Tag Archives: Matsushima Michiru

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Michiru Matsushima

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After many months (years, actually, I think) of waiting, I finally took possession of my Grisaia Complete Box today.

As you may recall, I had many, many words to say on the subject ofΒ The Fruit of GrisaiaΒ and its sequel in a previous Cover Game feature, but I’m yet to explore either the third and final game in the main series or any of the “side” games. Consequently, I’ve officially earmarked some time (maybe afterΒ Death End Re;Quest) to cover the remainder of the series.

In the meantime, though, I thought it might not be a terrible idea to give one of theΒ GrisaiaΒ girls a bit of a shout-out for today’s Waifu Wednesday. And since I’ve given Amane a bit of favouritism previously, well, today it’s Michiru’s turn.

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Cover Games, Grisaia

Grisaia: Yuuji – The Boy Who Was Broken

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The Grisaia series may explore its five main heroines in considerable depth over its duration and various routes, but ultimately, the central character to the overall narrative is protagonist Kazami Yuuji.

Yuuji is one of the most distinctive, memorable and unusual visual novel protagonists in the entire medium. ThroughΒ The Fruit of Grisaia’sΒ exploration of him over the course of the five heroines’ routes, we learn a few details about him and his mysterious past. If you had come to the series completely blind, this would have the effect of gradually shifting your expectations: what might initially appear to be a relatively conventional high school-themedΒ ren’aiΒ (romance) visual novel slowly reveals itself to be much, much more complicated than you might expect.

And then you come toΒ The Labyrinth of Grisaia,Β whose “Grand Route”, also known asΒ The Cocoon of Caprice, finally gives us some concrete answers about who Yuuji is, why he is the way he is and the circumstances that brought him to Mihama Academy in the first place.

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Cover Games, Grisaia

Grisaia: Michiru – The Girl in the Box

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Matsushima Michiru is one of Grisaia’s most unusual, interesting characters, initially appearing to be present primarily for comic relief, but subsequently showing herself to be a complex, fascinating character with a considerable amount of depth.

We’re first introduced to Michiru in the common route of The Fruit of Grisaia, when protagonist Yuuji comes across her doing vocal exercises in an empty classroom, closely followed by her practicing bellowing out stockΒ tsundereΒ phrases such as “i-it’s not like I’m doing this for you or anything” and “d-don’t misunderstand!”

Already well aware by this point that his new classmates are a little on the peculiar side, Yuuji doesn’t probe too deeply into the matter, but it’s immediately obvious whenever Michiru interacts with Yuuji or her other classmates that herΒ tsundereΒ personality isn’t who she really is; rather, it’s a faΓ§ade she’s putting up for reasons that, at the outset of the story, aren’t entirely clear.

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Cover Games, Grisaia

Grisaia: Introduction

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Frontwing’s Grisaia series, which kicked off in 2011 with the Japanese release of first installment The Fruit of Grisaia, has come to be regarded as a particular high point for the visual novel medium.

Indeed, back in 2015, the /r/visualnovels subreddit votedΒ The Fruit of GrisaiaΒ as number one on its list of top 10 visual novelsΒ (later republished on GameFAQs), and the community still holds the game in high regard today, as evidenced by its prominent position on the subreddit’s comprehensive diagram of recommendations.

Grisaia’sΒ high ranking on /r/visualnovels’ list was particularly exciting to enthusiasts of the medium, as growing localisation company Sekai Project had already run a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring the whole series West in the twilight hours of 2014 and the start of 2015, potentially opening it up to a whole new audience that was perhaps less familiar with acquiring Japanese visual novels and patching them with fan translations.

But what makes this series so remarkable? Let’s take a high-level look at it.

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