History YMMV / YuGiOhArcV

** The fanbase was split on Jack and Crow's reappearance. Some were scared that it would mess up the show's pacing, open up a lot of plot holes and steal focus from the show's original characters. Some simply don't like ''5D's''. The other half were interested in possible other crossovers and in Jack and Crow coming back. They felt that the Synchro Dimension has been the least explored of the four mentioned dimensions up to that point and that in a interdimensional war series like ''ARC-V'', a lot of characters are needed.

** Mieru Hochun, the Ritual duelist from the qualifier duels. It helps that her strategy is much more realistic than her two goofy predecessors, and her bringing back the Ritual mechanic in an awesome way pleased many older fans. Her Sybil deck also caught attention by the players after being released in the TCG/OCG.

** On the card front, Yuya's Magicians are popular for being well-designed monsters and for being the best cards in Yuya's deck. In terms of the actual gameplay, once they became a viable archetype, they immediately become one of the most played decks online, despite not even being released in real life yet.

** While the legacy characters are a divisive issue overall for international audiences, Jack Atlas tended to face the ''least'' disdain out of the five. This is decidedly ''not'' the case in Japan, where he was outright hated due to being seen as emblematic of the series', and more specifically Katsumi Ono's, [[CreatorsPet favoritism]] towards ''5D's''. One Japanese wiki in particular went as far as to delete all traces of Jack's involvement in ''ARC-V'' on his character page, an edit that remains to this day.

** Ruri became a minor one, especially in the Japanese fandom. This is because one of her cards (Independent Nightingale) was ([[NotTheIntendedUse unintentionally]]) a key part of combos that turns an otherwise-normal card (The Tyrant Neptune or Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom) into major [[GameBreaker Game Breakers]].

** Yuto's earned the nickname of "Purple Kotori" for his early "death" and excessive egao-ing.

** Sora, after episode 34. His rape faces are Memetic Mutations.
** Yuya's SuperpoweredEvilSide due to his rape faces and his wrath.

* QuestionableCasting: Fans questioned the creative team's decision to cast Michael Liscio Jr. as Yuya and ''all'' his dimensional counterparts, in addition to Yusho. The general consensus seems to be that he's a good actor with admirable range, but was miscast (as ''who'' depends on the individual, but Yuto and Yugo are particularly contentious).

** Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon's first summon, accompanied by the Awakened Yuya shouting "There is no next turn!". This line in particular gets quoted very often whenever Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon is discussed.

** The Tyler Sisters are popular in general for being badass [[DarkActionGirl Dark Action Girls]] and gorgeous, though Grace takes the cake with her cute mannerisms and being a GracefulLoser to [[spoiler:Yuya]] and being interested in Entertainment Dueling.

* {{Macekre}}: Even by the standards of [[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment 4K Media]]; who are utterly infamous in the English-speaking anime community for the excessive [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerisation]] of the shows they localize, ARC-V's dub feels particularly unprofessional and amateurish at points. [[GagDub The joke-laden scripts]], changed (often inferior) music, rampant censorship of content and questionable-at-best [[DubNameChange Dub Name Changes]] got on the nerves of a lot of viewers, making an [[BrokenBase already-controversial entry in the series]] an even harder pill to swallow for dub-only watchers. While some performances (notably Creator/MattShipman as Shay/Kurosaki) are well-received by fans, even their quality is often shaky and unreliable compared to several performances that feel phoned in or just utterly-baffling on behalf of the directors and actors involved.

* EvilIsSexy: The villainous Tyler Sisters are gorgeous.

** Yuto's flashback in Episode 124 when he was surprised that Kurosaki claimed Ruri was his sister is funny. Jump into Episode 128, and it's heavily hinted that [[spoiler:The bracelet girls and Zarc pieces weren't born in the family they were in. It's kinda hard both to break this news and laugh at Episode 124's flashback.]]

** Dennis's kindness and support to Yuya and Yuzu are a lot harder to watch when its revealed he's a mole from the Academia and it was all an act. And while his kindness to Yuya may actually have been genuine, the kindness that he showed to Yuzu becomes even ''worse'' after it's revealed [[spoiler:that he assisted in Ruri's capture the same way]].

** Another meta example. After the disturbing episode 77 where [[spoiler:Sergey defeats Yuzu]], many wondered how the dub would censor it and if it would even be aired ''at all''. The dub did indeed air it, and they changed...absolutely ''nothing''. May cross over with HarsherInHindsight, as the episode is just as disturbing to watch.

* CompleteMonster:
** [[ControlFreak Jean Michel Roget]], the ArcVillain of Season 2, is the director of Security for the Synchro Dimension. Originally a member of [[AcademyOfEvil Academia]], Roget betrays the academy and attempts to [[AmbitionIsEvil take over the Synchro Dimension for himself]]. He creates a device that allows him to brainwash the security force into mindless drones for his future attempt at [[TheStarscream overthrowing the executive council]], and conducts experiments on the dangerous criminal [[CombatSadomasochist Sergey]] to turn him into an even more aggressive cyborg, with intention of having him crush Jack Atlas, thereby crushing the hopes of Tops and Commons alike. When Serena duels Yugo, to ensure she wins, he repeatedly alters the track for Serena to get action cards instead of Yugo, not caring that it puts Yugo in danger of falling off the track and dying. Later on during Yuya's duel against Crow, he activates a chip he installed in Yuya's helmet, [[WouldHurtAChild painfully electrifying Yuya]] to force him into a more aggressive state, shrugging it off when told that Yuya could die from this. When his attempts to overthrow the council and dethrone Jack Atlas fail, he blows up the security headquarters, disables all elevators except for one he has himself and Yuzu take, leaving his other subordinates to die, and decides to take Yuzu to the fusion dimension in hopes that this will cause him to be forgiven by Academia. When Jack and Crow stop this from happening, [[TakingYouWithMe Roget attempts to open up a wormhole]] to suck himself and everybody in the city in it, [[FateWorseThanDeath trapping them in dimensional limbo]] purely out of spite, telling everybody that [[ItsAllAboutMe if they won't obey him]], everything in the world should disappear.
** [[MadScientist The Doktor]] is Leo Akaba's assistant, tasked with capturing and brainwashing the Bracelet Girls. An unrelenting {{Sadist}}, he surgically infuses the girls' brains with Fusion Parasite, allowing him to control them at will, often savoring the moments in which the Yu-boys are left devastated. His glee reaches a point as which even [[EvenEvilHasStandards the Professor himself]] can't stand him. The moment he [[spoiler: taunts Yuya with Yuzu's capture is shown as the former's DespairEventHorizon, one so strong he breaks the bars of his cage and nearly turns into Z-Arc]]. Near the climax, the Doktor [[spoiler: successfully captures and brainwashes all four Bracelet Girls, then gets promptly carded by the professor, and is not seen for the rest of the series]]. A cruel and degenerate HateSink, the Doktor represents the worst of Duel Academy.

* SalvagedStory: Both the anime and the manga have very controversial endings, but thankfully, the former is addressed in form of ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'', which continues from the ending of the anime. Notably it [[spoiler:separates the Yu boys from Yuya, with the implication that the same will happen to the Bracelet Girls, too. Characters who didn't interact with each other are now able to meet in the world of Duel Links. Kurosaki is given a more realistic opportunity to grieve his losses, but he's now given a new hope after being finally reunited with Yuto again. Konami releasing a purified version of Supreme King Dragon Z-ARC also adds speculation to a possible redemption story for Zarc, who is already heavily implied to return within the ''Duel Links'' storyline proper.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[ControlFreak Jean Michel Roget]], the ArcVillain of Season 2, is the director of Security for the Synchro Dimension. Originally a member of [[AcademyOfEvil Academia]], Roget betrays the academy and attempts to [[AmbitionIsEvil take over the Synchro Dimension for himself]]. He creates a device that allows him to brainwash the security force into mindless drones for his future attempt at [[TheStarscream overthrowing the executive council]], and conducts experiments on the dangerous criminal [[CombatSadomasochist Sergey]] to turn him into an even more aggressive cyborg, with intention of having him crush Jack Atlas, thereby crushing the hopes of Tops and Commons alike. When Serena duels Yugo, to ensure she wins, he repeatedly alters the track for Serena to get action cards instead of Yugo, not caring that it puts Yugo in danger of falling off the track and dying. Later on during Yuya's duel against Crow, he activates a chip he installed in Yuya's helmet, [[WouldHurtAChild painfully electrifying Yuya]] to force him into a more aggressive state, shrugging it off when told that Yuya could die from this. When his attempts to overthrow the council and dethrone Jack Atlas fail, he blows up the security headquarters, disables all elevators except for one he has himself and Yuzu take, leaving his other subordinates to die, and decides to take Yuzu to the fusion dimension in hopes that this will cause him to be forgiven by Academia. When Jack and Crow stop this from happening, [[TakingYouWithMe Roget attempts to open up a wormhole]] to suck himself and everybody in the city in it, [[FateWorseThanDeath trapping them in dimensional limbo]] purely out of spite, telling everybody that [[ItsAllAboutMe if they won't obey him]], everything in the world should disappear.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Even for the AnyoneCanDie status of the series, no one in the audience buy that [[spoiler:Yuzu will die in episode 77]] due to the fact that she is severely DemotedToExtra early on as well as her importance to the series MythArc.

* SalvagedStory: Both the anime and the manga have very controversial endings, but thankfully, the former is addressed in form of ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'', which continues from the ending of the anime. Notably it [[spoiler:separates the Yu boys from Yuya, with the implication that the same will happen to the Bracelet Girls, too. Characters who didn't interact with each other are now able to meet in the world of Duel Links. Kurosaki is given a more realistic opportunity to grief his losses, but he's now given a new hope after being finally reunited with Yuto again. Konami releasing a purified version of Supreme King Dragon Z-ARC also adds speculation to a possible redemption story for Zarc, who is already heavily implied to return within the ''Duel Links'' storyline proper.]]

* SalvagedStory:
** There were complaints about the lack of focus on Ritual Summoning, and in season three another Ritual duelist, [[spoiler:Asuka/Alexis]] was finally introduced.
** The Xyz Arc did a lot to address concerns people had during Season 2. The plot was back on track and moving at a faster pace, legacy characters are being better utilized, Yuto returns from his long bus trip, and long-running questions were closer to being answered. The short length of the arc soured things quite a bit however.
** While Sawatari getting jobbed is nothing new, Gongenzaka beginning to slip into this has been poorly received. So after he and Sawatari lost to the Tyler Sisters, the show took care to remind the audience that Tag Duels share a Graveyard, and given Gongenzaka's need to have a Spell/Trap free Graveyard and Sawatari's reliance on them, this would regardless put one of them at a huge disadvantage and cause an easy loss on their part.
** Dennis having [[spoiler:Chaos Ancient Gear Giant]] as his apparent true Fusion ace was seen by many fans as underwhelming; so when he revealed in his Duel with [[spoiler:Kaito]] that he does indeed have an Entermage/Performage Fusion monster this was well-received.
** Complaints about [[spoiler:Kaito]] stealing [[spoiler:Kurosaki's]] spot were mitigated by him returning from Heartland to see his [[spoiler:corrupted sister.]]
** Episode 141 is a big one, with [[spoiler:a return to focus on the Standard characters rather than legacy, the return of monsters and moves that had been DemotedToExtra, and Tsukikage finally using Pendulums]].
** Repeat airings of Episode 147, where Yuya initially made an illegal move[[note]]Pendulum Summoning the Level 2 Performapal Odd-Eyes Synchron with the lower end of the Scale being the Scale 3 Performapal Odd-Eyes Priest[[/note]] fixed the error by changing the Scale of Odd-Eyes Priest to 1.
** Both, the anime and the manga, have very controversial endings, but thankfully, the former is addressed in form of ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'', which continues from the ending of the anime. Notably it [[spoiler:separates the Yu boys from Yuya, with the implication that the same will happen to the Bracelet Girls, too. Characters who didn't interact with each other are now able to meet in the world of Duel Links. Kurosaki is given a more realistic opportunity to grief his losses, but he's now given a new hope after being finally reunited with Yuto again. Konami releasing a purified version of Supreme King Dragon Z-ARC also adds speculation to a possible redemption story for Zarc, who is already heavily implied to return within the ''Duel Links'' storyline proper.]]

** Episode 93, the Lancers treat Sawatari as an annoying {{Jerkass}} because he was [[spoiler:unwilling to trust Yuya that Sora was on their side once again]], and it's clear that this is how he is suppose to come off as to the viewer. However, most viewers ended up sympathizing with Sawatari, as, while the viewers and Yuya knew that [[spoiler:Sora turned his back on the Acadamy for good]], there's no way ''they'' could have possibly known for sure, and similarly, the last time they saw [[spoiler:Sora, he was carding people and following the Academy's orders without question]]. As a result, many felt Sawatari was rather justified for [[spoiler:being suspicious of Sora, on top of the fact that they had someone on their team turn out to be a DoubleAgent not long ago]].

* TrueArtIsAngsty:
** ''ARC-V'' is definitely one of the deeper ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' anime series out there, taking a serious look at a lot of the Tropes common to the series and [[PlayingWithATrope playing with them in many ways]], often verging into pure {{Deconstruction}} territory. All this is coming off after the more LighterAndSofter ''ZEXAL'', which proved to be [[BrokenBase highly divisive]] because of said LighterAndSofter tone.
** At least, until Season 2 gets going and we see how really horrible the City is. Thought that ''5D's'' was dark? Well, here we have the same situation, only this time there are neither ancient conspiracies nor supernatural elements. The City is such a hellhole because of an inhuman caste system, where the "winners" have everything, and the losers nothing. There is no supernatural element to blame. It all simply boils down to people and society in the City being horrible. And unlike in ''5D's'', where it was shown that the denizens of Satellite had some degree of solidarity between themselves, here it's all absent, as all Commons apparently are resigned to the City's mad system of "free competition". The mixture of up-beat (or at least non-angsty) style presentation and horrific settings makes the show even creepier, since the horror is presented as though it's not as much of a big deal as it really is.

** Shun Kurosaki. People admire him for his efforts to save his sister and comrades, sometimes completely forgetting how he ruthlessly turned at least FIVE absolutely innocent people into cards, not caring much if they also had family and friends whose life he probably ruined. Also he had no problems doing it to the LDS Trio, if Reiji hadn't intervened. To be slightly fair to him, he likely viewed it as KickTheSonOfABitch, believing them all to be associated with Academia, who would certainly deserve this fate. But at the same time, he hasn't shown any regret for any of his past actions prior to his duel with Kaito and has stated he would even attack Yuto if he had too.

*** Or any duel period, where Yuya's berserk side comes out. [[spoiler:Especially if it's against [[BigBad Leo.]]]]

*** Or any duel period, where Yuya's berserk side comes out. [[spoiler:Especially if it's against Leo.]]

** [[spoiler:Any time [[ThePowerOfHate Odd-Eyes]][[NoKilllikeOverkill Raging Dragon]] is summoned.]]

* WhatTheHellCastingAgency: With the end of the first season of the dub (which aired in Australia and Canada before it premiered in the States), fans are questioning the creative team's decision to cast Michael Liscio Jr. as Yuya and ''all'' his dimensional counterparts, in addition to Yusho. The general consensus seems to be that he's a good actor with admirable range, but was miscast (as ''who'' depends on the individual, but Yuto and Yugo are particularly contentious).

** [[MadScientist The Doktor]] is Leo Akaba's assistant, tasked with capturing and brainwashing the Bracelet Girls. An unrelenting {{Sadist}}, he surgically infuses the girls' brains with Fusion Parasite, allowing him to control them at will, often savoring the moments in which the Yu-boys are left devastated. His glee reaches a point as which even [[EvenEvilHasStandards the Professor himself]] can't stand him. The moment he [[spoiler: taunts Yuya with Yuzu's capture is shown as the latter's DespairEventHorizon, one so strong he breaks the bars of his cage and nearly turns into Z-Arc]]. Near the climax, the Doktor [[spoiler: successfully captures and brainwashes all four Bracelet Girls, then gets promptly carded by the professor, and is not seen for the rest of the series]]. A cruel and degenerate HateSink, the Doktor represents the worst of Duel Academy.

** [[MadScientist The Doktor]] is Leo Akaba's assistant, tasked with capturing and brainwashing the Bracelet Girls. An unrelenting [[Sadist sadist]], he surgically infuses the girls' brains with Fusion Parasite, allowing him to control them at will, often savoring the moments in which the Yu-boys are left devastated. His glee reaches a point as which even [[EvenEvilHasStandards the Professor himself]] can't stand him. The moment he [[spoiler: taunts Yuya with Yuzu's capture is shown as the latter's DespairEventHorizon, one so strong he breaks the bars of his cage and nearly turns into Z-Arc]]. Near the climax, the Doktor [[spoiler: successfully captures and brainwashes all four Bracelet Girls, then gets promptly carded by the professor, and is not seen for the rest of the series]]. A cruel and degenerate HateSink, the Doktor represents the worst of Duel Academy.

** As noted under AlternativeCharacterInterpretation, many fans believe that Kurosaki [[MySisterIsOffLimits killed any opportunity for Ruri and Yuto to be alone together]]. In the sixth ending, there's a scene where Kurosaki walks by as Yuto and Ruri are talking, and much to the siblings' confusion, Yuto hides under his own jacket at the sight of his best friend.

* {{Macekre}}: Even by the standards of [[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment 4K Media]]; who are utterly infamous in the English-speaking anime community for the excessive [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerisation]] of the shows they localize, ARC-V's dub feels particularly unprofessional and amateurish at points. [[GagDub The joke-laden scripts]], changed (often inferior) music, rampant censorship of content and questionable-at-best [[DubNameChange Dub Name Changes]] got on the nerves of a lot of viewers, making an [[BrokenBase already-controversial entry in the series]] an even harder pill to swallow for dub-only watchers. While some performances (notably Creator/MattShipman as Shay/Kurosaki) are well-recieved by fans, even their quality is often shaky and unreliable compared to several performances that feel phoned in or just utterly-baffling on behalf of the directors and actors involved.

** Episode 34 revealed that Sora has several similarities to Vector. Some people didn't like that idea, given Sora's BaseBreakingCharacter status compared to Vector's popularity. Dennis being another apparent Vector clone got this reaction too, but he proved to be a somewhat different sort of character.