Broken Base: Fans who were introduced to the anime first were disappointed when they read the manga and found out that George ended up marrying Madeleine and Lynn actually returned to Japan. They preferred Toei Animation's changes where The Power of Love prevents all those things from happening and keeps the Russell family together. Whereas some other fans love it for fleshing out Thomas and Mary, giving more screentime to the side characters and developing new storylines.
Ask any Lady fan their favourite character, and there's a 75% chance they'll say it's Sarah Frances Russell.
Sophie is also well-liked by many fans for subverting the typical Alpha Bitch formula and having a reason for disrespecting Lynn when she actually does like her. She's also one of the reasons Lynn goes through with defying Mary in the finale.
Epileptic Trees: The Duke or Madeleine deliberately caused the car accident that led to Misuzu's death. In the manga, the driver swerved the car to avoid hitting a little girl, but in the anime, another vehicle suddenly crashes into it.
Fandom Rivalry: With Candy♡Candy, because there's no doubt that Lady drew a lot from it. However, Lady takes a different turn with the plot threads and also has a more serious tone. Some fans allege Lady is a Serial Numbers Filed Off version of Candy, while others believe that Lady is a betterversion of it. Not helping matters is that in many parts of the world, Lady was introduced first (like the Middle East), leading them to accuse Candy of being the ripoff.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Most fans ship Edward/Lynn. The Arab fandom prefers it strongly because of all the fluffy moments between the two kids. The vast majority of Lynn/Edward ship art online is from Arab artists.
Despite the Fandom Rivalry between the two series, many fans of Candy♡Candy also adore Lady!! because of their similarites and dub Candy it's "progenitor". Even their respective authors, Keiko Nagita and Yōko Hanabusa, are friends and co-wrote a manga together, Premier Muguet.
Many Arabic fans of Lady also love Captain Tsubasa because they aired on the same channel and had the same dubbing cast.
Gateway Series: For many Middle Easterners, this was their first Shōjo anime.
Lady Lady! and its sequel Hello Lady Lynn are very popular in France and Spain. Yoko Hanabusa even appears at cons in France.
Italians also love Lady!!. Because it was frequently rerun on Italian channels, it is quite literally an anime every Italian and their mother knows. It is not uncommon for Italian fans to say that their parents introduced them to the anime and watch it together. Lady!! was eventually added to the official Mediaset streaming service, and in 2023 a remastered version of the Italian dub was broadcast.
The Gulf States/Middle East's favourite Shōjo anime. It was especially popular in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt. It is so popular that when Lynn's Arabic voice actress Suheir Fahad was interviewed on the talk show Khalida Network (روتانا خليجية), a good chunk of it was dedicated to Lady!!. Even the manga was translated into Arabic, which is a rarity in Middle Eastern countries.
The scene where the coach shows the girls the previous Lady's Crest winners. In 1983, the award went to a girl named Mariee Matlin, in 1985, it went to a girl named Virigina Madsen and in 1986, the award went to a girl named Jennifer Connelly.
In the manga, there's a scene where Lynn cries after hearing that Sarah married Arthur (even though she's happy for them), because it means all this time, Arthur has liked Sarah more than her. When the anime aired, Sarah became the show's Ensemble Dark Horse, overshadowing Lynn in popularity. It turns out even the audience liked Sarah more than her.
Memetic Mutation: In Italy, the anime's title is "Milly, un giorno dopo l'altro" (Milly, one day after another). Italian fans have joked that it should be called things like "Milly, una rogna dopo l'altra" (Milly, one trouble after the other) or "Milly una sfiga dopo l'altra" (Milly, one misfortune after the other) because of how much Break the Cutie the main character goes through.
Thomas and Mary crossed it when they replaced Sarah's painting with a blank canvas, which she ended up submitting to the art contest, and gleefully rubbed it in her face later. Sarah, who has a faint constitution, is so stressed she starts shedding tears and almost faints. It's one of those moments where you want to reach into your television screen and smack both kids for being so cruel to the show's resident Ill Girl. Thankfully Arthur saves the day by riding Alexandra to the train stop and racing against time to submit the correct entry, and Sarah ends up winning.
For other viewers, all three of the Waverlys crossed it when they bluntly told Lynn her mother died, or when they faulted Lynn for her death in a car accident.
Some viewers did not want to forgive Vivian for her history of animal abuse towards Andrews, even when she eventually became Lynn's friend and supported her winning the Lady's Crest.
Only the Creator Does It Right: Inverted. It's generally agreed that Yoko Hanabusa manga is subpar compared to the anime.
In the commentary of the final volume, Yōko Hanabusa mentions that she would hear groups of young boys sing the theme song of Lady Lady, finding it amusing since the series was planned with little girls in mind.
In the Middle East, little girls watched this show and dreamed of Arthur, while little boys watched it and dreamed of Sarah.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Many fans viewed George Russell as an enabler to Madeleine Waverly's abuse of his daughters, while others posit that he was so busy with work he didn't notice what was happening. When George decided to go through with his marriage to Madeleine in the manga, many fans considered this the Moral Event Horizon for his character, because Madeleine had been nothing short of a totalbitch to Lynn, and her two children Thomas and Mary frequently tormented and bullied her. Toei Animation must have been aware of this, because in the anime he's given more screentime where he bonds with Lynn and Sarah, and only agrees to marry Madeleine because his father promised to accept Lynn if he did - when Lynn hears of this, she's so disturbed she tries to run away from home, and George calls off the marriage.
Shocking Moments: The anime hits us with this in the first episode. At first it looks like a cute girl and her mom talking about finally meeting dad. Then, while they're in the car, another vehicle appears to Misuzu's shock (we're not shown what exactly happens, but the depiction of flowers slowly falling tells us all we need to know). With the episode getting darker as it goes on, it's clear this isn't your typical Shōjo anime.
Superlative Dubbing: The Arabic dub used a lot of seasoned Jordanian actors in the cast who also lent their voices to prior Arabic anime dubs like Captain Tsubasa.
Candy Candy is set in the US before the First World War. Lady!! is set in contemporary Britain during the 1920s.
Lynn and Candy are kind-hearted girls that draw in people with their selflessness, no matter how much they suffer.
Lynn and Candy both live ordinary lives, until one day, they're suddenly thrusted into wealthy families and have to adapt to a Proper Lady lifestyle.
Both Lynn and Candy have two Hate Sink step-siblings that frequently abuse them, play tricks on them and try to ruin their lives. They never get punished because they're protected by their Wicked Stepmother.
Both have step-sisters with pink hair who are also Alpha Bitches. Said stepsisters also like the same boy they like, and behave as Green Eyed Monsters towards them. Eliza also has a grey Right-Hand Cat, while Mary has a white one named Prince.
Lynn and Candy both fall for a handsome blonde man who rides a white horse, but both times he was The Not-Love Interest. Arthur Brighton already had feelings for Sarah, whereas Candy's first love Anthony died at a young age.
Even the author admits to being a huge fan of Candy♡Candy and stated it inspired her to write the manga.
Toy Ship: Edward/Lynn, which in time, becomes canon. It also eventually stops being a "toy" ship as they age up, have their first kiss as teenagers, and marry as adults, having children that are the protagonists of the sequel manga.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: George, for his Parental Neglect. He wasn't present in Lynn's life for the first five years and when they finally meet, Lynn's just lost her mother in a car accident. While he acts consoling to her at first, they have to separate again because George has to make sure his wealth and assets are in place. There's also the fact that he's barely present in his Delicate and Sickly older daughter's life, Sarah. Throw in the fact that none of his attempts to secure the Marble Mansion were successful, and he comes off like an idiot who couldn't manage his money properly and doesn't care about his daughters.
Tropes that apply only to the Lady!! manga by Yoko Hanabusa
Cliché Storm: While the premise is the same as the anime, Lynn returns to Japan and it turns into a stock school drama as Lynn navigates love interests and bullying. Her motivation to become a "lady" revolves around Arthurnote Lynn to Sarah: "Until Arthur chooses one of us, let's both become lovely ladies". The anime wanted to avoid this, which is why writers Mitsuru Majima and Tomoko Konparu avoided this by introducing new storylines and exploring Lynn and Sarah's relationship and there is barely any similarity to the manga.
Fanon Discontinuity: The Cerebus Syndrome turned off many readers, with Lynn's life getting worse as the pages go by (like Mary inadvertedly killing her father). However, the other 2 sequel manga are more well-liked as they incorporate elements of the anime and have a Lighter and Softer tone.
Lynn's grandfather: That's not a big deal. I kiss her everyday.
Never Live It Down: For manga-only fans, it's George marrying Madeleine even after she was cruel to Lynn.
Shocking Moments: George dies because Mary accidentally left her candle on, which started a fire. George dies trying to save Charles (his new son with Madeleine), and in the next panel, we see his funeral.
In the manga, Lynn gives in to the bullying and returns to Japan, George marries Madeleine (and later dies, leaving Lynn in her care), Lynn isn't a Plucky Girl and less willing to take initiative and even Lynn's friends turn on her because of Love Triangle drama. In the end, Lynn becomes accepted into the Russells not out of her own merit, but because Arthur threatened not to lift them out of poverty if they didn't.
Duke Warbawn is even crueller here. In the anime, while he at least offered to accept Lynn if George married Madeleine, in the manga he won't even show her sympathy after George dies and forbids her from stepping foot in the Russell house ever again.
Values Dissonance: It's implied that Arthur has feelings for Lynn, but settled for Sarah out of sympathy for her illness. This is unlike in the anime where Arthur and Sarah mutually had feelings for one another. Because they have a large age gap, this rubbed many fans the wrong way.
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