Grisaia no Kajitsu

http://i.imgur.com/mMnk5oD.jpg

"Trying to become something that he isn't, Kazami Yuji transferred himself to Mihama Academy --- a school with only five female students and prison-like features. He was told that every student in this school have their own 'circumstances' (himself included) and that he is not required to do anything about their situation as he asked for a 'normal' student life. Will Yuji find his solution here in Mihama Academy?" -Wikipedia

Links: AniDB | ANN | Official
Download: Episode 1 720p | 1080p - HS





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One of the shows I was looking forward to as the source is among the better VNs I've read. As opposed to many VNs, I also read it entirely, every route. It has very interesting stories and decently varied and thought-out characters. The main character is undoubtly one of the best: Just the first seconds of this episode will reveal he looks like a fricking killer, not the naive, innocent type that high school anime usually sports, regardless of fighting capabilities. This guy is like a mix between Clannad's Tomoya's dry, witty jokes and FMP's Sagara's mentality.

I have no idea how this will play out considering it's impossible to cover everything in the hugely different routes. But I'm looking forward to good episodes, no matter what. The fanservice was quite blatant every now and then, and of course censored to boost BD sales, but it can't be helped. At least it's made funnier by the dude's expression that says he doesn't give a shit about some school girl flashing panties or boobs.

I'll surely keep watching unless the story and characters are ruined.

That first ep certainly did not do justice to the source material. Let's see what happens next.

The MC's expression just makes the whole thing. He doesn't put up with any crap.

I don't know how I feel about the black bars. I wonder if the whole thing will be like this.

It's too bad they had to go with the late night lens flare & panty shot pandering, as I expect the story could really stand on its own. Looking forward to the next ep for sure. Also, ditto on Yuuji's "99 problems but you ain't one" blank stare being hilarious.

I don't know, his stare is almost even better because of the panty shots.
Like, when the two girls are wrestling on the sofa there is a close up of pantsu, and then it cuts to his face with that look like he's disgusted that he has to put up with this.

That was great.

I missed all the characters so much.

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Originally Posted by MasterOfMoogles

I don't know how I feel about the black bars. I wonder if the whole thing will be like this.

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I'm wondering about the same thing. I certainly don't see any reason for it. Maybe it tried to mark this episode as an intro, and the rest of the eps will be normal. I certainly hope so.

Episode 2 - HS



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Looks like the black bars (or rather the wider, big screen aspect ratio) are here to stay. But I'm getting used to it, so it's fine. I guess people with 16:10 screens would be more bothered, the sadness bars being even bigger than in the more common FullHD 16:9.

I continue to like this. Yuuji is slowly falling in, despite telling otherwise to the principal. Or at least externally he is, with all the other girls save Sakaki chatting with him as if he had always been there. I'm glad we still got a few scenes with the empty eyes killer gaze. That really makes his character, along with the overly calm demeanor.

The beginning of the VN was long and I doubt I'd even remember all the things that happened during it, but nevertheless it'll be interesting to see what they will try to include here, and how the story will develop later. It feels like Sakaki is getting a lot of attention, but on the other hand she's the one to stand out right now, not accepting Yuuji as readily as the others.

This adaptation made me hope for a Grisaia no Meikyuu adaptation. Hopefully, if this makes enough cash, the rest of the VNs will get translated.

Meikyuu is by far the best, this being the 2nd. They can just cut out Rakuen if they want, or edit it to make more logical sense.

MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's going to be a kickstarter for the whole series in November:
http://prefundia.com/projects/view/l...the-west/2814/

I screwed up my English (alcohol ftw). What I meant was I hope that the rest of the VNs are adapted to anime. It would allow a much larger audience to access the amazing story in the 2nd VN. The third was meh, so I'm fine with it being cut out.

gotta say, yumiko´s constant murder attempts are just not funny. If it wasnt for his superior dodging skills, he´d be dead. Fun :/

Also, my current ranking:

1. Makina
2. Amane
3. Maid-girl

So from what I gather she thought a guy in an all girl school would try and rape all of them. Plus she seems to care about her friends and combined with the fact that she couldn't find anything on the guy she tried to kill him just to be safe?

All of them are abnormal students, or abnormal humans, as has been said a few times already. Under those circumstances I don't think Sakaki trying to murder Yuuji is supposed to be funny. This isn't a comedy series but a series with comedy.

Yumiko for worst girl.

Episode 6 - HS





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I don't think I'd anymore recommend this show to anyone. It's like it's trying to cover every girl's story in 12/13 eps. Naturally it's utterly impossible, and thus we end up with bullshit like this episode (and the previous one). Some said this anime is going to be a failure like this, but I maintained a slight hope the plot would instead stick to a single girl and thus build a decent story, only borrowing some comedy from other routes, for example. But, alas, no. This show is doomed. Who knows what the studio and director imagine they will achieve with this.

The problem is that there is no single true route in Grisaia, and none of the girls' stories could really carry it by themselves.
They did okay with Michiru, though with so much content left on the cutting room floor, it lacks a lot of the emotional impact it is supposed to have.
Yumiko is the worst, though, so hopefully they'll do a better job with the remaining 3 girls.

I'm fine with them cutting Yumiko's route. It was the least interesting one anyway. They needed to do this in order to allow the Makina route to happen. This change was actually welcome because I got to see new content.

What should be animated is Grisaia no Meikyuu. I hope that this adaptation earns enough to warrant that.

@Ryll - Looks like Kraco made your fears come true.

It's fine, I dropped it at episode 2. As much as I was liking the blond girl (and kinda liked the maid one), I found zero motivation to watch this show. It just wasn't interesting. I had downloaded episodes 3 and 4, but still hadn't watched them weeks later.

The rest of the characters just fell completely flat. Given the cast, I can say that the only reason I was drawn to the two I did like was their VAs. The others simply weren't engaging at all. The first two episodes gave me no reason to care about them or want to learn more.

When I realize I don't care about the characters or what happens to them, I drop the show.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

@Ryll - Looks like Kraco made your fears come true.

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If I interpreted it correctly, Ryll's worry were people who would never be satisfied with an adaptation, even if it was a good one, instead complaining about every single difference between the source and the anime. However, no matter how you look at the recent development in this show, it's bullshit. Though I admit Michiru worked strangely well, but that's probably only because she's such a goofy character that it might not matter. It doesn't change the fact that using 20 mins to reveal a traumatised person's background and fixing it is laughably superficial. It's no better than the UBW movie. Except that this show doesn't have superb visuals.

If he already dropped it then who cares.

Yeah, the changes (from VN) can be jarring and the pace is beyond breakneck, but I'm certainly still enjoying the show.

So...

Grisaia is getting a second season that supposedly covers the next 2 games, Labyrinth and Paradise.

I would be ecstatic if not for the terrible job they did for the first season. The only good arc is Angelic Howl, including the changes they made to the ending. I wish they had 26 episodes to really flesh out the characters, dole out the comedy, and deliver powerful drama.

Labyrinth is very dense. Not as long as Fruits, but it will still need a decent amount of time to develop the side characters, especially Yuuji's master Asako (She is my personal favorite, trumping even a genius, white-haired, kuudere loli. Yeah, I am amazed as well.). This story has incredible potential. Unfortunately, that also means it has incredible potential for ruin.

Paradise isn't really that good. It became more of a gag story than a serious sequel to the very dark Labyrinth. I hope they actually break apart this story and rehash some of the odd comedic decisions that made the final game hard to take seriously.

This was quite a sad adaptation, but it could have been even worse. At least they had the decency to spend the last few eps on a single girl, instead of ruining the last arc like they did the other ones. Amane's story worked surprisingly well all things considered. It would have been better to forget the rest, save for some minor things, and concentrate on one, but I guess most studios aren't interested in such a method.

The bus setting was a bit flawed, but there was potential for a nicer story. But it somehow falls short of some (unfounded?) expectations.
Reading from guys that played the game, it reminds me of the UBW movie. In both cases, you either cram too much or skip too much of what made the game so nice.

Labyrinth 01 - HS





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Quite a decent episode. I hope I'm not only saying it because I haven't played the VN this time, unlike with the original show. It helped the episode boasted a double length. In any case it painted a really fucked up picture of Yuuji's past, as expected. In the end even the sister didn't really make Yuuji's life any easier. Of course the origin of his early suffering was the fact he was treated like dirt next to the genius sister, but forgetting that indirect effect, it looks like Kazuki also did her own direct part to make his life strange. But then again, they were kids, Kazuki included, despite being a genius. And kids can be really cruel and thoughtless. I'm not entirely sure what to think about the incest theme. I don't see where it's coming from, but maybe it was one reason for Kazuki to abandon Yuuji like she did.

Kazuki shouldn't really be considered a kid. As evident from all her scenes so far, she's everything but. She even rationalized incest. That's not something a thoughtless kid would even think of doing.

Looks like they moved half of Meikyuu to the coming Rakuen series. That's a relief because Meikyuu would never fit in 40 minutes. I didn't find the story too rushed. Sure, you won't have the emotional attachment like in the VN, but that's always the case with adaptations. In the VN, all of the narrated parts were actually full blown flashbacks. The violence and rape were also toned down incredibly in the anime. Kazuki had an awesome H-scene with kid Yuuji.

I nearly cried when Asako and Yuuji first met in the last few minutes. I'm sure Rakuen will break my heart to pieces again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Kazuki shouldn't really be considered a kid. As evident from all her scenes so far, she's everything but. She even rationalized incest. That's not something a thoughtless kid would even think of doing.

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Lack of life experience made her a kid nonetheless. She probably saw more than an average kid, but not that much more. She was merely used as a financial asset, otherwise she wasn't so specially treated day in and day out. In the end time is the same for everybody.

I'd understand your comments if Kazuki was depicted as a bookish genius, but that's hardly the case. She behaved more rationally and calmly during the bus incident than anyone else, including the "adults." She even hid her talents to live a peaceful life, something more "mature" people would not even have the leeway to think of doing, much less actually do. Everything she said showed wisdom (and craftiness) far beyond her age.

I think you're placing too much value in life experience. Some people simply learn much more than others in the same (or even shorter) amount of time. Others, like Michiru, simply do not learn period.

EDIT: And this is anime.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

I'd understand your comments if Kazuki was depicted as a bookish genius, but that's hardly the case. She behaved more rationally and calmly during the bus incident than anyone else, including the "adults."

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I always found the bus incident so unrealistic that I can't really judge it one way or another. In the first place the fact she remained there and didn't leave to seek help (despite having the wits), kind of suggests she didn't want to bear the responsibility or make the final decision. On the other hand, I do consider her somewhat (childishly?) wicked so it's possible she simply enjoyed watching the other girls' mortal struggle, having perfect faith in her own ability to survive no matter what.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

She even hid her talents to live a peaceful life, something more "mature" people would not even have the leeway to think of doing, much less actually do. Everything she said showed wisdom (and craftiness) far beyond her age.

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She was living in her parents' home like any kid. It doesn't take a genius to downplay one's abilities if all the attention starts to look like a huge bother.

I'm not saying she was an ordinary kid (only with more intelligence), but she was still a kid. Also, there are technical adults who are utterly immature, much more so than Kazuki was. She was no doubt years more mature than she should have been based on the age (Yuuji was a total kid in comparison and she was only a couple of years older), but a kid is still a kid.

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Originally Posted by Kraco

I always found the bus incident so unrealistic that I can't really judge it one way or another. In the first place the fact she remained there and didn't leave to seek help (despite having the wits), kind of suggests she didn't want to bear the responsibility or make the final decision. On the other hand, I do consider her somewhat (childishly?) wicked so it's possible she simply enjoyed watching the other girls' mortal struggle, having perfect faith in her own ability to survive no matter what.

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Everything she did during that incident was calculated. It was shown in the anime pretty clearly, so your interpretation is completely off base. She even explained her actions herself.

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Originally Posted by Kraco

She was living in her parents' home like any kid. It doesn't take a genius to downplay one's abilities if all the attention starts to look like a huge bother.

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There are laws in Japan preventing her from simply leaving. And that second sentence doesn't make sense. It is precisely because she is a genius that she has abilities worth downplaying. Even talented adults are desperate to show off their skills in the dog-eat-dog world.

What I'm basically saying is, this is anime and kids who aren't really kids are all over the place.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Everything she did during that incident was calculated. It was shown in the anime pretty clearly, so your interpretation is completely off base. She even explained her actions herself.

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Right. Allowing herself (and her friend) to starve for many days surely speaks highly of her calculative abilities - unless she had another goal. Like taking the opportunity to fake her own death and disappear. But that in itself would be kind of childish. She wasn't a terrorist on the run or anybody in a desperate need to disappear.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

There are laws in Japan preventing her from simply leaving. And that second sentence doesn't make sense. It is precisely because she is a genius that she has abilities worth downplaying. Even talented adults are desperate to show off their skills in the dog-eat-dog world.

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A kid living in their parents' home is not in a dog-eat-dog world. At that point they were living a relatively normal life, or maybe even above average with that nice home and everything. They said in this very episode that she started to take it easy on purpose. Sure, adults and children both can feel lazy and take it easy if they have a choice, so that in itself doesn't prove anything. But it certainly doesn't prove she was a little adult because she decided to relax instead of amazing the world.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Right. Allowing herself (and her friend) to starve for many days surely speaks highly of her calculative abilities - unless she had another goal.

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They were waiting for help. Wandering around the forest will likely lead them to getting lost and wasting precious food, like the teacher did. All this was explained in the show. I don't wanna repeat all of it, so if you wanna keep believing your version of events, then fine.

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Originally Posted by Kraco

But it certainly doesn't prove she was a little adult because she decided to relax instead of amazing the world.

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What her actions show is that she wasn't a child. It's normal for kids to wanna show off. She chose to manipulate everyone around her and hide her talons because she wanted to live in peace (and to protect Yuuji, but that's irrelevant). Yeah, sure, that's what kids do.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

They were waiting for help. Wandering around the forest will likely lead them to getting lost and wasting precious food, like the teacher did. All this was explained in the show. I don't wanna repeat all of it, so if you wanna keep believing your version of events, then fine.

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No, wandering in the woods for a few hours is what led Amane back to civilization, which is what happened in the show. Kazuki knew it all along, but for her own reasons she didn't force the decision. Sorry, but as a person who has wandered in the woods since early childhood, I simply can't understand on a fundamental level the setting the whole arc had: that the forest was such a foreboding, frightening place nobody should approach it. The least of all in a place like Japan with its very high population density. This is why the whole thing was so unrealistic to me.

Children aren't stupid. Kazuki had years to learn and notice that the more she displayed her genius talents, the more trouble it caused her and Yuuji. It's only logical she would then turn them down a notch. It's precisely because she was a kid living with her parents that she could do it. She had a home and food automatically available all the time, genius or not.

It doesn't matter if you find the bus scenario realistic or not, nor if you like it or not. It's what happened, and the point of that whole arc was to show how ingenious and mature Kazuki is.

Amane survived because of luck and all the food Kazuki stored for her. You do remember that she almost died, right? Did you forget what I said about the male teacher who didn't make it out even with a lot of supplies? There were also many injured that prevented them from leaving early on. Really, this was all explained in the show.

Kazuki scolded and controlled her parents. Yeah, kids do that too.

You've stretched the definition of a kid so much that I don't even need to argue it anymore. Sure, Kazuki is a kid based on your definition of one: A genius more capable than most adults who is mature enough to want a peaceful life despite possessing overwhelming ability. I'm sure kids are like that.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

It doesn't matter if you find the bus scenario realistic or not, nor if you like it or not. It's what happened, and the point of that whole arc was to show how ingenious and mature Kazuki is.

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How can you prove somebody is ingenious and mature when the setting doesn't allow any such proving? If Kazuki, the genius who could control her own greedy parents and all the other adults around her, had talked Amane into leaving the wreck during the first day or night, they could have sent help to the accident place in a couple of days, instead of rotting there for a week. However, Kazuki chose against it because somehow watching the people suffer whilst having no doubt she would survive herself gave her extra kicks. That's some sort of childish arrogance of a child prodigy.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Did you forget what I said about the male teacher who didn't make it out even with a lot of supplies? There were also many injured that prevented them from leaving early on. Really, this was all explained in the show.

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The male teacher was a blistering idiot and a disgrace of a human being who had probably never left the city before and the most wild place he had ever visited was a central park. A 6 years old scout fledgling would have beaten him 10-0 in everything relevant.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

You've stretched the definition of a kid so much that I don't even need to argue it anymore. Sure, Kazuki is a kid based on your definition of one: A genius more capable than most adults who is mature enough to want a peaceful life despite possessing overwhelming ability. I'm sure kids are like that.

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I'm merely saying there are all kinds of kids, just like there are all kinds of adults. Being a genius doesn't turn a kid into an adult alone.

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Originally Posted by Kraco

However, Kazuki chose against it because somehow watching the people suffer whilst having no doubt she would survive herself gave her extra kicks. That's some sort of childish arrogance of a child prodigy.

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Sigh, stop inventing stuff. Kazuki never said or did anything that suggests that. Did you forget how she cared for the injured? Did you forget how she sacrificed her arm to save Amane, a girl she hardly knew? Did you forget how she calmly sacrificed herself to save Amane in the end? Kazuki is nothing like what you are imagining.

The biggest mistake Kazuki made in that scenario was incorrectly estimating the time it would take for them to be found (something you both share since you did say Japan is a populated place). She intended to do the best thing for everyone. That is, until they started going insane.

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Originally Posted by Kraco

The male teacher was a blistering idiot and a disgrace of a human being who had probably never left the city before and the most wild place he had ever visited was a central park. A 6 years old scout fledgling would have beaten him 10-0 in everything relevant.

I'm merely saying there are all kinds of kids, just like there are all kinds of adults. Being a genius doesn't turn a kid into an adult alone.

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Yeah, thanks for weakening your definition of a kid even further. The adult vs. kid dichotomy is meaningless at this point. I only argued about it because you suggested that Kazuki is not emotionally mature, which is not the case.

BTW, the same can be said for all of the people involved in that crash. Even Kazuki only had book knowledge when it came to survival, but she used every bit of it to help everyone else.

And according to you, she apparently got kicks from seeing people hurt? Sure...

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

And according to you, she apparently got kicks from seeing people hurt? Sure...

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Nah, that was only an exaggeration, which I used because she had a plan and the skills (even if they were book skills, but for a genius those would be enough), but instead she chose to do nothing, more or less. I'd say it's more immature than mature to sit still and wait for somebody to help you. After all, kids rely on adults to support them, whereas adults typically have to save themselves in the dog-eat-dog world, like you eloquently put it. While it wouldn't be wise to immediately leave the accident scene, as help typically arrives in a civilized country and it's a bother if the officials have to scour the wilderness for wanderers, but there's a time limit for waiting passively, especially when nobody can call for help. The fact is Amane found help rather easily, considering her weakened state. Had they left earlier, it would have been easy indeed. At least for a non-idiot person, which is why the teacher didn't count.

I still maintain she wasn't emotionally adult. But then again, I haven't played the two other VNs like you did, so maybe that's the reason why I can't see it.

Ep 10 of season 2

Just finished it and... how faithful was it to the source material? It felt very much rushed, with all of these characters that felt like they should have been emphasized more. Even the heroines were missing for 1/2 of the season. I imagine this was the victim of circumstance with there only being greenlit a 2 season run. Oh well.

The first season brought something original/unique feeling to the Harem space.

The second and third games were actually adapted really well. All the boring and utterly nonsensical (I'm not exaggerating when I say utterly) parts were cut out, and only the relevant parts remained. The last game, Rakuen, really wasn't good at all. It was certainly incomparable to Meikyuu, and not even in the same universe as Kajitsu.

The first season of this anime was adapted horribly. The only reason you think it is better than this season is because the source material is just that awesome.

Just finished this up.
Having only played the first game, I really liked the rest of the anime. There was clearly a lot rushed and left unexplained. The final fights were horrible, but the lead-up to it was fantastic.

I have a hard time imaging how they go from a multi-arc/no true-end first game to the followup, so I certainly understand why they did what they did with the first season. It probably would have gone over a lot better with a few more episodes, though.

Sniper Makina, Combat Sachi, Useless Michiru, and Genius Kazuki all the way. Screw the rest of the girls.

Kazuki has an awesome sense of humour. That's clearly a shared genetic trait between her and Yuuji. Such a fine big sister, even if she looks like a younger sister.

The story was largely nonsensical in Eden, especially compared to Labyrinth, but it was entertaining enough. Naturally Kazuki being alive and well was the best part of it.

Just watched all of this, I assume... (Grisaia no Kaijutsu 13 episodes, Grisaia no Meikyuu Special, Grisaia no Rakuen 10 episodes).

I have to say I really enjoyed this even though it's a harem, something I'm not fond of. But the way they worked things out in this series actually worked quite well for me. I also enjoyed how they pushed the envelope quite a few times, and didn't shy away from being graphic. I watched Bluray versions, so not sure if it was censored during the tv versions you guys may have watched.

I have a soft spot for main characters similar to the Sagara Sousuke mold, which honestly doesn't seem to be a trope that is as often exploited as I would like for my tastes (we're getting more FMP soon!).

Also, seems like a new series is being made Grisaia Phantom Trigger, but seems to feature a full new cast of characters. A bit ambivalent on that regard. I thought the Grisaia Trilogy ended well and resolved what it had to resolve, so glad we are not turning back into that sequence and potentially ruin a series that had very good closure (hard to find). With that in mind I'm glad this new series is going its own way (with maybe some cameos?)

Just the same, since it's a new group of characters, not sure if they'll effectively get me into the series knowing the group that came before it, will be hard not to compare. We'll see I guess.

I'm playing the VNs for Phantom Trigger. Didn't know an anime was planned. I have to say that the Grisaia VN, outside of Rakuen ending parts, is much, much better than the anime.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

I'm playing the VNs for Phantom Trigger. Didn't know an anime was planned. I have to say that the Grisaia VN, outside of Rakuen ending parts, is much, much better than the anime.

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https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...-anime/.118578