Kitty herself develops an unexpected crush on Yuri in the finale, introducing bisexual hints to her character arc. The international school setting justifies a diverse cast including Korean, Korean-American, Persian-American, and white actors, but reviews and creator Jenny Han highlight this as intentional representation of Asian and queer stories.

Themes touch on identity exploration and acceptance without overt lectures, but these elements significantly influence character dynamics and emotional beats alongside the main hetero love triangle and grief storyline. Audience reactions are mixed, with some backlash on Reddit and elsewhere decrying it as 'way too woke,' 'forced diversity,' and culturally insensitive to Korean norms, contributing to disappointment among viewers expecting pure rom-com escapism. For a teen-targeted show, the casual normalization of queer relationships and identities in the friend group carries added impressionability, elevating the ideological presence beyond incidental.