- Audience-Alienating Ending: Even after becoming an adult, Sayu Ogiwara turns out to be a Romantic False Lead anyway, with Yoshida staying with Gotou, an ending much of the fandom prefers to ignore. Especially since the original ending hinted at a Maybe Ever After for Sayu and Yoshida.
- Awesome Music:
- The ED "Plastic Smile"
, sung by Mishima's voice actress, is a catchy song for the series. - The OP "Omoide Shiritori"
is similarly catchy, and the full song even makes a perfect shiritori loop within select lyrics.
- The ED "Plastic Smile"
- Broken Base: The fact that Yoshida ended up with Airi instead of Sayu at the end of the light novel is controversial, to say the least. Those in favor say that this ending eliminates any The Jailbait Wait implications, and that Sayu was always more of a younger sister than a real love interest, while those against it point out that this story was clearly geared toward a potential future romance that ultimately never came to fruition. Additionally, Airi's victory seems more like a last-minute victory, rather than something that could have been expected.
- Fanon Discontinuity: Many fans prefer to ignore the novel, "Another Story Airi Gotou" where Gotou wins, and they stick with the original ending where it was implied that Sayu and Yoshida stay together.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The series has a polarizing reputation in native Japan, with an even mix of watchers who are either receptive or repulsed by it. Reception in the West is more welcoming, with the anime adaptation being highly rated within the Spring 2021 lineup.
- I Knew It!: With how the opening shows a girl standing on a rooftop then cuts to a pair of glasses falling, many guessed that Sayu's trauma was caused by her friend committing suicide.
- Moe: Sayu is so cute and friendly and endearing that it is no surprise that several characters (like Yoshida and Asami) quickly become protective of her. Even Gotou, who could easily view her as a love rival, decides instead to become her Cool Big Sis.
- Memetic Mutation: 177013Explanation
- Salvaged Story: Due to the implications of The Jailbait Wait on the original ending, the author decided to include a sequel novel confirming Airi Gotou's victory. The reception of this change was mixed.
- Spiritual Successor: Look closer, and Higehiro is basically the 1990 Romantic Dramedy Classic Pretty Woman turned on its head. Like Vivian (played by Julia Roberts), Sayu is a down on her luck girl fleeing from an abusive family who survives by selling her body; however, instead of her being saved by a wealthy millionaire like Vivian was by Edward (played by Richard Gere) it is Sayu who is the wealthy Uptown Girl who is saved by Yoshida, a financially average everyman hero who starts the story with an already-unflinching moral compass (unlike Edward who had to re-learn how to love from Vivian). And although Yoshida also teaches Sayu to see value in herself beyond her ability to sexually satisfy men, aside from the occasional brotherly embrace, never becomes intimate with her. Rather than making Sayu a woman in his idealized image like the Pygmalion Plot that Pretty Woman (and My Fair Lady that inspired it) was, Yoshida saves her by re-teaching her to be a happy child by reconciling with the past of her abusive family rather than leaving it behind, so she can grow up to be her own woman.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/HigehiroAfterBeingRejectedIShavedAndTookInAHighSchoolRunaway
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