A Review of The Fruit of Grisaia
I had never even heard of this show until a cousin of mine asked me to watch this show with him and give him my thoughts. After watching the first three episodes, I initially thought that I was going to hate this show but I decided to keep going and man...I WAS WRONG! I mean, this show isn't horrible but there is plenty for me to rip about so I will! I am GiraffePants and I would like to present to you all with a review of The Fruit of Grisaia.
THERE WILL BE SPOILERS
Story
This psychological harem is about a young man named Yuuji who transfers to Mihama Academy to live a normal existence but the school is anything but normal. This school only holds 5 psychologically fucked up (but beautiful) girls because you know......no I don't know!!! I have no idea why these girls are the only ones here; sure they're messed up in the noggin but that's no need to waste government money on a gigantic school for 5 girls. Anyway, Yuuji begins socializing with the group of girls (because what else is he gonna do at an empty school) and begins to see the girls wounds open up and unfold. He decides to heal the girls' wounds because it turns out he is a former child spy soldier guy who has been sent by the government and other big entities to do this from the beginning.... Let that sink in.
If this sounds convoluted and utterly absurd to you then I can ensure you that you're not alone. That's not to say this is the only anime with complex story lines but the difference between this show and others that it's story doesn't work! A school of training assassins hired to kill their teacher who is a flying space octopus is convoluted but works! A guy with the ability to travel to a certain period of time to save his mother who's murdered in the present thanks to a series of events in the past is convoluted but works! Grisaia's story line does not work because there is just too much going on. You have to go through 5 girls dark pasts while at the same time explain why all of this is happening in the first place... there is not enough time time to cover both in the time-span of 13 episodes but they tried (miserably).
The biggest problem with the show is its pacing. The first three episodes are pretty useless to say the least. During the first episodes, we are introduced to the girls one by one as they demonstrate their differing personalities and the fact that these girls have psychological issues. The rest of the time is filled with minor hijinks from the girls and some questionable erotic scenes (this is a harem after all). It's not until episode 4 that the story begins and we begin to go through the character arcs of the girls one by one but the pacing for the arcs is terrible. The first arc lasted about 2 episode and I found that arc nice and another arc went that way and I started liking the show more because there was actual progression of plot. Thats when the pacing got weird. entire arcs for a girl would be covered in the span of 1 episode and when we got to the last girl, her arc lasted an entire 4 episodes! This pacing was a huge problem because it affected how much I liked the girls. Some girls, I liked a lot because their story was expressed well and i could understand her story but when a girl's arc runs for 1 episode, it doesn't give me the time to connect.
The arcs themselves also range in their level of psychological horror. Some had me like "This isn't as horrible as I thought" while others had me like "That's so sad. I hope you heal" but then we got to the last arc and I was horrified!!! After seeing the first four arcs, I had a good idea of what to expect for the last arc but the show decided to throw everything I thought I knew and show me 3 episodes of grotesque horrifying story that I was not prepared for and that's bad. When you have an idea of what to expect and something entirely new is thrown at you it can turn you off and that's exactly what happened to me. I was shown a psychological story I was not prepared for and came out of it both pissed and full of anxiety! This is fucked up shit we're talking about! Eating dead puppies, committing cannibalism, rape, and maggots growing out of wounds (all in the same arc). Yeah, not a good time...
DEAD PUPPIES!!!
Characters
There are many main characters in the show (damn harems!) but I feel that it is absolutely necessary to go over all our main characters so you can get a good feel of the show. I will be going over a complex description for each character and their importance to the show.
Amane Suou:
Main girl, most horrifying story
Michiru Matsushima:
Tsundere, my favorite
Yumiko Sakaki:
Japanese beauty, not much else
Makina Irisu:
Loli...... cause you always need one.
Sachi Komine:
Maid girl.
Yuuji Kazami:
The guy. Serious, no expression, douchebag... don't like him.
Now that the complex character description is over with, let's talk about the cast as a whole. The cast is pretty typical for what you expect of a harem and visual novel. Still, this setup is normal so we accept it. I enjoy most of the girls personalities (not the Loli) and how they produce some nice comedy. What I don't like are the ecchi scenes that seem randomly put in the show. There's nothing wrong with some ecchi because I realize what kind of show this is but the scenes tend to be put at the wrong time and tend to run a bit too long for my tastes. Hell, there's a good old masturbation scene in there because why not! Overall the girls are okay but I have a big problem with the main protagonist Yuuji. I just don't like him as a character. He constantly has this expressionless face that looks like a thousand yard stare and he is ALWAYS serious, even when he's trying to be fun. His design is typical of any generic main character and his background is ridiculous. He's just unrelatable on every level and possibly the worst character in the whole show.
Music
Not much I have to say about the music of this show. It is forgettable to say the least! Most of the music sounds like pieces that have already existed in countless other anime. Even the OP sounds reminiscent of other shows (I'll put the OP down below). Nothing really stands out which is disappointing cause I would have loved to add some fresh music into my phone.
Animation
This is more in my expertise. The animation for this show is pretty
decent. It represents the modern polished animation we've come to know, so
pretty contemporary but good none the less. Throughout the show, there is a
widescreen effect (you know, the top and bottom with black bars) which at first
i didn't like but I ended up enjoying. The character designs are good. Nothing
out of the blue but acceptable ( I enjoy Michiru's design the best). I
especially like the little red eye mark every girl has at the end of their eye.
I haven't see a detail like that before and actually like that a lot. The last
thing i want to touch upon is the CG that is used in the show. I am not initially
a fan of CG but man is the CG is not good here. Cars, and roads are made with CG
and well, It looks like a Hot Wheel car is on a pixlelated road!!! That is
probably a little exaggerated but I don't care. Overall, the animation is
good but it could have been improved.
Final Verdict
I will give two separate scores; The technical score which is based on everything I've talked about and a personal score which is based on my pure enjoyment of the show. This will be out of 10, 10 being the best. If numbers confuse you think of it like a school grade where 8 out of 10 would be a B or 6 out of 10 would be a D.
Technical Score- 7 out of 10 (C)
My technical score for The Fruit of Grisaia is a 7. It isn't great but it isn't horrible. There were some moments I enjoyed quite a bit but there was plenty for me to get upset about. Honestly I think a 7 is a bit generous but that's my final answer. Animation was good, story was alright, characters were alright, and the music was whatever. This show doesn't really stand out among other shows and could be tasteless at times but overall, not a waste of my time.
Personal Score- 7 out of 10 (C)
My personal score is also a 7. The many flaws the show had kept holding me back from enjoying the show which I think was the biggest contributor for this score. There were some character arcs that I enjoyed more than I thought I would and there was some decent comedy thrown in but at the end I wouldn't see this again and probably forget I saw this.
Well, that's the end of the review and I hope you all enjoyed reading. Tell me down below what you thought of the show and whether I was too harsh on it. If you have a suggestion of a show I should review next, don't be afraid to tell me down below. Also consider checking out my YouTube Channel, GiraffePants Anime for other anime content and consider following this blog! This blog is brand new so anything is appreciated. Now that the shameless plugging is over with, I hope you guys enjoyed and hopefully, I will see you for another post! Later!
This psychological harem is about a young man named Yuuji who transfers to Mihama Academy to live a normal existence but the school is anything but normal. This school only holds 5 psychologically fucked up (but beautiful) girls because you know......no I don't know!!! I have no idea why these girls are the only ones here; sure they're messed up in the noggin but that's no need to waste government money on a gigantic school for 5 girls. Anyway, Yuuji begins socializing with the group of girls (because what else is he gonna do at an empty school) and begins to see the girls wounds open up and unfold. He decides to heal the girls' wounds because it turns out he is a former child spy soldier guy who has been sent by the government and other big entities to do this from the beginning.... Let that sink in.
If this sounds convoluted and utterly absurd to you then I can ensure you that you're not alone. That's not to say this is the only anime with complex story lines but the difference between this show and others that it's story doesn't work! A school of training assassins hired to kill their teacher who is a flying space octopus is convoluted but works! A guy with the ability to travel to a certain period of time to save his mother who's murdered in the present thanks to a series of events in the past is convoluted but works! Grisaia's story line does not work because there is just too much going on. You have to go through 5 girls dark pasts while at the same time explain why all of this is happening in the first place... there is not enough time time to cover both in the time-span of 13 episodes but they tried (miserably).
The biggest problem with the show is its pacing. The first three episodes are pretty useless to say the least. During the first episodes, we are introduced to the girls one by one as they demonstrate their differing personalities and the fact that these girls have psychological issues. The rest of the time is filled with minor hijinks from the girls and some questionable erotic scenes (this is a harem after all). It's not until episode 4 that the story begins and we begin to go through the character arcs of the girls one by one but the pacing for the arcs is terrible. The first arc lasted about 2 episode and I found that arc nice and another arc went that way and I started liking the show more because there was actual progression of plot. Thats when the pacing got weird. entire arcs for a girl would be covered in the span of 1 episode and when we got to the last girl, her arc lasted an entire 4 episodes! This pacing was a huge problem because it affected how much I liked the girls. Some girls, I liked a lot because their story was expressed well and i could understand her story but when a girl's arc runs for 1 episode, it doesn't give me the time to connect.
 |
| DEAD PUPPIES!!! |
There are many main characters in the show (damn harems!) but I feel that it is absolutely necessary to go over all our main characters so you can get a good feel of the show. I will be going over a complex description for each character and their importance to the show.
Amane Suou:
Main girl, most horrifying story
Michiru Matsushima:
Tsundere, my favorite
Yumiko Sakaki:
Japanese beauty, not much else
Makina Irisu:
Loli...... cause you always need one.
Sachi Komine:
Maid girl.
Yuuji Kazami:
The guy. Serious, no expression, douchebag... don't like him.
Now that the complex character description is over with, let's talk about the cast as a whole. The cast is pretty typical for what you expect of a harem and visual novel. Still, this setup is normal so we accept it. I enjoy most of the girls personalities (not the Loli) and how they produce some nice comedy. What I don't like are the ecchi scenes that seem randomly put in the show. There's nothing wrong with some ecchi because I realize what kind of show this is but the scenes tend to be put at the wrong time and tend to run a bit too long for my tastes. Hell, there's a good old masturbation scene in there because why not! Overall the girls are okay but I have a big problem with the main protagonist Yuuji. I just don't like him as a character. He constantly has this expressionless face that looks like a thousand yard stare and he is ALWAYS serious, even when he's trying to be fun. His design is typical of any generic main character and his background is ridiculous. He's just unrelatable on every level and possibly the worst character in the whole show.
Music
Not much I have to say about the music of this show. It is forgettable to say the least! Most of the music sounds like pieces that have already existed in countless other anime. Even the OP sounds reminiscent of other shows (I'll put the OP down below). Nothing really stands out which is disappointing cause I would have loved to add some fresh music into my phone.
Not much I have to say about the music of this show. It is forgettable to say the least! Most of the music sounds like pieces that have already existed in countless other anime. Even the OP sounds reminiscent of other shows (I'll put the OP down below). Nothing really stands out which is disappointing cause I would have loved to add some fresh music into my phone.
Animation
This is more in my expertise. The animation for this show is pretty
decent. It represents the modern polished animation we've come to know, so
pretty contemporary but good none the less. Throughout the show, there is a
widescreen effect (you know, the top and bottom with black bars) which at first
i didn't like but I ended up enjoying. The character designs are good. Nothing
out of the blue but acceptable ( I enjoy Michiru's design the best). I
especially like the little red eye mark every girl has at the end of their eye.
I haven't see a detail like that before and actually like that a lot. The last
thing i want to touch upon is the CG that is used in the show. I am not initially
a fan of CG but man is the CG is not good here. Cars, and roads are made with CG
and well, It looks like a Hot Wheel car is on a pixlelated road!!! That is
probably a little exaggerated but I don't care. Overall, the animation is
good but it could have been improved.
Final Verdict
I will give two separate scores; The technical score which is based on everything I've talked about and a personal score which is based on my pure enjoyment of the show. This will be out of 10, 10 being the best. If numbers confuse you think of it like a school grade where 8 out of 10 would be a B or 6 out of 10 would be a D.
Technical Score- 7 out of 10 (C)
My technical score for The Fruit of Grisaia is a 7. It isn't great but it isn't horrible. There were some moments I enjoyed quite a bit but there was plenty for me to get upset about. Honestly I think a 7 is a bit generous but that's my final answer. Animation was good, story was alright, characters were alright, and the music was whatever. This show doesn't really stand out among other shows and could be tasteless at times but overall, not a waste of my time.
Personal Score- 7 out of 10 (C)
My personal score is also a 7. The many flaws the show had kept holding me back from enjoying the show which I think was the biggest contributor for this score. There were some character arcs that I enjoyed more than I thought I would and there was some decent comedy thrown in but at the end I wouldn't see this again and probably forget I saw this.
Well, that's the end of the review and I hope you all enjoyed reading. Tell me down below what you thought of the show and whether I was too harsh on it. If you have a suggestion of a show I should review next, don't be afraid to tell me down below. Also consider checking out my YouTube Channel, GiraffePants Anime for other anime content and consider following this blog! This blog is brand new so anything is appreciated. Now that the shameless plugging is over with, I hope you guys enjoyed and hopefully, I will see you for another post! Later!
Technical Score- 7 out of 10 (C)
My technical score for The Fruit of Grisaia is a 7. It isn't great but it isn't horrible. There were some moments I enjoyed quite a bit but there was plenty for me to get upset about. Honestly I think a 7 is a bit generous but that's my final answer. Animation was good, story was alright, characters were alright, and the music was whatever. This show doesn't really stand out among other shows and could be tasteless at times but overall, not a waste of my time.
Personal Score- 7 out of 10 (C)
My personal score is also a 7. The many flaws the show had kept holding me back from enjoying the show which I think was the biggest contributor for this score. There were some character arcs that I enjoyed more than I thought I would and there was some decent comedy thrown in but at the end I wouldn't see this again and probably forget I saw this.
