YMMV / The Useless Senpai and The Talented Kouhai

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Ochiai really completely hopeless? She is rather clumsy and not very bright, but she is diligent, if nothing else, and Tsukioka suggests that the problem is that no one is willing to teach her anything. As such, it's possible that if someone had been patient enough to take the time to teach Ochiai, she might have become a competent player, and still might with Tsukioka's help.
  • Similarly, Ochiai's team has suffered from low morale, with some students brazenly skipping practice and no adults being seen. Is it merely a case of the team not getting many motivated students, or are the teachers to blame for not doing their jobs?
• Values Dissonance: The story is a somewhat unconventional take on the Senpai/Kohai trope, with Ochiai being the Butt-Monkey of the team despite her seniority, while Tsukioka is the one to act as a mentor of sorts to her. Readers who aren't familiar with the concept may not get how subversive this can be.