History YMMV / HowToRaiseABoringGirlfriend

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Akane Kousaka is set up to look just like one of these, until it's {{subverted|Trope}} beautifully. At first, her trying to get Eriri and Utaha to go behind Tomoya's back to work with her, and her harsh criticism of the circle's members, make her look like the personification of AmbitionIsEvil, seemingly leading to an ending where the two will choose their friends over fame and money. But every point Akane brings up is entirely correct: Eriri's talent is being wasted by working for a doujin circle of middling popularity. Tomoya has no idea how to bring out the best in her and basically lets her do whatever she wants; a real publishing company wouldn't tolerate her frequent mood swings and periods of refusal to draw anything, because there are many more artists out there who would be more productive and would jump at the opportunity to work for such a well-known name. Being brought down a peg may seem overly harsh, but it's the only way in which Eriri can succeed in the professional world of media, and her current situation does not allow her to do that. Ultimately, Tomoya ''agrees'' with Akane's criticisms and pushes the two to go work with her; while he's hurt by them having to move away, he also acknowledges that with their talent far outshining his and carrying the doujin circle on their backs, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome it was inevitable that someone bigger would come calling]].

* VanillaProtagonist: {{Invoked}}. Megumi is considered "boring" in the beginning of the series and doesn't seem to stand out or fit into any defined heroine archetype. The focus of the series is her evolution into a proper heroine. Although Tomoyoa also points out that being bland most of the time makes her occasional moments of cuteness more memorable.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8utx4ZDSps Cherish You]], Michiru's ImageSong, is ''very'' similar to the opening of Anime/OneWeekFriends, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkqTryXjQQQ Niji no Kakera]], especially when it gets to the chorus.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Akane Kousaka is set up to look just like one of these, until it's {{subverted|Trope}} beautifully. At first, her trying to get Eriri and Utaha to go behind Tomoya's back to work with her, and her harsh criticism of the circle's members, make her look like the personification of AmbitionIsEvil, seemingly leading to an ending where the two will choose their friends over fame and money. But every point Akane brings up is entirely correct: Eriri's talent is being wasted by working for a doujin circle of middling popularity. Tomoya has no idea how to bring out the best in her and basically lets her do whatever she wants; a real publishing company wouldn't tolerate her frequent mood swings and periods of refusal to draw anything, because there are many more artists out there who would be more productive and would jump at the opportunity to work for such a well-known name. Being brought down a peg may seem overly harsh, but it's the only way in which Eriri can succeed in the professional world of media, and her current situation does not allow her to do that. Ultimately, Tomoya ''agrees'' with Akane's criticisms and pushes the two to go work with her; while he's hurt by them having to move away, he also acknowledges that with their talent far outshining his and carrying the doujin circle on their backs, [[RealityEnsues it was inevitable that someone bigger would come calling]].

** "Hitamuki no Omoi" is practically one copyright strike away from Bill Withers's "Lovely Day". The choice of guitars and the piano and keyboard melodies are especially reminiscent of the lyrics of the latter song.

** "Hitamuki no Omoi" is practically one copyright strike away from Music/BillWithers's "Lovely Day". The choice of guitars and the piano and keyboard melodies are especially reminiscent of the lyrics of the latter song.

** "Hitamuki no Omoi" is practically one copyright strike away from Creator/BillWithers's "Lovely Day". The choice of guitars and the piano and keyboard melodies are especially reminiscent of the lyrics of the latter song.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8utx4ZDSps Cherish You]], Michiru's ImageSong, is ''very'' similar to the opening of Anime/OneWeekFriends, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkqTryXjQQQ Niji no Kakera]], especially when it gets to the chorus.

* VanillaProtagonist: {{Invoked}}. Megumi is considered "boring" in the beginning of the series and doesn't seem to stand out or fit into any defined heroine archetype. The focus of the series is her evolution into a proper heroine.

** Tomoya was immensely hated for his ObliviousToLove tendencies towards Utaha since her acts of flirtation were [[EveryoneCanSeeIt way too obvious not to notice]][[note]][[TheGadfly though her constantly screwing with him and not being straightforward with him in general doesn't exactly help her case...]][[/note]], letting [[spoiler: Eriri go off on her own and collapsing during the Winter Comiket part]] and the fact that [[spoiler: it took him two months to finally apologize to and acknowledge Megumi when she was angry at him.]] Needless to say, a good number of people were happy when [[spoiler: Utaha and Eriri left him to go work for Akane.]]
** Eriri was hated when it was revealed in the first season that [[spoiler: she abandoned Tomoya during their childhood due to being teased about liking anime and leaving him to take all of the blame

** Tomoya was immensely hated for his ObliviousToLove tendencies towards Utaha [[EveryoneCanSeeIt (who doesn't really hide the fact that she likes him0]], letting [[spoiler: Eriri go off on her own and collapsing during the Winter Comiket part]] and the fact that [[spoiler: it took him two months to finally apologize to and acknowledge Megumi when she was angry at him.]] Needless to say, a good number of people were happy when [[spoiler: Utaha and Eriri left him to go work for Akane.]]

* TheScrappy: Michiru slides into this as of the second season of the anime. While almost every other character gets CharacterDevelopment, her entire personality seems to consist of either being [[OutOfFocus off camera]], or [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale sexually harassing Tomoya]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: '''''TOMOYA, big time''''', even more so during the second season. Is he a caring friend who simply has no idea on how to work as a director, but [[CharacterDevelopment is slowly learning the ins and outs of what it means to be a creator]], or is he a slave driver who selfishly uses the girls' talent for his own game, and is [[SelectiveObliviousness even aware of their feelings for him to use and manipulate for his own personal gain?]]

** Tomoya, Eriri and Utaha all get this treatment from the second season:
*** Tomoya, for his treatment of the girls during the development of Cherry Blessing. It got to the point that everyone became ''infuriated'' with his constant mistakes and lack of development. Needless to say, a good number of people were happy when [[spoiler:he was abandoned by Utaha and Eriri when they took the job offer from Akane.]]
*** Eriri already had her own Scrappydom when [[spoiler:she betrayed Tomoya when they were kids]], [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap but has been slowly trying to redeem herself]] and she even [[CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming became his #1]]. Her Scrappy status came back full force when [[spoiler:she took the job from Akane behind Tomoya's back, and didn't tell him anything for a ''month''.]]
*** Utaha ended up with her own Scrappy status when it was revealed that [[spoiler:the major reason that she took the job offer from Akane, aside from teaming up with Eriri again, was to [[WomanScorned get back at Tomoya for not choosing her]]. What cemented the deal was that she ended up getting [[InnocentBystander Megumi]] involved, just to spite him.]]

* HoYay: Eriri and Utaha have just as much BelligerentSexualTension, if not more, with each other than with Tomoya (who is supposed to be the LoveInterest of both of them).

*** Tomoya, for his treatment of the girls during the development of Cherry Blessing. It got to the point that everyone became ''infuriated'' with his constant mistakes and lack of development. Needless to say, a lot of people were happy when [[spoiler:he was abandoned by Utaha and Eriri when they took the job offer from Akane.]]

*** Utaha ended up with her own Scrappy status when it was revealed that [[spoiler:the major reason that she took the job offer, aside from teaming up with Eriri again, was to [[WomanScorned get back at Tomoya for not choosing her]]. What cemented the deal was that she ended up getting [[InnocentBystander Megumi]] involved, just to spite him.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Tomoya can fall into this sometimes.
** While it is pretty understandable that he'd be [[spoiler:upset about his best friend Eriri turning on him as a kid to save her face]], it happened such a long time ago and both seem to have gotten on with their lives in that time well enough that [[spoiler:him calling her out on it]] seemed more than a bit petty, especially since he didn't seem to realize or care that his actions were the very reason she locked herself up to sulk in the first place. Yet, somehow she's the irrational one for being mad that [[spoiler:he hadn't complemented a single bit of her artwork despite all the time and effort she put into it for his project, but praised the first one of Izumi's drawings he saw]].
** Another example occurs with Michiru and his attempts to get her to join the circle as the composer. While [[spoiler:she did want to all along]], he created a convoluted plan that ended with [[spoiler:her being tricked into performing with her band at an otaku concert]]. One wonders what would have happened if he'd just thought to ask her honestly instead of pulling a misdirection on her...

* TheScrappy: Izumi Hashima. Apart from being an "imouto" character, which are bound to garner hate no matter how well-written they are, she feels irrelevant to the story, given that the doujin circle already has an artist in Eriri. [[spoiler:Being the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom that caused the falling-out between Tomoya and Eriri]] was the last straw for many.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Iori. Possible [[TheRival rival]] and GayOption for Tomoya...''if'' he spent more than five minutes on screen.

* AmericansHateTingle: In Japan Megumi is extremely popular, [[http://myanimelist.net/news/43360709 winning 6th place]] in the 2016 ''Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!'' Best Female Character poll. In America, while she does have her fair share of fans she has just as many haters.

* AmericansHateTingle: In Japan Megumi is extremely popular, [[http://myanimelist.net/news/43360709 winning 6th place]] in the 2016 ''Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!'' Best Female Character poll. In America, while she does have her fair share of fans she has just as many haters. See BaseBreaker below.
* BaseBreaker: [[BrokenBase The Saekano fanbase is extremely fractured.]]
** First up is [[ButNotTooForeign Eriri]], the {{Tsundere}} PatientChildhoodLoveInterest and the biggest BaseBreaker by far. While the story presents her and her actions in a neutral light, one group of fans actively [[RonTheDeathEater demonizes her]], calling her a shallow, abusive bitch, and ignoring times she does show remorse or CharacterDevelopment. Likewise, another group refuses to believe she is capable of doing anything wrong, actively hating other characters when they call her out on questionable behavior.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Clearly, the narrative of the argument in episode 9 wants you to side with Tomoya. However, when you consider he's carrying a petty grudge from elementary school and that his "lack of friends" seems to be an InformedAttribute, it's quite easy to take Eriri's side instead, especially since she has a quite reasonable cause to be upset, considering Tomoya praised another artist in front of her while he had never done the same to her.