Grisaia no Meikyuu: Caprice no Mayu 0

Having attended Mihama Academy for about a year, Yuuji Kazami has seemingly found his place within the school, but he suddenly decides to pursue a promotion in CIRS. After consulting JB about his intentions, they both thoroughly examine Yuuji's documents and dissect the events of his upbringing to determine if the job is fit for him.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two, the girls of Mihama uncover some torn documents in Yuuji's room. After restoring the papers, they discover the story that has formed—or perhaps broken—Yuuji into the man he is today. However, what was thought to be history has haunted him to the present, and the chains of the past begin to drag him back into the darkness...

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kazami, Yuuji Main

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Kazami, Kazuki Supporting

Tomonaga, Akane Japanese

Matsushima, Michiru Supporting

Mizuhashi, Kaori Japanese

Sakaki, Yumiko Supporting

Tanaka, Ryouko Japanese

Kusakabe, Asako Supporting

Mizusawa, Kei Japanese

Suou, Amane Supporting

Taguchi, Hiroko Japanese

Komine, Sachi Supporting

Shimizu, Ai Japanese

Irisu, Makina Supporting

Tamiyasu, Tomoe Japanese

Harudera, Yuria Supporting

Narumi, Erika Japanese

Tachibana, Chizuru Supporting

Yanase, Natsumi Japanese

Ogura, Mitsutoshi Producer

Yamazaki, Asuka Producer

Yamakawa, Ryuuichirou Producer

Kosuge, Hidenori Producer

Reviews

Apr 12, 2015

HaXXspetten

Recommended

After the absolute disaster that was Studio 8bit's adaptation of Grisaia no Kajitsu, I'm sure the question on everybody's mind was whether or not the sequels would face the same treatment as well. Personally I don't think there was any reason to have faith in 8bit at this point, but the sequels come with the one advantage of being extremely short in comparison and thus being almost impossible to rush. And as it turns out, that was actually all that was needed because what we have here is actually a perfectly legitimate and very well made adaptation of Grisaia no Meikyuu.

Meikyuu's story takes place mostly ... in the past and is told by Yuuji himself as one long flashback to his and Kazuki's childhood and history. Many people like to refer to this as "the Yuuji route", as none of the main heroines of Grisaia really make an appearance in this route other than Kazuki. Meikyuu tells the sinister tale of the countless hardships Yuuji had to live through when he was a kid, starting out with the heavy abuse he received form his father, and then over time becomes more of a shocking life and death drama (that's about all I can say without spoiling anything). There are also numerous sensitive topics touched upon in this story such as incest, rape, pedophilia, homosexuality, forced crossdressing and more.

The pacing is still fast, but compared to Kajitsu's adaptation it's nowhere even remotely close. It's fast, but not so fast that you can't keep up with the plot. In all honesty I think 8bit did a quite respectable job with the amount of content they were able to squeeze into merely 45 or so minutes of screen time. It should be noted though that this special doesn't actually cover the entire story from the visual novel, however what is left will simply be adapted in the beginning of Rakuen's adaptation instead so there's nothing to worry about. This is simply because the story of Meikyuu and Rakuen is effectively one and the same, merely that it's divided up between two different visual novels (like a part 1 and part 2), and thus changing the exact cutoff point for their respective anime adaptations doesn't really make any difference.

The animation is identical to the one of Kajitsu, but the soundtrack is not. The Grisaia sequels have many new tracks added to its repertoire and I personally thought it was a lot better than Kajitsu's when I was playing them about a year ago. You'll notice this much more so in Rakuen, but even here it's already a pretty clear difference.

Overall, I'm sure a lot of people lost all hope for the Grisaia trilogy's adaptation after how Kajitsu turned out, but I think Meikyuu gives some hope back. It's captivating and interesting, and I can't really think of much that could have been adapted better either. Furthermore I still believe 13 episodes or so should be just barely enough for Rakuen as well so in the end I would still recommend people who managed to finish Kajitsu's anime to give the sequels a chance. I know it's very late to start hyping Grisaia again at this point, but you know what they say: better late than never.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 13, 2015

Tozzy

Mixed Feelings

After watching Grisaia no Kajitsu I wasn't exactly bubbling with excitement for this. The series was hampered by trying to cram so many stories into the space of 13 episodes and it suffered badly for it. But what a difference a bit of more focused writing can make in Grisaia no Meikyuu. There was more character development, more interesting story telling and more excitement contained within this 47 minutes than almost the entirety of Grisaia no Kajitsu. This prequel episode has actually restored a lot of faith in the series for me. It's by no means perfect - kicking along at blinding speed the biggest ... fault - but you can colour me surprised.

Part of the problem with the original series for me (not having played the VN) was not understanding Yuuji's behaviour and his personality. Now you get the full picture, and it's a very dark one at that. The story of Meikyuu takes us through the childhood of Yuuji and how a series of horrifying and grotesque moments shaped him to become the focused, quiet individual from the first series. For the first time in the series, perhaps barring the final arc of Kajitsu, I found myself really empathising with a character's plight.

There still isn't enough time taken with scenes to properly develop both main and side characters and make me care for them, a familiar fault from the first series. It's definitely not as big a problem this time around but it's still prevalent. Scenes and locations flash past you before you know it and suddenly another chapter is upon you. For what they had to work with the writers have done a nice job condensing the story in under an hour but I can think of a multitude of scenes I would have liked to have seen fleshed out further. Some characters come off with that "cheesy villain" feel because of this.

Art and animation don't do anything spectacular but do anything spectacular though one stand out moment in the latter regard comes with a set piece towards the end. I enjoyed the clear shift in palette after a particular section of the show and did a nice job of showing the internal struggle of what our MC is going through. Really nice use of light and shade throughout. Some choppy CG moments that feel out of place but nothing glaringly bad.

There's not too much else that can be said regrading the show without having to delve into the story, which is easily its strong suit, so I won't do that. I definitely can't recommend watching Kajitsu just to get here to Meikyuu but it definitely gives a greater understanding to the prequel series. What was the most refreshing thing was that I always eager to find out what happened next and that's the sign of better directing. A solid, and deliberately uncomfortable, watch that was well worth my time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Oct 7, 2016

pleochroic

Not Recommended

Funny

This is the worst anime I have ever watched. Not because it's technically bad; art and animation are fine, voice talent and music are fine, no that's not the problem. The problem is that the story is purely manipulative dreck.

HERE BE MASSIVE SPOILERS.

I found this story offensive. I have nothing against harems per se, and I am ok with Grisaia giving its harem girls somewhat difficult pasts for the feels. But this one, Yuuji's route, is just ham-fisted schlock. Whoever wrote this piece of tripe must have had the directive of "invent a really tragic past for Yuuji" and decided that ... throwing the kitchen sink of possible trauma was the right way to go. I am sorry, but manipulated feels are worthless. They are worse than worthless, they are trivializing actual trauma. As somebody who actually had an abusive childhood, I resent this crap with a passion.

Yuuji is physically and emotionally abused by his father, molested and emotionally twisted by his genius sister (whom I had previously rather liked, but now despise), abandoned by his mother (after she was raped by his father, who became the first person Yuuji killed), whom he then found dangling from the rafters, taken in by a pedophile who crossdressed him while sexually assaulting him, nearly raped by a pal of this paragon (whom he also killed, while in his underwear -- good for Yuuji, trained as a terrorist where the last bit of human feeling was beaten out of him with the final help of some girl who treats him nicely ... until she is supposed to kill him (or he her) as a graduation exercise. I have the feeling more is coming after the CIA finds him.

No, seriously, pure, unadulterated schlock. I don't believe for a second that Yuuji could come out of that as the laconic, yet caring protagonist of Grisaia. I am now gonna go bleach my brain.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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