YMMV / s-CRY-ed

• Anti-Climax Boss: Ino Taisei in Alteration is built up as The Dragon to Kyoji Mujoh, has an awesome Samurai-themed Alter, and even defeats Martin Zigmarl (albeit, offscreen). He then purposefully gets one-shotted by Kazuma near the end of Quan to gather "data" for his boss.
• Awesome Music: Both the anime's OP and ED qualify. The former, "Reckless Fire" by Yasuaki Ide, is adrenaline-pumping hard rock with traces of flamenco, while the latter, "Drastic My Soul" by Mikio Sakai, is a much more somber (but no less rocking) ballad.
• Base-Breaking Character: Is Ryuho a deep, interesting hero or a bland, annoying spotlight thief?
• Broken Base:
  • Are the manifestations of Alter powers awesome or are they just ridiculous?
  • Some people believe the final episode is the ultimate fanservice to fans who appreciate the action scenes while others think of it as a useless episode that adds nothing to the main plot.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Several fans and even some critics/journalists (such as Wizard Anime Insider in their preview of the series from the magazine's August 2002 issue) have noted that s-CRY-ed can be aptly summed up as "Anime!X-Men." The dub features Steve Blum as the Anti-Hero protagonist about two years before he'd first lend his voice to the most recognizable (and similarly anti-heroic) X-Man of all.
• Ho Yay: Aside from the usual when it comes to the two male leads obsessing over each other, there's Unkei, who apparently deliberately pumps up the Ho Yay between Kazuma and Ryuho up to eleven during their sparring match orchestrated by his Alter power. This is what ultimately tips his hand to Kazuma, who realizes he's being controlled.
• Memetic Molester: Tatsunami and his Big Magnum. It's big, and it's hard, and it's COMIN' TO GET YA!
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Asuka Tachibana: Keeper of the Eight Treasure Balls. Really, with a name like that and the quotes that inevitably spring forth, it's like the producers were asking for it. Stop snickering, you at the back.
    • In the manga, there's an exclusive character who fights with a large pole. He and Tachibana end up fighting, and arguing over whether it's more important to have a big pole or big balls.
  • Straight Cougar is voiced by Crispin Freeman, better known for voicing Jeremiah "STORM OF LOYALTY" Gottwald. This led to many crossover jokes. (Knight of Cougar, STORM OF RADICAL GOOD SPEED!)
• Narm Charm: A good portion of the show is made up of this entirely, especially in the extra campy English version. That it has some genuinely touching moments helps.
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!: As noted above, this series has invited many comparisons to X-Men. Those who don't view s-CRY-ed as the closest one could get to an X-Men anime (until there was an actual X-Men anime, that is) tend to dismiss it as little more than a cheap knockoff despite a number of significant differences between the two.