YMMV / Masamune-kun's Revenge

• Alternative Character Interpretation: A few.
  • Masamune: Is he justified in his goal of obtaining his revenge on Aki because of all the ridicule it caused him as a child, or is he insanely petty for using said revenge as pretty much his entire justification for the next ten years of his life, especially since the only reason his past could possibly be revealed is because he made sure to transfer into a school with people who know about it?
  • Aki: Is she a condescending bitch who just uses every excuse she can to deliver Breaking Speeches just for the hell of it, and gets away with it because of Screw the Rules, I Have Money!? Or is she really a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who still blames herself what happened with Masamune in the past and acts overly haughty and vitriolic to people to drive them away because she believes she will hurt them if she gets close to them? Or did the years of being a Lonely Rich Kid mean she never learned that she's exhibiting Jerkass behavior, and honestly doesn't know that what she's doing is wrong?
  • Yoshino: Is she someone, while duplicitous, who honestly loves Aki and makes every decision she does because she's looking out for her? Or is she a Green-Eyed Monster Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who is obsessed with being the closest to Aki and will ruin the life of anyone she even thinks Aki likes more than her? And are her motivations born out of loyalty, or something more?
  • Kanetsugu: Is he someone who is doing whatever he can to help the only family he has left when it comes to obtaining the money he needs to keep his little sister alive? Or is he a massive Hypocrite who's taking a deceitful path just because it's the easiest when there are just as many legitimate ways he could obtain the money he needs?
• Arc Fatigue:
  • With the series already very short, the Paris arc seemed like a lot of pointless filler for manga readers, and wished that they'd get back to the main plotline.
  • After Chapter 39 was released, the series padded itself out with some side stories taking place somewhere in-between the climax chapter and the rest of the series. Some fans, already frustrated with the Paris Arc, were even more disgruntled with these short side chapters because it's delaying the inevitable conclusion of the manga.
• Ass Pull:
  • Yoshino was the one who broke Masamune's heart back when he was a child, not Aki. Not only does this absolve Aki of any guilt, it undoes the whole point of the story because it means Masamune was angry with the wrong person over what was clearly a misunderstanding. It had a bit more proper, but less subtle foreshadowing in the anime.
  • Kanetsugu Gasou being a crossdressing woman. It never affects the plot meaningfully because she disappears from the story right after the reveal is made.
  • And after that, Makabe questioning his feelings for Aki because of an Allergic to Love condition that conveniently popped up after he got with her. While the developments aside from that were praised by some of the fanbase, giving Makabe a quick and easy excuse to rethink his feelings was seen as a poorly written plot point, considering it doesn't take getting a poorly-explained illness for real people to figure out they're not as in love with each other as they once thought.
  • In the penultimate chapter, Aki and Neko come to terms with the realization that Masamune really loves Yoshino and push her to finally confess her own feelings to him. Which she does, going all the way to the countryside to find him and give him a Big Damn Kiss. Come the final chapter and it looks like they're happily together... until Masamune reveals he rejected her, and he and Aki get back together. If the author's plan was always to keep Aki and Masamune together, it makes no sense why there would be an arc around them questioning their feelings, finding out they're not really in love with each other, and breaking up, and why Yoshino would make such a dramatic confession if she wasn't truly the final girl.
• Badass Decay: Some fans have accused this of happening to Makabe, saying that his character slowly but surely becomes less assertive and more in line with regular romcom protagonists and a far cry from the scheming heartbreaker he was portrayed as in the first couple of chapters. That said, he does have bite in him in the latter half, such as punching out the false Masamune.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Aki, oh Aki. Some find her attitude the results of a bitter but lonely girl, and while she can be cruel some of the students find an admirable quality in it, and it's never treated as super serious. Others point out that this is the whole problem with Aki's character: they feel that she's never given any true comeuppance, and while she might have her reasons, her main one is childish and immature and her methods can be taken too far.
  • After revealing that Yoshino was the one who told Masamune that he was fat, her popularity split right down the middle. Before that though, some fans were still on the fence about her due to her manipulative nature and the repetitiveness of her fanservice shots.
  • Kanetsugu Gasou. Either they’re an understandable and sympathetic antagonist that makes sense in the story, or a shallow excuse to cause a conflict with little depth. And his reveal as a crossdresser varies opinions on her more; either it's an interesting twist or a complete waste on time that needlessly complicates things.
  • Neko. She's either a good foil to Aki that forces Masamune to start confronting his feelings or start thinking about them, or she's just unnecessary filler that comes in between Aki and Masamune falling for each other and somewhat manipulative.
• Broken Base:
  • The first episode did relatively poor and makes Aki incredibly unlikable. On another hand, some people enjoy the cliches.
  • How much Aki or Yoshino is at fault for how things turned out with Masamune. Because Yoshino was the one who disguised as Aki and called Masamune a fatty, all because she saw that Masamune was treated as more of a friend than her, who stayed by Aki's side the whole time, most of the blame is put squarely on her. Others point out that even if Aki was more of a bully-hunter and an ignorant rich kid, she was still a brat in her younger years as seen through Yoshino's diary, which may not have fueled Yoshino's decision but instead provided more insight into Aki's pre-high school behaviour.
  • The other love interests in the series and the false Masamune subplot are either great uses and explorations of Masamune as a character and decent enough for their own personal development, or time wasters that only delay the inevitable and uses one note characters to achieve such.
  • The pace of the story is seen by many to be one of its redeeming factors, especially since the story as is a little over 40 chapters, but to other fans the pace is too plodding and not enough happens in the amount of chapters the series is given.
  • Yoshino being Promoted to Love Interest in the second to last and final arcs. Is it a good plot line that actually challenges the characters to explore their feelings and resolve their issues, or an Ass Pull since Yoshino never gave any indication of being in love with Makabe until she confessed to driving him away as a child?
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Color no one surprised when the manga reveals that Aki's absolved of all guilt in ruining Masamune's childhood since it was Yoshino, and not her, who told him to buzz off.
• Cliché Storm: The manga, and the first episode of the anime got accused of this. To be fair, the later part of the story subverts this with healthy doses of Character Development and the lack of Arc Fatigue, but the trailers, covers, and initial episode caused many to dismiss it as "just another generic harem".
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Kojuurou is relatively popular due to his feminine appearance, being dubbed the "best trap of 2017" right away by /a/.
  • Kinue Hayase who gained fame in the anime community as a "loli mom", having the appearance of a child despite being 42 years old.
• Epileptic Trees: One after the first major hurdle of the series was cleared: Was Yoshino the "main heroine" the whole time? Most of the plot only kicks off because of her intervention and she's by Masamune's side the whole time he's "trying" to get revenge, and after Masamune gets together with Aki, he still has some things to resolve with Yoshino. The colored illustrations also started to place her in the middle when time came to put the heroines together, where the main girl would usually be.
• Fan-Preferred Couple:
  • The overwhelming one is Makabe/Yoshino, given that they were close all through the series, is the only one of his love interests that knows what he's like on the inside, and generally is seen as much more sexually attractive than Aki due to Buxom Beauty Standard. After Makabe gets with Aki, he gets a lot of teasing with Yoshino, making Yoshino fans very pleased.
  • Some fans would have preferred that Masamune and Neko got together and never looked back, considering their similar backgrounds. More so because Neko is actually a Nice Girl compared to the tempestuous Aki.
  • It's no surprise that some fans have taken to the idea of Masamune/Kojuro, especially with the Ho Yay that they share from time to time.
• Heartwarming Moments: The flashback to Neko and Masamune's Forgotten First Meeting as kids.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Inori Minase also played Rem, who was also a maid in the main girl's household, also had a lot of chemistry with the main character, and eventually fell in love with him. She's also one half of a Fan-Preferred Couple, just like Yoshino is.
• Ho Yay:
  • Of course, this is a given when Kojuurou is a part of the main cast, and when the other (female) haremettes see him as a rival for Masamune's affection. Futaba even ships him and Masamune together, and immediately gets nosebleeds when she sees them doing anything she can interpret as BL.
  • Yoshino humiliated Masamune and effectively ruined his childhood because she was jealous of his friendship with Aki. Even if they were both just kids, she clearly wanted Aki all to herself. Make of that what you will.
• Jerkass Woobie: Makabe. Aki too.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • r/redpill: The Anime ^explanation Based on the premise of the series being the Protagonist wanting to seduce Aki and then dump her as revenge, people started comparing it to the rather infamous subreddit.
  • Masamune-kun No Revenge ^explanation An addendum added to the title of the series by detractors who felt the series suffered from Hype Backlash, particularly with the anime adaptation. This can also refer to the main "heartbreaker" plot, where Masamune ends up dropping it after learning the truth, only to accidentally commit to it by realizing his feelings for Aki and turning down Yoshino's confession.
• Padding: Arguably the Island arc. Unlike the Paris arc that gave some outside perspective of Aki's and Masamune's relationship as well as some development to Yoshino, the island did nothing important to the arc, has no lasting repercussions, was never referenced again, and could be skipped and an unaware viewer would not have noticed that there was an arc in the first place.
• Pandering to the Base: Despite liking it, some fans accused the author of making Yoshino Promoted to Love Interest as this, given Yoshino's huge popularity in the late stages of the manga and in the anime, and the fact that the manga went through filler chapters all through the anime's run until the game-changing revelations were published after the fact. That said, there has been subtle foreshadowing throughout the story about Yoshino basically being Cinderella based off of her own home life and the Masamune's original nickname for her was a "black hearted Cinderella".
• Ron the Death Eater: After the big reveal, Yoshino's gotten a lot of flak from fans for calling Masamune "Pig's Foot", as if she had meant to ruin Masamune's childhood intentionally. Instead, she's an Unwitting Instigator of Doom, because she never intended for things to get as bad as they did between Aki and Masamune even though she was jealous of their friendship.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: It gets ugly with Yoshino/Makabe and Aki/Makabe, especially after The Reveal. The anime's viewers had a Neko vs. Aki debate instead.
• Stoic Woobie: Yoshino, who has been quietly taking abuse from almost everyone for her entire life.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Tae. She's the most "normal" of Masamune's love interests, but even though she got rejected early on she still could have had some plot relevance; being rejected early in much the same manner didn't stop Neko from being important to the story, after all. Instead the only use Tae seems to get is being an extra body in group scenes, and being used for fanservice.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • There had been quite a few fans who were upset about Masamune not going the full mile and completing his revenge, though some came to expect it due to the wording of the series plotline. However, in many fans' words, they came in with higher expectations for the series than one would normally have (i.e. expecting a romcom version of The Count of Monte Cristo and not getting that).
  • The big reveal that Yoshino impersonated Aki pretty much absolved Aki of any real observation of her early series behavior and somewhat justifies it, since the story focuses more on Yoshino and Makabe's relationship with each other after the fact.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The series isn't dark, per say, but the entire premise of the love story between two polarizing and heavily flawed characters like Masamune and Aki can come off as a hard sell of a romance story. Because both characters can at times be very narcissistic and unsympathetic in their own different ways, it can admittedly be a bit difficult to really root for either character when things go south for them or to even care all that much if Masamune and Aki get together at all. One anime reviewer even used this reason to pick this anime as the worst of the year.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • While one can definitely sympathize with Makabe as a child for being bullied and being rejected in one of the coldest ways possible, Masamune in the present can come off as significantly less sympathetic in his current situation, especially since he's worked hard to become really fit in the present day and is popular enough with multiple girls that he could easily find happiness with any girl of his choosing. Despite all of that, however, Makabe still doesn't seem able to look back and appreciate the progress he's made since his childhood days and how much he's improved himself since. Instead of realizing that living well is the best revenge, Makabe is still obsessed with his childhood rejection to the point where he doesn't appreciate the girls in the present such as Tae and Neko who do like him for who he is and even rejects them because he's still so fixated on Aki.
  • Aki herself comes into the same boat. While it is somewhat upsetting that she stops trusting men because Masamune had run off without telling her in their childhood, and especially at a time in her life when she needed friends around, that still didn't excuse her from being as mean as she was in the manga. This is especially true given that the incident happened years ago, and she still had Yoshino by her side (even if by obligation). While she does become nicer to the other protagonists thanks to her love for Masamune, she never has to face any meaningful consequences for her bad behavior. The epilogue manga After School makes it clear she still doesn't care about anyone outside her small circle, as she starts it off by verbally eviscerating a boy who confessed to her, just like usual, but also expects the reader to view that behavior as justified because she's doing it for Masamune's sake and because she's nicer to Yoshino and Neko.

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