Boys over Flowers / YMMV

Americans Hate Tingle:
- In his native Japan, Tsukasa regularly ranks high in polls among women for most popular HYD character or even boyfriend/husband material polls. In North America, however, Tsukasa is a far more polarizing character.
- The series was a juggernaut hit in Japan and a few other countries, but it doesn't stand out much in areas like North America. It has its fans but it gets eclipsed by other shoujo works.
Arc Fatigue: It's obvious that Tsukushi will end up with Tsukasa in the end but she remains indecisive, hating him or thinking about Rui instead.
Base-Breaking Character: You either love Tsukasa or think he's one of the worst love interests in shoujo manga history.
Diagnosed by the Audience:
- Rui Hanazawa displays a lot of the symptoms of someone on the autistic spectrum. This is explicitly recognized in the manga, albeit with a Hollywood Psych approach to autism.
- Domyoji Tsukasa displays clear symptoms of some sort of language processing disorder and his grasp of social skills is... immature, to put it lightly.
Ending Fatigue: It drags on and on for a total of 244 chapters when it could have ended much sooner. The mangaka was running out of ideas with the many random events thrown in to keep the romance interesting. Tsukushi and Tsukasa spend countless chapters wanting to sleep together but they never go through with it. Not even in the bonus story.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Tsukushi was originally supposed to end up with Rui but Tsukasa/Tsukushi became so popular with fans it became the Official Couple. This is ironic because after the manga finished, Rui/Tsukushi became the Fan-Preferred Couple because many thought Tsukasa became a huge jerkass who kept upsetting Tsukushi while Rui evolved into a kind person who was always there for Tsukushi.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Especially with the adaptations which were wildly popular throughout East Asia and Southeast Asian countries. The 2001 Meteor Garden series in particular was credited for popularising the so-called "Asianovela" trend in the Philippines during the early 2000s, where the two major TV networks in the country started airing Asian dramas in an effort to emulate the success of Meteor Garden. ABS-CBN even went so far as to inviting the members of F4 to hold concerts in the Philippines, though only half of the pair was present in each of their appearances in the country. Former F4 member Ken Chu later went on to co-star alongside Filipina actress Iza Calzado in the 2007 film Batanes.
Les Yay:
- Shigeru and Sakurako near the end (much to Sakurako's chagrin). This is because Shigeru's Cloud Cuckoolander nature really doesn't seem to let her know that saying "I'm in love with you!" to Sakurako or dragging her to the dance floor as Those Two Girls might give those implications.
- Makino also occasionally gets awestruck by particularly beautiful girls, even going so far as to decide to attend Eitoku due to being so impressed by Shizuka.
Once Original, Now Common: Was a pretty influential work in the Shoujo demographic, so it's possible for someone to read the original manga and marvel at how Troperiffic it is without understanding that it pioneered the use of many Shojo romance tropes. Many a work set in school has also taken its initial premise (a group of entitled rich kids who control the school get humbled by a spunky lower-class kid) and played with it in various ways.
Values Dissonance: Tsukasa was considered extremely attractive for his Fetishized Abuser personality. Nowadays, it is common to see people note how unhealthy and abusive his behavior is^note. He constantly slaps Tsukushi around, attempts to rape Tsukushi four times over the course of the series and breaks the neck of one of Tsukushi's friends out of jealousy. Notably, all the drama adaptations cut out a huge amount of his jerkass behavior and tone down his insensitivity.
Villain Decay: Happens to every former villain as Kaede gains prominence as Tsukushi's main obstacle. In the J-Drama Sakurako in particular is a victim to The Worf Effect, when Kaede completely brushes her off during the Teen of Japan Competition.
The Woobie: Poor Rui. He was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome ever since he was young and had great trouble socializing and making friends. The girl who helped bring him out of his shell and first love, Shizuka ends up marrying someone else. His second love, Tsukushi whom he loved more than Shizuka and would stand by with and comfort in times of need ends up with his best friend and jerkass, Tsukasa. After these two rejections, he ends up all alone like he used to be but the manga hints that he may find someone special one day.
- Jerkass Woobie: Tsukasa is a neurotic scumweasel, but he gets dragged through the dirt, beaten into a pulp, and abused and abandoned enough throughout the series that it's hard not to feel bad for him.

YMMV / Boys over Flowers

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