YMMV / Upside-Down Magic

• Idiot Ball: Whoo boy! Since 1939, Sage Academy has been placing U-D-M-s into bunkers due to one U-D-M user being taken in by shadow magic. At no point do they even think that Shadow Magic might not be picky as to who it chooses. So for about eight decades, they've let literally countless numbers of U-D-M-s eager to learn magic have their dreams destroyed and lose their powers.
  • On a more humorous note however, the Fluxer instructor, one of the nicest staff members there, teaches the students how to become kittens, chickens and goats throughout their semester, and not larger animals that might potentially be more useful in dangerous situations. This comes to a head in the final battle where, the students can only turn into the animals they were taught to become and are therefore useless.
• Tear Jerker: Just imagine how many UDM kids have gone to Sage Academy only to be told their magic was wrong and the perfect target to be possessed by Shadow Magic and therefore have no choice but to wait until their magic dies and be forced to live as Muggles. And poor Skriff had to supervise this for years so the guilt was probably eating away at him to the point of being driven insane.
  • And as for the non-U.D.M.s, the environment pretty much feels like a competition and the teachers expect their students to be absolutely perfect. And if you're friends with a U.D.M., you're told to shun them or be ostracized. There is no room for error in this school. It's no wonder Reina became so insecure and ended up as the target for the Shadow Magic.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: The staff and instructors of Sage Academy. Outside of maybe the Fluxer teacher and Skriff, who at least has an excuse for his jerky nature, they are all absolutely jerks towards the U-D-Ms, treating them with Fantastic Racism levels of disdain, as well as their own students, with the Flare teacher absolutely going out of her way to make Reina feel bad. We're supposed to feel bad for them when Chandra possesses Raina and attacks them, but it's hard due to the way they've behaved throughout the movie. Essentially the staff is made up of a bunch of Professor Umbridges.
  • Also after the U-D-M-s beat the Shadow Beast, Knightslinger immediately calls for the other magic users to destroy it, to the ire of Dritten Nory due to the fact that the beast still has her friend inside.
  • With how they treated U-D-M-s, it almost makes a viewer wonder if Shadow Magic users were treated worse and if that's the reason why they're evil.
  • Just to cap it off, the hyper-competitive, exclusionary environment the school officials permit, and in some cases even encourage, among the non-UDM students ends up being what pressures Raina into resorting to shadow magic, just to live up to a crushing and unrealistic standard!