His design in the OVA series has drawn acclaim as one of the few to be well translated from his original manga design by Mike Crandol from Anime News Network. In the second review from the OVA, Crandol liked that Yahiko appeared several times in contrast to the previous OVA in which he was "written out" so that the story would focus more in Kamiya Kaoru and Kenshin's relationship. He also noted his battle against Himura Kenji to be very entertaining, but not as much as the previous fight which was between Kenshin and Yukishiro Enishi. Ridwan Khan from Animefringe noted the fight between Yahiko and Kenji had been long awaited, it was mostly overshadowed by Kenshin and Kaoru's ending.