After a long discussion with my older brother about this, I 100% agree.
I discussed the second major theme of this visual novel (Tomoya maturing into a responsible adult who can take care of those closest to him, a very similar arc to the one he went through in After Story), and these are the conclusions he came to. He argued that this arc does not portray this growth as intelligently as After Story did. In the latter, Tomoya grows as a person through practical methods that not only benefit himself and others in the long-term, but none of them are needlessly self-destructive. By taking a job with Yoshino and moving out of the comfort of the Furukawa Bakery, he not only shows he’s self-sufficient, but he’s demonstrating that he’s willing to move out of his comfort zone and show gratitude to the Furukawas for supporting him for so long. He also demonstrates that he’s willing to move on from his past laziness and do the right thing.
But here? Tomoya selfishly asserts that he can deal with a bunch of tough thugs on his own on the pretense of protecting Tomoyo and Tomo, even though the former could deal with the situation all on her own. Just like what you said, he doesn’t even bring up the situation and instead tries to deal with it himself, simply because he feels like he hasn’t earned his spot as Tomoyo’s boyfriend. Isn’t it irresponsible to not tell your girlfriend that she’s in danger immediately? Isn’t it irresponsible to assume you can do this stuff all on your own? Isn’t it irresponsible to pointlessly put your life on the line when you could rationally figure out the best way to solve this? This isn’t Tomoya maturing so much as it is developing a traditional sense of pride in being man. While not necessarily a bad thing, it’s NOT the same as what he learns in After Story. Having pride in what you do, in what you are, is a great motivator to push yourself to be the best you can be, but Tomoya let’s it get in the way of good decision making, and worse, he allows it to make him lie to his girlfriend and hurt himself. If he wanted to take the thugs on his own, so that he could stand on even footing with Tomoyo, fine, but he should, as someone in a relationship, tell Tomoyo that. Explain his feelings so that she understands. Easy? No. Necessary for a healthy relationship? Definitely. But instead, the narrative suggests that Tomoya is totally in the right when choosing to tell Tomoyo results in a bad end that leads to him having no self-esteem and Tomoyo ultimately deciding to quit school. And it simply isn’t right for Tomoya to go without letting the people he’s trying to protect know about it.
This creeps into Tomo’s arc, too. Ultimately, not asking for help from others with the schoolhouse and stubbornly going on it on his own is what gives him the injury that kicks off After Story. While he gets scolded by Kanako and Tomoyo a little, it’s obvious we’re supposed to see what Tomoya’s doing as purely a good thing. How is it good to try to do something on your own when you know it might be impossible? Why didn’t you come up with a better plan with no solid way of knowing how to do it? More specifically, what compelled you to go out in the pouring rain to fix the schoolhouse, especially since he’s sometimes dealing with circuits? How is getting injured going to help anyone? Furthermore, how do we know for sure Tomo wouldn’t be better off not being confronted with this? Her mother isn’t even on board with this at first, but Tomoya stubbornly denies her point. She’s already been through a lot, why twist the knife by reuniting her with a Mother who’s going to die in the end? It’s not necessarily the wrong call but it certainly merits a more thorough consideration. It could have been somewhat salvaged if the story reprimanded him AT LEAST about going out in the rain, but it really seems to suggest that (More Tomo arc spoilers) Kanako compelled the villagers to help and Tomoya’s manly self-sacrifice was somehow responsible for inspiring them.
If the story really wanted to show the same kind of growth that he did in After Story, then change what Tomoya’s currently doing. Instead of him mindlessly working out situations on his own without a concrete plan, he should do something like enroll in cram school so he has a chance of catching up with Tomoyo in college. It’d be interesting to see a perpetual slacker like Tomoya have to brush up on his skills and try to take a college entrance exam. Having to take a job to keep up his apartment bill on top of that, and you have a that’s a lot of interesting internal conflict he can go through. You can even have him work with a brainiac like Tomoyo to help him study.That’s practical and shows he’s thinking about the future and cares about what she wants. The short-term, unpractical solution he has dealing with the gang and the way he deals with the situation in Tomo’s arc show a lack of true growth; that in admitting you need others to help you, and on your own, you can only do so much. That takes much more maturity than throwing yourself completely into tasks without considering the loved ones you cherish so much.
Now, he admitted he loved the humor and the group dynamic. But he wished the major theme was executed more logically as explained above and especially considered it odd considering all these things were mostly done by the same writer (Maeda). He feels the failure to execute this theme properly is what keeps this from reaching After Story’s quality.
I feel a number of these scenes redeem themselves by being well-written and generally hitting the right emotional beats (enough to the point I was thoroughly engrossed), but that’s really just a minor point where we differ atthis point.