Kodocha / YMMV - TV Tropes

Abandon Shipping: Early installments often put Tsuyoshi as a contender for Sana's affection, along with Akito and Naozumi. All of that died off the moment Aya confessed to him, and the two started dating, which is why Sana/Tsuyoshi isn't nearly talked about as much as Sana/Akito or Sana/Naozumi.
Adorkable:
- There's a reason why Aya is attracted to Tsuyoshi. He's the nerd of the group, and compared to Akito and Gomi, he's meek, sensitive, and usually pretty friendly, that is, until he goes berserk.
- Becoming nicer and opening himself up slowly reveals some of Akito's more awkward, repetitive, or endearing character tics. For example, there's his habit of repeatedly kicking objects when frustrated or bitter and his inability to control his hormones when close to Sana, kissing her on the lips and catching a feel without warning as if it were completely normal. Then there's using the line "I don't hate it/you" when talking about something he loves while still keeping his deadpan expression. His love for sushi sends his brain into auto-pilot in episode 14, frequently repeating "sushi" until he gets some.
Alternative Character Interpretation:
- One could argue that Misako's personality and behavior result from her being driven to insanity after realizing that she could not bear a child. In the anime continuity, this could also include being repeatedly pestered and manipulated by her mother to take over the family inn, which more or less explains why Misako tends to be extremely hostile toward her.
- Does Tsuyoshi suffer from a mental illness that makes him angry and violent without a moment's notice, or does he actually have a split personality that goes from pleasant to mean in an instant? Even worse is that the anime implies he doesn't have any control over it.
Angst? What Angst?: For someone who lost his parents entering into adulthood, Rei strangely doesn't mourn their death as often as you think he would and seems to be more focused on his revitalized relationship with Asako and his loyalty to Sana.
Arc Fatigue: Some of the major criticisms of the New York arc include not only being a Filler Arc that suffers from a subtle Genre Shift, but also how long it lasts. Lasting 12 episodes between episodes 67 through 79 (not including episodes 80 or 81, which would bring that total up to 14), it became the longest arc of the anime overall, running within the span of over three months in its original broadcast. To drive the point home, episode 77 has Babbit reminding the viewers that there are three episodes left in the arc. It's even theorized by fans that the arc ultimately led to a decline in viewership because of its length.
Award Snub: In 2007, the anime was nominated for "Best Comedy Anime" in the American Anime Awards, and lead actress, line producer, and ADR Director, Laura Bailey was nominated for "Best Actress in a Comedy". Neither won either category, with the former given to FLCL and the latter awarded to lead Zatch Bell! actress, Debi Derryberry.
Awesome Ego: Sana's not even close to vain or narcissistic, but you can count on her always bragging about and proving how amazing her Komawari acting skills are, combined with her bold personality.
Awesome Music: For a shoujo anime, and one with such a kid-friendly aesthetic, this series has some surprisingly hot opening and closing themes.
- The first opening theme, "7 O' Clock News" by Tokio. Even if the main song isn't in the English dub, a few instrumental versions of the song still managed to slip through the cracks.
- The first ending theme, "Panic" by Still Small Voice, what more needs to be said about it?
- Episode 40 introduces "DAIJO-BU" by Babbit's Japanese voice actress, Tomoko Hikita, a tune so catchy that it could be used as a character select screen!
- From episode 45 onwards (aka the sole opening theme of the Funimation release), we have "Ultra Relax" by Shinohara Tomoe, which fits the complete sugar-induced comedy of the series.
- Episode 75 gives us the third and final ending theme, "PINCH ~Love Me Deeper~" by Rina Chinen, which was among her five singles leading to her debut studio album.
- Sana's raps, specifically "Sana's Sweet Mood", "Robbery in Progress" and "Sana's Math-Life Mess". The rhyming of some of them is just random wording, but they are catchy.
Base-Breaking Character:
- Naozumi in the anime, especially considering how vain and harsh he could be towards Akito for Sana's affections (episode 37 in particular has him try to cancel Sana and Akito's middle birthday party just so she can kiss him and make her completely forget about Akito, not even thinking about her other friends). While he isn't universally hated, his increased prominence during the The Middle School Years wasn't something a lot of fans were happy with. His partnership with Sana, their venture to New York, and eventual temporary relationship all coincide with him not only pushing Akito out of the role of the anime's deuteragonist during a tedious 12-episode arc^note, but also locks almost all of the previous characters out of the story during that time, making him a Replacement Scrappy at worst. However, there are actually a few Akito fans who can tolerate him because he's still a charming and likable character. Naozumi eventually gets a lot of Sympathetic P.O.V., outright becoming The Woobie during the New York arc. In the anime specifically, we see his relationship with Sana slowly evolving, and at least we understand why he wants to have a connection with Sana. It comes at the cost of him being removed from the story himself after he realizes that Sana still loves Akito and reluctantly breaks up with her as a result.
- Fuka, in both the manga and the anime, is controversial, to say the least. On one hand, she has a bad reputation for getting in the way of Sana and Akito's romance, along with Fuka being casually mean and controlling to Akito during their relationship, and the two having little chemistry. Not only that, but Fuka is supposed to be a very close friend to Sana (Sana even said she is "one of the best friends she has ever had"), and her pursuing Akito while knowing Sana has feelings for him makes her look like a horrible friend. Some people go as far as saying that she's a boring character compared to many others, despite having more depth than characters like Aya and Hisae. On the other hand, she certainly cares about both of her friends. She realizes that Akito needs Sana and breaks up with him only so she doesn't tie them down. Also, if it weren't for Fuka, Sana would have never realized her feelings for Akito. Many fans also show sympathy towards Fuka because of her history with her old crush Takaishi and how Akito stole her first kiss, as he would later do with Sana, destroying any confidence she had in forming a relationship with Takaishi.
- Akito himself isn't even safe from this trope. Right off the bat, his initial antagonistic persona and going as far as to dump a female classmate in a pond and threaten to attack another can be considered strikes against his character. Even after he starts to behave and becomes more of a loyal friend, the way he treats his friends is really off-putting sometimes. Of course, his home life wasn't the greatest for someone of such a young age, and he has trouble trusting and communicating with others because of that. This also created a strain on Sana and Akito's growing intimacy, where he wouldn't just "spit it out" and coherently admit his feelings to her, which led to him only dating Fuka to rebound after he assumed that Sana was dating Naozumi instead of just asking her (and the fact that Fuka looks like Sana), basically having their relationship as a classic example of Strangled by the Red String. In short, Akito is undeniably a popular character, but some people find him to be a dull love interest and an all-around polarizing character, especially those who'd never read the manga and went straight into the anime.
- Babbit (and for that matter, his entire extended family) occasionally lands here too, simply because he's either a welcomed tension breaker or a habitual mood killer, which leans further towards the latter in the second season.
Bizarro Episode: There are several episodes of the anime (which is already a good deal zanier than the original manga) where the main plot is thrown out the window and unashamedly turns into a Gag Series. The first half of the series gives us a Recap Episode that's disguised as a Game Show, moth versions of Akito turning other people into moths, and a prehistoric retelling of the first few episodes. In the second half, we're given a strange plot that involves music being banned in New York, Fuyuki building a robot wife and Sana transforming into a Magical Girl to defeat it, and everyone being cursed and transformed into random animals while Naozumi, as a prince, is turned into a toilet.
Catharsis Factor: Seeing Sana finally beat Akito at his own game by blackmailing him with an embarrassing photo after several failed attempts to stop him from terrorizing their classroom. Eventually, it opens the path to Akito's redemption.
Crazy Is Cool: The hyperactive Sana and her wise, but just as off the wall mother Misako are respectively a talented and competent child actress and novelist, but are bizarre, hot-headed, over the top, and do a lot of things that would be out of the norm even for other characters in the series. Who else would keep a chipmunk on their head?
Cult Classic: In America, the anime sadly never took off as intended due to music licensing issues, low sales of the released DVD sets, and being released at the tail end of America's anime boom, which was still mostly dominated by action series (shonen, magical girl, mecha, seinen and mon series). Its overly kid-friendly aesthetic in contrast to the other shoujo series that was shown at the time, and being cel-animated at a time when that form of animation had been phased out possibly contributed to the series being ignored by the mainstream. However, it's thanks to those very same things along with having a surprisingly good English dub, and the announcement of Discotek acquiring the distribution rights of the series and re-releasing it that has recently given the anime a small uptick in popularity in the US.
Die for Our Ship:
- Being a middle schooler doesn't protect Fuka from being bashed heavily by Sana/Akito fangirls. Especially with how the anime handled her eventual relationship with Akito and their breakup. It also doesn't help that she shares some similar aspects with Sana, even physically looking just like her... some of the reasons why Akito kept dating her until their break-up.
- Naozumi gets some hate as well by Sana/Akito fangirls, especially because of his constant gloating to Akito at the fact he believed he was a better fit for Sana... Naozumi is actually likable and he eventually gave up his feelings for her, but in the meantime, the anime amps up his rivalry relationship with Akito, notably in episode 37, and he is the one who convinces Sana to go to New York, to escape together from the environment they were living, after they were months away from Tokyo. Despite Akito being Sana's canon love interest, many others felt that the anime staff had turned Naozumi into a superior love interest for Sana, who was much more likable, had more in common with, and had better chemistry with Sana, especially after they bonded during their trip.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Ms. Andoh, appearing as a one-shot character during the school trip chapters of the manga, was turned into a recurring character in the anime, where despite being strict and nagging, is well-liked because of her insanely over-the-top personality rivaling both Sana and Misako. Her perchant for limbo-dancing and her intense attraction towards Zenjiro, despite being four or five decades older than him, and that fact that almost all of her appearances are comedy-driven make her one of the most memorable characters in the series.
- Bernadette, for being one of the few transgendered anime characters at the time, and for being arguably the most tolerable character to come out of the New York arc.
Escapist Character: Sana. A popular child actress who works on TV, can sing, dance, and be the lead actress in both serious movies and comedy TV shows, often traveling for work, and at the same time, having many friends at school where she's treated like a celebrity. She's not afraid to speak her mind and bring her crazy energy everywhere, and people love her for it. Not to mention she's a Magnetic Hero who manages to help anyone in trouble, befriend everyone, and especially be loved by Troubled, but Cute badass Akito, which would be a dream for many fangirls of the series who had a crush on him, growing up.
Fan Nickname: The series as a whole has often been nicknamed "Marmalade Boy on crack" due to both manga series being published in Ribon, Sana and Akito's superficial resemblance to Miki and Yuu from Marmalade Boy (which has unsurprisingly had fans of both mistaken at least one character from one show to another), and the overall zany, hyperactive energy of the anime (especially from Sana).
Fridge Brilliance:
- Despite being an easy target, Tsuyoshi is never really picked on by Gomi and the other boys during Akito's reign of terror, despite being opposed to the chaos. One can conclude that with Akito in charge, he's not going to allow anyone to go after his best friend.
- During the middle school year, much of Sana and Akito's friends from the previous school year either begin to fade from the story or completely disappear from it. It makes sense given that all of them are probably now in separate classrooms. In Mami's case in the anime, she probably takes some freetime to continue looking after the rabbits she took care of back in elementary school.
Friendly Fandoms: The series is bound to have fans of either Marmalade Boy^note or Fruits Basket^note. This is evident given the similarities of Sana and Akito's physical appearances with Miki and Yuu and many of their personality traits being a mix and match of Tohru and Kyo. People also often compare Sana and Akito's relationship to Mikan and Natsume's in Gakuen Alice.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: While the series was popular in Japan and even had some success in the West, Italy is just nuts about this anime. Even in 2019, it still gets rerun there under the title of Rossana.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- In the anime, Ms. Andoh points out that she's heard from the other students that both Sana and Akito do "very questionable adult things", which is probably referring to Akito kissing Sana. Towards the end of the manga, however, the two nearly engage in unprotected and (at least outside of Japan) underage sex. A few lyrics used in the album versions of the song "PINCH ~Love Me Deeper~" only make this even more alarming.
- Sana accidentally forgetting about Hisae's birthday is arguably symbolic of how little Hisae's importance to the story is compared to her friends. She's later dropped from the manga and Demoted to Extra in the anime.
- Even if it is a lame first-place prize compared to what the other contestants earned, the 100-year supply of toilet paper and pocket tissue that Sanekichi wins in episode 20 will certainly come in handy during the shortages caused by a certain pandemic.
- Mayu Tobita's Japanese voice actress is Kaori Asoh, who was previously Ririka Moriya, the protagonist and namesake Nurse Angel of the timeslot's previous anime, Nurse Angel Ririka SOS. Mayu constantly getting one-upped and overshadowed by Sana in her debut episode is a pretty subtle jab on how Ririka's series failed to retain its target purchasing demographic with its more serious story in contrast to Kodocha's laugh-a-minute humor that eventually landed the series with an extra season and exposure in western territories.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Laura Bailey lives with John Burgmeier, falls in love with Jerry Jewell whose character has a troubled home life and has to reform another character named Akito. As a bonus, Colleen Clinkenbeard, the voice of Misako, joins the returning Fruits Basket crew as the aforementioned Akito in the 2019 remake.
- Laura Bailey gives Sana a slightly higher-pitched and more energetic version of the voice she had used for Tohru in the dub of the original 2001 anime. In the 2019 remake, Bailey's voice for Tohru is given a higher pitch, making her sound even more like Sana.
- The OVA version of Sana shares her Japanese voice with the Street Fighter II V version of Chun-Li, both played by Chisa Yokoyama in 1995. The two would later share English voice actresses with the aforementioned Laura Bailey playing both Sana in the TV series' English dub as well as Chun-Li from Street Fighter IV all the way until the final years of Street Fighter V. It's even more funny when you realize that both characters' birthdays fall under the same week.
- On the subject of Chisa Yokoyama voicing Sana in the OVA, Rei is voiced by Masami Kikuchi there, and Sana retains her Precocious Crush on Rei, not too different from Sasami and Tenchi.
- With Babbit having such a large family with a few members that have different fur colors, it wouldn't be surprising if the suspiciously similar-looking character Adorabat from Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart was one of them.
- In episode 40, Gomi earnestly gives Sana a gold turd-like eraser as a present that both she and Babbit comment on how distasteful it looks. Said eraser looks exactly like Hetsu's Gift.
Ho Yay: There are a few subtle hints earlier on that seem to suggest that Tsuyoshi had a bit of an attraction towards Akito. He claims to deny it at first, only to reveal that he's actually in love with Sana. After he starts dating Aya, this unsurprisingly gets canned.
Jerkass Woobie:
- Akito, also a Stoic Woobie, at first not only seemed like a petty school troublemaker but in fact a cruel demon that almost crossed the Moral Event Horizon just by dumping a classmate in a small pond and almost drowning her for calling him such. Then it's discovered that his mother died giving birth to him which brought resentment to his surviving family, particularly his older sister Natsumi, who didn't realize how far she had gone by emotionally and verbally abusing him. His family history and his recent defeat by Sana had nearly driven him to suicide and tries to make Sana kill him. This is an eleven-year-old kid suffering through all of this.
- It turns out Gomi is actually this towards the end of the anime's first season. While not as bad (or as smart) as Akito was, Gomi was still a huge jerk, even after his group of boys became powerless. Despite his behavior, he was once a weak and physically ill child whose parents, while loving and caring, are a bit uptight when it comes to his well-being. They eventually pressured him to transfer out of Jinbou to attend a more prestigious middle school (despite Jinbou already being a private school), which also required him to shave his head. He begins to crack under pressure, starts shoplifting, begins hanging around with a group of older bullies, and after a misunderstanding, takes all of his anger out on Akito, who is injured by said bullies and framed for Gomi's shoplifting. Not too long afterward, he eventually realizes how wrong he is.
- Also in the anime is Tsuyoshi's father, Isao Ohki. The man is abusive towards his family, suffers from the same mental illness as his son and his behavior eventually forces his wife to divorce him and take the kids, leaving him lonely with no one else in his life to speak or confide to. Episodes later, he's then sent to jail for attacking a bunch of street punks that were bullying two children that reminded him of his own. This is basically his own midlife crisis spiraling into a huge nadir within a span of 5 to 6 months.
Moe: Unavoidable as this is a shoujo series where many of the characters are elementary and middle school-aged children. Aya and Tsuyoshi, with their calm and timid personalities, are the stand-out examples of the series. While not as obvious in the original Japanese release in Aya's case, Monica Rial's lighter and soft-spoken voice in the English dub proves to be very effective in demonstrating Aya's demeanor, especially in contrast to how loud Sana can be.
Narm:
- In the anime series, some of the deep and dramatic moments are ruined by Babbit's mere presence, let alone his reaction to them. It's hard to take a scene with some strange talking animal Breaking the Fourth Wall seriously.
- In what was supposed to be a somewhat emotional moment, the scene where Natsumi yells at Akito after meeting Sana is hampered by the swift timing of her switching back and forth between berating him and kicking him out of the house and cheerfully inviting Sana into the house and asking her to get Zenjiro's autograph.
- Another one occurs in episode 25, where despite Akito being upset and the music adjusting to the mood, he's doing his frustrated "kicking" at the wall, and he's still in the bunny suit with the oversized cartoon feet. It's not easy to take him seriously while wearing that thing.
Paranoia Fuel: Kurosaki's behavior throughout episode 31 shows the dark side of how far reporters are willing to go in order to get the scoop on celebrities, finding information of others that isn't publicly known. While it could be argued that he used a phonebook to get the numbers of Rei and the Hayamas, how exactly does he know about all of their personal lives? He's already willing to stalk Sana and Akito, two grade-school children for an article suggesting the two are dating. He then asks Natsumi, a late middle-school student, about her younger brother and after scaring her off, mentions that he'll come back later and even visit her school to get some information out of her, which could be interpreted by others as something else completely. In the end, Sana, who sees how wonderful is son and daughter are, hits Kurosaki with the realization that someone will get hurt, if not scarred for his actions one day and he and his children will have to live with that.
The Scrappy:
- In the anime, Takeshi Gojo isn't a character who's looked positively upon simply due to his past actions alone. This man got a 14 year old girl pregnant when he was in this early thirties, and eleven years later takes a younger girl to his house he barely knows and sleeps with her. And this was all before he found out he was her father. While he never raped Keiko like the her uncle in the manga did and the attraction was at least mutual, the wide gap in their age difference is still unsettling, and the thought of him being older and allowing an even younger girl call him her boyfriend is just downright creepy.
- Riho, Naozumi's manager introduced late into the anime, is similarly critized for making what appear to be manipulative "advances" towards the 12-year old Naozumi and for being an overall annoying character, having a ridiculously high-pitched voice for someone her age. Another thing that people don't like about her is how she actively pressures Naozumi into viewing Sana more as a rival in terms of acting prowess instead of just a friend or love-interest.
Seasonal Rot:
- The second half of the anime (subtitled The Middle School Years in English) is not as well received by hardcore fans of the series compared to the first season. For one, Sana and Akito spend less time with each other and both start being romantically involved with Naozumi and Fuka respectively. The obligatory toy inputs feel repetitive and sometimes out of place (since they needed a specific excuse to be featured) and some humor bits, especially Babbit's aren't called for due to the tone of some scenes. The New York arc, in particular, is severely hated by several fans, as it dumps Akito and the entirety of the previous cast aside from Sana, Naozumi, Rei, and Babbit, introduces several divisive characters in their place, focuses heavily on Sana's new bond with Naozumi (which didn't go over well for Sana & Akito shippers), is plagued with soap opera clichés, and is just overall too long. Most of the characters eventually return afterwards and Sana and Akito finally start to become closer again after their respective breakups, but the season still gets more hit-or-miss towards its final episodes. The lack of an English dub featuring the original English cast and the reliance on mediocre fansubs for the longest time until Discotek's release of this half of the series probably don't help either.
- Within the first season (which in English, aired as small seasons of their own), the arc that focuses on Takashi Gojo is considered the lowest point of the season, if not the whole series. Aside from having as many soap opera clichés as the New York arc, Takashi is infamous for his past relationship with Keiko and oddly going along with being Sana's boyfriend, both of whom were well below his age. The creepiness factor is doubled when you take into consideration that this is also Sana's birth father. Another criticism is that many of the established characters feel out of character throughout the arc, with Sana swiftly accepting Takashi as her new boyfriend even after the devasting experience with Rei made her unsure of what real love even is. The only bright spots to come out of this arc are considered Gomi's situation, and the climax of the arc where Akito rescues Sana. It's no surprise that outside of the second opening, Takashi and the entire arc would be completely forgotten afterward.
Ships That Pass in the Night: Fanfiction writers that only follow the anime canon, often Pair the Spares with Fuka and Naozumi, when they barely had any interaction in the series (manga included).
Signature Scene
- The confrontation between Sana and Akito at the end of the first episode.
- Sana soothing a reluctant Akito in the park's gazebo by pretending to be his mother, a moment that's brought up several times later in the series.
- All of the scenes where Akito kisses Sana.
Signature Series Arc: The reformation of the bad-natured Akito and his fractured household, the series' first arc, is undoubtedly the main arc that comes to mind when talking about the series.
Spiritual Successor:
- It's been known that Miho Obana has been good friends with Wataru Yoshizumi, the creator of Marmalade Boy. With both of their most popular series (outside of Japan at least) being shoujo manga published in Ribon, it's no surprise as to why Kodocha is often called "Marmalade Boy on crack". The main plot of both stories is basically a friendly Genki Girl with mahogany-colored hair (Sana and Miki) going through Belligerent Sexual Tension with a cool, quiet, wry-witted, but mentally-struggling blonde-haired boy (Akito and Yuu) who is also a smart and strong Academic Athlete^note, and steals her first kiss, all of whom serve as the main characters who all have pretty eccentric or at least goofy parents. Both Sana and Yuu eventually become faced with a Gene Hunting arc dealing with the main characters trying to find their biological parents and Akito and Miki supporting them as much as they can, and in their respective anime adaptations, having Sana and Yuu traveling to New York and reluctantly leaving behind a depressed Akito and Miki.
- Kodocha takes several core elements of Marmalade Boy, and exaggerates them to a ridiculous degree. Examining the main characters of each series, Miki was the typical "cheerful Naïve Everygirl who just happens to be a Dude Magnet" heroine, while Sana is a hyperactive and super-popular (if still naive) celebrity. Yuu was a normal "reserved but decent boy with some issues" Love Interest who liked to tease and make fun of the heroine, while Akito starts off as a completely closed-off school delinquent and an Arch-Enemy to Sana, often insulting her even after becoming friends.
- The comparison even extends to many of their friends. Another boy who likes the girl is a timid yet provokable brown-haired boy who's a childhood friend of one of the main characters and very protective of the girl (Tsuyoshi and Ginta), while another one is a well-meaning yet clingy and somewhat cocky Pretty Boy with an unrealistic hair color and known for playing music (Naozumi and Kei). Exaggerating this further is taking both series' resident competitive Butt-Monkey and giving them a last name that starts with a Japanese numerical (Gomi and Rokutanda).
Squick:
- How many fans feel about Takeshi and his relationships with both Sana and her birth mother, Keiko. consider that Keiko was at least 13 years old and still in middle school around the time she met and had sex with the then-30-year-old Takeshi. There's no excuse as to why he would think that this was a good idea, especially when she was practically alone and couldn't take care of herself at the time. Then take into consideration that Sana was only eleven, nearing twelve when she met Takeshi. The minute she landed in his bed with him is when that arc went south for many fans.
- The infamous "Let's become adults" scene between Sana and Akito in the manga. Keep in mind that Akito is thirteen and Sana is at least still twelve at this point.
Sweet Dreams Fuel: The entirety of Sana and Akito's relationship is so beautiful that it seems like something that you could only see in a work of fiction. The two started off as bitter elementary school enemies (or more accurately Sana was fed up with the trouble Akito caused around the school, and Akito thought of Sana as a pest who was too difficult for him to handle until she pushed him too far). After Sana blackmails him, Akito finally behaves himself, but completely closes himself off to almost everyone until Sana gets to the bottom of his family situation, just out of genuine kindness. She instantly changed his life for the better, and his way of thanking her is by falling in love with her and, despite his lingering harsh and aloof personality, wanting to be there for her in the way she was towards him. While she only started out seeing him as a friend, she slowly begins to fall for him by the time they start middle school, but by then Akito starts dating Fuka, because of rumors of Sana and Naozumi dating, which they eventually try to do in the anime. However, Fuka and Naozumi eventually realize that Sana and Akito are too emotionally attached to one another and move on from them just so they can be happy, and by the end of the series finally end up with each other (Or in the case of the anime, are guaranteed to eventually start a relationship). As if that weren't enough, Deep Clear shows us that they are now married and, despite some setbacks, eventually have a child together.
Suspiciously Similar Song: The Middle School Years's New Jack Swing-inspired ending tune, "PINCH ~Love Me Deeper~", has a beat and melody that bares a noticeable resemblance to Hydrocity Zone Act 1 from Sonic The Hedgehog 3, especially when the latter song is slowed down by 9.2% and pitch-shifted.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Some people don't appreciate the more emotional and less comedic route the anime took during The Middle School Years, where it more-or-less turned into a standard shoujo rom-com. Many of the characters go through a lot all at the same time. Not helping with this was the already outpaced manga getting hit with Cerebus Syndrome, and the anime becoming really distillated after Sana leaves for New York, leading to many unnecessary arcs from that point onwards and the final episodes of the anime not being as satisfying as what the final volumes of the manga would give us.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Three characters in fact, Gomi, Hisae, and Mami, classmates and close friends of Sana and Akito, all of whom were usually just supporting characters before disappearing during the second half of the manga, or in the anime, being Demoted to Extra.
- After the mini-arc towards the first season's ending, some fans wished that Gomi would have a closer friendship with Akito, and possibly Sana and Tsuyoshi, as his relationships with anyone outside the gang of boys, including his own family, aren't really touched upon. There are a few scenes between him and Sana sprinkled during that time where he seems to be finally warming up to her. Episode 40 has a small scene where he unexpectedly blushes after Sana thanks him for his admittedly lame gift. There's even a scene before his mini-arc in episode 42 that has him approach Sana in a frustrated yet concerned manner questioning why she pushes herself too hard before abruptly brushing her off. Both scenes imply that he either has hidden jealousy towards her, he secretly does care about her or even has a small crush on her.
- Hisae is nothing more than a glorified background character, but her competitive nature toward Gomi and the other boys and the small scene during Valentine's Day shows that she could have been much more. The Middle School Years also shows that Hisae and Gomi have become closer and far less hostile than they were in elementary school, with the series hinting, but never confirming, that the two started dating sometime after the New York arc. Episode 82 even shows that she started bonding more with Fuka, who's Osakan-traits blend well with Hisae's traditional Tokyoite tendencies. The anime could have easily given a couple of short arcs to accommodate these.
- Outside of the second episode and episode 25, Mami shares a similar position to Hisae, though she has it even worse as she disappears throughout most of the second season. Episode 25 ended with Mami at least beginning to show a fair amount of respect toward Akito while still keeping her guard up, which could have led to an arc where Mami finally breaks the ice and starts putting Akito in a higher regard, similar to the respect she has for Sana.
Ugly Cute: Babbit, similarly to the cabbit, Ryo-Ohki, is a creature that looks like a mix of a bat and a rabbit (hence his name), he can be annoying (especially when the animators introduce several of his family members and deform him more as a caricature of himself) and some of his facial expressions can be just appalling, but he has his charm.
Values Dissonance:
- A major part of Sana's efforts to reign in Akito was blackmailing him via a picture of him with his pants pulled down. Even as a prank between two grade-school children, something like this would never be allowed now.
- The "Uncle Haru" joke in the English dub of episode 15 was seen as a joke against either Camp Gay stereotypes or Transgendered people. There's no way a joke like that would fly in this day and age.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
- The manga was published in Ribon, a shoujo demographic magazine. However, it includes some dark but dramatic events and topics that make Marmalade Boy seem tame in comparison and would make the reader doubt if this is a series for children and preteens. It all starts when Akito shatters a glass cover in front of his house with his bare hand out of frustration, leaving it bleeding significantly, and escalates further when he later asks Sana to kill him with a knife.
- There are other moments that deal with Teen Pregnancy and possible rape, as it is implied with Sana's biological mom being impregnated at 13 years old by her uncle, Abusive Parents (it's implied that Tsuyoshi's dad was not only an alcoholic but that he physically abused him and his mother, as well), Suicide (Akito having thoughts early on resulting in the aforementioned knife scene, and Komori later wanting to die with him), and a (fortunately unsuccessful) attempt by Sana to use underage Sex as Rite-of-Passage as a plot device for her and Akito in a very misguided attempt to ensure that the two would always stay together. Not to mention the realities of being an adopted child and a child actor.
- Miho Obana does not hide the fact that she wanted to do a manga with darker tones, either. The Mansion of Water movie (being filmed in one of the arcs of the series and later adapted into a one-shot volume spinoff) deals with a dark story related to horror, something that she would later expand on other mature works as Partner (also published by Ribon) and Honey Bitter (published by Cookie).
- The anime, while taking a different route from the manga's original direction, keeps some of these moments while also having its own. The last arc may look like a distillated version of one of the latter arcs from the manga, but it shares its own drama- quite different compared to what the first episodes of the anime were like. It should also be noted that the show that took over its timeslot was, of all things, Cowboy Bebop.
- Even the English dub didn't do much to help. Quotes such as Akito shouting "Natsumi, you bitch!" after the latter exposes a diapered baby photo of him, shows that the dub, despite being for an anime aimed towards children, added stronger swear words that clearly aren't meant for a kids' show and was more than likely added to keep the normal anime demographic at the time, usually older audiences like teens and adults, invested in watching it.
The Woobie:
- Tsuyoshi has had a difficult childhood, arguably having almost as unstable of a family situation as Aktio did, with his father having extreme anger issues and being noted to have abused both him and his mother, with Tsuyoshi appearing with cuts and bruises at school on occasion. Tsuyoshi's mother eventually divorces his father which forces Tsuyoshi to be the man of the house, a job he is afraid that he can't handle it. Unlike the former rebel turned karate student Akito or strong-willed actress Sana, Tsuyoshi doesn't have high self-esteem or much self-confidence, which is why he's a frequent target to be bullied and picked on by the students in his class, specifically Gomi and the rest of Akito's old posse. Tsuyoshi apparently also suffers from a recurring split personality as a result of everything happening, one that is triggered by simply putting him in a bad mood. If the personality is provoked any further, he will go into a violent, destructive, and raging frenzy that can only be suppressed by Akito chopping him on the head, which makes the issue more horrifying when you realize what could happen if no one is around to try and stop him.
- The anime turns Mami into this, as it's revealed that she wasn't just hurt and upset with what Akito did, but outright traumatized by the event. She becomes terrified whenever she's alone with Akito because while it was technically the other boys who threw her and kept abusing her in the pond, Akito was the one who put them up to it. Akito tries to make amends with her but she does everything she can to avoid him until they finally at least begin to respect each other after helping out with the school's small rabbit Kurosuke. Later on, she becomes secretly devastated when she's the only one of Sana's closest friends to be left out in an autobiography that Sana creates, albeit accidentally because including her would've forced Sana to publicly expose Akito's past behavior in full detail. In a meta sense, this also applies to her role in the anime once the middle school season starts, as she's pretty much forgotten about immediately after the few scenes she has in the season premiere and doesn't show up again until the final two episodes, 49 episodes later.
- The anime's New York arc fleshes out Naozumi's character at the cost of putting him through hell. He's clearly worked to the bone by Michelle's training along with Sana, frequently tortured, threatened to go back to Japan a few times, and at one point mugged by Brad and his crew, just because Sicil likes Naozumi and doesn't want her to get hurt knowing that the two are siblings. Naozumi realizes that he's the primary target and feels guilty at the fact that he's now put Sana's life in danger. After learning more and more about his family, Naozumi breaks down crying and is driven into despair, which is only made worse when he discovers the reason why he was invited to New York in the first place. He meets his birth mother Yuko Mizukuchi, but it turns out that she wanted to take advantage of him just to find a way to kickstart an acting career for herself. When she was forced to cut all ties with Naozumi at the promise that Gary would sponsor her performances, she openly agrees and harshly tells him that she abandoned him because he was a burden.
  - Even after the bond he and Sana had strengthened all throughout that time, the series still couldn't cut him a break and began attempting to reconnect to the manga. After heading back to America, he and Sana finally start dating, only to come to the realization that she still cares more about Akito and reluctantly breaks up with her. Even after doing so and telling Akito to watch Sana's TV drama as proof, it's easy to see that he still can't accept it and is visibly trying not to cry. Deep Clear's additional story, Misty Blue shows that the manga continuity wasn't kind to him either, as he becomes bisexual and dates a man, but only because dating another woman that's not Sana would only make him depressed. The poor kid has really had it rough..
- Kazuyuki Komori, big time... Someone who felt isolated from his other classmates because his family was constantly moving out due to his father's work, who barely had friends and was severely overprotected by his mother. You don't need to wonder twice that his ambiguous disorder is related to depression, and he seems to be the kind of kid that tried to move on but couldn't. And so... he tried to cling on Akito, who was the first person to actually talk to him as a classmate... but knowing Akito, who was already lost in his own mind because of Sana... it led up to worse things... and how terrible they end up being.
Woolseyism:
- The title of the sixth episode is changed from "Crazy Oyakodon Family Crisis" to "Crazy Stew Family Crisis" in the Funimation release. Oyakodon is a Japanese dish that usually includes chicken and eggs served in a large bowl of white rice.
- In episode 33's English dub, Ms. Mitsuya is enraged when Mr. Tanaka rudely calls her "woman", adding fuel to the fire in their escalating argument. In the original Japanese release, Tanaka shouts "Oi" at her, the equivalent of rudely shouting "hey" at someone, which is not only used by men in a rude and demanding manner but is advised to never use towards women, especially towards your lover.

YMMV / Kodocha

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