The natural response would be that the studio did not have enough budget to stretch the production any further. And while that does contain some truth, it does not excuse 50+ hours of story from the visual novel being jammed into a meagre four hours of animation. True, there's a lot of crap in the visual novel that could be cut out with little of value being lost. But when necessary story and characterisation is rushed through so quickly that you can barely even tell what the hell is going on, there is a major problem.
The suits behind the adaptation failed to understand that they could simply lighten down on the pace and leave the rest of the story for later seasons. Cover half the content from the visual novel, and if it sells well enough (and it almost assuredly would given the popularity of the franchise), cover the rest of it in a second season. Great, everyone is happy. Instead of that, we get "Grisaia: The Compilation Series". I can't imagine anyone except the most devoted of fans is satisfied with the result.
It's difficult to judge the Grisaia anime for what it is rather than for what it should be, considering nearly every issue is in some way related to the pacing. The characters frequently engage in acts of nonsense because the anime doesn't have any time to explain their actions. Sachi's episode is just laughable as it immediately transforms the naive, innocent maid into some dangerous psycho without any reasons as to WHY. A few minutes later and again without reason, she changes back into Stupid Lovable Sachi, and at that point it becomes a mystery who or what her character is even supposed to be.
Most egregious is the 'romance' between the protagonist, Yuuji, and one of the heroines. Within the first five minutes of her arc, Yuuji and said heroine become a couple after an impromptu make-out scene. It's all well and nice when an anime actually has the guts to show two characters kissing, but in Grisaia's case, the two are so unfamiliar with each other that they may as well be still be strangers. It does very little to make their relationship feel natural, and until it becomes clear what the girl's reason for hitting on Yuuji all the damn time are, it just feels like the two are incredibly desperate and don't actually care about each other. And that still doesn't change much by the end of her arc. Whereas in the visual novel it is obvious that Yuuji has genuine feelings for and a desire to protect her, in the anime's case it's just "hey, whatever, man". Yuuji is only wooing the girls because they offer themselves to him so easily.
Because the story is whiplashing from one heroine arc to another so quickly and without break -- often with only a single episode to separate them -- it is easy to get a headache from the overwhelming onslaught of drama. It's a ceaseless wave of story bombshells, 'shocking' revelations that in fact do not feel shocking whatsoever because of the needless fatigue it puts on the viewer. By the time you're done watching the first or second heroine arc, it becomes very clear how the rest of them are going to play out. Girl has crazy past, Yuuji comes in to save the day and help them overcome their trauma - again and again.
Yumiko's arc in particular feels very out-of-place and contrived, considering how she suddenly spills her entire past to Yuuji despite hating his guts and trying to stab him IN the guts only moments earlier. Hell, even the reason why she's afraid of men in the first place is skipped over and scarcely mentioned. And Sachi's arc, again, is laughable for the massive 'twist' it pulls at the end, contrasted with the complete indifference of the two people involved. I think only Michiru's and Makina's arcs are the ones that are done even moderately well, and even then I would struggle to label them anything more than merely OK. Makina's route has some issues as well, namely why the hell Yuuji -- especially when one considers his line of work -- is destroying his entire life to help some random loli he knows little about and has only been friends with for a few days. Michiru's route is largely forgettable; I actually had to rewatch parts of it to even remember what happened since the show was such a damn blur.
Another problem, if largely irrelevant to anime-only viewers, is the lack of Yuuji's witty monologues. They are what made the visual novel so entertaining and are what turned Yuuji into an actual character and not merely a collection of 'cool' and 'badass' traits like he is in the anime. Sure, he's still likeable in the anime (especially with the addition of an appropriate voice actor), but there is little to make him interesting except in contrast to the billions of mentally retarded harem protagonists. Granted, it's difficult to carry his monologues over without the show feeling awkward -- anime and visual novels are two different mediums, after all -- but it would not hurt to have added a little bit more of Yuuji's thoughts, especially during the comedic scenes. The anime adaptation is inherently inferior for not having that.
I think what frustrated me more than anything was the show's endless, pathetic need to have panty shots at the worst times possible. A character will actually be DYING and it will still have the nerve to stare at her panties. WHAT? Seriously, what the hell? Rather than drool over panties like some 12-year-old who just found out about porn, the staff should try maturing a bit by focusing on things that people actually do (and which are an actual part of the VN's story), like sex and kissing and everything in between. The show does at least have the courage to show Yuuji kissing several of the girls, so it's not entirely a lost cause, I suppose. And yes, 'several' was not a typo; Grisaia is undoubtedly a harem story, even when it decides to throw two characters into a romantic relationship.
On the bright side, the survival backstory within Amane's route is actually given a proper amount of screentime (surprising, I know!) and is a genuinely engaging story as a result, even if it isn't necessarily pleasant to watch. As in pretty much any story about a group of people surviving together, they all fall into madness at some point, and some of the things they do, like eating maggots on their wounds in order to escape starvation, will likely make you feel like vomiting. So do be prepared.
The artwork is... well, not great. The characters look out-of-place and even like blobs in a number of scenes, though the letterboxing effect is a nice touch and gives the show a more cinematic feel. Some praise can also be said for the audio. The OP - particularly its instrumentals - is a great piece of music. Godly, perhaps. It's a shame there wasn't more like that in the actual episodes.
Can I recommend watching Grisaia? If you're an anime-only viewer who has not read the visual novel, I would say no and tell you to go read that instead, especially when it has arguably the best fan translation that has ever been released. The anime is not a worthwhile story on its own, and unless you're craving for a mediocre harem anime with a cool protagonist, you're only going to find yourself frustrated and alienated by the ridiculous pacing.
If you've already read the visual novel, though, Grisaia is still a decent piece of fanservice despite my endless complaining. Seeing the story in animation and not just pictures certainly makes it more dynamic, and the addition of a voice actor for Yuuji makes him feel much more human. It's not an ideal adaptation by any stretch of the imagination, but it works, and for some fans that will be enough.
Let's just hope they don't repeat the same mistakes in the other seasons.
