Fast forward to 2015, 8bit has further damaged its reputation (did it even have any in the first place?) by producing, in my opinion, a complete garbage of an anime called Absolute Duo (please forgive me for steering off the topic, but I did not like that season very much) and in a season with highly anticipated giant titles such as Yahari Zoku, UBW, Shokugeki no Soma, Gintama, and Danmachi added with the number of discouraged droppers from the earlier episodes, the prospect of the Grisaia sequels, Meikyuu and Rakuen, has been overshadowed and dwarfed out. However, in spite of the strong competition offered by Spring 2015 season, many people will find it pleasant to know that this time it is not prone to a rushed and butchered adaption with amazingly confusing plot with lack of development as Grisaia no Rakuen has rose up to be a lucky find and possibly one of the strongest anime of the season.
Grisaia no Rakuen is a direct continuation to Grisaia no Meikyuu, a short movie OVA depicting Yuuji’s past, where “tragic and traumatic” to describe it would be the understatement of the decade. Therefore I cannot stress enough to say not only watch that before this, but also in case there are people who are tempted and considering to skip Kajitsu due to its score difference, it is unquestionably compulsory to watch it for the understanding of this sequel (or just read the VN, as the readers would say).
And by direct continuation, I do mean straight away from Meikyuu as if that was the prologue to the first episode as the girls of the Mihama Academy continue to learn more about Yuuji’s past through a document. Yuuji’s frightening past continues as his story transitions from being raised as a child assassin, to being raised by his mentor who he respects very highly. This arc known as “Cocoon of Caprice” further continues to portray Yuuji’s life in a military academy as he creates bonds and overcome his own psychological weakness which will be explained more in the later paragraph. The second arc known as “The Seed of Blanc Aile” returns to the present time which is where the meat of the anime is, with the spotlight returning to the original cast of the Mihama Academy and ultimately, the matter between Yuuji and his past is settled so that he can return to his academy or rather, his family.
This is where the most major difference between Kajitsu and Rakuen comes up. In first half of Kajitsu each girls are only given two episodes to develop with Yuuji helping them ultimately out of distress, which not only lacks the sufficient amount of character interaction and development required due to its poor pacing, but also quickly becomes formulaic, repetitive, and dull. However in Rakuen, the story progresses linearly as a single route in a solid manner while seeming like a natural, realistic story and thanks to much lower amount of content to cram into small number of episodes, the story is immune from the confusion and it is made much easier to understand.
What I and probably many other people also loved about Grisaia no Rakuen was how it diverges from a harem setting in a school environment with subtle amount of darkness enough to disguise, which dissuaded many people to drop Kajitsu early on - to a breathtaking, eye-catching thriller from a military setting Yuuji experienced in and where the girls of the Mihama academy becomes involved in intelligence and reconnaissance and putting their specialization to use.
Apart from plot, Grisaia no Rakuen also shined very strongly in the department of character development especially in the first half of the anime. Yuuji’s backstory and emotional development as mentioned earlier has been crucial in this anime as unlike Kajitsu which portrays him as a flawless, robotic human being who somehow specializes in rescuing a damsel in distress every two episodes. In Rakuen however, despite his background as a raised cold-blooded killing machine, Yuuji can be shown to empathize through his representation of his trauma and how he overcomes it and also through his interaction with rest of the cast, especially Asako. His psychological weakness of being traumatized of killing any life form has been a key plot point to this season. And of course, who cannot love his witty, sarcastic sense of humour while putting on his iconic poker face? I also want to add he is probably one of the few harem leads out there who is not just bearable, but so likeable.
Speaking of Asako, her role as Yuuji’s mentor has been crucial to the character development and process of maturity on Yuuji and through his interaction with her and her assertive, confident approach to her philosophy, it is obvious why Yuuji has deep respect for her not only as a soldier and an instructor, but possibly also as an older sister model. His relationship with JB is further explored as well, as she is not merely his superior at work who constantly amusingly irritate and tease at each other, but she is also there to emotionally comfort and support Yuuji whenever she is needed.
With the military academy setting mentioned earlier, there has also been very nice addition to the mixture who have provided enjoyable interactions with Yuuji illustrating the bond he has made during his gaining of military experience, while they also become necessary and relevant in the later episodes. Although there have been several new likeable introductions, the most notable ones are Miliela Stanfield, who becomes slowly attached to Yuuji as a comrade, nicknaming him “Genie”, and Robbie aka James Okada, his weeaboo characteristic and imouto fetish being the running joke.
Despite the girls of Mihama Academy not receiving as much development as Yuuji and his peers did as unfortunately that was Kajitsu’s job which it unfortunately failed at, they have also been given a spotlight to stand on as well as “The Seed of Blanc Aile”, or where the “real fun” starts to return to the present time. Though too much details would end up as a spoiler, from Makina being an awesome loli sniper, to Sachi being Crappy Maid, to Yumiko being the rational and logical strategist, to Michiru being… Michiru (^_^), this season yet again reminded me how the diverse, yet abnormal personalities of the girls and their wacky, comical interaction have been pivotal to the entertainment level of this franchise.
Although the production value is probably not the best you will ever see, there are some aspects to praise. Though background and animation is pretty much the standard you would see in any other anime, the contrast of brightness and dark, bold linings on characters and the details on their faces in general captures the tone of the series well while representing as an unorthodox harem that would not be seen very often.
I have also found the opening and endings very enjoyable as the catchy electronic rhythm of the opening and first ending are complimented well with the panning of the important characters and settings, which I found it as amazingly enjoyable set of animation and direction. First ending especially represents Yuuji’s past very well and how Yuuji still has a conflict unresolved from the past, with the characters important to him appearing in it. Musically, I like the second ending more as it foreshadows the epilogue of the Grisaia franchise, which may represent Yuuji’s will to return safely to his “Eden”, where his family waits for him.
I may be underappreciating the soundtrack and even though I did not find them VERY noticeable, there have been noteworthy usage of violin and piano during dramatic and emotional scenes, and in many dialogue scenes in general which I find it to be very powerful and complimenting well with the scenes, while in the later episodes during dark and mysterious scenes there have been an ominous tones and using electronic guitar very well during climax and action scenes to emphasize on its upbeat and dynamic tone. And of course, Grisaia no Rakuen would not have been nowhere near enjoyable without the appropriate voice acting for each distinct personality and proper use of sound effect in the action scenes.
As for personal enjoyment, to put it into context:
-Grisaia no Kajitsu was my third WEAKEST anime of Fall 2014 after Sora no Method and Trinity Seven (to be fair that was an extremely strong season as well)
-Grisaia no Rakuen was my third FAVOURITE of the season after Yahari Zoku and UBW and equal to Shokugeki no Soma. It was as if it is a complete different anime from the first season
-I would put the eighth episode as one of the best episode of the season, on par with Danmachi 08, Hibike! Euphonium 08, and few of the Yahari Zoku episodes
Although this quickly became a comparative piece between first and second season, through this review I hope I have illustrated its vast difference with the first season very clearly and why it is definitely more enjoyable. As an anime-only viewer, even though I had the confidence Grisaia sequels to be better paced and plot to be more interesting than Kajitsu due to the short teaser at the end of Kajitsu, I have been blown away by the amount of enjoyment and thrill I have perceived from this series and it really makes me glad I did not drop Kajitsu halfway through when my opinion of it was at its lowest.
Therefore I plead and implore not just the VN readers disappointed, discouraged, dissuaded by the unacceptably handled adaption, but also the anime-only viewers who initially dismissed as a mediocre, clichéd harem in a school setting disguised as a dark psychological anime to reconsider picking up Grisaia no Kajitsu (or pick up directly from Meikyuu or Angelic Howl to the VN readers), as this hidden gem is too great to be forgotten and thrown back into obscurity. The miniscule amount of people anticipating and giving attention before it aired was disheartening to see, and in fact it still is not the most watched either as, at the time of writing this review, it is out of Top 1000 in the popularity rankings.
From a harem in an eccentric and unusual setting, to amazing character development and likeable cast, to perfect pacing, to overwhelmingly over-the-top action, every second of the anime surprisingly impressed me with the entertainment level it has offered me and I don’t know why it would not be the same to other anime-only viewers.
