Story: 5
Grisaia no Kajitsu is visual novel known for its comedy as well as its routes. Unfortunately, the god-send comedy that every vn reader loved became scarce in the anime. On the other hand, the routes just piled up and that’s not a good thing. 8bit wanted to make the show as sad as possible, but like I said, trying to fit in everything is only going to lead to a disaster.
If one route was used for the entire show, the anime could’ve been amazing even with flaws. However, the portrayal of multiple routes created flaws just too big to brush aside.
First off, the pacing was way too fast. I mean if a guy who you barely met started narrating the story of his life, wouldn’t you feel kind of awkward? That’s exactly what the show did. They tried to make us feel sympathy and pity for the characters even though we barely know basic information. What do they like to eat? What’s their favorite music? We don’t get any of that. All we get is “Oh hey, this person has a fucked up past so I want you to feel sorry for them.” Sure, it’s sad, but I’d be confused more than anything. Because again, things are going at a rapid pace, a pace where we can’t keep up.
Secondly, the anime doesn’t hesitate to show one problem, resolve it, then immediately jump to another problem. Seriously slow down roadrunner. We need a good one episode to just be a slice of life or comedy. An episode where we can see what the characters are like on a day to day basis. Staying sad & gloomy all the time isn’t beneficial to anyone.
Lastly, the episodes focus way too much on one character. You’re probably thinking, “Isn’t that the whole point of an arc?” Yes, it is, but it’s a completely different situation, when the next episode, you’re already going to be focusing on someone else. For example, episode 5 could be about Girl A and episode 6 could be for Girl B. Sadly, Girl B has had barely any screen time the past few episodes, so what are you doing just suddenly dedicating an entire episode to her? The same could be said for Girl A. The show needed a middle ground. A moment where we could just all sit back and relax.
I’d say one of the only redeeming things is Yuuji’s role in each arc. We get to see just how much of a badass he is, in different ways. His part provides a good amount of action to somewhat but not completely counteract the drama-heavy atmosphere.
If anything can make you feel sad, then you might just love Grisaia. The comedy that appears every once in a while is great too. Also if you like fan service, then that’s another plus. There are censors though, so they downgraded that too. From an objective standpoint or as a reader of the vn, Grisaia is pretty disappointing.
Art: 9
Don’t got much to say about the art. The heroines are appealing, Yuuji looks cool, and the chibi scenes are adorable. There are times though, when Yuuji looks like a drawing on a piece of paper rather than an animated character.
Sound: 8
I’m sorry, but I’m not a good reviewer when it comes to the sound section. To me, the opening has neat animation and a great beat, but it’s not crazy amazing. I also think the voice actors are perfect. I guess saying I have no complaints about the sound sums up my thoughts a lot easier.
Characters: 7
I know I said a lot of negative things about how they went about developing the characters, but that doesn’t mean I hate the characters. In fact, I like them. They may not be totally unique, but they do, for the most part, each have at least one refreshing trait.
Our main protagonist is Kazami, Yuuji. Dude is a badass. He’s certainly different than the harem protagonists we have today. Unlike most harem protagonists, he doesn’t look dorky or like a child. Despite the rampant amount of fan service, he doesn’t blush or stutter. Instead he remains composed and says blunt, but witty comments. There’s also the fact that he’s a strong and intelligent guy in a non-magic/fantasy world. Thanks to that, we get plenty of moments where he shows off just how cool he is. Yuuji is a breath of fresh air in a world of incompetent and super altruistic shounen/harem protagonists.
Next we got Amane, the big sister character. Well-endowed, she is constantly flirting with Yuuji much to his chagrin. She may be flirtatious, but I think she is the most mature out of the group. She knows when to be serious and actually doesn’t have as much quirks as the others do.
Then there’s Makina, a petite girl who is initially portrayed as shy, but in reality, has quite the personality. She acts childish, but shows a great amount of intelligence from time to time. With that intelligent and childish personality, comes vulgarity. She may seem innocent, but she’s not. She’s got the tongue of a sailor. A fair portion of the comedy comes from her use of language and it never fails to make me laugh.
Sachi is an obedient and polite maid. No matter what the request is, she promises to fulfill it. Because of this the characters are careful with their words when speaking to Sachi. There are moments when they accidentally joke around and Sachi takes it literally, providing comedy and sometimes pity for the girl. Simply put, she’s a girl who’d spend her entire life searching for bigfoot if you asked for it.
Michiru is an air-head who enjoys acting like a tsundere. Her ignorance can be a good source of comedy, but sometimes it’s just annoying. Couple that with her tsundere actions and you might get ticked off. Everyone has their own tastes, so you might like her, but as for me, I don’t.
The last main heroine is Yumiko. She acts cold or in other words is a coodere, but that’s just because she doesn’t want to be betrayed again. She also thinks she wouldn’t be much of a friend anyways. Deep down, she is a kind and caring girl. Once she opens up to someone, she’s more on the dere side. There’s a running gag between her & Yuuji where she tries to cut him with a box cutter. The characters are shown as chibi so it’s both, funny and adorable.
We also got the supporting cast such as Julia Harudera a.k.a JB. Besides being someone who took care of Yuuji and his boss, we hardly know anything about her. She’s supposed to be someone who frequently assists Yuuji, but that information just never reached the surface.
The characters don’t reek of one-dimensional and provide tons of hilarious moments as well as awesome ones from Yuuji, but they’re far from well developed. It would’ve been better to keep them at a stand still than force a fast change in them. In the end, whether or not you like the characters is up to you. It’s subjective vs objective.
Overall: 6
“It doesn’t matter how much trash you pick up, you’ve just got a pile of trash.”
I’m not saying Grisaia is utter trash, but the quote above best describes Grisaia. Adding more and more stuff isn’t going to magically make the anime better. A combination of mediocre stories will never deliver what 1 good story will. The show should’ve adapted 1 route. There would be some missing information, but the information that is included would surely be enough to get you to understand what’s going on. With multiple routes though, the amount of missing crucial information is way too high. Grisaia no Kajitsu left us with rushed arcs, no time to get attached to anyone, & characters who dealt with their problems at an abnormal pace. Yuuji, the comedy, & the characters, when it's just them during their everyday lives, isn’t going to save the show, but it will at least allow it to be watch-able.
