Kyoto Animation's summer release, "The Electric Tale of the 20th Century," has been criticized by some fans of the original novel due to significant differences in plot and character portrayal compared to the source material. The controversy mainly centers on the romantic descriptions in the novel and the anime's alterations to character relationships.
On September 3, a reader halfway through the novel stated that the original work differs significantly from the anime, noting that the novel features explicit romantic descriptions and that the character Sanzo is portrayed differently than in the anime. On September 20, another viewer criticized the anime for removing the romantic elements of the original work while adding depictions of relationships between male characters.
By September 27, the aforementioned reader discussed the anime again, acknowledging that it still contains comedic moments when viewed independently, but expressing difficulty accepting this adaptation as a fan of the original work. On September 28, other viewers praised the anime's visuals while stating they found the narrative handling hard to understand, believing the work made significant changes to the source material.
Original author Hiroshi Yuki stated when the 2025 anime adaptation was announced that the novel is set in Kyoto and Shiga during the Meiji era, telling a small love story about boys and girls running through a fantastical world. This is also the aspect of the original work that some readers repeatedly mentioned during their discussions about the anime adaptation.