History YMMV / Kodocha

** Mayu Tobita's Japanese voice actress is Creator/KaoriAsoh, who was previously Ririka Moriya, the protagonist and namesake Nurse Angel of the timeslot's previous anime, ''Nurse Angel Ririka SOS''. Mayu constantly getting one-upped and overshadowed by Sana in her debut episode is a pretty subtle jab on how Ririka's series failed to retain its target purchasing demographic with its more serious story in contrast to ''Kodocha'''s laugh-a-minute humor that eventually landed the series with an extra season and exposure in western territories.

** Mayu Tobita's Japanese voice actress is Creator/KaoriAsoh, who was previously Ririka Moriya, the protagonist and namesake Nurse Angel of the timeslot's previous anime, ''Nurse Angel Ririka SOS''. Mayu constantly getting one-upped and overshadowed by Sana in her debut episode is a pretty subtle jab on how Ririka's series failed to retain its target purchasing demographic with its more serious story in contrast to ''Kodocha'''s laugh-a-minute- humor that eventually landed the series with an extra season, and exposure in western territories.

** The OVA version of Sana shares her Japanese voice with the ''Anime/StreetFighterIIV'' version of Chun-Li, both played by Creator/ChisaYokoyama in 1995. The two would later share English voice actresses with the aforementioned Laura Bailey playing both Sana in the TV series' English dub as well as Chun-Li from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' all the way until the final years of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV''.

* BizarroEpisode: There are several episodes where the main plot is thrown out the window and unashamedly turns into a GagSeries. The first half of the series gives us a RecapEpisode that's disguised as a GameShow, moth versions of Akito turning other people into moths, and a prehistoric retelling of the first few episodes. In the second half, we're given a strange plot that involves music being banned in New York, Fuyuki building a robot wife and Sana transforming into a MagicalGirl to defeat it, and everyone being cursed and transformed into random animals while Naozumi, as a prince, is turned into a toilet.

* BizarroEpisode: There are several episodes where the main plot is thrown out the window. The first half of the series gives us a RecapEpisode that's disguised as a GameShow, moth versions of Akito turning other people into moths, and a prehistoric retelling of the first few episodes. In the second half, we're given a strange plot that involves music being banned in New York, Fuyuki building a robot wife and Sana transforming into a MagicalGirl to defeat it, and everyone being cursed and transformed into random animals while Naozumi, as a prince, is turned into a toilet.

** Sana's raps, specifically "Sana's Sweet Mood" "Robbery in Progress" and "Sana's Math-Life Mess". The rhyming of some of them is just random wording, but they are catchy.

** In the anime, Ms. Andoh points out that she's heard from the other students that [[spoiler: both Sana and Akito do "very questionable ''adult'' things", which is probably referring to Akito kissing Sana. Towards the end of the manga, however, the two nearly engage in unprotected and (at least outside of Japan) underage sex. A few lyrics used in the album versions of the song ''PINCH ~Love Me Deeper~'' only make this even more alarming.]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: ''The Middle School Years'''s NewJackSwing-inspired ending tune, ''PINCH ~Love Me Deeper~'', has a beat and melody that bares a noticeable resemblance to Hydrocity Zone Act 1 from ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic The Hedgehog 3]]'', especially when the latter song is slowed down by 9.2% and pitch-shifted.

* EscapistCharacter: Sana. A popular TeenIdol who works on TV, can sing, dance, and be the lead actress in both serious movies and comedy TV shows, often traveling for work, and at the same time, having many friends at school where she's treated like a celebrity. She's not afraid to speak her mind and bring her crazy energy everywhere, and people love her for it. Not to mention she's a MagneticHero who manages to help anyone in trouble, befriend everyone, and especially be loved by TroubledButCute badass Akito, which would be a dream for many fangirls of the series who had a crush on him, growing up.

** The first opening theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sf-JOvmJ1k 7'Oclock News by Tokio]]. Even if the main song isn't in the English dub, a few instrumental versions of the song still managed to slip through the cracks.
** The first ending theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBaNcpBAwLg Panic by Still Small Voice]], what more needs to be said about it?

** From episode 45 onwards (aka the sole opening theme of the Funimation release), we have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwORMeiWVMQ Ultra Relax by Shinohara Tomoe]], which fits the complete sugar-induced comedy of the series.
** Episode 75 gives us the third and final ending theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ISzT1Gmzb4 PINCH ~Love Me Deeper~ by Rina Chinen]], which was among her five singles leading to her debut studio album.

* BizarroEpisode: There are several episodes where the main plot is thrown out the window and the series dips heavily into WidgetSeries territory. The first half of the series gives us a RecapEpisode that's disguised as a GameShow, moth versions of Akito turning other people into moths, and a prehistoric retelling of the first few episodes. In the second half, we're given a strange plot that involves music being banned in New York, Fuyuki building a robot wife and Sana transforming into a MagicalGirl to defeat it, and everyone being cursed and transformed into random animals while Naozumi, as a prince, is turned into a toilet.

** It turns out Gomi is actually this towards the end of the anime's first season. While not as bad (or as smart) as Akito was, Gomi was still a huge jerk, even after his group of boys became powerless. Despite his behavior, his parents, while loving and caring, are a bit uptight when it comes to his well-being, and is pressured by them to transfer out of Jinbou to attend a more prestigious middle school (despite Jinbou itself already being a private school), which required him to shave his head. He begins to crack under the pressure, starts shoplifting, begins hanging around with a group of older bullies, and takes all of his anger out on Akito, who is injured by said bullies and framed for Gomi's shoplifting. It's not too long afterward that he eventually realizes how wrong he is.

** Naozumi in the anime, especially considering how vain and harsh he could be towards Akito for Sana's affections ([[JerkassBall episode 37 infamously tries to have him cancel Sana and Akito's middle birthday party just so she can kiss him and make her completely forget about Akito, not even thinking about her other friends]]). While he isn't universally hated, [[AdaptationalExpansion his increased prominence during the]] ''[[SpotlightStealingSquad The Middle School Years]]'' [[SpotlightStealingSquad wasn't something a lot of fans were happy with]]. His partnership with Sana, their venture to New York, and [[spoiler:eventual temporary relationship]] all coincide with him not only pushing Akito out of the role of the anime's deuteragonist during a tedious 12-episode arc[[note]]to the point where Akito's skipping sequence is replaced with Sana and Naozumi's magical dance duet from episode 70 to 79, which makes them genuinely look like ''the'' OfficialCouple of the series[[/note]], but also locks almost ''all'' of the previous characters out of the story during that time, making him a ReplacementScrappy at worst. However, there are actually a few Akito fans who can tolerate him because he's still a charming and likable character. Naozumi eventually gets a lot of SympatheticPOV, outright becoming TheWoobie during the New York arc. In the anime specifically, we see his relationship with Sana slowly evolving, and at least we understand why he wants to have a connection with Sana. It comes at the cost of him being removed from the story himself after [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he realizes that Sana still loves Akito and reluctantly breaks up with her as a result]].

* {{Squick}}: How many fans feel about Takeshi and his relationships with both Sana and her birth mother, Keiko. consider that Keiko was at least 13 years old and still in middle school around the time she met and had sex with the then-30-year-old Takeshi. There's no excuse as to why he would think that this was a good idea, especially when she was practically alone and couldn't take care of herself at the time. Then take into consideration that Sana was only ''eleven'', nearing twelve when she met Takeshi. The minute she landed in his bed with him is when that arc went south for many fans.

** Within the first season (which in English, aired as small seasons of their own), the arc that focuses on Takashi Gojo is considered the lowest point of the season, if not the whole series. Aside from having as many soap opera clichés as the New York arc, Takashi is infamous for [[spoiler: his past relationship with Keiko and oddly going along with being Sana's boyfriend, both of whom were well below his age. The creepiness factor is doubled when you take into consideration that this is also Sana's birth father]]. Another criticism is that many of the established characters feel out of character throughout the arc, with Sana suffering from CharacterDerailment, [[spoiler:swiftly accepting Takashi as her new boyfriend even after the devasting experience with Rei made her unsure of what real love even is]]. The only bright spots to come out of this arc are considered [[ADayInTheLimelight Gomi's situation]], and the climax of the arc where Akito rescues Sana. It's no surprise that outside of the second opening, Takashi and the entire arc would be completely forgotten afterward.

** Naozumi in the anime, especially considering how vain and harsh he could be towards Akito for Sana's affections ([[JerkassBall episode 37 infamously tries to have him cancel Sana and Akito's middle birthday party just so he can kiss her and completely forget about Akito, not even thinking about her other friends]]). While he isn't universally hated, [[AdaptationalExpansion his increased prominence during the]] ''[[SpotlightStealingSquad The Middle School Years]]'' [[SpotlightStealingSquad wasn't something a lot of fans were happy with]]. His partnership with Sana, their venture to New York, and [[spoiler:eventual temporary relationship]] all coincide with him not only pushing Akito out of the role of the anime's deuteragonist during a tedious 12-episode arc[[note]]to the point where Akito's skipping sequence is replaced with Sana and Naozumi's magical dance duet from episode 70 to 79, which makes them genuinely look like ''the'' OfficialCouple of the series[[/note]], but also locks almost ''all'' of the previous characters out of the story during that time, making him a ReplacementScrappy at worst. However, there are actually a few Akito fans who can tolerate him because he's still a charming and likable character. Naozumi eventually gets a lot of SympatheticPOV, outright becoming TheWoobie during the New York arc. In the anime specifically, we see his relationship with Sana slowly evolving, and at least we understand why he wants to have a connection with Sana. It comes at the cost of him being removed from the story himself after [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he realizes that Sana still loves Akito and reluctantly breaks up with her as a result]].

* TheScrappy: In the anime, Takeshi isn't a character who's looked positively upon either simply due to his past actions alone. [[spoiler:This man got a 14 year old girl pregnant when he was in this early thirties, and eleven years later takes a younger girl to his house he barely knows and ''sleeps'' with her. And this was all before he found outt he was her father. While he never raped Keiko like the her uncle in the manga did and the attraction was at least mutual, the wide gap in their age difference is still unsettling, and the thought of him being older and allowing an even younger girl call him her boyfriend is just downright creepy.]]

** In episode 40, Gomi gives Sana a funky-looking turd-like eraser that looks exactly like [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Hetsu's Gift]]. Both Babbit and Sana even point out how distasteful it looks.

** Another one occurs in episode 25, where despite Akito being upset, he's doing his frustrated "kicking" at the wall, and he's still in the bunny suit with the oversized cartoon feet. It's not easy to take him seriously while wearing that thing.

** The "Uncle Haru" joke in the English dub of episode 15 was seen as a joke against either CampGay stereotypes or UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}}ed people. The joke would instantly be subjected to controversy in the present day.

** The anime, while taking a different route from the manga's original direction, keeps some of these moments while also having its own. The last arc may look like a distillated version of one of the latter arcs from the manga, but it shares its own drama- [[DarkerAndEdgier quite different]] compared to what the first episodes of the anime were like.
** Quotes such as Akito shouting "[[PrecisionFStrike Natsumi, you bitch!]]" after the latter exposes a diapered baby photo of him shows that the English dub, despite being a dub for an anime aimed towards children, added stronger swear words that clearly aren't meant for a kids' show and was more than likely added to keep the normal anime demographic at the time, usually older audiences like teens and adults, invested in watching it.

** Kazuyuki Komori, big time.. Someone who felt isolated from his other classmates because his family was constantly moving out due to his father's work, who barely had friends and was severely overprotected by his mother. You don't need to wonder twice that his AmbiguousDisorder is related to depression, and he seems to be the kind of kid that tried to move on, but couldn't. [[spoiler:And so... he tried to ''cling'' on Akito, who was the first person to actually talk to him as a classmate... but knowing Akito, who was already lost in his own mind because of Sana... it led up to worse things... and how terrible they end up being.]]

** Hisae is nothing more than a glorified background character, but her competitive nature toward Gomi and the other boys and the small scene during Valentine's Day shows that she could have been much more. ''The Middle School Years'' also shows that Hisae and Gomi have become closer and far less hostile than they were in elementary school, with the series hinting, but never confirming, that the two started dating sometime after the New York arc. The anime could have easily given a short arc to accommodate this.

** Within the first season (which in English, aired as small seasons of their own), the arc that focuses on Takashi Gojo is considered the lowest point of the season, if not the whole series. Aside from having as many soap opera clichés as the New York arc, Takashi is infamous for his past relationship with Keiko and oddly going along with being Sana's boyfriend, both of whom were well below his age. The creepiness factor is doubled when you take into consideration that this is also Sana's birth father. Another criticism is that many of the established characters feel out of character throughout the arc, with Sana suffering from CharacterDerailment, swiftly accepting Takashi as her new boyfriend even after the devasting experience with Rei made her unsure of what real love even is. The only bright spots to come out of this arc are considered [[ADayInTheLimelight Gomi's situation]], and the climax of the arc where Akito rescues Sana. It's no surprise that outside of the second opening, Takashi and the entire arc would be completely forgotten afterward.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Some people don't appreciate the more emotional and less comedic route the anime took during ''The Middle School Years'', where it more-or-less turned into a standard shoujo rom-com. Many of the characters go through a lot all at the same time, and since this is where the manga gets hit with CerebusSyndrome, it got [[AdaptationDistillation really distillated]] from the point where Sana starts Middle School to beyond.

* Ms. Andoh, appearing as a one-shot character during the school trip chapters of the manga, was turned into a recurring character in the anime, where despite being strict and nagging, is well-liked because of her insanely over-the-top personality rivaling both Sana and Misako. Her perchant for limbo-dancing and her ''intense'' attraction towards Zenjiro, despite being four or five decades older than him, and that fact that almost all of her appearances are comedy-driven make her one of the most memorable characters in the series.
* Bernadette, for being one of the few transgendered anime characters at the time, and for being arguably the most tolerable character to come out of the New York arc.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Bernadette, for being one of the few transgendered anime characters at the time, and for being one of the few likable characters if not the only one to come out of the New York arc.

** There's a reason why Aya is attracted to Tsuyoshi. He's practically the nerd of the group, and compared to Akito and Gomi, he's meek, sensitive, and usually pretty friendly, that is, until he goes [[UnstoppableRage berserk]].

* FridgeBrilliance: Despite being an easy target, Tsuyoshi is never really picked on by Gomi and the other boys during Akito's reign of terror, despite being opposed to the chaos. One can conclude that with Akito in charge, [[MoralityPet he's not going to allow anyone to go after his best friend]].

** The comparison even extends to many of their friends. Another boy who likes the girl is a timid yet [[HairTriggerTemper provokable]] brown-haired boy who's a childhood friend of one of the main characters and very protective of the girl (Tsuyoshi and Ginta), while another one is a well-meaning yet clingy and [[RomanticFalseLead somewhat cocky]] PrettyBoy with an unrealistic hair color and known for playing music (Naozumi and Kei). Exaggerating this further is taking both series' resident [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold competitive]] ButtMonkey and giving them a last name that starts with a Japanese numerical ('''Go'''mi and '''Roku'''tanda), with Aya and Fuka being compared to Meiko and Arimi.

** In episode 40, Gomi gives Sana a funky-looking eraser that looks a bit like [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Hetsu's Gift]]. Both Babbit and Sana even point out how distasteful it looks.
* HoYay: There are a few subtle hints earlier on that seem to suggest that Tsuyoshi had a bit of an attraction towards Akito. He claims to deny it at first only to reveal that he's actually in love with Sana. After he starts dating Aya, this unsurprisingly gets canned.