YMMV / Kaze no Stigma

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Did Tsui Ling wish for Kazuma to die for failing to protect her, or was Lapis lying? The death of the author sadly means that this issue will not be resolved.
• Angst? What Angst?: By the end of the anime, both Nanase and Yukari are seemingly mentally sound despite the fact that they had been mind controlled for a period of time, forced to wear very risque outfits and who knows what else the controller had made them do.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Ayano's the most obvious; some consider very funny and a good foil to Kazuma, as well as enjoying the banter the two share, while others consider her Tsundere and Idiot Hero traits to be more annoying than funny.
  • To a lesser extent, Kazuma. Depending on who you ask, he's either the most badass character in the series with plenty of depth and personality or an Unintentionally Unsympathetic douchebag with inconsistent motivations. There is middle ground, but you'll have your work cut out finding it.
• Catharsis Factor: In episode 23, after he had spent the whole series being a cold-hearted Jerkass, there's something highly satisfying about Ayano chewing Genma out for valuing the pride of the Kannagi family over the life of his own son.
• Fridge Horror: Nanase had been missing for quite some time following her kidnapping by Utsumi. Before she reappeared again, just what did that creep do to her?
• Harsher in Hindsight: Following the defeat of Belial by the main trio of characters in the fifth story arc, Bernhardt Rhodes proclaimed that this wouldn't be the last time he and Kazuma would confront each other. Actually, they wouldn't be able to meet each other again.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: As of 2018, Kazuma now shares both his first name and taken last name with a protagonist from the Like a Dragon franchise- Kazuma Kiryu from the main series and Takayuki Yagami from the Judgement spin-off.
• Jerkass Woobie: Ayano is spot-on when she calls Kazuma a jerk, but between the way his family treated him and the death of his first love, Tsui-Ling, it's hard not to see why he's one. Made worse by the fact that he awakened to his power right after she died, which to him means that he cared more about his own life than he cared about hers.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many consider Kazuma to be the saving grace of an otherwise fairly average fantasy series.
• The Scrappy:
  • While Ayano is a Base-Breaking Character, her rival Katherine McDonald tends to get hate from a lot of fans due to being nothing but a foil to her, only far more arrogant and annoying.
  • Genma's not well-liked either, as he is essentially Kazuma but even more stoic and with no Hidden Heart of Gold to speak of, and yet unlike Kazuma, the only person to ever call him out for it is Kazuma himself. This is especially shown in the Hot Springs Episode when after Kazuma's fight with his father, Ayano makes out Kazuma to be the bad guy, even though he has every right to be angry at his father because as far as he knows, he abandoned him just for being weak, simply because Genma refuses to admit the truth i.e. that he disowned him so he could find his own path in life.
• Strawman Has a Point: Kazuma is constantly portrayed as being in the wrong for acting coldly towards the Kannagi family, with Ayano in particular calling him out for it repeatedly. What this fails to take into account, however, is that these are the same people who treated him like crap his whole life just for not being able to control fire and ultimately disowned him when he failed them one too many times. It hardly takes a genius to see that today's society has No Sympathy for Grudgeholders but the simple truth is that Kazuma has no reason to forgive the Kannagis, especially since, as shown in the first episode, most of them aren't the least bit sorry for how they treated him- in fact, they claim it was his fault for being weak.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Jesuotaku in her review of the series accuses the producers of the anime series of this, particularly noting that the first arc could have been used as an entire season unto itself.
• Values Dissonance: Many western fans tend to be squicked at Kazuma and Ayano's relationship.