I know this is technically not the purvue of this thread but I also do not understand the dislike of Yukari either. Actually, thinking about the party members in 3 and 4, there's not a single one I actively dislike. Hell, I even found Ken enjoyable.

I don't know if this was deliberate, but I feel either Junpei or Yukari could fulfill the role of 'best buddies', in much the same way that I feel Yosuke/Chie do also. I know Junpei/Yosuke are the obvious 'best bros' but I'd find it refreshing if this official/unofficial role title was given to a woman. It doesn't really matter, because I connected with Yukari more than Junpei in my first playthrough of the game with the FeMC, but who knows.