Review of The Fruit of Grisaia

As soon as i got done watching this I had to sit back and think for a minute. I knew it would probably be some sort of harem that wasn't going to break the mold or anything, but i ended up being surprised. Let me tell you all about it fam. As soon as episode one i noticed its kinda just lousy fan service and mostly 2D characters. I understand that they all had some sort of tragic past but that didn't stop it them from being unoriginal in any way. You have the ususal assortment of Tsudere, Silent but deadly, Pervert girl, Maid, and Loli.Pretty standard stuff. Pick which everone you want and pretend that they are going to end up with our cardboard cutout of a main character,Yuuji.

So the first 7 episodes are generic filtered harem style "boy meets girl" cycling through each chick every couple of episodes, while throwing hints of Yuuji's tragic and blood stained past and shit like that. So each girls development is going to be purely based on the couple of episodes we delve into their "tragic past problems" and such. Its supposed to be explaining the reasons why thy act estranged like they do, but for half of them i don't buy it as a comparable reason for being 2D.

There was one girl left (the Pervert girl) who hadn't been through the ringer with our titular male lead yet. Like all the others i expected to witness a two or possible 3 episode sequence of her cliche/mundane tragedies and see er strengthen her relationship with our Hero. (not that it'd matter because we all know he'd never get with one)

But... for no reason... the show decided to get good. And i mean pretty top tier in my opinion. (or it could seem top tier due to the fact that the rest was bottom tier)

The Pervert girls back story not only introduces a new and interesting character, but it also ties back to the main character because its his sister. Now that's not unheard of or anything but it was worth noting. As a middle schooler her and a bunch of female class mates get stranded in between the bottom of a mountain face and possibly miles of jungle like forest. With all means of communication cut of from the outside world. The girls have to figure out the best way to sustain themselves and find rescue. As to not spoil anymore of the actual good part of the show i will not go to in depth, but you should know that it is actually pretty damn good. So good in fact i couldn't help but wonder why it wasn't created about just the Pervert girls tragic backstory. Literally all 13 episodes could have easily been dedicated to it and the show would have actually earn'd a lot of praise i think. The way the dive into how the psyche breaks down and the primal instincts to survive break through logical reasoning was very well done. It also works its way into the present time story really well too, and made the wrap up of the season quite enjoyable id say.

So here is the deal.
episodes 1-7 Rating: 5
episodes 8-13 Rating:9

I'd say its worth watching the first 7 just to get to the back 5. It helps build up a little character relations as well i wouldnt recommend just going right to the back 5 but you could and you'd still enjoy it but if only a bit less id say.

Final thoughts: Don't watch the back 5 episodes if you are squeamish.