The Parallel of Michiru Matsushima and Yumiko Sakaki
There have often been times in the Grisaia series when Michiru and Yumiko were compared to one another by Yuuji, and this was not surprising. Both Michiru and Yumiko are tsunderes on some level - Michiru being the fake tsundere, and while Yumiko is more of a kuudere, there have been occasional tsun-tsun moments with her. Such superficial similarities aside, both individuals also suffer from the more textbook forms of social anxiety (Makina's anxiety is a bit more complex and special, hence why I'm leaving her out for the sake of this post), and both have compensated this anxiety with unhealthy methods. The difference between such methods, however, is where Yumiko excels in "The Labyrinth of Grisaia", whereas Michiru is still stuck in her old unhealthy ways.
Grisaia spoilers at this point:
In "Labyrinth", rather than pretending to be someone else like Michiru does with her tsundere act, Yumiko has learned to embrace her softer and more affectionate side, learning to just enjoy the present and the companionship of her friends. In comparison, Michiru is stuck to her old ways of acting like a goofball for her "tsundere" act, whether within her own route, or outside of it. This is a tremendous disappointment for me, as someone who was a fan of hers, because the ending to her route in "The Fruits of Grisaia" hinted that she might have broken past this facade and learned to appreciate herself more. Unfortunately, "Labyrinth" regresses her character for... comedic relief.
This is the reason why sometimes, I really dislike the comic relief, because they're essentially a sacrifice who won't grow beyond being an idiot. Sometimes, a story does fix this by claiming that the goofball's charm lies in him or her being an idiot. Grisaia does something similar (very seldomly), but for such a serious story dealing with mental health problems, I just couldn't accept such a disrespectful answer. It's not only disrespectful to the character and fans of the character wanting to see her grow as a person, but also disrespectful towards real life patients suffering from similar issues.
Now, as to whether Yumiko's After Story is better than Michiru's due to this important difference in character growth... it is, on some level. Yumiko's AS is still, as @Dreamysyu put it, kinda boring.
At times, the lessons she attend feel like instruction manuals for would-be housewives reading such a story. This is especially so for Sachi's lesson, which was very straight-laced and lacks in jokes. Compare this to Michiru's AS, which is full of jokes, at the sacrifice of character growth. What makes Yumiko's AS stand out from Michiru's, however, is that she does in fact grow as a person. Such growth is the beauty of her route, as she probably has the most distinctive character growth from her past self to her current self compared to the four other heroines. While Amane, Sachi, Makina, and Michiru have either retained some (or in Michiru's cast, all) aspects of their past character - be it sluttiness, having a forced father figure, or being subservient to Yuuji - Yumiko has chosen to grow beyond that and become a much more respectable and admirable person as a result.
Unfortunately, her character development being the strongest also means that her AS is also the most idealistic and, as some would say, boring. An idealistic ending isn't necessarily interesting. If anything, flaws make a character more interesting, so the discarding of her past flaws have now left Yumiko's AS in a rather predictable structure where she grows as a person and is happy with it. It's a nice feeling for Yumiko's fans, but as a story, it just isn't that interesting.
If I'm to rank the different AS, I'd say it goes something like this:
Sachi > Amane > Makina > Yumiko > Michiru
Yes, Michiru's AS is at the bottom. After seeing how much Yumiko grew, especially, I just couldn't tolerate how much Michiru has regressed. It's frustrating to see for a fan of hers like myself.
Having said that, with Michiru's weakness reminding myself of my own weakness as a person, I don't know if I could ever enjoy seeing her again in the same positive light when I read future stories. She's become something of an eyesore.
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