YMMV / Failed Princesses

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • When you consider that Izumi has feelings for Fujishiro, what does that say about her showing Fujishiro the proof of Hiro cheating on her? Was she simply trying to warn her best friend about her boyfriend's infidelity, or did she want to break them up so she could get together with Fujishiro?
  • While Fujishiro is devastated by Hiro breaking up with her, Izumi later reveals that he wasn't Fujishiro's first boyfriend. Was Fujishiro more emotionally invested in the relationship, or was this a case of wounded pride, since Hiro told her to her face that she had no value apart from her looks? It's worth noting that as upset as Fujishiro was about what Hiro did to her, she wasn't nearly as upset as she was when Kurokawa rejected her.
  • Is Miki a genuinely bad person, or did she mainly become a bully by following Fujishiro's example? Is it possible that she's bullying Kurokawa to take out her frustrations about Fujishiro's change of heart on her, or is she upset that Fujishiro chose the target of their bullying over her? Is Fujishiro's hostility toward Miki solely because of Miki's bullying Kurokawa, or is it partly because Fujishiro still doesn't want to admit that she started the bullying?
• Arc Fatigue: After over two years of real time and several months of in-universe time, Fujishiro and Kurokawa have yet to make any real progress on their relationship, much to readers' frustration, until Fujishiro's Anguished Declaration of Love in Chapter 31... at which point Kurokawa rejects Fujishiro's confession due to her own issues with self-worth, resulting in chapters' worth of angst, and the characters only getting together in the final chapter.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Izumi became quite divisive around the time of the Class Trip arc, particularly with implications that she may have feelings for Fujishiro, thereby creating a Love Triangle between the two of them and Kurokawa. Some people have come to dislike her for causing that plotline, as well as for seemingly being possessive of Fujishiro, while others like her and sympathize with her having unrequited feelings for Fujishiro.
  • Fujishiro started out being utterly loathed for being a bully, but as time passed and she made an effort to befriend Kurokawa, people began to warm up to her. That said, there are still some people who haven't forgiven her for the way she acted at the start, or dislike the lack of progress in her relationship with Kurokawa.
• Hollywood Homely: Kurokawa. In-Universe, people mock her for being rather plain compared to Fujishiro, as well as for having Big Ol' Eyebrows, and she's not at all interested in makeup or fashion at the start of the series, but more than a few readers don't find her to be that plain.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Fujishiro was quite the Alpha Bitch when introduced, particularly mocking and belittling Kurokawa. That said, her Break the Haughty experience, in which she learned that her boyfriend had been cheating on her and only dated her as a "backup girl" because of her looks, is incredibly painful. Even Kurokawa, who hated Fujishiro back then, was appalled by what Hiro did to her.
  • Miki becomes this over the course of the story. While she treats Kurokawa just as badly as before, Maho claims that the only reason she even started bullying Kurokawa was because Fujishiro did so first. Miki looks up to Fujishiro, so her anger towards Fujishiro for suddenly changing is rather understandable if you see things from her perspective.
• Memetic Mutation: It's fairly common for readers to joke that the "useless" in the fan translation of the title refers to "useless lesbians," referring to how long Fujishiro and Kurokawa take to get together.
• Narm: Fujishiro screaming in Izumi's face about how she can only see Izumi as a friend would be dramatic... but again, she's screaming directly into Izumi's face, with barely any distance between them. It's more likely to inspire laughs than anything else.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Fujishiro was utterly hated at the start of the series, being introduced as a vain gyaru who bullied her unattractive classmate Kurokawa, but being humiliated and gradually befriending Kurokawa helped win some of her detractors over. She's still somewhat divisive, especially considering the state of her relationship with Kurokawa, but the hatred is no longer as widespread as it once was.

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