History YMMV / SekaiichiHatsukoi

* AssPull: The ending of Ritsu’s Chapter 31. [[spoiler:Ritsu is ''finally'' about to confess his love to Takano, but Takano ''stops him'' from confessing and demands a more “romantic confession” befitting a shoujo manga editor. Considering that up to this point Takano had been practically ''begging'' Ritsu to confess his feelings, this demand comes completely out of nowhere and seems to only serve the purpose of prolonging the timeframe of when Ritsu will finally confess.]]

** Yuu Yanase is generally more liked than Hatori or Chiaki in terms of the love triangle. Despite being the character on the short end of the stick, he stands out a lot due to how his personality is different from what Nakamura usually writes. [[Creator/HiroshiKamiya His voice actor]] and [[TheTrickster personality]] is very similar to a certain {{troll}} from [[{{LightNovel/Durarara}} another anime]] helps his case.

** While Nao has sympathetic traits regarding his longtime love for Ritsu, he ''does'' exhibit ManipulativeBastard traits that do not help Ritsu. When Ritsu falls ill and Takano takes care of him, Nao lies to Ritsu and tells him that ''he'' took care of him. And when Ritsu later confronts Nao over his lies, Nao responded [[spoiler:by ''trying to rape him'']]. These factors make Nao’s love for Ritsu less sincere and a lot more self-serving.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
** Some people have wondered whether or not Chiaki is deliberately playing the heartstrings of both Hatori and Yanase. Is he truly ObliviousToLove and doesn't mean to hurt their feelings or is [[ObfuscatingStupidity that a front]] and he secretly yearns to make things difficult for both of them sending them [[MasteroftheMixedMessage mixed messages]] and then [[{{Jerkass}} trampling on their hearts.]]
** Hatori. Does he truly love Chiaki for who he is or is he want Chiaki just to [[KicktheDog rub into Yanase's face.]] Chiaki certainly thought this in episode 5. [[spoiler: Also, given the other episodes including episode 16, Hatori does come off as an [[CrazyJealousGuy extremely possessive boyfriend]] especially episode 10.]]
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Hatori gets a lot of flak. He's either the perfect candidate for Chiaki because of how he takes care of him and known him for twenty years or is hated because he's a [[{{Yandere}} possessive]] seme that will use [[DomesticAbuse force to hurt]] [[TheWoobie Chiaki]] and [[TheRival Yanase.]] [[spoiler: Episode 16 doesn't help the cause.]] Same thing applies to Chiaki though. He's either the cutest {{uke}} ever or the [[TooDumbtoLive dumbest]] {{uke}} that needs to see that's he's hurting both of his friends because of his idiotic nature.

* IdiotPlot: Episode 16 is regarded as one given that it focuses on Domestica. So Hatori cancels a date with Chiaki to meet up with his ex-girlfriend about rooms for two people. Chiaki ends up assuming that Hatori is cheating on him ''again'' (as he already assumed this in episode 6 when they first started dating), and what does he do? He goes complain to Yanase about Hatori "cheating" on him when in the last episode, Yanase has made it clear to Chiaki that he's in love with him and wants to be more than friends. While things don't end well for Yanase (and he's not really at fault in this episode), Yanase's [[spoiler: [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]]]] could have been avoided if...
** a. Chiaki asked Hatori why he cancelled the date instead of assuming he's cheating on him. (To be fair, Hatori's ex was being too familiar with him and Hatori didn't explain her actions nor did Chiaki bring it up).
** b. Hatori just told Chiaki what he was planning instead of keeping it a secret.

* MoralEventHorizon: To a lot of people, Hatori crosses the line when he [[spoiler: brutally raped Chiaki in the novel.]] The anime was nice enough to tone it down but said fans aren't going to let what happened in the novel slide and it implies it in the anime as well. Being a {{Karma Houdini}} and [[spoiler: beating up on Yanase]] does not help his case in trying to redeem himself.

* TheScrappy: Chiaki is not well liked in the fandom ''at all'' for his [[TooDumbtoLive stupidity]] and his insensitive nature that contributed to {{Ensemble Darkhorse}} Yuu's [[spoiler: [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]]]].

* TearJerker: Episode 16. [[BreaktheCutie That]] [[HeroicBSOD is]] [[LoveHurts all.]]
* {{Unintentionally Sympathetic}}: A common theme in this series is that the love rivals are not supposed to be cheered on and are used as a justification for the canon pairing. However, there have been instances where the love rival ends up coming off as more sympathetic than the main love interest.
** Nao is the most recent rival pining for Ritsu's affection. Like Yokozawa, he [[spoiler: pulled Ritsu out of his state of depression and helped him back on his feet.]] Nao is reasonably upset that his friend is in a relationship with his ex after the trauma Nao personally witnessed. While we're not supposed to sympathize with Nao because he's rather forceful of his opinion and he insults Takano whenever the two are alone, Nao ends up bringing a lot of good points that would make him more ideal than Takano. The main reasons include how Ritsu wouldn't be hurt again and how there are too many strings attached (Takano is his boss, Ritsu's parents are rich and would not react well to him being gay and in a relationship with his boss, etc.) Takano's reaction to Ritsu constantly speaking with Nao only puts Nao in a positive light especially since [[spoiler: chapter 28 ends with Takano raping Ritsu and leaving bruises on his body.]]
** Yuu to a lesser extent. He's already the {{Ensemble Darkhorse}} in the Domestica story but he's already sympathetic by comparison to Hatori as he [[spoiler: didn't brutally rape Chiaki and started a relationship with him]] and he got lead on by Chiaki due to his stupidity. Add to the fact that Chiaki hasn't been the greatest of friends to him, its easier to feel sorry for him over Chiaki or Hatori simply because he's [[TheChewToy the third wheel.]]

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack: Half the fanbase wonder why Chiaki took Hatori back when [[spoiler: he brutally raped him]] but it's mainly due to {{Status Quo is God}}.

** Trifecta: [[GrumpyBear Yokozawa]] and [[TheTease Kirishima]].

** Hatori. Does he truly love Chiaki for who he is or is he want Chiaki just to [[KicktheDog rub into Yanase's face.]] Chiaki certainly thought this in episode 5. [[spoiler: Also, given the other episodes including episode 16, Hatori does come off as an [[CrazyJealousGuy extremely]] [[{{Yandere}} possessive]] [[BastardBoyfriend boyfriend]] especially episode 10.]]

** Chiaki may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he's not retarded as you see people peg him to be. He's {{oblivious to love}} and has [[TooDumbtoLive many dumb moments]] but people only talk about the dumb moments and not the moments where he actually stands up for himself and makes smart comments.

* InternetBackdraft: ''Do not mention'' the Hatori/Chiaki pairing online and your opinion about [[spoiler: the [[RapeAsDrama gruesome rape]]]] in the novel if you wish to save your heart from being broken.

** Some people have wondered whether or not Chiaki is deliberately playing the heartstrings of both Hatori and Yanase. Is he truly ObliviousToLove and doesn't mean to hurt their feelings or is [[ObfuscatingStupidity that a front]] and he secretly yearns to make things difficult for both of them sending them [[MasteroftheMixedMessage mixed messages]] and then [[{{Jerkass}} trampling on their hearts.]] Of course this comes up due to Chiaki's BaseBreaker status.
** Hatori gets this too mainly due to his BaseBreaker status. Does he truly love Chiaki for who he is or is he want Chiaki just to [[KicktheDog rub into Yanase's face.]] Chiaki certainly thought this in episode 5. [[spoiler: Also, given the other episodes including episode 16, Hatori does come off as an [[CrazyJealousGuy extremely]] [[{{Yandere}} possessive]] [[BastardBoyfriend boyfriend]] especially episode 10.]]

** As stated in a [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sekai-ichi-hatsukoi-the-world-greatest-first-love/seasons-1/.116768 review]], while Takano does sincerely love Ritsu and doesn't intend to hurt him, Takano clearly has consent issues and the way he pursues Ritsu can often be too aggressive and insensitive. Even if Ritsu can often give mixed messages, it doesn't change the fact that almost every time they interact and their feelings for the other are the topic of conversation, Takano always tends to back Ritsu into a corner (both literally and metaphorically) without even giving him a chance to speak his part. It even gets worse when in Chapter 28, his reaction when he finds out that Ritsu [[spoiler: allowed Nao to stay over at his apartment for a few days is borderline equivalent to outright ''rape'']].

** As stated in a [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sekai-ichi-hatsukoi-the-world-greatest-first-love/seasons-1/.116768 review]], while Takano does sincerely love Ritsu and doesn't intend to hurt him, Takano clearly has consent issues and the way he pursues Ritsu can often be too aggressive and insensitive. Even if Ritsu can often give mixed messages, it doesn't change the fact that almost every time they interact and their feelings for the other are the topic of conversation, Takano always tends to back Ritsu into a corner (both literally and metaphorically) without even giving him a chance to speak his part. It even gets worse when in Chapter 28, his reaction when he realizes that Ritsu [[spoiler: allowed Nao to stay over at his apartment for a few days is borderline equivalent to outright ''rape'']].

** As stated in a [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sekai-ichi-hatsukoi-the-world-greatest-first-love/seasons-1/.116768 review]], while Takano does sincerely love Ritsu and doesn't intend to hurt him, Takano clearly has consent issues and the way he pursues Ritsu can often be too aggressive and insensitive. Even if Ritsu can often give mixed messages, it doesn't change the fact that almost every time they interact and their feelings for the other are the topic of conversation, Takano always tends to back Ritsu into a corner (both literally and metaphorically) without even giving him a chance to speak his part. It even gets worse when in Chapter 27, his reaction when he realizes that Ritsu [[spoiler: allowed Nao to stay over at his apartment for a few days is borderline equivalent to outright ''rape'']].