While the game is relatively new and had been out for two years, the game gets divisive quite fast in the span of it.
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Base Breaking Character
- Tori. He's hated for his initial attitude, some fans coming to the point of not accepting his eventual Character Development and others even wanting him dead. And still others warmed up to him and wanted to protect him. Then you have some who just accept him anyways.
- There are those who see Anzu as a well-developed heroine and love her, while others think that she's a
Mary Sue and is too generic (the generic part can be justified that she is meant to represent the players) though some in this party did acknowledge that she isn't exactly useless and actually did something in the story if compared to other heroines of games for girls. She is also disliked for what seems to be making the traits of certain characters flanderized when they are interacting with her while it's actually her own existence that brought a change which made them more fleshed out instead of staying as a one note,Flat Character, having their characteristics be just an Informed Attribute and possibly wasting their potentials of being more than just there since not all the characters get much mentions about themselves in the main story. It can be argued that they are also fleshed out in the manga, but others retorted that they're different and the manga is completely separate from the game. That, and a faction of western fans thinks that she's too much of an Extreme Doormat and doesn't contribute much to the character development of the cast since a majority of her actions in event stories was mostly on designing the stage event costumes and the factor of Values Dissonance. And this is only from fans in the west. While there are some fans who didn't like Anzu in the non-English speaking countries, Anzu is well-regarded nonetheless. - Depending on who you ask, there are those who hate Eichi for his actions in the main story, and there are others who like him for being a rather complex (if extremist) character akin to Yona of the Dawn's Soo Won. Then, there's another group who had his actions forgiven a tad too easily, and believe he's now trying to atone for them.
- Leo is starting to garner this reaction in some circles in regards to his plan of Passing the Torch to Anzu, which was revealed during the Opera event. Some are calling him a doll, greatly bash his decision of leaving the band in her hands, and just simply hate him for it. Do note that this opinion is far from universal, and usually comes from Knights fans. See Misblamed for more.
- Shu can be quite a polarizing character to talk about. Detractors despise him due to his Jerkass attitude towards Mika and Nazuna, though stories show that in his own way he does care about them. Another group thinks that he's just one of the troubled and most broken among the cast, as he's rather hinged before entering Yumenosaki.
- Izumi. Even more so in the west as his obsession with Makoto had him placed in a rather negative light with fans not shipping him and Makoto see the relationship as unhealthy and abusive, as mentioned in Americans Hate Tingle. There's also his Jerkassery to anyone but Makoto as well that had him be received less warmly in the west.
- Not the characters, but Trickstar as an unit are hated by a group of fans in the west (A majority of whom are Undead and Knights's fans) for a petty reason that is them winning the MV making poll, since they believe that Knights and Undead deserve the MV instead of Trickstar, saying that no one cares about them. Ignoring that in story, without Trickstar, event stories won't exist and the fact that they're not the only community that supported Ensemble Stars. There's also the ignored fact that Undead, Knights, and also Ryuuseitai already had enough merchandises due to the sheer popularity they had in comparison to other units (And even then, due to their popularity, these units will get an MV anyway). In contrast, though, the other group of fans in the west along with fans outside of it are happy to see Trickstar getting a chance.
Broken Base
- The announcement of the Anime had mixed reactions. There are those who didn't want it because they fear the Anime will be just as bad as other games adapted to Anime that are meant for girls, those who are happy to see the characters animated, and those who fear that the Anime fans will be playing the game and add more rivals for them during ranking tiers. Then, you have another group (Mostly foreign fans) who fear of what the value difference in Japan and outside of it will do to the fandom, especially Tumblr.
- The declaration that Anzu will be in the Anime also brought some mixed reactions. Some don't want her there as it might break their initial image of her; a second party of those who don't want Anzu there thinking that she'll ruin their ships (mostly Fujoshi's); others fear that Anzu will have a different characterization than the one in the game; and finally there is the group who welcomed it, if it means they'll be able to see Anzu's visual after so long.
- The Ensemble Stars live action stage. There are those who thought that some of the actors were thought out well, while others think that it doesn't suit the character at all, personality wise. One example being Koga's actor, some saying he looks too cute to fulfill the wild image that Koga had, and others thinking that it fits because Koga is more dog like than wolf in motif, personality wise. And so on.
- The new encore function and change of points obtained from lives had split reactions from fans. Those liking the system for being more live like and those who hate it and lamenting that the game has become too luck based to actually enjoy anymore. Some players actually quiting Ensemble Stars in the process. There are those who just like it since it doesn't really change how the story runs. Another group of players thinks it makes sense because the points being nerfed down makes the game less threatening to newer players who would be overwhelmed for needing to reach 1 million for a 5*.
- Most of these are now ignored with fans rejoicing as Happy Elements now made the encore system less of a Luck-Based Mission and how easier it is to get an encore... But the points returning to how it started out to be and following it as the 2016 Tanabata event followed up (1 million and 100 thousand points for a 5*) had brought an outrage to several fans.
- Akiomi's speech to Anzu in regards of Anzu having to think of guiding the boys as a producer instead of being very lenient and be friends with them during the Midsummer's night dream event had a split opinion. A minority think that he is just being a jerk and wants Anzu to be a doll who disregards her own well being, while the rest think that he is justified because in reality, idol life isn't as easy and glamorous as many thought it would be. Then we have another group whom, while they agree that reality of the idol industry is harsh, felt that Anzu doesn't necessarily need to act cruel for the sake of the cast's future.
- Trickstar winning the MV making poll grew divisive very quickly in the west. With a majority of the fans (Most of them being fans of UNDEAD and Knights) calling hoax that Trickstar is winning and that Undead or Knights deserve getting a song turned to MV more instead of Trickstar saying that nobody cares about Trickstar. Ignoring the fact that the west is not the only fan community that supports the game and the company itself. Other fans in the west, along with the fan communities outside of the west don't mind and think that Trickstar deserves a chance. Some of these fans actually voting for Trickstar for the same reason. In fact, a majority of the votes to Trickstar came from Japanese fans themselves in a mutual agreement because Trickstar at least deserved something, especially since there will be more MVs in the future and UNDEAD and Knights' popularity would have guaranteed them an MV eventually anyway.
- The scene in the Moonlight Opera event in regards to Leo mentioning his decision of Passing the Torch to Anzu was recently deleted by Happy Elements in order to be consistent with stories that come after that event. Some are okay or could care less, but some are angry at the scene being deleted because it just beats the point of Leo's eventual Character Development (and some because it was quiet a ship-py line to the pairing of Leo and Anzu). A third group are okay because compared to the future stories, the characterization was rather off in this event.
- Of the two authors, Yuki's stories are considered controversial at times. While many enjoy the Lighter and Softer tone it brings after a dark drama filled story from Akira, more often than not, complaints come from the fact that Yuki can be inconsistent with several facts that have been established in her stories.
- The change of voice actors for Hokuto. While there are players and fans who understood that Yoshimasa Hosoya took a hiatus for recovery of a throat injury and hence, the change, others didn't want the change because they feel it is like a repeat of what happened to Arashi's voice actor. The Japanese fans are complaining at how Maeno wouldn't be able to pull it off while wanting Hosoya to stay as Hokuto's voice actor.
- One of the big ones— the more dramatic tone of the series. EnStars tries to stand out from the competition by trying to incorporate more serious story lines in addition to the standard idol beats usually found in works like theirs, and trying to drill into everyone that the boys are human like any other Joe. It works for the most part, with the dramatic events giving the characters more depth and giving everyone (usually) a chance to tell their story. But for every person that likes it, there's just as many who don't; the plots they put out, and the surprises that come with them, read less like well-written story lines and more like melodramatic fluff for the sake of shock, especially given the high themes of suicide, crushed dreams, and inter-group drama that get more blatant every year contrasting with the bright and colorful image the series regularly puts out. And it's not like male idol series haven't tried their hands at drama before, making EnStars not terribly unique.
- Adding the rival groups Eve and Adam. While many fans were excited about how rival schools might factor into the story, other fans were worried about the cast becoming bloated, especially given some characters and groups already had less focus than others.
