YMMV / Dance with Devils

• Broken Base: Dance with Devils Fortuna's ending. You're either happy that Lindo gets an on-screen happy ending, or you feel that the other boys 'got cheated'. Especially with the fact that the movie having Multiple Endings was promised, but ended up being a 30-second monologue of one of the male love interests depending on where and when the movie was screened with the actual ending going to only 1 person.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The pink whale in the Dance with Eternity sequence in Fortuna. There's no known symbolism behind it, it does not have any buildup - it's just there for a moment and then disappears. Some viewers have decided to chalk it up to Marius trolling, but even then it's unknown how much influence he has in each timeline.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Azuna is quite popular despite her lack of screentime and Killed Off for Real in episode 8. She won many fans' hearts for being True Companions to Ritsuka and capable Action Girl by fighting against demons, since she is an exorcist.
  • Jek, possibly due to fanservice factor and his interactions with Ritsuka before it's clear that she doesn't want to have anything to do with him whatsoever. It's to the point where he gets his own songs in the stage plays and the movie, both in equally catchy jazz.
  • The twitter community on the Japanese side of the fandom is home to a small but dedicated community for Marius, due to his good looks and the numerous Epileptic Trees surrounding him, his existence and how will he impact the series moving forward. It also helps that he's voiced by Toshiyuki Toyonaga, who's in almost every well-known Rejet work to date bar Diabolik Lovers.
• Evil Is Cool: Jek and his ensemble of vampires for some viewers. Even more so in the stage plays and Fortuna where Jek has his own songs and he is snazzy as hell.
• Fan Nickname:
  • "Ritsu" or "Ritz" for Ritsuka as an affectionate shortening of her name.
  • Azuna is also sometimes referred to as "Azu".
  • "Sauron" for Glax Arlond, Rem's father, due to him often appearing as a single eye.
  • Most people call Marius "Mari" out of affection, though in the early days of Fortuna after the movie released it was common to find international fans calling him "Kyubey" due to similar personalities. The latter nickname eventually died out after Fermata's release due to Marius having a different personality than in Fortuna and The Reveal concerning him and Ritsuka.
• Fandom Rivalry: With Diabolik Lovers - the Dance with Devils anime premiered the same season as Diabolik Lovers's 2nd season, but the former was more well-received than the latter which got particularly horrible reviews. Outside of the anime, some DwD fans outside Japan often complain about DiaLovers getting the lion's share of Rejet's attention even with their other many vampire-themed otome series while there hasn't been new content for DwD since Fermata in 2018. Despite this, there are fans of both series.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • There are a lot of fanfics going around focusing on past events, especially in the west since only the anime is readily available. Topics include Rem's past, Roen's time in Maksis's servitude and how the Tachibana sisters met their husbands.
  • After Dance with Devils Fortuna, Marius ended up as a walking example of this trope since even after the movie and the stage play, very little is known about him and what effect he'll bring in future Dance with Devils content if any.
• Jerkass Woobie: Rem may be an icy and manipulative jerk, but it turns out he is the way he is by being in an abusive relationship with his father.
• Narm Charm:
  • The singing choir of Pomeranians in Roen's song "I am a Faithful Dog". It's very hard not to take them seriously in what's otherwise a gothic-inspired song.
  • Similarly, the All for you! sequence in Fortuna. It's Lindo's warning to Ritsuka about the Student Council and how he's going to protect her, but it alters between their home and a pub for cats which sounds silly on paper.
• Stoic Woobie: Lindo puts away all the emotional pain he has endured to be there for Ritsuka.
• The Woobie: Ritsuka. Her content life is shattered when she witnessed her mother attacked by unknown men. Followed by Azuna's death at the hands of Jek and learning of her relations with Lord Maksis.
• The Un-Twist: Fans had been theorizing that Lindo and Ritsuka weren't actually biologically related ever since episode 2 showed a picture of the kids and Ritsuka's aunt. Notice how Lindo's hair color matches the aunt's, while Ritsuka's matches her own mother's...
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Despite being the series' poster boy, Rem is the only member of the main ensemble to not have a complete backstory and the only way for people to know him better is through the PS Vita Games... which so far is not legally available outside Japan.
  • Some people believe Urie, Mage and Roen to be this as they do not have any media where they end up with Ritsuka yet.^noteRem has the anime and the stage plays, the Dance with Devils Blight manga focuses on Shiki and Lindo emerges victorious in the movie and the stage plays depending on the ending.
  • Among the minor characters, Marius gets hit with it the most. He only shows up in Fortuna and Fermata, yet has little to no character development to date despite the marketing hyping him up for the former. He also has the least singing lines of the main cast in both appearances.