Michiru has an even more severe split than just tsun and dere.
What They Say:
Yuuji notices Michiru walking along the path to the high ground which overlooks the sea while on his daily, early morning run. He gets curious and follows her. There, Michiru reveals an enervated side to herself so lacking in her usual energy and asks, “What happens to people when they die?”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Since the first episode, this series has mostly been getting less and less serious and more and more comfortable with slice of life lightheartedness. All the while it’s been going through the motions of a galge, or in this case a galge adaptation, giving Yuuji more opportunity to interact with his de facto harem and see just how exaggerated their quirks are. While primarily comical, there are times that they get to the point that we’re reminded these girls not being normal is a very critical plot point, and things like Amane being so desperate for sexual pleasure may indeed exist for a lot more than a gag. Of all the girls, the one who comes off as having the least serious issues to deal with (but possibly the most mentally instability) is almost undoubtedly the self-proclaimed tsundere Michiru, so it’s a bit of a surprise for this next episode to focus almost exclusively on just how deep and complex a character Michiru is.
I would’ve liked for that to explored in a more organic way involving Yuuji and Michiru’s interaction slowly uncovering the true face that she hides behind the façade, but even if that had been the case this adaptation likely wouldn’t have had sufficient time to dedicate to it. Instead, Michiru suddenly busts out some heterochromia powers and reveals a second personality, drastically different from the very recognizable one we’ve gotten used to. The heterochromia really does make it feel a bit too forced, but once we get into interactions with, for all intents and purposes, a new member of the main cast, it’s still a bit more interesting than some of the usual fare we’ve been receiving, while not necessarily more enjoyable.
This newly revealed personality without a designated name as of yet spends her time doing whatever you’d never see or hear Michiru doing, mostly waxing philosophical to foreshadow the end of the episode that will ultimately torture her other self (perhaps her “host” or vice versa) and perhaps lead to more substantial revelations regarding the nature of Michiru and her second self. She also becomes something of a third character among the fairly limited main cast to be completely unfazed by things like kissing, instead as curious about its significance as about subjects like death. Although the circumstances may be wildly different and possibly none of them are a result of a healthy mind, it is still a bit refreshing to have this perspective so prevalent, and it allows for the most extreme embarrassment of the “original” Michiru as she comes back at the most convenient time for that effect. This does play out in a gag involving Yuuji using the term “osculating” and Michiru pretending to understand until he begins to reenact it, which would’ve been amusing enough if it wasn’t dragged out for so long that it lost any sense of freshness it might’ve had. The ending part that had been foreshadowed is unfortunately too contrived and emotionally manipulative to elicit the kind of genuine reaction it would like to, but if it does lead to some development on a level beyond “I’m the second personality now!” it may not be too bad.
In Summary:
I’ll give some credit for not being able to foresee this kind of character development at this point, particularly for Michiru but, along with it feeling slightly abrupt, some of the less realistic tropes and plot devices used to execute it left a less satisfying presentation than could’ve been possible.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
HP Envy 14.
