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Grisaia... ah Grisaia... Sorry, couldn't resist. People often try to present the series as something completely unique... and there are some elements to the series that stand out. However, these elements were all drawn from earlier VNs in one way or another. School for exiled rich kids and problem children: Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no anyone? Protagonist is a deeply mentally scarred individual who lacks common sense: Akatsuki no Goei anyone? (also Full Metal Panic, as Sagara and Yuuji have so many common threads it made me seriously laugh my ass off at the time) Incestuously mutually dependent relationships between siblings: So many VNs it isn't even funny. Heroines with extreme emotional disabilities and traumas: Again, numerous games, even before Grisaia came out Twisted relationship with a heroine that began with a near-parental bond: Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no (again) The list goes on... but I'm going to come right and say this. Just because it isn't perfectly unique doesn't mean it isn't good. I will go farther in saying that anyone who is playing Grisaia in English is missing out, because what is said is often less important than what isn't said (the comedy aside), and English sucks at that kind of thing. Now for second and third game... I seriously bashed the second game for being a repeat of Akagoei's second game, as both of them end after blasting you with the protagonist's past, though Grisaia took it a step further by making it a cliffhanger (which was horrible, since I had to wait a year or so to see the rest). Getting to know Yuuji's past was great, since the limited bits and pieces that are dropped as hints or comments in Amane's path aren't enough to give you a good idea of how Yuuji lived until now. The third game is basically one solid storyline to the end, which is its primary draw and the one area where it completely trumps the original game, which was SOL heavy in comparison. The fact that it was a harem ending didn't bother me... I love harem endings, regardless of genre. My problem was with Michiru's standing in that ending, lol (Michiru being my least liked heroine of the original... no make that I just actively disliked her). I did think that it channeled a little too much of the 'unify the original game's paths' drama into a single comprehensive story thread' idea. It reminded me of what a lot of early anime made from visual novels did, where all the heroines paths were sort of mashed together in the anime in an attempt to accelerate the story, often with mixed results. With VNs, due to most of them being multipath, sequels rarely work out in a way that isn't awkward, and Grisaia is not an exception to this rule. I love Grisaia, but that doesn't mean it is lacking in flaws.

And this is why i consider Kajitsu a near-classic while Meikyuu is borderline good and everything else in the series is just decent. I will always praise how the long common route drilled the girls' comedy traits into your head just to reveal the disturbing reasons for those in each route, making you look at the common route in an entirely different way.