YMMV / Nekopara

• Alternative Character Interpretation: This video suggests the theory that Shigure is the hidden villain of the Nekopara franchise. The creator of the video suggests that she's a Manipulative Bastard trying to set her brother up with the catgirls so that when they die a couple years later because they have the lifespans of cats, she'll have her emotionally distraught brother all to herself.
• Base-Breaking Character: Maple. To many she comes off as the most human-like of the 6 main catgirls and thus the most relatable, while to others, this goes against the whole point of creating a story about catgirls. Her becoming one of Kashou's catpanions has also rubbed some fans, who would rather have her just be a lesbian with Cinnamon, the wrong way.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: The SFW Steam version got memetically popular due to the slider that controls the intensity of jiggle physics.
• Critic-Proof: Nekopara was savaged by critics for its flimsy Excuse Plot and short length, but went on to become one of the most successful doujin visual novels of all time, spawning multiple sequels, an OVA, and an anime adaptation, which also sold well despite critical thrashing.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The game is created in Japan and published by a US company, yet the Steam sales for the game in China exceed its sales in US and Japan combined. This is most likely related to how the work is from a Chinese-born artist (she was quite prolific on the Chinese doujin circles before moving to Japan) and has Chinese-language support.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Kashou getting permission to use the "La Soleil" name for his patisserie from his mentor Beignet becomes this with the reveal that the latter is the former's paternal grandmother.
• Informed Wrongness: Coconut's Second-Act Misunderstanding in Vol. 2 is resolved without Azuki's abusive and sarcastic behavior towards her younger sister (the whole reason all this happened) being confronted in a meaningful way, apart for some vague mentions from Kashou. The game implies that Coconut was in the wrong for saying harsh, but impulsive comments to Azuki and Kashou out of frustration to her older sister. In fact, Azuki's behavior is excused as a negative, but tolerable trait. The entire moral of the scene implies that family obedience should absolutely be respected. In the context of the game, it means that Azuki cannot be in the wrong because she is older than her other sisters and that she is therefore an authoritative figure in the family.
• Les Yay: A lot between Chocola and Vanilla, even after their Relationship Upgrade with Kashou. There's also a huge amount between Maple and Cinnamon in Vol. 3.
• Moe: It's a series focused on catgirls, so that's a given.
• Narm: Some scenes can be difficult to take seriously when only the catgirls and a select few others have character models. Chocola and Vanilla being confronted by a police woman near the end of Vol. 1 suffers from this especially, making what is supposed to be a tense scene not so much when we don't even see the officer in any shape or form.
  • Another scene that suffers from this is Milk's owner coming to see if she's okay after she almost got run over and thanking Coconut for saving her. Once again, the seriousness is diminished when an important character has no visual of what they look like.
• Nightmare Fuel: The climax of episode 8 of the anime. Oh, hello blatant suicidal depression imagery, what are you doing in this adorable cat anime?!
• Offending the Creator's Own: Some have accused this franchise of being sexist towards women. Series creator Sayori is a woman herself.
• The Scrappy: It's safe to say that nobody likes the police officer from Vol. 1 for defending the Police Are Useless trope. Doesn't help that she is never shown on-screen.
• Squick:
  • Shigure's incestual feelings for her older brother, which she likes to make quite clear in various creepy ways. On the matter of incest, Chocola and Vanilla doing anything sexual together like the former licking the latter's ear and flipping her skirt up forcefully while Vanilla's in heat can be either quite arousing or quite discomforting, as they are twins.
  • Kashou seeing the catgirls as daughters and lovers, which he pretty much notes, word-for-word, about Chocola and Vanilla. After the first H-scene, no less.
  • The anime has a lot of jokes relating to pee and Potty Emergencies (especially from Cinnamon), which can be off-putting for some people.
  • Simiarily, there's also one point in Vol. 1 where Vanilla is heavily implied to have... Ahem, done a number 2 outside because she couldn't find the restoom and according to Kashou, "is a cat."
  • The concept of catgirls' place. They're bought and sold, age considerably faster than humans, they have the same rights as pets despite displaying human-like intellect, the bell test and the constant need to wear a collar, and so much more. What's worse is Sayori's refusal to delve into the darker (and arguably, more interesting) parts of her world.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: In episode 9 of the TV series, Maple does physical training, accompanied by what sounds a lot like the Rocky theme.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The highly animated sprites can look quite unnatural to people not used to such things due their fluid movements and facial expressions.

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