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I watched Angel Beats a second time. It is a shame nobody has written a Yuri character analysis since the conclusion of the show. I'm talking about episode 12 and 13. A LOT of people were put off by the pacing of episode 12. Most people think Yuri's character was ruined. I don't disagree. The way Yuri acts at certain times totally put off a lot of people. On my second watch-through however, I was finally able to put aside the episode's execution and get to the meat of it. Then I reassessed my opinion. Yuri is actually a pretty well thought out character.
"Even so, What a blunder. Your sister came to see everyone as though she saw you three (her siblings). I lived as though the sister that makes you proud, the sister that you know will always love you."
And then
"What has happened to me? All the things that spurred me on are disappearing. If those things disappear, then I won't be able to stay in this world anymore. Even though life is so unfair. Even though you were all stolen from me. Even so,... the time that I spent with everyone here... is irreplaceable. Now, I want to try to catch up with everyone".
And then, A moment when her siblings appear to say お疲れ様 (otsukaresama), HA!. So simply put, when she killed the Matrix Reload guy, she fulfilled the role that she could not fulfill in her previous life. It is actually quite a bit more complicated than just that - it is meant to be a combination of fulfillment and letting go.
Second verse of the ED song, last stanza:
"Someday, I'll forget the days I spent with everyone and be living elsewhere
By then, I won't be strong anymore
I'll shed tears with the weakness of an ordinary girl "
And which is why in the last episode, episode 13, She is meant to act like a ordinary and shy high school girl.
Yuri was also meant to be the source of all the love (to the whole afterlife team) and she stitches the whole group together.
There was also the scene when Yuri gets turned into an NPC. Another super nice scene. Long quote:
"What bliss is this? What a blissful scene. It is too good for me (lit: It is too dazzling for me). All of you are living the moment. How nice, I am jealous. If I disappear, will I be able to do life again? This happiness that seems so natural, will I ever be able to accept it? If I lost my memories, change my personality. In that case I could do it. But then, can you call that a fresh start? It won't be my life anymore. It will be somebody else's life. We get one shot at life and it is right here. Only once. This is my life. I won't hand it over to anyone. It can't be taken, either. I can't force it onto someone else. I cannot forget it. Erase it. Trample it underfoot. Ridicule it. Pretend it was good. It is the way it is... cruel, but irreplaceable. All we can do is accept our one and only life.... That is why I will fight.... Because, a life like this... I will not accept!"
Very emo but there is some nice stuff that relates to her inner struggle. Worth watching again if you can. Yuri's character is pretty complicated and I don't think I have it in me to write an analysis of her. So I've laid out some of the pieces instead.
Also on a completely unrelated note, it is no accident Otonashi entered the Afterlife world. It is not a bug, like the matrix guy was saying. He HAD to be there, otherwise there will be no one to save Kanade (or everyone else). What Maeda is saying here is that, God looks after people. And the Afterlife world really IS a sanctuary for the lost souls of those who lived unfulfilled lives (by arranging Otonashi to be in it with everyone else). Truly a kind world and a kind God, a stark contrast to all the other Anime that constantly screams at us to take life by our own reigns or rebel against God.
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