YMMV / When Will Ayumu Make His Move?

• Base-Breaking Character: Since her debut in the series, Rin has been the subject of this for many fans. Her character during her initial appearance was received divisively, with some readers finding her character intriguing, while others were put off by her initially abrasive personality (especially towards Ayumu), as it came off as obnoxious, disrespectful, and just downright rude. Later on, she would begin to be received more positively due to her mellowing out and with the introduction of her more comedic gluttonous side. However, further negative reception towards her also doubled down due to Rin's own feelings for Ayumu, creating a Love Triangle between her, Ayumu, and Urushi—an aspect derided by some fans as they found it to be unnecessary and forced in a series such as this one.
• Fan Nickname:
  • When Will Ayumu Make His Move?, Teasing Master Takagi-san, and In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki have been jokingly referred to by fans as the "Forehead Trilogy" due to being Sōichirō Yamamoto's first three works to receive anime adaptations, as well as referring to his Forehead of Doom art style.
  • The series itself has two nicknames of its own:
    • Shogi Senpai is the fan-translated title that was used for Shōgi no Yatsu, the webcomic Yamamoto posted in 2018 prior to the series officially becoming a serialized manga. It is also sometimes used by fans to refer to the series even post-serialization.
    • "SoreAyu", the shortened version of its Japanese title, Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Forehead/Forehead Trilogy/Forehead-verse ^note A common in-joke among fans of Yamamoto's other works involves pointing out his Forehead of Doom art style. This is most apparent with fellow sister series, Teasing Master Takagi-san and In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki, the three of these works being jokingly dubbed the "Forehead Trilogy/Forehead-verse" for reasons stated above.
  • "You can't spell 'suffering' without Rin" ^note A common fan response regarding Rin and her feelings for Ayumu, especially in later chapters, knowing that she would inevitably get turned down.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Chapter 81 was the start of this for those who disliked Rin, who responded positively to her gluttonous tendencies. Since then, reception towards her gradually became much more positive as she began to mellow out the more she interacts with the shogi club.

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