History YMMV / Lady

** The Gulf States/Middle East's favourite {{shojo}} anime. It was especially popular in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt. It is so popular that when Lynn's Arabic voice actress Suheir Fahad was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGLNSdWZEqE interviewed]] on the talk show Khalida Network (روتانا خليجية), a good chunk of it was dedicated to ''Lady!!''.

** Italians also love ''Lady!!''. It was frequently rerun on Mediaset and eventually [[https://mediasetinfinity.mediaset.it/news/mediasetinfinity/playcult/migliori-anime-giapponesi-streaming-gratis_SE000000000641_tn43964 added]] the official streaming service in 2023, with a [[https://www.animeclick.it/news/98987-milly-un-giorno-dopo-laltro-la-serie-vintage-torna-su-italia-1 remastered version]] of the Italian dub.

* ''Lady!!'' is about a British girl named Lynn trying to become a Lady. A few years later, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Forester_de_Rothschild there really would be]] [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever a British Lady]] named Lynn.

** As the Coach shows the girls the hall of portraits that shows the previous Lady's Crest winners. In 1983, the award went to a girl named Mariee Matlin, in 1985, it went to a girl named Virigina Madsen and in 1986, the award went to a girl named ''Creator/JenniferConnelly''.

** Thomas and Mary crossed it when they replaced Sarah's painting with a blank canvas, which she ended up submitting to the art contest, and gleefully rubbing it in her face later. Sarah, who has a faint constitution, is so stressed she starts shedding tears and almost faints. It's one of those moments where you want to reach into your television screen and smack both kids for being so cruel to the show's resident IllGirl. Thankfully Arthur saves the day by riding Alexandra to the train stop and racing against time to submit the correct entry, and Sarah ends up winning.

* FanonDiscontinuity: [[spoiler: The CerebusSyndrome turned off many readers, with Lynn's life getting worse as the pages go by (and Mary inadvertedly killing her father). However, the other 2 sequel manga are more well-liked as they incorporate elements of the anime and have a LighterAndSofter tone.]]

* CaptainObviousReveal: [[spoiler: That Arthur ends up with Sarah, not Lynn. He is much older than her, and it's obvious that Lynn's feelings are a PrecociousCrush. The anime posters also [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lady_15.jpg make it obvious]]. Subverted in the manga where he does like Lynn back..but goes for Sarah out of sympathy.]]
* ClicheStorm: The original manga. [[spoiler: While the premise is the same as the anime, Lynn returns to Japan and it turns into a stock school drama as Lynn navigates love interests and bullying. Her motivation to become a "lady" revolves around Arthur[[note]]Lynn to Sarah: "Until Arthur chooses one of us, let's both become lovely ladies"[[/note]]. Thankfully averted in the anime, as writers Mitsuru Majima and Tomoko Konparu avoided this by introducing new storylines and exploring Lynn and Sarah's relationship.]]

* FanonDiscontinuity: [[spoiler: The original manga by Yoko Hanabusa gets this treatment for fans because it suffers heavily from CerebusSyndrome, with Lynn's life getting worse as the pages go by (and Mary inadvertedly killing her father). However, the sequel manga are more well-liked as they incorporate elements of the anime and have a LighterAndSofter tone.]]

* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler: For manga readers, it's George marrying Madeleine even after she was cruel to Lynn.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: [[spoiler:The original manga feels like this for many viewers. Lynn gives in to the bullying and returns to Japan, George marries [[WickedStepmother Madeleine]] (and later dies, leaving Lynn in her care), Lynn isn't a PluckyGirl and less willing to take initiative and even Lynn's [[WorldOfJerkass friends]] turn on her because of LoveTriangle drama. In the end, Lynn becomes accepted into the Russells not out of her own merit, but because Arthur threatened not to lift them out of poverty if they didn't.]]

* ValuesDissonance: [[spoiler: The original manga implies that Arthur has feelings for Lynn, but [[SettleForSibling settled]] for Sarah out of sympathy for her illness. This is unlike in the anime where Arthur and Sarah [[MutualPining mutually had feelings for one another]]. Because they have a large age gap, this rubbed many fans the wrong way.]]

* BrokenBase: Fans who were introduced to the anime first were disappointed when they read the manga and found out that [[spoiler: George ended up marrying Madeleine and Lynn actually returned to Japan. They preferred Creator/ToeiAnimation's changes where [[spoiler: ThePowerOfLove prevents all those things from happening and keeps the Russell family together]]. Whereas some other fans love it for fleshing out Thomas and Mary, giving more screentime to the side characters and developing new storylines.

* CaptainObviousReveal: [[spoiler: That Arthur ends up with Sarah, not Lynn. He is much older than her, and it's obvious that Lynn's feelings are a PrecociousCrush. The anime posters also [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lady_15.jpg make it obvious]]. ]]
** [[spoiler:Subverted in the manga where he does like Lynn back..but goes for Sarah out of sympathy.]]
* ClicheStorm: The original manga. [[spoiler: While the premise is the same as the anime, Lynn returns to Japan and it turns into a stock school drama as Lynn navigates love interests and bullying. Her motivation to become a "lady" revolves around Arthur.[[note]]With Lynn even telling Sarah "Until Arthur chooses one of us, let's both become lovely ladies"[[/note]]. When it was being adapted into an anime, writers Mitsuru Majima and Tomoko Konparu worked to avoid this by introducing completely new storylines.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The original manga feels like this for many viewers. [[spoiler: Lynn gives in to the bullying and returns to Japan, George marries [[WickedStepmother Madeleine]] (and later dies, leaving Lynn in her care), Lynn isn't a PluckyGirl and less willing to take initiative and even Lynn's friends turn on her because of LoveTriangle drama. In the end, Lynn becomes accepted into the Russells not out of her own merit, but because Arthur threatened not to lift them out of poverty if they didn't.]]

* ValuesDissonance: [[spoiler: The original manga also implies that Arthur has feelings for Lynn, but [[SettleForSibling settled]] for Sarah out of sympathy for her illness. This is unlike in the anime where Arthur and Sarah [[MutualPining mutually had feelings for one another]]. Because they have a large age gap, this rubbed many fans the wrong way.]]

* CaptainObviousReveal: [[spoiler: That Arthur ends up with Sarah, not Lynn. He is much older than her, and it's obvious that Lynn's feelings are a PrecociousCrush. The anime posters also [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lady_15.jpg make it obvious]].