YMMV / Miraculous Ladybug SP01 - "Miraculous World: New York"

• Ass Pull: Because Word of God stated that security cameras can't catch Miraculous users transforming, the twist that Uncanny Valley can figure out Ladybug's powers because she's a machine, not a human, means a security camera could have doomed Marinette and Adrien long ago. It's also important to note that Uncanny Valley isn't the first robot encountered on the show.
• Broken Base: The portrayal of Jess/Sparrow and Aeon/Uncanny Valley.
  • For most fans, Jess is considered to be a positive representation of a Native American character as she's written as a relatable teenager who is actively involved in the superhero business. But on the other hand, there are issues with how her civilian and Miraculous holder designs use generic references that make her akin to the Magical Native American stereotype. There are also issues with how her civilian clothes blatantly use the American national colors.
  • In regards to Aeon, many fans find her design as a black girl to be quite charming and they consider her to be quite adorable. However, there are detractors who find issue with the fact that she's a robot with a name that means "unease or revulsion" and how her original/true form shows her with ivory white skin. It's also questionable that Aeon's creator is a white woman and was designed with the sole purpose of "helping people".
• Designated Hero: Alya and Nino spend most of the special attempting to get Marinette and Adrien to hook up with each other. While this isn't anything new for them (and indeed, their matchmaking is portrayed in a positive light), the fact that they're doing this at a time when both Marinette and Adrien have hooked up with other people (with the special even showing them together with Luka and Kagami, respectively) makes them look like they're intentionally trying to get their friends into a cheating situation simply because they ship them together. (While Jess and Aeon join in on the matchmaking, they at least have the excuse that they don't know who Luka and Kagami even are and thus avoid being this trope.)
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • The Reveal of a Miraculous set based on Native American culture along with Sparrow and Uncanny teaming up with the Guardian of the Native American Miraculouses.
  • It's revealed that the glamour protecting Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities doesn't affect robots, given that Uncanny Valley is able to easily figure them out. Does this mean that Markov knows that some of his creator's classmates are superheroes?
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Sabrina spends much of the special in the company of an American student named Delmar, leading to some fans wishing they could become a couple, if only so she can have at least one healthy relationship in her life.
• Fridge Horror: During the first fight against Technolyzer, how many people were seriously injured after Majestia punched the supervillain through all those buildings? Even if Ladybug was able to undo the damage from that incident, there's always the possibility that this wouldn't have been Majestia's first time punching a supervillain through city buildings which in turn can harm the citizens inside of them.
• Fridge Logic: How is it that the American heroes are so open about revealing their secret identities to the public? They don't have any qualms about transforming or talking about their hero careers out in the open where anybody can see/hear them. It's made especially jarring since Ladybug and Cat Noir frequently talk about how dangerous it is if Hawk Moth were to learn about their secret identities. Wouldn't their casual discussions mean that their enemies could use that information to target their families and loved ones?
  • It could be more of a case of circumstances surrounding their powers and situations. The United Heroez operate on a massive support system both with each other and the United States Government (since one of their members is the President), so they have less to fear for themselves and their loved ones if their identities where in any way public, while all Ladybug and Cat Noir have are each other (and formerly Master Fu). It seems that United Heroez' powers and equipment are all either natural (like with Majestia) or require extensive training to use (Knightowl), while Ladybug and Cat Noir's abilities all stem from the miraculous, Magical Accessories that can be stolen and instantly mastered. Plus the #1 reason why Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities being public to anybody is a risk is because of how ludicrously dangerous Hawk Moth and his powers are. It is unlikely that the United Heroez have ever faced someone with Hawk Moth's power to corrupt and enhance regular everyday people into Brainwashed and Crazy monsters, or at least not to the same city-leveling proportions that the Butterfly Miraculous is capable of. If "Cat Blanc" is to be believed, if Ladybug and Cat Noir did things even remotely like United Heroez, it could lead to apocalyptic results.
  • On a related note, the UH are so unconcerned about their identities precisely because they are so numerous and widespread. If anyone were to go after the POTUS's family for example, not only would they have the USSS on their ass, but also the entire UH. Same deal for why there were a lot of heroes hunting for Techno Pirate: he caused a family member's death - Aeon. It didn't stick, but if he is willing to go to that length to stop a bunch of kids, what lengths would he be capable of going to with someone else?
• Improved Second Attempt: This special could be seen as one to the licensed comics. Previously, the Miraculous comics had a story arc where the heroes were brought to New York and had to team up with its heroes to stop a villain; however, that arc attracted criticism for not only having the underage Marinette run through the city nude at one point, but also having her run into a group of stereotypically thuggish-looking black men (one of them outright being named Ghetto Blaster) and immediately assume they were going to attack her for a forced "looks can be deceiving" Aesop. In contrast, Marinette's comedic antics in this special are limited to the typical Love Square problems, and it has two people of color (a black girl and a Native American girl) featured prominently and, if not perfectly, then in a much better light than Ghetto Blaster's group.
• LGBT Fanbase: The portrayal of Majestia and Knight Owl as an openly affectionate lesbian couple was well received by the LGBT fans.
• Moral Event Horizon: Hawk Moth was already a terrorist due to his ongoing crimes against Paris. But he really outdid himself by allowing Technolyzer to send a missile to Paris under the threat of sparking a world war between the two countries.
• Narm: Marinette trying to chase down Adrien before he leaves, while meant to be heart wrenching, is incredibly silly as it runs the gamut of bad romance tropes, with Marinette's phone suddenly dying when she's trying to call him and her attempt to catch up on a bike ending with her wiping out and falling flat on her face. At worst, it makes it look like a bad Lily's Garden commercial
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Uncanny Valley's destruction, complete with Cat Noir being at fault, would've been the perfect setup for Majestia to be akumatized, but instead Hawk Moth just goes with Techno-Pirate again. This is especially disappointing considering that "Timetagger" previously introduced a future akumatized version of Majestia named Ignoblia^note in the French version; some dubs presented her as Majestia's evil sister, so this would have been the perfect time to use her. (Given that Majestia is the setting's equivalent to Superman, though, this may have been done to avoid an Only the Author Can Save Them Now scenario.)

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