YMMV / Queen of Hearts

• Ass Pull: In chapter 20, Sugimura's Shadow somehow has the power to dodge all of the Phantom Thieves' attacks just because Sugimura sees himself as untouchable. Nothing in either the story or the original canon suggests that a Mementos-level Shadow can be so easily influenced by a person's cognition, and the only example of this comes from the request you have to do to start the Tower Confidant. However, even with that example, the person in question was actually doing something in real life (cheating at a video game), yet Sugimura's Shadow is somehow able to gain special powers without Sugimura even doing anything; this also invites a bit of Fridge Logic since Word of God states that nothing about Nakanohara's life influenced his Shadow, even though it should've for the same reasons as Sugimura..
• Author's Saving Throw: The author stated that the battle in Chapter 20 didn't simply come to an end after Haru joined the fight, but she did make it easier for the Phantom Thieves to fight.
• Broken Base:
  • How the character of Ryuji is being handled. Several reviewers have expressed disappointment at how Ryuji didn't become a member of the Phantom Thieves in the first story arc while Ann still joined like she did in canon. However, due to the author stating Ryuji will eventually join the group, it has pacified some, but there are others wondering how it will be pulled off.
  • Igor replacing Mishima as the Moon Arcana has caused some issue with readers. This has led some readers to wonder how the author will handle Mishima's character in the future.
  • The fact the author will apparently be changing some of the targets. Many fans love the targets of the original game, especially since each one represented the seven deadly sins perfectly, and they wonder how even one of them could be changed effectively.
  • Chapter 20 generally received praise for the Catharsis Factor along with Haru becoming a new member of the Phantom Thieves, some readers have issues with the chapter as seen in the Ass Pull section.
  • In Chapter 28, was Ren's reaction to receiving the PS3 controller justified because of the implications that his former friends truly consider him nothing more than a criminal, and his parents don't have any interest in keeping in touch with him, along with being Age-Appropriate Angst or was it simply Wangst?
• Catharsis Factor: While Chapter 20 has been criticized, one thing that has been universally enjoyed was Sugimura getting a change of heart and embarrassing himself which leads to Haru's father putting an end to the arranged marriage personally.
• Epileptic Trees: Some readers have inferred that Makoto's behaviors whenever the Phantom Thieves talk about the Metaverse and changing hearts implies that she already knows Sae has a palace. Later chapters confirm this.
• Jerkass Woobie: While Ryuji is noticeably a lot more abrasive than his canon counterpart he is still ostracized by Shujin Academy because he's seen as a delinquent and no one was there to help him when Kamoshida took advantage of him. He even admits to Makoto that he truly does want to help students who are are in a similar spot to him.
• One-Scene Wonder: Yukari Takeba manages to leave quite an impression during her brief appearance in Chapter 36. Between her wise words showcasing her previous character development along with stating she and the Female Protagonist were in a romantic relationship was received favorably by the readers since it could help with both Ann and Makoto's character arcs.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Makoto could potentially have had an interesting relationship with Shinya Oda, the Tower Confidant, given their similarities. Shinya's desire to put his mother back on the right path could resonate with Makoto, who wants to do something similar for her sister (who's essentially also her mother). Unfortunately, considering that Nakanohara is the Tower Confidant, it's unlikely that we'll get a Confidant with Shinya.
• Unexpected Character: While Yukari Takeba is briefly mentioned in a news story on TV in the game, here she actually makes an appearance and meets the protagonists.
• Wangst:
  • In Chapter 28, Ren's reaction to his parents mailing him a PS3 controller that he'd lent some of his friends is a bit overblown.
  Ren: And my parents, they didn’t bother with anything personal. Why bother sending this to me? Did they sense I was actually able to feel happy and want to destroy that feeling?
  • In Chapter 30, Makoto loses her temper after running into the locked door in Madarame's Palace, concerned about there being impassable obstacles in Palaces and worrying that the same might apply to her sister's Palace. It's an understandable concern, but Makoto overreacts to a problem that has a relatively simple solution (i.e. change the Palace ruler's cognition).
• The Woobie: The entire Phantom Thieves group deserve this as they are in canon.
  • Makoto lost her father as in canon. She is being raised by her sister who makes it very little clear she doesn't think much of Makoto's ideal sense of justice. During the interrogation scenes, Makoto is pained by how her sister barely wishes to acknowledge they are sisters.
    • Like in canon, gossip from the Shujin students brand her as complicit in Kamoshida's crimes. It gets worse however when on the Phansite, her name gets requested because of this.
  • As in canon, Ren is wrongfully sued for assault and put on probation. His records were leaked which led to people wishing for his expulsion even as he is attempting to study in the library.
  • Ann is in love with her best friend which is not looked too kindly on in Japan. Both she and her friend were more or less held hostage by Kamoshida. Her very association has led others in school to call her a slut by default.