Spoiler for this review, I have played the visual novel this anime is based upon. I have completed 3 of the 5 routes in the game, and have an understanding of what happens in the other two. I love Grisaia no Kajitsu as a visual novel. Indeed, along with vns like Little Busters and Majikoi, I would argue Grisaia and its sequels probably rank among some of the best vns. Shame that no one will ever adapt a Eushully visual novel, but that's neither here nor there. The anime for Grisaia isn't bad. It's quite enjoyable, if a little rushed going through each of the five routes. It suffers from the mere fact that it's an anime. Much of Grisaia's humour is crude, a bit sarcastic, and some people may even find it offensive. But, for me, take as you will, it's without a doubt the highlight of the game. It's the part that can make you burst out laughing at one of the lines a character says. That's not to say it doesn't have regular humour that's just stellar as well. It also suffers because Grisaia is a long visual novel. And because of that, they have to cut significant parts of the visual novel to even adapt it. The prologue is arguably around 50 hrs and each respective heroine has about 20-25 hours for their routes. Grisaia deals with some pretty rough themes and can be dark, even for someone like me, who has a gallows sense of humour. However, it never attempts to make fun of these terms. Arguably it treats them with much of the respect they deserve. I won't give spoilers, since I want everyone to play the game(s), but you feel the impact of each character's backstory as to why they ended up where they did. And the anime, being I believe only 12 episodes for season 1, just can't grasp that within that short a period of time, hell, I doubt it could do justice to even one route, let alone five. I gave the anime an 80/100 when I first watched because for an anime adapting a common route as well as each of the five heroines' routes, I thought it was a respectful attempt. And I appreciated the animation and that they adapted a good portion of the visual novel's music. Upon reflection, I might give it a 75 or so. I consider it an excellent gateway into getting people to play the game. And I really do hope those of you who read this are inspired to do so. I think most of you will agree with me that while not perfect, I believe the anime for Grisaia no Kajitsu does a decent enough job telling you the plot of the game. I just, like me, you'll take the plunge and play the game for yourself. It has to be one of the best visual novels of this era considering it came out in 2011. The art and dialogue and music is still amazing. So just to repeat what I've said already, watch the anime, and then, enjoy the game and how much better it is.
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