History YMMV / KiraKiraPrecureALaMode

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Ciel is seen as this by her detractors thanks to her conflict with [[spoiler: her brother Rio]]. She's supposed to be seen as a flawed person who focused too much on improving her skills while ignoring her brother's low self-esteem, which all leads him to [[spoiler: fall into Noir's pawns]], and her arc is about her learning to respect others' effort and feelings. Unfortunately though, instead of Ciel coming off as someone who learned from their mistakes, many fans either, at best, feel that this subplot was poorly-executed due to how little-to-no focus both the conflict and Ciel's flaws got or, at worst, accuse her of being a KarmaHoudini and CreatorsPet who the show [[CharacterShilling won't stop showing off how cool and mature she is]] without making her suffer from any penalties, and what kills any possible sympathy for her to those fans is the fact that she became a celebrity during her time in Paris and didn't show any guilt or concern when [[spoiler: her brother fell in a coma]] as a result of her mistakes. This reaction is especially prominent [[AmericansHateTingle in the West]] where child neglect is seen as a serious social problem that can't be tolerated [[ValuesDissonance compared to how Japan deals with it]]. And while her attempts to get closer to [[spoiler: Rio]] in episode 41 redeemed her a little, some feel that it was another case of CharacterShilling, while her attempts come off as rather misguided given [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace her lack of respect for her brother's personal space]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Ciel is seen as this by her detractors thanks to her conflict with [[spoiler: her brother Rio]]. She's supposed to be seen as a flawed person who focused too much on improving her skills while ignoring her brother's low self-esteem, which all leads him to [[spoiler: fall into Noir's pawns]], and her arc is about her learning to respect others' effort and feelings. Unfortunately though, instead of Ciel coming off as someone who learned from their mistakes, many fans either, at best, feel that this subplot was poorly-executed due to how little-to-no focus both the conflict and Ciel's flaws got or, at worst, accuse her of being a KarmaHoudini and CreatorsPet who the show [[CharacterShilling won't stop showing off how cool and mature she is]] without making her suffer from any penalties, and what kills any possible sympathy for her to those fans is the fact that she became a celebrity during her time in Paris and didn't show any guilt or concern when [[spoiler: her brother fell in a coma]] as a result of her mistakes. This reaction is especially prominent [[AmericansHateTingle in the West]] where child neglect is seen as a serious social problem that can't be tolerated [[ValuesDissonance compared to how Japan deals with it]]. And while her attempts to get closer to [[spoiler: Rio]] in episode 41 redeemed her a little, some feel that it was another case of CharacterShilling, while her attempts come off as disrespectful to her brother's personal space.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Ciel is seen as this by her detractors thanks to her conflict with [[spoiler: her brother Rio]]. She's supposed to be seen as a flawed person who focused too much on improving her skills while ignoring her brother's low self-esteem, which all leads him to [[spoiler: fall into Noir's pawns]], and her arc is about her learning to respect others' effort and feelings. Unfortunately though, instead of Ciel coming off as someone who learned from their mistakes, many fans either, at best, feel that this subplot was poorly-executed due to how little-to-no focus both the conflict and Ciel's flaws got or, at worst, accuse her of being a KarmaHoudini and CreatorsPet who the show [[CharacterShilling won't stop showing how cool and mature she is]] without making her suffer from any penalties, and what kills any possible sympathy for her to those fans is the fact that she became a celebrity during her time in Paris and didn't show any guilt or concern when [[spoiler: her brother fell in a coma]] as a result of her mistakes. This reaction is especially prominent [[AmericansHateTingle in the West]] where child neglect is seen as a serious social problem that can't be tolerated [[ValuesDissonance compared to how Japan deals with it]]. And while her attempts to get closer to [[spoiler: Rio]] in episode 41 redeemed her a little, some feel that it was another case of CharacterShilling, while her attempts come off as disrespectful to her brother's personal space.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Ciel is seen as this by her detractors thanks to her conflict with [[spoiler: her brother Rio]]. She's supposed to be seen as a flawed person who focused too much on improving her skills while ignoring her brother's low self-esteem, which all leads him to [[spoiler: fall into Noir's pawns]], and her arc is about her learning to respect others' effort and feelings. Unfortunately though, instead of Ciel coming off as someone who learned from their mistakes, many fans either, at best, feel that this subplot was poorly-executed due to how little-to-no focus both the conflict and Ciel's flaws got or, at worst, accuse her of being a KarmaHoudini and CreatorsPet who the show [[CharacterShilling won't stop showing how cool and mature she is]] without making her suffer from any penalties, and what kills any possible sympathy for her to those fans is the fact that she became a celebrity during her time in Paris and didn't show any guilt or concern when [[spoiler: her brother fell in a coma]] as a result of her mistakes. This reaction is especially prominent in the West where child neglect is seen as a serious social problem that can't be tolerated compared to how Japan deals with it. And while her attempts to get closer to [[spoiler: Rio]] in episode 41 redeemed her a little, some feel that it was another case of CharacterShilling, while her attempts come off as disrespectful to her brother's personal space.

* TheScrappy: While the Servants of Noir are generally considered to be a mixed bag among the viewers, they still managed to have their own fans, especially Julio and Bibury, but good luck finding anyone who ''slightly'' cares about Noir himself, as most viewers see him as a dull and forgettable BigBad who lacks the charisma and attitudes his servants had and exists solely to progress the story via DiabolusExMachina, like how he caused [[spoiler:Julio to disappear for most of the season's second half]] which earned him tons of hatred. And his detractors only increased [[spoiler:once his backstory was revealed, which they felt was utterly petty and incomparable to any of the atrocities he committed, with Elisio betraying and killing him cementing his status as a pathetic main villain]].

** Some fans see [[spoiler: Cure Pekorin]] as an attempt to replicate Cure Mofuron from the previous season's NonSerialMovie[[note]]which happened to be written by the very same writer as ''[=KiraKira=]'', Jin Tanaka, who seems to [[SignatureStyle have a tendency]] of giving mascots powerful human forms like in [[Anime/DeliciousPartyPrettyCure Delicious Party]]'s NonSerialMovie with Kome-Kome, Pam-Pam, and Mem-Mem, and again in ''All Stars F'' with [[spoiler: Cure Puka]][[/note]], while ignoring the reasons behind Mofuron's popularity and the hype for her transformation.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Some fans feel that the sweet motif didn't get a lot of focus and exploration, and while there are cooking segments at the end of each episode, they all were seen by some as rather generic and limited. It's quite telling that the staff admitted at some point that exploring this motif turned out to be unexpectedly difficult for them.
** Similarly, many fans feel that the theme of "Light and Darkness", or alternatively "Love and Hate", wasn't untilized well either, and feel that the dark side[=/=]hatred was more fleshed out compared to the opposite side, which's quite noticeable with Julio's status as the {{Foil}} to both Ichika and Ciel and his hatred for sweets.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Ciel is seen as this by her detractors, especially in the West, thanks to her conflict with [[spoiler: her brother Rio]]. She's supposed to be seen as a flawed person who focused too much on improving her skills while ignoring her brother's low self-esteem, which all lead him to [[spoiler: fall into Noir's pawns]], and her arc is about her learning to respect others' effort and feelings. Unfortunately though, instead of Ciel coming off as someone who learned from their mistakes, many fans either, at best, feel that this subplot was poorly-executed due to how little-to-no focus both the conflict and Ciel's flaws got or, at worst, accuse her of being a KarmaHoudini and CreatorsPet who the show [[CharacterShilling won't stop showing how cool and mature she is]] without making her suffer from any penalties, especially considering how child neglect is seen as a serious social problem that can't be tolerated in the West compared to Japan, and what kills any possible sympathy for her to those fans is the fact that she became a celebrity during her time in Paris and didn't show any guilt or concern when [[spoiler: her brother fell in a coma]] as a result of her mistakes. And while her attempts to get closer to [[spoiler: Rio]] in episode 41 redeemed her a little, some feel that it was another case of CharacterShilling, while her attempts comes off as disrespectful to her brother's personal space.

* TheScrappy: While the Servants of Noir are generally considered to be a mixed bag among the viewers, they still managed to have their own fans, especially Julio and Bibury, but good luck finding anyone who ''slightly'' cares about Noir himself, as most viewers see him as a dull and forgettable BigBad who lacks the charisma and attitudes his servants had and exists solely to progress the story via DiabolusExMachina, like how he caused [[spoiler:Julio to disappear for most of the season's second half]] which earned him tons of hatred. And his detractors only increased [[spoiler:once his backstory was revealed, which they felt was utterly petty and incomparable to any of the atrocities he committed]].

* AudienceAlienatingEnding: While the series have been controversial thoughout its run, the final arc was met with a lot of flak, and some even consider it to be among the worst in the franchise, due to its rushed pacing, the abundance of [[AssPull [=AssPulls=]]], especially regarding [[spoiler: Elysio and Pekorin]], how the final battle itself ended with [[spoiler: the BigBad being EasilyForgiven despite his prior actions]], and the lack of resolution for [[spoiler: Noir and Cure Lumiere's conflict]] among other things, and, to lesser extent, the fact that [[spoiler: Rio and Bibury]] didn't participate in the final battle, even those who liked the series found the final arc underwhelming. That being said, the time-skip epilogue was well-received.

** While ''[=KiraKira=]'' is a ContestedSequel on both sides of the Pacific, the reception is a lot more (if not entirely) forgiving in Japan, where it was commercially successful compared to the previous two seasons and has an active following, as it still gets tons of fanarts to this day, and [[https://twitter.com/precure_15th/status/1752965005312655420 the announcement of releasing the whole season daily on YouTube]] in preparation for the upcoming ''Anime/WonderfulPrettyCure'' was met with excitement from Japanese fans and led some to hope that the upcoming season will have a {{Crossover}} with ''[=KiraKira=]'' thanks to its theme of animals. The non-japanese fans, however, are highly mixed over this season, there is one group that liked it, another one that hated it and even considers it to be one of the (if not ''the'') [[{{Sequelitis}} worst Precure seasons]], and a third one that is simply unenthusiastic towards it.

%%* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: With the characters being human-animal hybrid [[MagicalGirlWarrior Magical Girl Warriors]] with food-themed codenames in their Cure forms, it's not surprising that some fans have accused it of plagiarizing another [[Anime/TokyoMewMew famous shoujo franchise that uses those motifs]].

* TheScrappy: While the Servants of Noir are generally considered to be a mixed bag among the viewers, they still managed to have their own fans, especially Julio and Bibury, but good luck finding anyone who ''slightly'' cares about Noir himself, as most viewers see him as a dull and forgettable BigBad who lacks the charisma and attitudes his servants had and exists soley to progress the story via DiabolusExMachina, like how he caused [[spoiler:Julio to disappear for most of the season's second half]] which earned him tons of hatred. And his detractors only increased [[spoiler:once his backstory was revealed, which they felt that it was utterly petty and doesn't justify any of the atrocities he committed]].
* {{Shipping}}: Although ''Pretty Cure'' is far more well known for its abundance of lesbian subtext, Ichika[=/=]Rio is relatively popular as far as hetero ships in the fandom go, and the teases from their voice actresses[[labelnote: namely...]]when Rio's VA conveyed her admiration for Cure Whip while using the character's voice in a blu-ray event, and when Ichika's VA said at some point that Rio is her favorite character[[/labelnote]] don't hurt. Unsurprisingly, the lack of interaction between the two in later episodes was met with disappointment from many fans, especially since [[FandomSpecificPlot the majority of Rio-related fanworks have him interacting with Ichika]] (when it's not [[spoiler: his sister Ciel]]), and him having any romantic feelings for her, mutual or otherwise, is a common {{Fanon}}.

** [[spoiler: Likewise, ''[=KiraKira=]'' isn't the first series where a major character [[PutOnTheBus disappeared from the narrative for a long amount of time]], with [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar the Kiryuu sisters]], [[Anime/DokiDokiPrecure Regina]] and, to an extent, [[Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure Prince Kanata]] being the most prominent examples of this, and while this habit has been controversial among the fanbase, especially regarding its necessity and effect on the absent characters' own arc, many fans felt that at least the mentioned characters' respective series made up for their disappearance and they retained their importance after [[TheBusCameBack they returned]]. Rio's case in this series, on the contrary, was widely loathed by the fanbase, who felt that not only his 16-episode ConvenientComa was undeserved and [[ArcFatigue way too long]], but also it ended up harming his character arc since he came back late into the series, and his only major appearances after his comeback were episodes 40 and, [[OutOfFocus to a lesser extent]], 41, before he gets [[DemotedToExtra demoted to a background character]] while tons of aspects of his character that were introduced earlier, except for his relationship with his sister, [[AbortedArc went nowhere]] afterward, thus rendering him as a [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter wasted and underdeveloped character]] to many fans.]]

** While Rio is generally well-liked as a character, his character arc, on the other hand, was met with mixed reactions. Fans see it as the strongest aspect of the season thanks to its focus on his conflict with [[spoiler: his sister Ciel]] and the development of both characters, while critics find it rushed, muddy, and unsatisfying, as it [[AbortedArc ignores several aspects of his character]] (such as his interpersonal problems and inadequacies, his relationship with other characters, and [[spoiler: his TragicDream of becoming a Precure]]) all in favor of [[SatelliteFamilyMember his relationship with his sister]], which was seen by critics as lackluster, due to its melodramatic nature and the series' minimal focus on the relationship, not to mention how, despite being introduced first, Rio has less screentime and accomplishments than [[spoiler: Ciel]], who, according to her detractors, took all the benefits from his arc and [[KarmaHoudini never faced any consequences]] for [[spoiler: neglecting her brother [[AesopCollateralDamage who suffered the most from it]]]].

** While Rio is generally well-liked as a character, his character arc, on the other hand, was met with mixed reactions. Fans see it as the strongest aspect of the season thanks to its focus on his conflict with [[spoiler: his sister Ciel]] and the development of both characters, while critics find it rushed, melodramatic, and unsatisfying, as it [[AbortedArc ignores several aspects of his character]] (such as his interpersonal problems and inadequacies, his relationship with other characters, and [[spoiler: his TragicDream of becoming a Precure]]) all in favor of [[SatelliteFamilyMember his relationship with his sister]], which was seen by critics as lackluster, due to the series' minimal focus on the relationship and, despite being introduced first, Rio having less screentime and accomplishments than [[spoiler: Ciel]], who, according to her detractors, took all the benefits from his arc and [[KarmaHoudini never faced any consequences]] for [[spoiler: neglecting her brother [[AesopCollateralDamage who suffered the most from it]]]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Among other examples, some fans feel that the sweet motif wasn't explored well and the series didn't focus on it that much, and while there are cooking segments at the end of each episode, they all were seen as rather generic and limited. It's quite telling that the writers admitted at some point that exploring this theme turned out to be difficult for them.
** Similarly, many fans feel that the theme of Light and Darkness, or alternatively Love and Hate, wasn't untilized well either, and feel that the dark side[=/=]hatred was more fleshed out compared to the opposite side, which's quite noticeable with Julio's hatred for sweets and his status as the {{Foil}} to both Ichika and Ciel.

* TheScrappy: While the Servants of Noir are generally considered to be a mixed bag among the viewers, they still managed to have their own fans, especially Julio and Bibury, but good luck finding anyone who ''slightly'' care about Noir himself, as most viewers see him as a dull and forgettable BigBad who lacks the charisma and attitudes his servants had and exists soley to progress the story via DiabolusExMachina, like how he caused [[spoiler:Julio to disappear for most of the season's second half]] which earned him tons of hatred. And his detractors only increased [[spoiler:once his backstory was revealed, which they felt that it was utterly petty and doesn't justify any of the atrocities he committed]].

* {{Moe}}: Similar to ''Smile'', the artstyle of ''[=KiraKira=]'' puts a huge emphasis on this trope, which can be seen in character designs and the general aesthetic. For character-specific examples, [[GenkiGirl Ichika]], [[ShrinkingViolet Himari]] and [[HotBlooded Aoi]] are among the most notable examples of this.

* {{Moe}}: Similar to ''Smile'', the artstyle of ''[=KiraKira=]'' heavily leans into this trope, which's also one of the well-liked aspects of this season, with [[GenkiGirl Ichika]], [[ShrinkingViolet Himari]] and [[HotBlooded Aoi]] being among the most notable examples.

** Similarly, many fans feel that the theme of Light and Darkness, or alternatively Love and Hate, wasn't untilized well either, and feel that the dark side[=/=]hatred= was more fleshed out compared to the opposite side, which's quite noticeable with Julio's hatred for sweets and his status as the {{Foil}} to both Ichika and Ciel.