Finally, I got to conclude the trilogy that is the main stories of the Grisaia series. And boy, was it a ride.
To understand the series, you have to, obviously, start at the beginning; the Fruit of Grisaia (FoG) and take it from there. Yes, the characters are tropés at first (and stay as such, largely, through all three games), but as soon as you get under the skin of each of the main five girls, you quickly realise that the character writing (as in how the characters are “created”) is at a really high level of quality. So high that you start to feel WITH the characters, you groan at Michiru, you sigh with Yumiko or you look at Sachi’s twisted principles from the perspective of the potential victims. Even though Yuuji is the protagonist in FoG, you don’t really get that much under HIS skin, it is very heavily hinted at that his story, before coming to Mihama Academy, is cause for interest. The classic “harem”-tropé where you don’t really know a whole lot about the main character (the “you” in the narrative) is thus in place.
However, Yuuji remains largely untouched in FoG. FoG also provided ten possible endings, which until Labyrinth of Grisaia (LoG) were impossible tell what was cannon and what wasn’t. LoG picks off at a slightly odd point; where NONE of the endings are cannon, but all of them (the “good endings” for each girl) have mounts of truth to them. LoG focuses on Yuuji’s story, and provides the insight into his mind and sight, also because, as we follow his story, so do the girls he live with at Mihama Academy. LoG also gives a very detailed look into the life of Asako; the first person other than his sister, that Yuuji loves (or even likes), which was very heavily mentioned in FoG in pretty much every single flashback from Yuuji’s perspective, so it’s really nice to get that information. LoG also provides five AFTER stories, which does the same as the “main” story of LoG; takes of from a point where none of the FoG endings where truth, but still had grains of cannon lore. These stories tell, what I guess, WOULD have been cannon, had Yuuji actually chosen anyone in FoG (you “choose” for him, but as of LoG, it’s clear that it is not a choice he’d make on his own). LoG also provides a large amount of small extra stories, typically funny skits and shorts that may/may not have been intended as part of the story, but found unfit when it was put together. Kind of like the bloopers to a Jackie Chan movie. LoG’s main story ended abruptly on a cliffhanger, so it was natural for me, that when the final main story branch, Eden of Grisaia (EoG), was published, I was quick to get it.
EoG provides a closure, and it does so with gusto and bravour. Even though shorter than both FoG and LoG (main story), it is the one with most action, often leaving you at the edge of your seat, picking many of the problems from LoG up and dealing with them. However, it also gives Yuuji much more feeling as this gives something that surprises even our all’s male tsundere agent. As LoG’s main story did not have choices, and FoG gave me roughly 30 HOURS of reading before the first choice, I was genuinely surprised when EoG threw not one but TWO choices in my face. It’s an amazing conclusion to this massive trilogy, that I ended up spending +100 hours in. +100 hours VERY well spent, I might add. EoG also added a prequel; how DID the girls at Mihama Academy meet, what was the school like before Yuuji’s arrival in FoG? An amazing little story that fills surprisingly many holes.
If I were to pin the stories, FoG, LoG and EoG up against each other, which I find kind of silly as they really are one long story altogether, I would say that.
Fruit of Grisaia: 9.5/10
Labyrinth of Grisaia: 7/10
Eden of Grisaia: 9/10
My reasoning for this score is that Fruit of Grisaia had so much more “meat” to it’s story, it took it’s time describing details in environments, in characters, in the mood. Especially in Labyrinth, the story felt a bit rushed at times. The fact that it also “denies” the endings of FoG also is a bit of a bitter pill to swallow (though I’ll admit it works much better for trilogy as a whole). Eden of Grisaia is very close to reaching Fruit of Grisaia’s level, the action filled adventure is much more intense than Fruit of Grisaia is, and even though it keeps a steady pace in it’s story-telling throughout it’s entire story, it is still coming up a little short, simply due to it’s length.
But I’d actually like for you to ignore the scores for each of them separately, and instead take the trilogy as a whole, thus I will score it as a whole story.
The Grisaia Series: 10/10
I’ve already explained pretty much my stance and how much I love this universe and in particular, the characters, so there really is no need for further explanations. If you are into VNs (as I am), The Grisaia Series is excellent in terms of art and Voice Acting, but especially the character writing and the overall writing is amazing. Even if you DON’T fancy VNs, I would still recommend this series to you; it IS a bit heavy to get started with, but pays off in the end.
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