Story (7.00/10): Continuing off of Meikyuu, the 1 hour OVA that came after the first season Kajitsu, we return back to the world of Grisaia back to the place where the five girls harem girls of the series, Amane, Makina, Michiru, Yumiko, and Sachi recover Yuuji's shredded documents and stick them back together so that we can finally, after an entire season of the anime (and one OVA), learn the complete story of who Kazami Yuuji's is. (Since Meikyuu not covered about half of his whole backstory.)
Similarly to its predecessor, Rakuen follows the same kind of storytelling that Kajitsu utilized, which was a method of storytelling that involved the use of a character arcs that ran over a long period of time. Like its first season, Rakuen uses ths style once again, but rather than squeezing five complete stories like last time (which was a reason why Kajitsu had its downfall), Rakuen features only two of these arcs spread over its ten episode runtime.
One of the biggest things that makes Rakuen I feel a whole lot more successful is that it utilized it's time a little bit better. By having only two arcs of storytelling, the anime itself was able to focus a lot better on what it wanted to deliver, giving us for the first arc, a more cohesive and overall better details and storytelling that made it a lot better of a watch. It finished up the tale of who Kazami Yuuji's as and what kinds of events led him up to the point we see him in now, which is a great positive for the series. The second half though...not so much.
The second half of Rakuen is where the show hits a bit of a slippery slope. Following in a more present day situation rather than a flashback, the second half is...lacking to put it mildly. The biggest issue I have with this is the fact that the show really rushed to try and finish the story in its ten episode runtime. To my knowledge, ten episodes for anime is quite a danger for a story-based show, as the short runtime results in lacking details that in the end, don't make the best shows. Sadly, for Rakuen, this was the case. For the latter half, it put together this long and convoluted plotline that I think really could've used a little bit more time to fully explain. Because of the short runtime, it lacked details such as the villain's exact plan, character motivations, and characters explanation overall, because honey, a short monologue to explain who you are is not enough for me to know or care about your existence.
Overall, I would say that Rakuen did a little bit better than Kajitsu did, but it still had some similar problems. While giving us some character explanation for our main protagonist, it suffered by not being able to fully give us that same kind of detail all the way through, leading to s climax and an ending that kinda felt...anticlimactic. A happy ending's nice and all, but...eh, could've been a bit more dramatic or done something a little more tragic given how thick our MC's plot armor is.
Overview:
+ Character explanation for our MC
+ Pretty good first half
- Lacking second half
- Plot holes (and character convenience, cause that whole operation done by the girls was awesome, but complete bullshit)
Characters (7.33/10): In terms of cast changes, Rakuen for the most part doesn't make an absurd amount of cast differences except one. But aside from that one increase of main cast, there's really no difference in the numbers.
Kazami Yuuji's. As our main protagonist, Yuuji is Grisaia has historically been very different from your average harem MC. He doesn't fluster at the sight of a girl, he's actually quite expressionless, and he knows how to be a proper badass when he wants to be one. As I have stated before, Rakuen makes note of what was missing in Grisaia back in Kajitsu, which we giving an explanation as to who and what Kazami Yuuji was. Meikyuu gave us a good chunk of his backstory, but his whole story comes full circle and finished once we get to here, giving our MC here a great explanation as to what kind of life he had before coming to Mihama Academy, and giving us look further into his growth as a person next to Asako. You can really see the growth in Yuuji during this flashback arc in the first half, and I think that part really set it apart from the rest of the Grisaia series.
After that, we have Asako, Yuuji's guardian after the events that happened back in Meikyuu. Asako is a very rough woman, as you can say. Giving a very stern style of raising to Yuuji and giving him instruction and lessons on how to be a soldier, Asako was a very crucial part of Yuuji and provided him with lessons that really grew his character. (Also, she kinda swiped his V card when he was like 14, so...I don't know how to feel about her character in that aspect.). Really though, Asako mainly serves as a plot device in the series, giving Yuuji the words of inspiration that help morph and shape into the character he is today. This is no means a bad thing since it was clear from the very beginning that that was the role that she was going to play.
And then we have the previous important characters in the series, the five girls of Mihama academy. Even though they'd are considered to be main characters, for Rakuen...that simply isn't the case. Because the show is so centrally focused on Yuuji and his past, present, and future, the girls in Rakuen really serve more as plot devices or characters that help move the story along more than anything. Because Yuuji helped them with their personal problems, they in turn do the same thing back to Yuuji because they love him, blah blah blah, you get the idea. The main issue I have with this is the fact that same as with Kajitsu, not all of the girls get treated with the same amount of importance. (Before, it was just the amount of episodes they get to tell their story. Now it's just actual involvement in the story to begin with. Poor Michiru...). This bugs me a little bit because generally in a harem show, it's the girls that we care more about, so it was a bit sad to see most of the essential characters just get shelved off to something equivalent to a supporting role.
That reminds me, supporting characters. Supporting cast in Rakuen does what you sort of expect them to be, plot devices. With a good number of supporting cast facing a similar fate as the main girls in the series did (ie, help Yuuji because he scratched their backs, now they scratch his), a lot of them aren't really as developed, especially the ones that we see that weren't involved with the first season. The ones that were in the first season can stand on their own because they have some decent background from before to really help them, but for the ones that weren't, it's hard for them to stack up in any way, shape, or form. Another thing I have a problem with in the supporting cast are the villains. The antagonists in Rakuen are horribly underdeveloped, given motives that really don't make sense on account of the poor storytelling in the second half of the story's, leading to some really unexplained villain plans, and a bit of a lame ending because I really have no idea what exactly the guy was planning to do with Yuuji, even after having seen everything the Grisaia series had to offer.
Overview:
+ Great character development for the MC
+ Good supporting character to help with said development
- Other characters that crossed over are disappointingly shelved
- New side cast is mostly plot related with no way to stand out on their own.
Art and Sound (7.44/10 and 6.88/10): Produced by 8-bit, Rakuen returns back to the general Grisaia style of animation with really no change in the way the animation actually looks. It still uses the same style of neon bright colors for the color palette with a horror/dreadful feel to it, and because it's consistent with the quality as it did with Meikyuu and Kajitsu, there's not really much else to say.
However, the show does go a little bit...farther with how exposed some of our characters are. Because Yuuji's history has some...ahem, pleasurable moments, there are a few scenes that involve the aftermath of such an encounter, with the end result of Yuuji butt. Also, the red hue on the eyelashes of the female characters return, and that's an art design that really bugs me. It looks like they have a rash above their eyes, and that just looks weird.
In terms of sound, it sounds very average. There's not really much to say for the soundtrack because none of it is really all that memorable. I can't really recall much of what the OP or ED actually sounded like because it kinda sounded generic and nothing really all that spectacular. Is it bad? No, it's decent. Is it good? Not really, pretty average I'd say. (Although I will give props to the Yuuji childhood progression thing to his gun at the start of the OP. That I admit was pretty cool.)
Overview
+ Consistent art
- Decent soundtrack, but not all that memorable
Personal Enjoyment (5.34/10): So, you may ask, why is personal enjoyment so low? Well, to be honest, I hate Grisaia. I always found the series to be a bit too weird for my taste, and the series itself goes into some pretty intense and uncomfortable themes and actions, which kind of put me off. Hell, Yuuji is taught how to sleep with a woman at age fourteen or something and then proceeds to commit that kind of act to a woman at least twice as old as him on account of his master telling him to do it. And that's only in episode two! What the hell, Grisaia?! Why I watched it? My friend suggested it to me and said it was really good. (I ask him everyday, what the hell is wrong with you cause there is some weird and uncomfortable shit to be seen in this show....)
Did I like this show?
From a storytelling aspect, I did. It gave us a good sense of storytelling, which is always something I enjoy and appreciate whenever I watch an anime. It gave us a proper explanation as to what kind of life our main protagonist lived before the events of the show began. But when it comes to the actual story itself though, no...I didn't enjoy what they were showing. That kind of content is NOT for me.
What didn't I like about the show?
The second half really disappointed me. When going back to the present, Grisaia didn't really deliver very well on the kind of story that it wanted to present, which really led to Rakuen's downfall in a sense. The characters were also something that disappointed me since a lot of the labeled "important characters" really didn't come around till the end, and their importance even then was average at best.
Would I recommend this show?
If you're someone looking for a different approach to the harem genre or a story that actually is quite original in every which way, then Grisaia may be the show for you. It's got quite a bit of originality to it, and the development for the characters isn't all too bad. Personally though, I'm not a big fan of this series because it touches on a lot of...uncomfortable themes and showcases some pretty fucked up stuff, so if you're fine with that, go ahead. Just nite that since this is the season that finishes up the whole series, you will have to watch Kajitsu and Meikyuu in that order before getting to Rakuen.
Overall Score: 7.22/10
