YMMV / Michiko & Hatchin

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Hiroshi. Besides being a deadbeat, is it possible that he abandoned Hatchin because that was the most nicest/responsible thing he could do for her? Given what we know about him (he's a jerkass, Really Gets Around, and a criminal) and how the story became a "Shaggy Dog" Story at the end when looking for him became pointless, as he just ups and leaves, one could make the argument that, perhaps, Hatchin would be better off.
• Awesome Music: The opening theme "Paraiso".
• Catharsis Factor: When Hana beats Maria after she's kicked out of the house by the latter.
• Complete Monster: Shinsuke Saci Rodriguez is Satoshi Batista's sadistic right-hand man in the Monstro Preto gang. Wiping out a city with Satoshi, upon finding their main target, Shinsuke suggests slowly drowning the man in a bucket. Sent to deal with a gangster posing as Satoshi, Shinsuke makes a cruel game out of the job, picking off the gangster's men with snipers. Betraying Satoshi, Shinsuke later forces an underling to kill himself off railing a train in an attempt to murder his former boss and claim Monstro.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: As the series goes on and more about Hiroshi is revealed, it's not uncommon for viewers to ship Michiko with literally anyone else who gets along with her and/or Hatchin, including Atsuko, Satoshi, Elis, Nei, and Feliciano.
• Genius Bonus: The date Hatchin leaves with Michiko, March 17, is the feast day of St. Gertrude of Nivelles, patron saint of travelers.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The series was an Acclaimed Flop in Japan but did better internationally through word of mouth. It eventually even made it onto Toonami, which made it even more successful. It helps that many black and Latino fans like the series for being set in a Brazilian-inspired country.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The crossing of San Paraiso border is a lot funnier for everyone who played Papers, Please. Someone even made a fan comic with screens from the show.
• Ho Yay:
  • Atsuko's possible attraction to Michiko is acknowledged In-Universe.
  • While Satoshi's search for Hiroshi isn't as intense as Michiko's, he's still pretty dedicated to the guy. This is enforced when Satoshi gives the exact same reason for liking Hiroshi that Michiko gives.
  • Atsuko and Vanessa Lee act pretty intimate in their one episode, especially when Vanessa invites Atsuko to her most favorite spot, then strips and runs into the water.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Satoshi Batista was once a loudmouthed wannabe gangster kid who raised himself up by killing the leaders of the Monstro Preto gang to take control over them himself. A ruthless leader, Satoshi devises a scheme to have rival criminal Michiko Malandro arrested while he executes a former Monstro boss along with his family to avenge a childhood humiliation from the man. Betrayed by his second-in-command, Satoshi outguns him and his henchmen, dispatching them all on his own. An honorable man despite being a brutal criminal, in the end, Satoshi even allows himself be to fatally wounded by taking a shot fired at a little girl.
  • "The Daredevil Explosive Runner": Jair is an elderly, amicable hitman who has performed assassinations successfully for decades, and decides to pull off one final job as his swan song. Hired by Satoshi to take out Michiko, Jair gives Michiko a gun and offers to compete with her in a "contest" out of respect for her spunk. Jair keeps pace with Michiko in a car chase and regularly gets the drop on the badass woman with tactics and skill, and ultimately saves Michiko from a rival assassin so as to prolong their "contest" for another day, showing the utmost admiration to her while always staying one step ahead.
• Moral Event Horizon: Hana's foster father tries to cross it in episode 2 when he tries to kill Hana for insurance money but fails.
• Out of the Ghetto: Despite being a josei anime with female leads and having an emphasis on friendship and family, it's quite well known. It doesn't hurt that it is one of the few non-fantasy anime set outside of Japan, especially one with brown and black characters at that. The series even aired on Toonami, which mostly focuses on action shōnen. It helps, of course, that there's enough action, crime drama, and gun violence in the show to make it stand admirably next to Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
• Questionable Casting: Some fans feel that Monica Rial was miscast as Michiko in the English dub, feeling her performance and mannerisms were forced. There are also those who feel that casting her was a missed opportunity to have a black actress do the role, considering Michiko is an Afro-Brazilian counterpart.
• Spiritual Successor: The series became Toonami's successor to Black Lagoon.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: 90% of the supporting cast are assholes that screw each other and the two leads over and the two leads themselves constantly fight. It's like they drive from one bad situation to another, never accomplishing anything or improving their situation. It doesn't even end well, with Hana's father being a useless deadbeat and post-timeskip Hana being saddled with a baby from a man who didn't even stick around, meaning the whole thing starts over again.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Shinsuke thanks to his design.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Michiko can be this as her aforementioned obsession with Hiroshi causes more harm than good to those around her, she's also very selfish and vain as said obsession constantly drives her and Hatchin deeper and deeper into shit that could've well been avoided had she cut him out of her life. Her affair with a married man despite her undying devotion to Hiroshi is one of the most egregious examples.
• The Woobie: Hatchin was this prior to meeting Michiko as she was treated like garbage by her foster family.

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