YMMV / Ayakashi Triangle

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Does Matsuri's mother Matoi support Reo pursuing her son-turned-daughter because she resents Suzu for Matsuri to staying to protect her instead of moving to Tokyo? Or because she's saving her child from getting too close to the Ayakashi Medium in the event she turns on humanity when she regains her memories and suffering massive heartbreak?
    • Further, is her questioning Matsuri, Suzu, and Shriogane's plan to restore his power to undo the Gender-Swapped Awaken Jutsu because of the genuine danger restoring such a Ayakashi presents? Or because she wants her son to remain a girl permanently? And does it relate to the above to prevent a romantic relationship between Matsuri and Suzu? Or because she always wanted a daughter and is seizing on an unexpected opportunity?
  • Readers are very divided on Matsuri's insistence that he can only date Suzu when and if he's male again, saying it would be like Suzu's cheating on him because he's "not his real self". Some view him as reasonably not wanting to get intimate when his body has been involuntarily altered. Others consider his objections vain and insecure, pointing out Matsuri has little problem doing anything else as a girl. Still others interpret Matsuri's talk of having a "proper" relationship with Suzu as a veiled form of homophobia since it fits with his character of having old fashion values (he thinks couples shouldn't kiss til they're married for example).
  • Chapter 88 has Suzu realizes that she loves the female Matsuri as well as the male. But is this a case of her being a case of Ambiguously Bi (having no problem having a kissing battle with Shadow Mei), If It's You, It's Okay (since she knows Matsuri is a guy), or Single-Target Sexuality (that she loves Matsuri so much it doesn't matter what gender he is).
  • Is Kanade uncomfortable with Suzu now being attracted to the female Matsuri as well as the male because she might give up on turning him back? Or is it because she has centuries of memories from past eras where homophobia is the norm?
• Base-Breaking Character: Matsuri, or more accurately, his original male body. Some fans do want him to return to his old body, since the gender change was unnecessarily forced on him, but just as many think he shouldn't complain since he has a much healthier social circle and got much closer to his crush than he would as a guy. The problem only gets exaggerated when the Gogyousen create a fake vessel in the likeness of the original Matsuri, also using his memories. While there were quite a few people who thought he was an unnecessary final obstacle in Suzu and Matsuri's relationship, others felt bad for him, essentially waking up in his new body in a life where he's been effectively replaced and realizing that Suzu will never love him as much as she does the real Matsuri (or so he/the Gogyousen think).
• Cliché Storm: The series does very little to distinguish itself from other Fanservice heavy romcoms besides the pseudo-Yuri Genre angle and a rather hefty dose of action. Tropes Are Tools, however; the series has gotten a pretty positive reception from both Japanese and international fans in its run so far. The announcement in December 2021 that Ayakashi Triangle was going to get an anime adaptation points to its general popularity, especially given that it was announced only a year and a half into the manga's publication, which is surprisingly fast. In comparison, Kentaro Yabuki's last major series To Love Ru only began their anime adaptation in 2009 - the same year the manga ended a 3-year run in Shonen Jump.
• Fan Nickname: Soga is pretty often called "Sharkboy" or "Sharkbro" because of his sharp teeth and distinct hair shape.
• Fridge Brilliance: The "triangle" in the manga's title makes a little bit of sense now after chapter 69 when Matsuri forms a Two-Person Love Triangle in his head between himself (an Ayakashi Exorcist), his female form, and Suzu (the Ayakashi Medium). And now we have another triangle in the form of the Ayakashi Medium involving Suzu (the body), Young Heart/Kanade (the memories of the Medium), and Shadow Mei (the Omokage turned Ikon that formed in Mei's final moments).
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many come to the series to see if the Gender Bender situation will actually lead to Matsuri and Suzu hooking up as a same-sex couple. That ends up happening at least temporarily as Matsuri plans to wait until at least graduation to return to being a guy. Suzu also plans to learn a technique that will allow her to change someone’s gender meaning she can be with him as both a male and a female regardless.
• Memetic Mutation: It didn't take long for people to notice how similar Matsuri's grandfather, Seigen Kazamaki, looks to Isaac Netero from Hunter × Hunter. Almost as if this is Isaac's life away from the Hunter Association.
• Spiritual Successor: Considered by some to be the Ecchi series replacement for To Love Ru and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs. Both of which pretty much ended one after the other, and then Ayakashi Triangle took the spotlight. This is especially the case towards To Love Ru given that Kentaro Yabuki served as the artist for that series, and is now the creator of Ayakashi Triangle.
• Squick:
  • Even a lot readers used to racier manga find Matoi Kazamaki touching her child in a very inappropriate way highly discomforting.
  • Chapter 74 has Lu (a Cloud Cuckoo Lander) meeting Rochka and inadvertently groping her in a very sexual way due to the latter being invisible; note that both have child-like figures so it looks like a preteen girl molesting another. Shonen Jump (specifically the Mangaplus service) actually opted to skip this chapter and the following issue (which contained a flashback to the event) because they considered it too risqué even for them.
• Uncertain Audience: While it was far from an unsuccessful series, both genderbend story fans and fans of the yuri genre felt like the story wasn't quite for them. The former group gets some of the hallmarks of a typical story (adjusting to life as a girl, friends developing crushes on his female body, oodles of fanservice), but feel the heavy emphasis on Suzu and Matsuri's relationship was different enough in tone from regular gender bending stories that end with the transformed in a heterosexual relationship. Meanwhile, the yuri fans recognize that the main ship is ultimately between two girls (a rarity in a mainstream Jump title and something that is retained even in the one-shot that acts as this series' pilot) and that Suzu seems to like female Matsuri much more than his male body, but the heavy emphasis on Matsuri wanting to change back into a guy and the constant ship tease with Soga or male Matsuri turned this audience off.

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