YMMV / He's Into Her

• Epileptic Trees: Who is Max's ex RJ? Is he Dale, Deib's brother who is in a coma, or Randall, a rival basketball player who features heavily in the marketing and appears to be romantically interested in Max according to their clips in the opening sequence? Fans were debating this heavily, but it's now been confirmed that RJ is indeed Randall.
• Narm: The school assembly scene where a bunch of the show's ships are given "sweet moments" takes the cake. The editing is strange, and the dialogue is awkward and cringe-worthy. But it's set in high school and aimed at children and teens, so Narm may as well be a requirement. Despite the Narm, it's an entertaining series, and the production values are excellent, at least.
• Spiritual Successor: The F4 concept (originally from the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango) has had many adaptations in many Asian countries, but the Philippines hasn't had any official adaptations. However, plenty of people have pointed out that He's Into Her is essentially an unofficial F4 adaptation.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: By LARGE, this is the most common criticism towards the show, even when those changes may be considered an improvement to the original Wattpad book.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: The show makes it sound like Max eventually becomes as bad as Deib just because she says some harsh stuff while he and the rest of Benison engage in targeted harassment towards her. However, the power imbalance (both in socioeconomic background and simple high school social hierarchy) is too extreme for the claim that Max is "just as bad as Deib" to hold any water. In the first few episodes, Max is really among the very few characters there to root for.
• Unconvincingly Unpopular Character: Ysay is a nerdy outcast in school, but it's clear that the others are not blind to how beautiful she is. She attracts the attention of Hunter, a popular guy, and in season 2, Naih is fully convinced that her boyfriend Lee has feelings for Ysay as well. When she gets dolled up for prom, no one treats her beauty as a surprise.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Max has some of the worst friends ever. As Deib and pretty much the rest of the school are engaging in targeted harassment towards Max, they're positively giddy at how "hot" Deib is when he's bullying her. It's hard to imagine anybody saying this to their friend in real life and not being treated as the insensitive weirdo that they are. Yet Max says that she couldn't survive all this bullying without them, which is strange considering how little actual friendship we see them giving to Max. Migz is probably her most decent friend. In one scene, Michiko also subscribes to bizarrely antiquated ideals — she states in one scene that "Deib should confess because he's the guy." Naih supports her. Migz again, who is a guy, is the only so-called best friend of Max's who suggests that perhaps, you know, Max shouldn't be discouraged from making the first move just because of her gender. Kaori Oinuma and Criza Taa deliver charming performances, so it's sad to see their characters be written so poorly.
  • Deib grows more likable as a character, no doubt helped by Donny Pangilinan's incredibly sweet and charismatic performance. But it's hard to like Deib at the beginning, despite the Freudian Excuses provided for him. An angsty backstory is no excuse to condone and encourage a targeted harassment campaign towards a fellow student, especially when it downright involves actual physical and bodily harm. It's inexcusable.

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