YMMV / It's Tough Being Neeko

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Neeko simply suffering from poor self-esteem and possible laziness, or does she have an undiagnosed mental disorder?
  • How many of Neeko's issues were present all along, and how many arose after her struggles with her job search? On the one hand, she views herself as having always been something of a lazy underachiever in the past, such as when she talks about her time in her high school's manga club. On the other hand, Uriko saw her as rather cheerful and outgoing, while teachers tended to compliment her for her creativity, and her elementary school graduation album indicates that she used to be optimistic and determined, so Neeko's views of her time in high school may not be entirely accurate. When Neeko does search for work in a Whole Episode Flashback, her first attempts are rather lazy, and her lack of motivation results in a rather thin resume, but she tries harder as she becomes increasingly desperate, eventually landing a job offer as she suffers a mental breakdown.
  • Are Mrs. Niito's attempts to help her NEET daughter find work a case of Tough Love, or are they woefully misguided, if not abusive? Was her tricking her daughter into working part-time a harsh but necessary step that did more good than coddling her would have, or was it a poorly thought out move that should have failed?
  • The last company Neeko applied to was incredibly harsh toward Neeko in the final round of interviews, especially as she started to have a breakdown, but ended up hiring her anyway, even if she refused the job offer. Were they harshly testing applicants' mettle, or were they outright abusive? Was Neeko really the best candidate, or were the others scared away?
• Base-Breaking Character: Mrs. Niito. As noted in Alternative Character Interpretation and Broken Base, there's a very solid portion of the readers who perceive her as an abusive parent that's uncaring towards Neeko's feelings and just wants her to get a job no matter the issues it could potentially cause on her, other fans support her actions and see her as a case of Parents as People.
• Broken Base:
  • The overall series, particularly its tone. Fans appreciate the humor and find Neeko to be rather relatable. Detractors dislike it for the exact same reason, finding that Neeko's struggles with unemployment and social anxiety to hit too close to home, and thus consider the humor to be mean-spirited.
  • In Chapter 21, Mrs. Niito tricks Neeko into working at an electronics store, by claiming that she's merely going to pick up a Switch. Some viewers argue that it was a harsh but necessary move to get Neeko to overcome her personal problems and start working, but others despise Mrs. Niito for her dishonesty, and find it rather implausible that things ended well.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Some readers speculate that Neeko isn't just held back by social anxiety and/or laziness, but may actually suffer from a mental disorder of some sort.
• Heartwarming Moments: Neeko's old friend Uriko expresses her desire to help Neeko get a job, knowing that Neeko's problem is that a series of rejections have ruined Neeko's self-esteem, and she needs something to help her realize that she can properly do a job.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Neeko looks at her old elementary school graduation album, in which she, as a sixth grader, wrote about how she expects to be working hard at her career as an adult. It breaks her heart to recall how optimistic and determined she used to be, so she ends up putting it away.
  • Chapter 31 shows Neeko's job search. While she's initially unmotivated and lazy, a series of rejections forces her to get her act together, partly out of desperation, but also gives rise to her inner critic telling her she's good for nothing and has wasted her life. She eventually makes it to the final round of interviews, but the interview board relentlessly questions her, causing her to have a breakdown during the interview and not even eat once she gets home. She gets the job, but is so broken she doesn't want to work anymore. Considering that her employers might have turned out to be abusive and/or she would probably have fizzled out due to her mental state, it was probably for the best that she declined the job.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Neeko herself in Chapter 17. Posting lewd pictures of yourself to get a minimal of approval from strangers online? A poorly thought mistake but still sympathetic enough. Taking and posting lewd pictures of your younger sister to increase your popularity online? Not so much.
• Values Dissonance:
  • In Chapter 14, Neeko's mother slaps her across the face after hearing Neeko complain about her problems. It's meant to be a Get A Hold Of Yourself Man, but Western viewers would be more likely to consider it physical abuse.
  • The Niito family's refusal to even consider getting psychiatric help for their daughter is a result of Japanese aversion to therapy.
• The Woobie: Neeko, who was traumatized by her failure to find a job, especially the final interview despite the fact that she actually got hired, which leaves her a traumatized shut-in. Her inability to find work ends up worsening her poor self-esteem and social anxiety, which makes it even harder for her to even try to seek employment. It's a vicious cycle that's all too easy for some readers to identify with.