisneyChannel, which lead to a small but noticeable outburst amongst Malaysians (and to a lesser extent, parts of Southeast Asia). It's also the only country to have the show air on ''three'' channels. First, Disney Channel, then local channel [=NTV7=], and now on the newly developed Creator/{{DreamWorks|Animation}} Channel. [[note]]Creator/DreamWorksAnimation actually owns the worldwide rights to the series, due to Classic Media, the previous rights holder being bought by said company.[[/note]]
** The show also garnered a noticeable fanbase in Germany, where the show was given rather good German dub, combined that SliceOfLife stories tend to be better received in the country.
** Then in Mexico, actually garnered most of its fandom, combined with being the only channel not to screw it over (Along with [[UsefulNotes/GermanTVStations KiKA]] back in Germany, which occasionally re-airs the show, usually near the end of the day during the Summer). Most of the fanart extends to Mexicans as well, especially fanart of Birch; which makes herself also an example of a more popular character in another country, since to many Mexicans, she's a AudienceSurrogate, compared to other countries, where she's a BaseBreakingCharacter at best, and TheScrappy at worst. It helps that she has the voice actress as the Latin American Spanish dub version of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Apple Bloom]].
* HamAndCheese: Appears to be the case with Mr. Towes, whose antics are considered the saving grace of this show by nearly everyone who has seen it.
* JustHereForGodzilla: Much of the reason an ironic fandom exists is due to Mr. Towes and his antics.
* MemeticMolester: Mr. Towes, thanks to frequent abuse of the old comic maker.
* MemeticMutation:
** Liam being a [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom fox furry]].[[labelnote:Explanation]]Came from the show's tendency to illustrate characters acting sneaky by having them [[VisualPun sprout fox ears and a tail.]][[/labelnote]]
** Raffi and Liam being in a [[HoYay homosexual relationship]] (and to a lesser extent, Birch and Sandra, or Sandra and Amelia, or Birch and Amelia).
** [[http://oi55.tinypic.com/28jwri1.jpg Mr. Towes' rape-face.]][[labelnote:Explanation]]From an episode where he suspects the main characters cheated on a test, and subsequently interrogates them.[[/labelnote]]
** The show is often labelled "Website/DeviantArt: The Series" (due to its questionable animation, {{animesque}} art style, and an AuthorAvatar main character with a massive ego).
** "Let me tell you about '''Webcomic/{{HOMESTUCK}}'''"[[labelnote:Explanation]] There were common jokes in 2011 comparing the four ''Homestuck'' kids, not to mention that people mistakenly thought that Liam's last name was Strider early in the show's life. It got to the point that even Creator/AndrewHussie got in on the jokes on Facebook[[/labelnote]].
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample ** "GODDAMNIT BIRCH"
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Mr. Towes. He ''is'' voiced by Creator/TerrenceScammell, after all.
* ShallowParody: One of the reasons the show is so notorious is the fact that it isn't actually as knowledgeable about anime/manga fan culture as it claims to be.
* SoBadItsGood: The show is infamous for its low-quality animation that tries to emulate anime while also cramming every anime and SliceOfLife cliché known to man, which led to the show developing an ironic following when the Internet discovered its existence. That, and the character of Mr. Towes, whose gloriously insane antics and voice acting (courtesy of Terrence Scammell) have made him incredibly popular with the show's viewers.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Birch actually could be an interesting look of a main character in high school who's an OccidentalOtaku does. Unfortunately, her rather DesignatedHero actions make her rather less than endearing.
* UnintentionalUncannyValley: While the character designs are well drawn, the actual facial expressions are pretty bizarrely constructed; some characters (like Liam) have their eyes too widely spaced out, while others (like Sandra and Birch) have incredibly tiny noses which makes it look like they don't have one when their heads are turned to the side. The animation quality does not help in the slightest, due to how heavily rigged it is; the characters move so stiffly yet haphazardly that they look more like animated marionettes.
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