 Publishers Weekly praised An Ideal World for its message and art, but criticized how "the book gets bogged down in talky heavy-handedness, as if someone put nice fantasy illustrations into a business self-help book". R. Bézard, a French critic for BD Gest, rated the first volume of the Xiao Pan edition of An Ideal World with two out of five stars. Bézard stated that the volume did not draw in the reader or give any indication of A You's future adventure. However, Bézard praised the artwork as expressive and called it a cross between Dragon Ball Z and Fruits Basket.
