Yuu subsequently learns that Touko's older sister Mio was the student council president at that time, and had been producing a play, but was killed in a traffic accident before its premiere.

[23] Because her works were primarily about relationships between girls (a fact which Nakatani attributed to the Touhou series' almost entirely female cast), she gained a reputation as an author of yuri manga.

[24][25][23] This surprised Nakatani, as she had not intentionally set out to write yuri nor considered her works as such, saying that she primarily sought to depict complex human relationships that interested her.

[25][29] In discussing her approach to the yuri genre, Nakatani expressed that while she liked romance stories, she was disappointed with narratives that paint a relationship as necessary to complete oneself emotionally, as it made her feel as if "something was wrong with me.

[23] Nakatani did not want to focus the narrative's attention on the social challenges of girl-girl relationships, as she felt it would be too simple and was more interested in exploring the characters' personal flaws.

[32][26] Nakatani wanted Touko to be attractive but "troublesome," and designed her to appear superficially perfect, while in reality being a difficult person with deep emotional insecurities and self-hatred,[23][26][30] who would confess her love but not wish to be reciprocated.

[23][25] Nakatani wanted Sayaka to come off as "extremely cool,"[23] and she was designed to contrast Touko's "lovable" image when standing beside her as her student council vice president and academic rival.

[30][33] Nakatani accounted for readers potentially expecting that Yuu or Touko would later end up in a heterosexual relationship, and thus introduced the male characters in ways which clearly precluded this possibility (such as them already having girlfriends).

[23] The anime's character designer, Hiroaki Gōda, felt that while he could not directly relate to the story's female cast, he identified with Maki's desire to watch Yuu and Touko's relationship develop.

[32][29] In response to Happy Sugar Life editor Katsuyuki Sasaki saying that this had "turned the story upside down," Kusunoki commented that it enabled readers to reread the previous chapters in a new light, and said that the series "really starts" from that point.

Among these details, Nakatani wrote dialogue for a conversation where Yuu and Touko learn that Sayaka has a girlfriend, which would ultimately be included in the final chapter of the manga.

[35] Kato had previously worked as an assistant director for Re:Creators, and debuted in the lead directorial role on the anime adaptation of Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation,[19][35] which Nakatani had seen prior.

[19] As Beautiful Bones' source material was a novel series, Kato had not had to adhere to pre-existing visuals, and he described working on a manga adaptation as a challenge for this reason.

[19][26] She also contributed new details not directly shown in the manga, such as the earlier draft of the Student Council play prior to Yuu's request that Koyomi revise it.

[19] Kato intended the opening, which he described as reflecting the "dual nature" of the characters, to feel similar to a music video, particularly in how he confined its setting to a single location.

[37] Describing the series as having “…Adorable artwork and [a] charming love story,” Seven Seas Entertainment announced its licensing of the manga for English release in North America on February 14, 2016.

[85] Sword Art Online creator Reki Kawahara expressed in a conversation with Nakatani and Ai Kayano (the voice of Sayaka in the anime) that he was a fan of the series.

[99][100][101] Michelle Smith of Manga Bookshelf wrote that she initially considered Touko's early confession to be "unearned" but that later developments in the remainder of the first volume captured her intrigue.

[102] Sean Gaffney felt that Yuu's portrayal was a "nice reversal" and credited her character with the manga's popularity, but also praised the narrative and cast generally, saying he "was surprised several times throughout.

"[103] Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave a generally positive review to the manga's first volume, saying that the potential of Yuu being aromantic made the story more interesting, as "it offers something by way of representation that could be recognizable to an underrepresented group and set this title apart in its genre."

In a review of the first episode, Vrai Kaiser said the premiere has "all the makings of a solid romantic melodrama", described as a "quiet slow burn", and praised the color filters "emphasizing the florals and changing of seasons."

However, they said that those who see Yuu as on the asexual/aromantic spectrum would be "disappointed or even hurt", but praised the series for visual appeal, and hoped it would open the door to "additional yuri anime made for queer female audiences.

[108] Numerous English-language critics reviewing both the manga and the anime interpreted the character of Yuu Koito, and her expressed lack of attraction to Touko early in the story, as suggesting that she was asexual or aromantic (or some variation thereof).

[88][110][107] Natasha H., in a piece for Crunchyroll, said that the story avoided depicting Yuu as "broken" and showed her as an aromantic individual who was nonetheless capable of a fulfilling relationship with Touko.

While Bauman said it was "a valid and understandable argument" if based only off of the anime, she nonetheless denied this reading, citing the advertising of the work as a conventional love story and the explicit depiction of romantic and sexual attraction on both sides.

Bauman pointed to many narrative elements, such as the school play plotline and Sayaka's attraction to Touko, as imitative of other series such as Maria-sama ga Miteru and Strawberry Panic!.

[110] Another point of criticism was Touko's forceful expression of her affection for Yuu, described as an example of the "predatory lesbian" trope, which Bauman called "one of yuri's most harmful".

[110] In spite of this, she praised how Nakatani broke from the tradition of "transitory same-sex love" established by Class S stories in depicting Yuu and Touko having sex and becoming a couple in adulthood (although she noted that Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink and Kase-san had already similarly broken from this convention).

[110] In a piece for Anime Feminist, Alex Henderson also praised Sayaka's character arc, the depiction of Riko and Miyako's relationship, and their role in her story, as upending the "just a phase" framing of Class S tropes.

[108] Bauman agreed with Henderson, additionally praising Sayaka's story in the light novel spinoff series, and describing Riko and Miyako as "queer adult figures guiding the next generation".