* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Is Rito really a NiceGuy who's simply unlucky enough to wind up in AccidentalPervert situations or a "master" pervert [[ObfuscatingStupidity that only pretends to be clumsy]]? [[spoiler:Chapter 66 of ''Darkness'' confirms that all of his AccidentalPervert moments happen as a result of ''talent'', while two chapters later, it's explicitly '''both'''. Run using an alien aphrodisiac to remove Rito's inhibitions proves that yes, he is that clumsy, and he is that good]].
** Was Mikan Yuuki's NotBloodSiblings prank to Rito when she got sick just that, or did it represent some hidden desire of hers?
** Momo Belia Deviluke's "Harem Plan" in ''Darkness'' paints her in two separate lights: does she genuinely want all of the girls who love Rito to be happy or is this grand scheme of hers a way to justify going after Rito herself without feeling any guilt or remorse? The manga itself tends to flip-flop between the two more often than a high-rate metronome.
* AlternateSelfShipping: The fandom loves the idea of an ''actual'' OppositeSexClone ''conveniently'' given a place in the male protagonist's {{Harem|Genre}}, due to his [[spoiler:AttractiveBentGender as a result of a TransformationRay]], though such a clone doesn't exist in canon.
* AmericansHateTingle: While Haruna Sairenji regained fans in Japan as ''Darkness'' rolled on, she's still considered a boring, static character internationally - the one who received hate due to being the primary ''menace'' of the Harem Plan [[spoiler:and as Rito's chosen girl at the end of ''Darkness'']].
* ArcFatigue: The "Harem Plan" in ''Darkness'' had been developing at a slow pace, even after the "Darkness" plot surrounding "Golden Darkness"/Yami was resolved.
* BaseBreakingCharacter
** The ''Manga/BlackCat''-[[{{Expy}} based characters]] - some ''Black Cat'' fans were annoyed with the changes made to their favorite characters in ''To-Love-Ru'', while others enjoyed the alternate versions of them.
** While a decently popular character in the original series, Rito turned more divisive among fans in ''Darkness'', where he failed to be an agent of volition and mostly existed to trigger perverted situations without experiencing any meaningful CharacterDevelopment. Fans had a hard time deciding whether he was a sympathetic victim of circumstance or a subject of mockery.
** Momo in ''Darkness'' due to her motives: some fans love her personality and desire to be a HaremSeeker for Rito, but others state she's nothing but a {{Hypocrite}} who wants to win Rito without "fighting" for him, with a [[ClingyJealousGirl possessive side]] that's {{manipulative|Bastard}} and {{violent|lyProtectiveGirlfriend}}. Even in the original series, there were some people who didn't like her due to feeling like a FlatCharacter who has nothing to contribute except fanservice and having little-to-no chemistry with Rito, her attraction to him seeming purely physical rather than the emotional attraction most other girls have.
* BestKnownForTheFanservice: The series does have a diverse cast and interesting setting, as well as a number of serious emotional scenes, yet any amount of talk about ''To-Love-Ru'' and its criticisms to anyone always results in this being mentioned first, not that fans can blame them.
* BrokenBase:
** [[spoiler:Haruna confessing to Rito, and Rito's reaction to it]] at the end of the original {{Manga}}: a decent twist that added a lot of conflict in the story or utterly wasted because [[spoiler:if Rito picks her, he'd be settling for the most "normal" and "boring" of the harem?]]
** The Harem Plan in ''Darkness'': a real possibility for a MarryThemAll ending or it's useless because Rito will end up [[FirstGirlWins with Haruna or Lala Satalin Deviluke]]? [[OneTrueThreesome Or both]]?
** The ending of ''Darkness'': [[spoiler:Rito chose nobody, despite his claims that Haruna is his favorite, thus leaving the series with NoEnding and no changes being made to the [[StatusQuoIsGod situation]] despite Rito confessing being his primary goal since the beginning of the series]]. Did ''Darkness'' do a good job at keeping the playing field open and provide more opportunities to flesh out the cast for future installments or did it squander opportunities to [[spoiler:finish the Harem Plan and make Rito the harem king he was meant to be]]? Was this a good or bad decision at all? Unfortunately, with the writer/artist duo breaking up post-''Darkness'', this means everyone across the board are left wondering what to make of the ending.
** ''Darkness'' itself. Is it a perfectly good sequel and the vastly increased fanservice a good thing because [[JustHereForGodzilla it's what most people were here for anyway]]? Or is it a horrid sequel because of the change in main characters, the excessively sexually suggestive fanservice, and largely doing away with what made the original series fun and charming and worth watching/reading for besides the fanservice?
* DieForOurShip: Not quite as bad as some examples, but people were becoming very annoyed with [[GirlNextDoor Haruna]] as time wore on when she stood in the way of more popular pairings such as Rito/[[DitzyGenius Lala]], Rito/[[DefrostingIceQueen Yui]] [[{{Tsundere}} Kotegawa]] or Rito/Anyone-Other-Than-Haruna.
* EnsembleDarkhorse
** Mikan, especially in Japan ([[LittleMissSnarker for]] [[TokenMiniMoe certain]] [[OnlySaneMan reasons]]), though she would gain popularity outside of the country for the same arguments and is often touted as the fandom's favorite.
** Yui, whose Type-A {{Tsundere}} personality was an endearment to readers so much, as she played the archetype better than other examples in the [[{{Shounen}} genre]] and medium. It's little wonder that in an online poll of all the females for the original {{Manga}}, Yui placed first with at least 50% more votes than the runner-up. Much of Yui's popularity can also be attributed to her [[AscendedExtra receiving more screen-time]] when Haruna was DemotedToExtra and OutOfFocus.
** Yami, the {{Expy}} of Eve from ''Black Cat'', who retained most of her origin's [[LivingWeapon characteristics]] and [[NoSocialSkills charm]]; compared to the other ''To Love Ru'' {{Expy}} characters, Yami stands out for having CharacterDevelopment. Positive fan reception of Yami would ultimately lead her into headlining ''Darkness'' as the primary heroine.
** Rito's [[GenderBender female form]] "Riko" was just intended as a one-off transformation [[MilestoneCelebration for the 100th chapter]]. Fan reception was so positive that less than half a dozen chapters later, Lala revealed she made a new invention that could turn temporarily Rito female again, which ended up happening sporadically throughout the rest of the original series and ''Darkness''.%%10th anniversary book; Volume 12 author's notes
** Despite appearing in the late {{Story Arc}}s of the original {{Manga}}, [[LoveableSexManiac Momo's]] [[ClingyJealousGirl mischievous]] [[MsFanservice nature]] was such a welcome change that she would turn into a BreakoutCharacter and promoted to co-heroine in ''Darkness''.
** If the [[http://i.imgur.com/eWWBqfb.jpg Chapter 59 poll]] of ''Darkness'' was any indication, [[TheTease Risa]] [[GoodBadGirl Momioka]] was just as popular, reaching runner-up among the "girls readers want to have as a girlfriend" behind Haruna, despite Risa having little-to-no screentime in ''Darkness''. That she was the series' original tease before Momo appeared and having bisexual [[GirlOnGirlIsHot tendencies]] helped.
* FanonDiscontinuity:
** The first AnimatedAdaptation is generally ignored by fans because it is an AdaptationDistillation without following the {{Manga}}. The "real" adaption starts with ''Motto To Love-Ru''.
** Some fans of the original series pretend that ''Darkness'' doesn't exist, due to largely doing away with the fun, wacky storylines of the original in favor of more erotic stories that result in more fanservice, cranking up the fanservice to blatantly sexual levels to the point where it might as well just not be suitable for the same age group as the original series, [[DemotedToExtra demoting several former main characters to extra]] including Lala who was the defacto leading lady of the original series, promoting Momo, a rather BaseBreakingCharacter, to be the new female lead, Rito being little more than a cataylst for lewd things happening, the explanation for all of Rito's AccidentalPervert moments, and the retconning of the original series ending [[spoiler:where he confessed to Lala that he loved her and told her that he loved Haruna as well, to him saying that only Haruna is his "favorite" in ''Darkness'']].
* FriendlyFandoms
** There is a chance that a ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'' fan may also be a fan of ''To Love-Ru'' ([[VitriolicBestBuds even though the respective fandoms are used to some gibes between each other]]).
** Expect fans of ''To Love-Ru'' and ''Manga/YuunaAndTheHauntedHotSprings'' to get along, given they're both from the HaremGenre, have a similar premise and serialized in ''Magazine/ShonenJump''. This is particularly evident upon the conclusion of ''To-Love-Ru Darkness'', to which ''Yuuna'' not only filled in that empty {{Ecchi}} void, but began GrowingTheBeard.
* GrowingTheBeard: ''Darkness'' was seen by many not only for a jump in visual quality compared to the original series, it also brought about major CharacterDevelopment for the side-characters surrounding Rito, with criticisms usually leveled at [[OutOfFocus Lala and Haruna getting pushed to the side]] and [[FlatCharacter Rito existing in the sequel just to end up in]] even ''crazier'' {{Ecchi}} situations notched up to eleven. The appearance of Nemesis to serve as a counterpart to Momo made things slightly more interesting, including [[spoiler:Nemesis temporarily SharingABody with Rito]]. On the other hand, ''Darkness'' has its fair share of detractors as well, see BrokenBase and FanonDiscontinuity above.
* HarsherInHindsight: The NotHerself chapter in the original {{Manga}} where Haruna acted like an evil sadist was pretty funny, until the woman whom she was based on, Yabuki's ex-wife, rather than being a sweet GirlNextDoor type was actually a hateful, sadistic woman on top of being a philanderer, thief, kidnapper and extortionist. Whether series writer Hasemi Saki was trying to tell Yabuki something or not through the story's script is unknown[[note]]It's suggested by the time Yabuki knew about it, Yui was [[AscendedExtra written in more and more subsequent chapters]], while Haruna was [[DemotedToExtra written out]]. Undoubtedly, this led to Yui's EnsembleDarkhorse status[[/note]].
* HilariousInHindsight: In the first chapter of the manga, Lala says, "[[Manga/DragonBall Even though I have a tail, it doesn't mean I'll transform when I look at the full moon]]". In ''VideoGame/JStarsVictoryVS'', Lala appears as a support character and one of the playable characters is naturally [[Manga/DragonBall Son Goku]]. She even has special dialogue with Goku and [[Manga/DragonBall Vegeta]] regarding her tail.
* IncestYayShipping: What fuels the fans' pairing of Rito and Mikan together are the scenes whenever they're alone, to wit Mikan's joke about how they're NotBloodSiblings in the original {{Manga}} being the impetus to this. InUniverse, Momo even includes Mikan in her "Harem Plan".
* LesYay: The series is primarily on heterosexual pairings, yet it doesn't skirt on teasing girl-girl duos.
** Lala/Haruna: they already love each other the same way they love Rito, yet neither have the same problems typical of the BettyAndVeronica in {{Shounen}}, especially when the two form some very close skinship. This is before mentioning the various official art Yabuki has [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/718519 drawn]] [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/98380/ himself]] ({{NSFW}}).
** Risa and [[CosplayOtakuGirl Mio Sawada]] to [[SkinshipGrope every girl]], though it's PlayedForLaughs. On the other hand, Risa having her way with Momo during one chapter in ''Darkness'' wasn't for the sake of comedy, but rather [[GirlOnGirlIsHot for another reason]].
** [[TykeBomb Yami]]/Mikan: for God's sake, Chapter 6 of ''Darkness'' has Mikan licking and sucking at Yami's nipple. Sure, MindControl was involved for the latter, but that's not why fans cared about the scene.
* MemeticMutation:
** "[[http://i.imgur.com/hAcz8.jpg To Love-Ru is super interesting]]."[[labelnote:Explanation]]From an episode of ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'', the screenshot (or at least the line of dialogue) will inevitably find its way into just about every ''To Love-Ru'' discussion.[[/labelnote]]
** "Nobody falls like Rito."[[labelnote:Explanation]]Rito always defying the laws of gravity and physics to somehow end up in peculiar positions with almost every member of the female cast has become legendary among fans to the point when the falling cliché happens in stories outside of ''To Love-Ru'', the first thing people will think of is how that character stacks up to Rito.[[/labelnote]]
** "He can't keep getting away with it!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Refers to how Yabuki keeps pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable by Japanese censorship laws.[[/labelnote]]
* {{Moe}}: Minus that [[DirtyOldMan lousy scumbag]] [[FatBastard of a principal]] and [[CasanovaWannabe Kenichi Saruyama]], everyone else in the cast, Rito/Riko included.
* NightmareFuel:
** Ghi Bree: a horrible humanoid lizard with shapeshifting powers who took Haruna as a hostage using slimy tentacles to restrict her movements (while also doing {{Ecchi}} things to her). Even if it was revealed [[spoiler:he's a spineless coward whose real form is played up for a joke]], he sure is the creepiest of all the extraterrestrial villains that have appeared in the story.
** Some of Lala's inventions aren't just dangerous, but are actually destructive: this is invoked in "Darkness" with the "Go-Go Vacuum-Kun A", a machine used to detect and clean up trash. When this invention was destroyed, it's revealed that it was powered by a micro black hole that nearly sucked up the whole school and its student body! A combination of [[PsychicPowers Oshizu]] and [[ArmCannon Mea Kurosaki]] was required to stop it.
* OneTrueThreesome: {{Invoked}} InUniverse by Lala at the end of the first series - after Rito confesses to Lala that he loves both her and Haruna, Lala becomes overjoyed and encourages Rito to get together with Haruna. Lala's real desire is for both Haruna and herself to marry Rito, which will be possible if Rito marries Lala and becomes king of Deviluke, making polygamy possible for him.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: {{Zigzagged}} - despite being DemotedToExtra in the original manga and the early parts of ''Darkness'' (with regards to Yabuki's CreatorBreakdown), Haruna slowly regained fans (at least in Japan); the last poll even placed her at ''the top of favorite characters''.
* TheScrappy: The Principal is [[{{Gonk}} ugly, fat]] and a pervert whose only role was simply getting beat up by the female characters whenever he dashed half-naked towards them. While this character was supposed to be a PluckyComicRelief, the interruptions that occurred as a result of him became increasingly annoying, frustrating and unnecessary, especially when certain scenes that were meant to build drama and tension were instantly cut away by him, often resulting in MoodWhiplash.
* TearJerker: Momo in Chapter 76 of ''Darkness'' - [[spoiler:hearing Rito and Haruna confessing their feelings to each other, she believes her Harem Plan has been a failure, she starts crying]].
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** How some people feel about the main heroine of the original series, Lala, by the time ''Darkness'' came around where she's mostly been OutOfFocus in favor of {{Breakout Character}}s, Momo and Yami, taking center-stage.
** Compared to her other Devilukean sisters is Nana Asta Deviluke: apart from an early ''Darkness'' StoryArc surrounding her broken friendship with Mea, there's little reason for Nana to appear afterwards, as it's largely regarding her HairTriggerTemper and SourPrude attitude against Rito, especially when she keeps accusing him of AccidentalPervert situations not of his doing.
** A chapter from the original {{Manga}} had Rito befriending Yui's older brother, Yuu Kotegawa: not only could the latter have been a role model and confidant for Rito (which is impossible with [[BromanticFoil Saruyama]]), neither character interacts with each other again in the series, including ''Darkness''.
** Several fans felt this way about Rito and Mikan's parents: despite the two having [[BumblingDad fairly amusing]] [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents character quirks]], there was hardly a chance to showcase the two being HappilyMarried, which could have been a gauge for Rito to consider choosing which girl to wind up with.
** The non-Rito male characters were extremely underutilized in general. There was much more that could have been done with Zastin and Ren. Poor Ren got it really bad, basically being forced into an AndIMustScream situation by his "sister" working to overcome her allergies in order to keep control of their shared body at all times.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** The "Trouble Quest" plotline in the original series had a lot of wasted potential. Rito and his harem are trapped in a video game designed by Lala, with Lala herself being held hostage by the game's BigBad. The game itself is a very blatant ShoutOut to ''Franchise/DragonQuest'', and none of the girls play video games, [[IKnowMortalKombat making Rito the only person in the group who knows how turn-based battles work and knows what to expect from such a game]]. This could have been Rito's chance to finally shine, as the arc seems perfectly tailored to let Rito take the lead for a change and not have to cower behind his girlfriends due to being a weak human, and him saving Lala in contrast to how she usually saves him could have provided some poignant development to their relationship. Rito taking a stand and being a hero could have also helped all of the girls see him in a different light. Instead, Rito gets saddled with a [[LuckBasedMission randomly-selected]] [[JokeCharacter joke class]] while the girls all get strong classes that are actually useful, leaving Rito to once again be useless in combat and having to hide behind the girls. Making things worse, the group later runs into Yami, who hasn't been bothering with the whole "turn-based combat" thing and has been using her natural shapeshifting abilities to fight instead of the abilities the game gave her, letting her kill everything she encounters in one hit, and revealing that they never had to play by the game's rules to begin with, making Rito's knowledge of video games retroactively worthless.
** In ''Darkness'', Rito makes the decision to allow Nemesis to live within him in order for the latter to restore her power after losing a fight against Gid. There's moments here-and-there where it looks like Rito is now able to use supernatural powers thanks to Nemesis, which possibly hints at Rito receiving a [[TookALevelInBadass power-up]]. Unfortunately, Rito and Nemesis split apart before the series ever truly goes any further with this, and there's no signs afterwards that Nemesis' power stuck with him.
* VanillaProtagonist: AccidentalPervert moments aside, Rito is no different from other UnwantedHarem protagonists in the sense that he is meant to be simple with no distinctive attributes. It's the girls who carry most of the series’ emotional development.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Wait - [[spoiler:Peke]] is ''female''?! (re: Chapter 145 of the original {{Manga}})
* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: With the amount of sexual content in ''To Love-Ru Darkness'', one would think the manga would have made a move to a {{seinen}} magazine at the time. It actually changed to monthly {{shonen}} magazine Jump Square. It was even reviewed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to see if it violated Bill 156's restrictions on material that could be sold to minors, but they ultimately decided it did not.
* TheWoobie:
** Yami: no different than a happy little girl who lived with Tearju Lunatique, her "mother". Unfortunately, when Tearju planned to run away with her, the "Eden" organization attempted to assassinate Tearju, forcing her to escape. Yami is left behind and lied about Tearju abandoning her as Eden starts training her into a LivingWeapon. Following the organization's collapse, Yami has lived alone in the universe before coming to Earth. [[spoiler:However, Eden has a programming block in Yami called "Darkness" mode that will activate when she comes to accept the mere possibility of being able to live peacefully, thus ensuring she turns into a weapon of mass destruction, all so the universe will never achieve true peace]].
** When one thinks of how Oshizu has spent ''400 years'' in that desolate basement, unable to communicate, it's quite harsh, too. Played with, however, because [[AngstWhatAngst she doesn't show it much]].
----