Grisaia No Rakuen

It is time to end the trilogy. Well, if you can consider that single episode 50 minute special as the second season. The first season felt like a typical dating game simulation and drama with Yuuji helping out the girls sort out their problem. The second season delves deep into the origins of Yuuji and how he ended up as to where he is now. And so with Grisaia No Rakuen, the tables are turned. Yuuji is in some sort of trouble. The girls cast away their damsel in distress role and decide to repay Yuuji’s debt by mounting a big rescue operation. Can they do it? As they aren’t your typical ordinary girls, what more girls who have been saved by Yuuji, impossibility isn’t an option. I don’t think it is even in their vocabulary. The homestretch of their intertwining fates reaches a conclusion…

Episode 1
Yuuji’s past continues. After he was rescued by Asako, JB didn’t like the idea of taking him in to live with her in a little cottage in the woods. Yuuji is still unresponsive and suffering from trauma. Till a point that I suppose Yuuji rejected her tough love and would rather cower behind JB. He prefers the blonde to feed him and such. Asako then brings a puppy for him as companion. He calls it John although it is female. The 2 bond and it brightens up Yuuji’s life very much. One day, Asako shocks JB that she wants to resign from the force. Something about her worsening vision and she cannot snipe long range. She might become an instructor of a school but she’ll take Yuuji along. Asako continues to train Yuuji. One night Yuuji asks about Asako’s job. She is from the Japanese-American unified anti-terror organization called Central Intelligence and Research Second (CIRS). To put it short, they take out bad guys. She lets her try using her sniping rifle. He nails it the test and is given his own sniping kit. Yuuji now becomes her disciple to learn sniping and this is when he starts calling her his master. One snowy day when Asako is out, a bear breaks into the cabin and kills John who was trying to protect him. Yuuji panics and didn’t use his gun well. He chases after the bear and tries to fight it. Of course it might seem like a no match but Yuuji’s survival instincts kicked in. Killed or be killed. He improvises to blind the bear and then mercilessly shoots it down like a pro. Then he sees the bear’s cubs. He realized the mother only wanted to bring back food for its offspring but laments it had to be John. Yuuji considers himself useless because he couldn’t protect something precious again but Asako didn’t want him to blame himself. After burying John, Yuuji vows to become strong like her. He wants to live a life where he can be useful to someone. That way, he can die with a smile on his face. Asako mentions that despite training from her and Oslo, he is still somewhat like a killing machine. That’s why he cannot kill anything without her order. Asako will not take this ‘safety pin’ off and lets him know about the cost that is needed to raise and train a good for nothing kid like him. That’s taxpayers’ money and it’s coming out of her own paycheque. Therefore she sets a goal for him that he is only allowed to die after saving lives of 10 citizens. But since he is half a man, 5 would be enough. If he can’t pull the trigger for his own sake, that’s fine. But become a man who can pull the trigger without hesitation for the sake of others.

Episode 2
JB couldn’t believe that Asako and Yuuji have gone as far as to sleep with each other! Asako then makes JB do it too after making her drunk! Not really sure if he was a monster in bed… One morning, Yuuji picks up Asako’s phone on her behalf. There is a mission she must accept and cannot reject so Yuuji does it on her behalf. Although a success, JB isn’t happy because this feels pretty similar to what Oslo has been doing. But Yuuji states that he did it on his own will. JB brings Yuuji for a long talk. That is when Yuuji decides what to do with his life. In his first step to become part of CIRS, Asako sends him to America for training. He becomes buddies with this tall black dude, Daniel “Danny” Born who can’t seem to pronounce his Japanese name well. So Yuuji is referred to as Shorty. Yuuji gets ‘special treatment’ from her training instructor, Agnes Garrett since she is friends with Asako and owes her a lot. Yuuji shines in the sniping department so much so many think he is a splitting image of Asako. Fellow trainee, Milliela “Millie” Standfield (another American who can’t pronounce his name – calls him Genie for genius) is jealous about him (because sniping seems to be her only best field) and calls him out to fight. No, not punch her in the face but a sniping duel, silly you! She will believe his skills if he can nail a shot with a weaker weapon. It is not impossible but it is tough. Because her dad once believed to had nailed it too. However he was a drunkard and naturally nobody believed his ramblings. Yuuji calculates the wind and then nails the shot. You believe now? How does he do it? He is a genius, remember? At the end of their training, Yuuji and his comrades are sent to the battlefield.

Episode 3
Danny is dead?! And by normal accident?! We go back during their active duty on the field. Danny heard they will be getting a new partner named Robbie the Immortal. So they go check him out and wants to use the PC so they shoo away this otaku guy playing his eroge! Turns out this otaku is Robert Wallson AKA Robbie the Immortal. How in the world? He loves playing hentai imouto games… Imouto… Immortal… It got kinda stuck there… Yeah, this team is screwed… Yuuji seems to be suffering from trauma too. Even when he snipes a bird out of sport, he starts vomiting and shivering soon after. If this is only animal, what will the effects be if he kills a human? Completing their group of misfits are Edward Walker (a fellow sniper trained under Yuuji) and second lieutenant Justin Mikemeyer (I guess the scars of war has got him talking nonsense, especially about his PA, Alison who is now dead – who the hell is going to serve his coffee now?). This Bush Dog platoon encounters enemy guerrillas in the front lines. The initial plan was to return fire and evacuate after reinforcements arrive. But now they have to hold their ground. It is suggested for Yuuji to kill some of the enemies and because nobody wants to leave their partner behind, they’re staying to help Yuuji. With only 9 bullets for him, he has to make all count. Justin then makes Yuuji close his eyes as he rants about all his comrades and that his enemies are not humans. He gives him a choice to kill or watch his friends get killed. Therefore he gives him permission to kill and will shoulder all the responsibility. Yuuji calmly snipes and hits all without missing. Justin then makes Yuuji sleep and rest. When he wakes up, reinforcements have arrived the enemy retreated. At the end of their service, Yuuji prepares to depart for Japan. Millie felt sad for him leaving. Danny teases her to say her goodbye and she already did it the day before. It would be weird for a woman he rejected to follow him around. The only thing she can do is wish for God to give him luck and the world’s happiness. Yuuji returns to waiting Asako and it makes him somewhat happy to see her face (they already had sex on the first night of his return?). He wants to give his entire life to her but she doesn’t need it. Yuuji narrates his final training for his certification. And then that Vancouver terrorist incident in which he rescued Chizuru. That was the last time he saw Danny.

Episode 4
After Yuuji succeeds Asako’s position, he is posted to Colombia for a guard duty. But JB calls him to come back quick because Asako has collapsed. Something about her capillary ruptured from a past mission and drug treatment over the years only complicated it. When he returns home and finally gets a chance to see her, he starts getting emotional and crying. Never seen him in this state before. At least not as a grownup. Long story short, he doesn’t want her to leave him alone but she tells him to go find his own destiny. One evening when she asks about the stars, that was the last time she breathed. Yuuji falls into depression but Asako’s words and orders that he needed to save 5 people gave him the motivation to go on. JB can’t stand this pathetic sight and soon allowed Yuuji to move into her condo. Both relying on each other although none had any idea how to deal with it. One day, remembering Asako’s words about a trip, he decides to go on one and will let wherever the wind takes him. He thought it might be a good chance to discover what he is looking for. Borrowing Asako’s bike, he rides all over Japan until the bike died! Yeah, not even the motor can outlast Yuuji. It took a fellow biker to mention about the youth he has got (the reason for his mindless wandering) that it made Yuuji want to come home since he thinks youth is something that he is missing. After visiting Asako’s grave, he mentions about trying out a normal high school for his youth. The rest is history as we know it. Yuuji is about to leave JB’s office when Chiara comes in with a possible information leak. Yuuji’s girls have also read finished his past. They feel awkward to face him. Yumiko suggests to face him like how they normally do. Yuuji gets a call to undertake a special mission. He cannot refuse and failure is not an option (Yuuji seems to have been recommended for this job by a certain person). He is to snipe an illegal immigrant considered as a threat to the nation as he arrives at the harbour. When the target is in sight, Yuuji is paralyzed in fear that this guy is Oslo! Trauma overcomes him. And it is like Oslo knows Yuuji is watching because he lip-synch that he is back. As Yuuji has failed, there are orders to restrain him no matter how dirty the method is. Yuuji’s girls see the news of a terrorist organization lead by Oslo has attacked an embassy. What is shocking is Yuuji’s name popping up as one of the perpetrators.

Episode 5
There is footage of Yuuji shooting inside the embassy. The girls seek Chizuru for answers but she tells them what she knows. Yumiko deduces the government using Yuuji as a bargaining chip against Oslo as he might have some sort of fixation on Yuuji. Chizuru then informs them the school is closing down due to lack of funding. The girls then find a secret room in Yuuji’s room. It has writings on the wall about them. But one mentions about finding a place to die as he has successfully saved 5 people. Then a call from JB to confirm that the report of Yuuji being a terrorist is inaccurate but even so he hasn’t been cleared of this suspicion. Although he is being held in a facility, he personally requested not wanting to see them as he doesn’t want to hurt them anymore. Of course the girls won’t just sit around and do nothing. They want to save him. But why are they staring at Yumiko? I suppose this means she has to get down to work and use her resources and connections to get information. You can tell Makina and Michiru spent the entire night awake because they’re fighting over the sweet bean jelly and licking it in an erotic way. Even Sachi too. She’s making porn comments. What they have found is that Oslo has brought some weapons of mass destruction into the country. As for where Yuuji is being held, Yumiko is still working on it. She is seeing one of her informants, James Okada. Hey, isn’t this Robbie? Well, that was his old name. He is now running some soba store but his imouto fetish is still f*cking there. He confirms Yuuji is being used as a bargaining chip but even this guy isn’t worth risking for the smuggled WMD. It is a bit more complex and bigger goal. From what I understand, the government has this super intelligent AI system called Thanatos with a semi-organic computer as its core. So super intelligent that it could affect and intercept just about anything digital. Only a few people know about this system being tested and one of them is Oslo. He wants Thanatos but the government of course can’t hand it to him and thus the reason Yuuji is used as a sacrifice. Chizuru announces the final day of the school and will discuss about their future. They are prohibited to discuss this among themselves to form collective decisions. At the end of the day, all the girls minus Michiru get ready to make their move. After saying their last goodbye for the school, Michiru comes running late and blames them for trying to abandon her. They threaten to leave noisy girls behind so she panics and continues being a klutz and clumsy. Yuuji is placed in a room with a strange computer. To his shock, a hologram of Kazuki materializes before him.

Episode 6
Where will the girls be staying? In a houseboat?! That is all Yumiko can afford via the internet. Yuuji cannot believe she is Kazuki so he asks a question that makes him believe: What is her favourite food? Yuuji. Kazuki laments she wanted to save him from Oslo but had not the strength or body to do so. She explains Oslo’s objective is to destroy her as she is Thanatos with his smuggled nuclear isomer bomb. Yuuji is an important sample to Oslo as he is the only survivor of his drug experiment of child soldiers he trained. Kazuki would like to report his location and assassinate him and although this would mean sacrificing himself, he would do it. Under the guise of Thanatos, Kazuki calls the girls who are making no headway in their plan via Yuuji’s number. She tells them about Oslo’s plan as well as their plan to sacrifice Yuuji to stop him. Thus she contacted them so that they will rescue Yuuji. As there are no other better plan, they agree (just shut up and agree, Michiru). Next day as they follow steps to go get their untraceable handphones for communication, before Kazuki starts telling them the details, she asks Yumiko if she loves Yuuji. As the other girls have declared their love for him, the plan would be jeopardized due to her unclear feelings. Without hesitation, she answers a solid yes. Look at the other girls’ smile. I think she’ll be teased after everything is over.

As Yuuji only knows what Amane told him on that fateful day, Kazuki continues the story. After she let Amane escaped and was pinned down by the other girls, it seems Sakuma is still level headed and wants Kazuki to be kept alive as their chance of survival will be higher. Sakashita opposed this and when Sakuma knows that she has still been doing it, Sakashita panics and rants about the need to keep everyone alive. Then she snaps and stabs Sakuma. When Ibuki learns Sakuma is dead, she goes crazy and stab Sakashita. The only way to stop her was to hammer a rock on her head, killing her outright. As the other girls now cannot walk, only Ochi and Kazuki are the ones able to move. Ochi reveals that although he buried the girls, he secretly went to dig up their corpse and ate them. Sakashita saw this and cried in silence. He doesn’t want Kazuki to blame her for all this. Ochi then starts vomiting and Kazuki can see from his symptoms of multiple organ failures and bacterial infection. All could be traced back to the venison meat they ate. A few days later, the other girls died. The duo are only left. Ochi believes in damaging their corpse to hide evidence although DNA testing will reveal the truth. It doesn’t matter to him. So long his body is in one piece, he will gladly take the blame. After Kazuki leaves a message for Amane, she collapses. After Amane’s testimony, the investigators return to the site. Ochi has died and Kazuki had the bad luck to be sent to a hospital under CIRS. That is when they decided to use her brain tissues and everything for Thanatos’ development. With Robbie as the main researcher, Kazuki was ‘awakened’ 3 years later and slowly regained her memories. By the time she remembers she had a little brother, it was about the same time Yuuji enrolled into Mihama. He realizes it was Kazuki’s doing that got him in. Yuuji doesn’t want to hear sorry from her anymore as this Oslo case is personal and will settle it his way. Oslo wants Yuuji badly because of his rare specimen. He wants to perfectly reproduce his genetic assembly again. Oh, looks like his butler is also named Yuuji and looks very closely to him too.

Episode 7
Kazuki explains the need to fund their mission first. This means the girls will have to earn a collective sum of 100 million in a short time. No, we’re not selling Michiru! They’ll be using some snowball effect to generate funds. While Yumiko takes care of investments, Kazuki wants Makina to sell her prized limited edition slot car that will fetch a very high price in the market. Say goodbye to your toy. Amane has to rent a car and memorize some complex routes. What about Michiru? Don’t worry. The essential of the plan is for her not to understand the plan. What??? Sachi then accompanies Makina to see some old guy to get a high calibre sniping rifle. It’s pink? The grumpy old man shoos them out as soon as their business is done because the kids remind him of Asako in her younger days. Everyone does their part well. Michiru must have had a whirlwind day. She travelled the world, met all kinds of people, made all kinds of contracts, bought and sold stuffs. Before she knew it, the money was already rolling into their account. Now that the plan is going well, Kazuki informs the girls some of the details to rescue Yuuji. They will rescue him during his transfer from HQ. The only uncertain part is the route that the higher ups will choose on that day. Chizuru is by herself at the bar when she gets a call from Kazuki who offers her a site to make a new Mihama school. She’s in. JB is having lots of free time (not too sure if she is under house arrest) and is surprised she gets contacted by Kazuki. Likewise, Oslo’s plan is also proceeding well. On the day of the mission, Yumiko as the commander is given the honour to make her speech. Well, great speech. Only 1 problem: I don’t understand what it all meant! Right, Michiru? Yumiko felt embarrassed that the rest ‘bullied’ her with their comments.

Episode 8
Makina muscles her way with threats to get a hotel room. She is supposed to snipe the escort cars from here. Amane collects a custom vehicle (a mini pickup truck) while Michiru collects some package from Yuuji’s old friend. Sachi shops for ingredients to make weapons as long as it is not firearms. Yumiko is left with the decision making. She also notices that Kazuki might disappear halfway. There is possibility the main system will be suspended and in the event she falls into Oslo’s hands, she is all the more reason not worth saving. Millie tricks a pilot to steal his uniform. When Yuuji is being escorted, the plan is set in motion. Before Makina could take out the vehicles, Oslo’s men intercept and kidnap him. Yuuji is placed with some bomb bracelet. Attempts to take it off will blow up the place within 1500 metre radius. Only Oslo has the key so even if he escapes, he will still have to go back to him. Makina begins by firing a warning shot. This has Oslo’s men step on the pedal. Of course this is part of the plan to take out the vehicles. When all vehicles have their fuel leak, Sachi throws a smokescreen and then knocks out all the guys. Yuuji is shocked to see her. But no time for that. Reinforcements are arriving. Amane’s pickup truck is here and with Michiru helping to load Yuuji in. Thanks to its small size and Amane’s extensive knowledge of short cuts and places, they manage to escape and pick up Makina. Oslo learns of this but he is not panicking yet.

Their location is found out so Oslo sends a helicopter to target them. Amane must be one hell of a driver to dodge all that shooting and explosions. She can be a Hollywood stunt driver! Communications with Kazuki are cut off since the administrator detected some unauthorised commands. Now they are on their own. Thanks to Kazuki’s backup plan, this is where Millie’s piloting skills come in hand as she shoots down the enemy. The girls are contacted by Robbie as he informs them a way to save Kazuki. In computer terms, unplugging the cable to the hard drive and taking it away before the virus can infect. The problem is, somebody needs to carry the core out. Don’t worry. Kazuki prior to this has already thought about this. This is where JB comes in. Easy as pie as she ejects Kazuki from her capsule. Wow. That is Kazuki and her real entire body! Only just a mechanical hand. And you thought she’d be carrying away a brain, eh? As all the exit routes are sealed, the only way for Amane to travel is via the sewer. This will lead them out to the sea where Yumiko’s boat is waiting. So with the nitro booster on the truck, hold on for your lives! They land exactly on the boat! I can’t believe at that speed, impact and firepower, the boat didn’t sink or explode! WTF?! A submarine emerges and everyone gets to see Kazuki in the flesh for the first time. Maybe except for Amane. Hi, long time no see.

Episode 9
Amane is so happy to see Kazuki that she clings on to her like a leech. She had to promise to spend some time with her later because their work isn’t particularly over yet. Seems this submarine isn’t going to house Yuuji and his harem. There will be a few others on board too. Currently the captain of this submarine is Justin and there is also the very unsociable woman, Zoey Graham who happens to be Robbie’s wife. Zoey confronts Yuuji but he doesn’t remember her. She relates an incident whereby a journalist who was on Oslo’s tail, picked up an injured girl. But that girl was feigning it and then killed him. That journalist was her father. Yuuji was that ‘girl’ and under Oslo’s orders. Zoey wants to kill him but Yuuji promises to come back and die at her hands once he settles his score. Besides, if she kills him now, the bomb will rip apart this ship. Chizuru is picked up and she cannot believe Kazuki has made her the owner of this ship. Yes, this ship is named Mihama. The floating school? Can she do this? Yuuji talks to Kazuki who tells her their destination is a privately owned island in Micronesia that Asako bought. After her death, the rights transferred to Yuuji. He then slaps her for making him worried. I guess this is the only time. Now or never. So he cries within his sister’s arms. She gives him 2 choices. Cut off his hand and follow them to live in paradise or go back to settle things with Oslo. Of course he chooses the latter. But because Kazuki is being picky with the way he should ask her to find Oslo’s position, he got irritated and is going to teach her a lesson. I hope it is not something sexual…

When Millie gets onboard and is about to hug Yuuji in her happiness, he punches her in the face!!! In front of the other girls!!! Can he do that?! Well, she is the only girl he got physical with. Yuuji wants the girls to escape while he settles things with Oslo. The girls are worried that all their rescue effort is wasted but he assures them he will come back. Michiru, who has been the butt of all jokes throughout the series, usurps everyone by giving Yuuji a kiss on his lips as good luck charm! SHOCK! Get this b*tch! JB is not confident Yuuji can defeat Oslo because Asako failed to get him. Something about a fight between them that earned Asako that injury that she finally succumbed to. Although killing Oslo won’t bring Asako back, the relief from killing that bastard will be satisfying. Millie flies Yuuji to Oslo’s ship. The rest of the girls aren’t going to sit and wait for his return. Kazuki suggests settling things with Thanatos once and for all. Since there is an underwater cable that operates its auxiliary power via tidal generator, she wants Michiru to cut it while Sachi pilots the crane. Agnes is not happy to be called in every time there is some problem with Yuuji. Well, she is her superior despite only being so at the navy. CIRS is at a lost on what to do with Oslo’s case and that is when Kazuki calls in to speak to Agnes. But knowing these guys have no balls and direction, JB plans to leave the ship and return to HQ to take charge. At first she wanted Millie to take her back but since there is an arrest warrant for her, Zoey will go back with her. Besides, she can’t leave her husband behind. Yuuji sneaks onboard Oslo’s ship. It would hardly be any surprise because he knows Oslo is expecting him.

Episode 10
Yuuji is now onboard and kills all the soldiers and makes them look like trainees. I suppose Oslo can’t risk losing more of them so he sends his Yuuji clone to do the job. Meanwhile, Michiru has done her job but she is stuck in the suit. I have a feeling it is Sachi and Makina still have a grudge over that kiss so they’re making her suffer by letting her get stuck in there and when they remove her, they use a mini chainsaw! Yumiko communicates with Agnes about the terrorist and bomb threat being diffused. Not sure if it is fake because JB said she had to lie to the media. Then there is talk between Amane and Kazuki about Yuuji. Amane won’t hate him ever because she has vowed to share his sadness and pain many times fold. Kazuki is saying something about creating Eden for Yuuji to repay his debts but it could just be a grand foolish ambition of his little sister. Yuuji now faces off with his clone who reveals he is a test subject from the Design Soldier Project, a human replicated from his genes although his hair and eyes were taken after his sister. He wants Yuuji to use some drug booster like he always have during missions but he refuses. But after force injecting him, it begins the high stakes of fast fighting action, both injecting the drugs to boost their capabilities a few times. It ends with Yuuji scoring the victory, stabbing him in the heart. He makes his way to Oslo’s room and he clearly isn’t interested in hearing his ranting about his expensive experiments. He engages him in no time. Better kill him quick and take the key as 5 minutes is only left. Oslo uses Asako’s sword to fight him and throws him the ultimatum to come back to him. You know Yuuji’s answer, right? Just when Oslo stabs him, Yuuji refuses to die and grabs him tightly. He uses an ordinary pen to stab the back of his neck. There. Good as dead. After setting his bracelet free, Yuuji slowly makes his way out. But he weakens and is losing his sight. That is when he sees a vision of Asako, telling him to live. It becomes his motivation to get out but can he make it since the bomb goes off.

2 years later on their private island, looks like everyone is having fun. Except Michiru who still has to study under Kazuki’s guidance. Why? Because she is stupid! Chizuru relays the good news that Mihama has been rebuilt albeit smaller. And it took JB this long too to get all the appropriate licence and approval. Yeah, 2 years later they get to return to their normal school life. Do they remember where they left off? It seems Yuuji is still alive and talking to Yumiko who reveals CIRS has been dissolved due to that screw up but a new organization is being formed (headed by Chiara) and they plan to summon Yuuji back as an instructor. Will he go back? Well, he has had enough of guns and killing. He asks Yumiko if she would like to go back to Japan. There is no point going back to where there is no Yuuji. She reminds him how everyone was worried about his condition. Yuuji notes it seems he isn’t allowed to die yet because after that bomb, he was seriously injured and took him around 6 months to get him back up to normal. Yumiko tells him even if God allowed him to die, they would not. So please continue living for their sake. For Yumiko’s sake. Sorry Yuuji. You can’t die yet. Again. Everyone is about to take a commemorative group photo at Mihama. The girls start arguing who should stand next to Yuuji. Oh boy. Big headache. Lastly, the biggest shock and troll ever revealed. The mechanical hand of Kazuki is actually just a toy and she was wearing it as a joke!!!

Special 1
When Yumiko is about to go into the bath, Yuuji also comes in. She tells him to get out but the other girls are coming in. Afraid of her tarnished reputation if the girls find out, she takes him to hide in the locker. As usual, our long awaited fanservice of free tits (Amane groping Sachi’s boobs). Yumiko then realizes they are stuck in such close proximity and starts to feel embarrassed. She becomes very conscious that their bodies are touching and pressing against each other in this tiny space. I guess this becomes such a turn on for Yumiko that she cannot hold in her horniness anymore and decides to do something steamy. But that is when the other girls finish their bath and Yumiko realizes why the heck did she need to hide with him in the first place?! She could have just hid him and gone in normally with the rest!

Special 2
Now it is Millie’s turn for fanservice. She sneaks into Yuuji’s bed to seduce him. She’s not the only woman here. Somebody else is also doing it in the next bed. Actually it turns out to be Robbie playing his imouto game! It didn’t go his way so he starts screaming. That is when Agnes barges in to warn him to pipe down. This has Millie hide under Yuuji’s blanket. Then she feels something big and hard. She starts sucking on it and likes the taste. She can’t hold herself any longer and wants to do it with him. Turns out she wants to share this chocolate bar. Then she teases him if he would like to eat the bar or eat her. She shows her tits. Agnes barges in again and catches her red handed. The entire squad is reprimanded. But Millie didn’t learn her lesson because she cheekily says to Yuuji that they can do it again at dawn.

Special 3
It is summer time and I’m not sure what is Michiru’s reason about this date being in the winter so she is wearing her coat and sweating like hell. Wanting to take a commemorative photo with Yuuji, she enters a photo booth and following the orders of the machine, she takes off her coat and poses sexily, letting shots of her boobs and butt being taken. I think it’s getting pretty hot in here especially Michiru feeling somewhat horny too. When she is about to kiss Yuuji, she realizes she has been misled by the machine and they leave. It is greatly hinted Sachi is the one behind this naughty shoot as she has got her hands on the sexy photos of Michiru in her handphone.

Special 4
This one must be embarrassing enough that Yuuji had a sack over his head! It was an incident with Sachi and Makina… Yuuji woke up one day to find himself tied to the bed. Then those devilish duo popped up in their bikinis with the intention to taste his unripe fruits. At the same time, they’ll send him to paradise island. Yikes! Sure this isn’t a hell hole? So we see Sachi licking and sucking a strawberry while Makina does her bit of rubbing and stroking the banana in an ambiguous fashion. I’m not sure if they are real fruits or they are just imagery substitutions for something else… Then to duo combine their hand action on the banana till loads of cream splatter across their face! Gosh. Can a banana do that?! And they’re ‘blaming’ Yuuji for ‘producing so much’. You beast! Suddenly they hear Amane calling for them, wondering if they have seen her fruit and cream plate in the kitchen. They panic and try to put things back. When Amane enters the room, she sees Yuuji tied to the bed, the fruits on the plate over his crotch while the cream was just messy splattered everywhere (reminds you of the aftermath of something naughty, eh?) and a sack over his head. Holy… Sh*t…

Special 5
Amane is taking a hotspring bath with Kazuki and will do anything for her. Kazuki tells her to be careful of using that word but Amane says it is proof of how much she owes her. In that case, Kazuki requests for a massage. So if you are tired of Yuuji hogging all the porn-like action, maybe this girl on girl action will give a much needed variety. Uh huh. Amane is massaging Kazuki’s back, butt and boobs. She must be damn good to even make her squeal like that and close to climaxing. Then the ultimate boobs on boobs massaging that sends both into ultimate ecstasy! Then Yuuji comes in and sees the lesbian act. Quick. Think of something to get out of this sticky situation. Amane: Would you like to join us? WTF???!!! Oh Yuuji, you didn’t get any action here but you still get invited.

Seeds Of Salvation And Life
Indeed it was as interesting as the prequels although this season is mainly divided into 2 big arcs: The continuation of Yuuji’s life story and the big rescue operation the girls mounted to save the man they love. Sometimes I wonder the logic of splitting it into several seasons because I feel even they can fit everything into a 2 cour season without any breaks in between. Because the start of the third season felt like a direct spill over from the second season. Even with this, the remaining episodes of this season are the same number of fingers an ordinary person has on both hands. But I’m not going to fret over this whatever strategy they had in mind of splitting the seasons, but as far as this season and the overall series are concerned, they are still a great watch right till the very end. Well, almost.

The only complaint I had for this season is the very short fight between Yuji and his clone and even Oslo. I believe they have been building up Oslo as a very dangerous villain even at the end of the first season. They show him like a guy who will go to great lengths just to get Yuuji back. And then the final showdown that took place in the last episode lasts only around 3 minutes! Heck, even the fight with his clone lasts a bit longer. Around 4 minutes. Yeah, I actually kept count. So I was like, “What the f*ck?! It is over this fast?!”. I even believed that with Oslo as such a sly and scheming guy, he would be one hell of a tough cookie to take out. In what I call the biggest irony ever, he is killed not by guns or knives, but an ordinary pen! I know it is to show how resourceful Yuuji is and that you do not need to do dramatic kung fu fights to wear out the enemy and give him some sort of flashy death. But you know, having this perception that Oslo is supposed to be some sort of awesome final boss, this one just really felt disappointing. Oh, did I mention we are running out of air time?

If not for this very rushed final boss fight, the season finale could have been much more enjoyable. Hey, I’m not saying they should drag out the fight for 2 episodes, but at least half an episode doesn’t seem too bad. And for that kind of harem ending of Yuuji and his girls living in paradise island, I know it sounds ridiculous despite all the setup prior to this made it sound eligible. Made even f*cking better is that his sister is still alive. But I’ll let it slide because after all that killing and hard fighting, I think this kind of fantasy is forgivable. Really. This guy who lost everything at the start got almost everything back again at the end. So what is there to complain?

Besides, why would you focus on the big bad guy while you can instead focus the limelight on what Yuuji’s harem are going to do to rescue their man? After their salvation from the first season, it is great to see them repaying their debt to rescue him. Therefore, they weren’t just damsels in distress and sitting around for something to happen. They make it happen. Maybe they were damsels in distress in the first season but thanks to Yuuji, they have a second chance in life and they have matured along the way. They have indeed come a long way from the first time we get to know them and have definitely grown to very likeable characters. Though, still questionable characters.

Even so, they remain largely the same with their identifiable traits such as Makina’s foul mouth ranting to the twisted maid Sachi. Yumiko is the calmest and coolest of the lot although she is not as cold and unfriendly as before. Amane feels less sexy this time because Yuuji is not around for her to take out her flirting. Heck, that guy was separated from the girls for more than half of this season. Last but not least, Michiru has cemented her status and role as the comic relief and resident idiot. I guess in every group, there is the need to have some kind of whiney monkey that needs to be picked on. Maybe that is the only way she’ll stand out. Because compared to the other great chores and stuffs the other girls do, Michiru’s role pales very much in comparison. It’s like she is the extra. Perhaps somebody you need to make you smile when the going gets tough. Because that is what Michiru’s character is primary all about here. So I suppose to even the odds, she gets to be the first one to steal Yuuji’s kiss at the most precious of moments! Take that, the rest of you.

JB plays a crucial support to Yuuji after Asako’s death. Sometimes you wonder if all that bickering, teasing and insults against each other was the thing that made their relationship work all these years. Even when times she isn’t supposed to be supporting him, she’ll break protocol and do so anyway. Is this her love for him? What is love anyway? ~Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more~. Haha! Anyway, I don’t suppose JB can be part of Yuuji’s harem seeing they already engaged in sex before. Isn’t Yuuji the guy whom she lost her virginity to? Oh Yuuji. You have a wide trope of girls in your harem. High school girls, loli, maid, idiots, sister and even seemingly MILF type. No wonder it’s such a paradise. The other character that felt lacking is Chiara. I had this assumption that there would be more than meets the eye to this girl. Perhaps a future threat or ally or something. Turns out nothing of her. Just red herring?

I feel Yuuji’s old American pals although they play important roles in assisting the girls in his rescue, I just felt it was somewhat rushed. Maybe it is because we didn’t see what they did in the background so it feels like they only made their short cameo. Not too sure why they didn’t continue to live on Yuuji’s paradise island and continued their current job. I thought they became blacklisted ever since that incident but unless you tell me there were no records or proof or evidences of their part in it all were somewhat erased. Because I’m sure what Millie did in stealing a helicopter is a major offence in the military and yet at the end, she is seen continuing her pilot duty. But other than that, they are really a fun bunch of oddballs who can’t seem to pronounce Yuuji’s name right and giving him all sort of nicknames.

The fanservice shots are seemingly much reduced this season seeing where the plot is heading and it is like a rare find if you ever get to see one. Also maintaining from last season, the very unique wide screen resolution of the episodes. Unless you do not fancy seeing black lines on the top and bottom of your screen, this should provide a refreshing and different visual from the ubiquitous 16:9 wide screen angle.

Reprising her role in singing the opening theme in the first season, Mao Kurosaki does it again here with Setsuna No Kajitsu. A lively and upbeat piece that fits the series well just like how the last season did for its own. However hearing this song oddly reminds me of Senki Zesshou Symphogear songs. It must be the beat, tempo and style. But this season doesn’t have ending themes that tailor to the girls. Although we still have multiple ending themes and based on the arcs, they are sung by Yoshino Nanjou (who also sang the general ending theme in the first season. Tasogare No Starlight for Yuuji’s past continuation arc has lots of techno mixes that makes it good for a dance song (at least for the beginning part) while Kimi Wo Sagashi Ni for Yuuji’s rescue arc though sounds slower in comparison, is still upbeat and lively. Something a bit similar like the opening theme. But no Symphogear reminder. My favourite piece for this season is Fission which only appears for 1 episode (the fifth one). Although by Hitoshi Fujima, the entire piece is actually instrumental. Maybe that is why it sounds good.

Overall, the Grisaia series is quite a good story to follow and watch as a trilogy as a whole. Interesting characters and intriguing plots will keep you occupied on a journey that sometimes feels like a fun joyride and sometimes a bumpy drama filled ride. Unlike your typical harem and dating game routes whereby the guy goes out his way to help the girls with their own issues – the game usually has the player picking a girl’s route to end up with but the anime not wanting to stoke tensions between fans of certain pairs would go for status quo – the girls settle their dues by helping him out when their roles reversed. In a way, the best logic and answer for a harem route, don’t you think? You can finally reap the fruits of your labours you have worked your ass off so hard then.

Grisaia No Kajitsu & Grisaia No Meikyuu

When you are at the age of a high school student but already a skilled marksman, a top notched assassin and first rate all-rounder agent, this means you must have spent your childhood years in hell training to become the best. I guess that you are only human to have emotions eventually and yearn to long the ‘normal life’. Heck, can such people ever experience the normal daily lives that normal ordinary people do? I don’t know. But this kid in Grisaia No Kajitsu asked for it and he got it. Well, almost. He is transferred to a heavily surveillance high school that has only 5 other students. All of them girls. Woah! Harem setting… So do the girls have to submit to him or risk being taken out if his whims and fancies are not met? Hey, that’s not normal! Don’t worry. That will not happen. Instead, each of the girls has their own ghost of the past and issues that sooner or later, our hero will have to deal with. That’s normal, right?

Episode 1
Yuuji Kazami is being interrogated by the police who doesn’t believe about his family history (they’re all dead) and think he is a terrorist (because he refused to have his luggage checked). But a call from some government higher up has them apologize and release him. Chizuru Tachibana then picks him up as they head over to Mihama Academy. Chizuru is also the principal and only teacher of this school as Yuuji is going to live his ‘normal high school life’ here. Including him, there are only 6 students. Gee, it’s like a ghost school. Such a big place with lots of amenities and yet only 6 students? He meets the first student, Sachi Komine dressed in a maid outfit (she even has an explanation why she is dressed so. But who cares, I dig it!). Yuuji prepares for his ‘normal’ life. Before he heads to his first class, a couple of girls bump into him. Amane Suou is trying to brush the hair of Makina Irisu? They notice Yuuji and introduce themselves although Makina is a little shy. He arrives early in class to see Michiru Matsushima practising her tsundere lines alone. When spotted, she tries to act like a tsundere (which I think it’s her original personality too) but it sounded like Yuuji is having fun teasing her. As Chizuru enters class, she notices Yumiko Sakaki missing as usual. After class has way ended, Yuuji returns to it to see Yumiko there reading her book. Seems he wants to introduce himself since they’re going to be classmates. Her reaction? She takes out her cutter and is really going to cut him but Yuuji is fast enough to grab her hand. Nice to meet you. When he returns to his room, he notices somebody has intruded it as the trap he set has been broken. Surprise, Amane is changing in his room! Yuuji doesn’t remember he ordered a stripper! Amane explains she changes here since it is faster and there is a fridge here she always uses. Amane can tell that Yuuji had some experience with older women the way he interacted with her. Well, he had an older sister. She died. Oops. Amane tries to flirt with him and upon seeing his military-like rations, she wants to become his big sister and cook better meals for him. After she leaves, Yuuji is stumped on how she got in. The room was locked. Did she pick it? Or did she have a spare key? Answer: She had a pick. In the closing scenes, we see some traumatic flashes that are too early to conclude. The other girls seem to be preparing something that would make you think they have terrorists background. Yumiko will never accept Yuuji. He gets a call for a job as he pulls out his briefcase underneath his bed.

Episode 2
Once again, Yumiko tries to sneak up and cut Yuuji! Too bad his reflexes are damn good. In class, Amane is talking to Yuuji. It would have been an ordinary talk if not for the fact she is caressing her legs with hers underneath the table… When Yuuji goes to read in the garden, he notices Makina sleeping. Then she wakes up unaware that he is nearby and makes her way. He follows her to a pond whereby she tries to feed a crayfish to fatten it up for future consumption! His calling startles her as he teaches her some basic stuffs about crayfish. She is impressed and happy to learn something. Meanwhile, Yumiko is watching and she has spent all the resources she has to find out who this guy is. The more she finds, the more conflicted the data becomes and the less she knows. Her guts tell her he is no ordinary human. Heck, she once complained to Chizuru of accepting the first boy in this school and warns of all the girls being rape victims! But Chizuru assured that will never happen. Yumiko continues to try and cut Yuuji but to no avail. She even got into an embarrassing situation thanks to that. Yuuji talks to Chizuru about Yumiko but is being told he needs to solve this himself. Trying to wash her hands off? Yuuji is also worried about himself because each time he looked at his reflection and see a smile, he becomes afraid of what he is becoming. Chizuru assures the other girls also said the same thing when they arrived (they too have their special circumstances) and he’ll get used to it.

As Yuuji, Amane and Makina head to class, there is this pretty blonde outside waving to Yuuji. He is not impressed that Julia Bardera AKA JB is here and might jeopardize his position. She too isn’t impressed that he walked all the way here instead of taking the train (that’s why he got stopped by the police) and that she got an earful from the higher ups. When he returns to class, all the girls are interested to know who that babe was. His guarantor and to put it simply, his employer who makes him do dirty jobs. They think they are in the janitorial department. Before Yuuji retires to his room, Yumiko once again tries to cut him. Caught again. But this time his strong grip and scary stare actually make her scared! He tells her to stop wasting her time and promises will never hurt her. She wants to ask his weakness but he won’t tell. They start arguing what they should call each other since he suggests they start out as friends. Yumiko remembers doing some clean up with the girls. As she was the first one here, she watched how the other girls arrive one by one. Amane came like a biker girl, Michiru in her luxury limo, Makina in a big truck and lastly Sachi on a bicycle. She might look normal but the first words upon her arrival: “Everyone kneel before me and lick my shoes!”. Said with a smile.

Episode 3
When Yuuji returns from jogging, he sees Amane picking his door lock. Is she trying to assassinate him? Spying from behind, he wonders if she is playing dumb because she is thinking of giving him a morning kiss. Then she starts smelling his shirt and jumps on his bed. She starts fantasizing something horny with Yuuji and… MASTURBATES!!! Amane becomes embarrassed when she realizes Yuuji was there. Well, at least she came to her senses before she started f*cking his pillow, right? Oh sh*t! Then there is this jogging tune he teaches Makina about Amane’s perversion… WTF?! Makina seems close to Yuuji to the point she is acting out her badass gangster character. Yuuji might think he has discovered another pervert because the way Michiru is saying such ambiguous words and those moaning in broad daylight in the garden would make anyone think so. Turns out a kitten followed her and is now attached to her. Since she can’t keep it in the dorm, she has Yuuji help her drive it away. I have a feeling he is fooling around with her as she does exactly what he says by flinging her twintails (all of them have names given by him?!). The kitten gets even more attached. Plan failed. But the kitten soon walks away by itself. Later in the corridor, for reasons unknown, Yuuji thinks he is in sh*t because he agreed to something to Sachi that he didn’t remember at all! How did he end up agreeing to let Sachi make a shark pouch for him?

It all began when Michiru’s shark pouch is accidentally torn. Wanting Sachi to fix it, the girls start talking. Yuuji went into autopilot mode knowing that girls will start talking a long time. Plus, he was derived of sleep. So whatever Sachi asked and said, he gave periodic yes and acknowledgement without understanding what she said. By the time he woke up, he is going to have a shark pouch soon. He calls Sachi and wants her to discontinue the production. But it’s halfway done. He thinks of making her do a bush dog pouch instead to buy time but it seems Sachi can do one in 20 minutes! Yuuji is left frustrated and banging the wall. Note to self: Sleep is important! When Makina comes by and Sachi just finished the pouch, Michiru takes it and gives it to Makina. She likes it and wants more. Yuuji gives it to her. Saved. Now the duo can go talk about bush dog pouches for all he cares. Later when Amane sprains her ankle, Yuuji takes her to the infirmary. She doesn’t want to be left alone and gets straight to the point. Be her boyfriend. No, he didn’t hear that wrong. She fell in love with him at first sight but he is not amused and thinks she is teasing him. In that case, why not she be his big sister? He isn’t hiring one. But since she insists, he agrees to play along. Now he has to eat big portions of food she made for him. He feels suffocated not because of the food but his overall life. He realizes it. When his master died, he tried to live life without getting involved with others. He wonders if he has the right to have such little happiness.

Episode 4
Yuuji sees Michiru at the cliff. Just trying to look at the ocean or is it because of the cat? Michiru then talks strangely about how she feels trapped in a box and has this fear of looking at the moon. She also asks a strange question of what happens when people die. Yuuji tries to explain the best he can. It is like falling asleep and not waking up. Yuuji is talking with the girls about Michiru’s possible different personalities. Yeah well, Makina and Sachi may have seen too many alien movies to think she might be one. As everyone retires to their room, a blackout occurs. Yuuji sees Yumiko scared in the dark and also a strange scream from Michiru’s room. As they hide, they see Michiru coming out in her swimsuit, walking like a zombie and her hair is covered with I don’t know what. When the lights come back on, Sachi explains whenever this happens, she has a hard time cleaning up because of some interpretive dance that has her secrete some liquid. That liquid could be hair bleach? Next day, Michiru is acting strange. Yuuji follows her and sees her writhing in pain at the park. Though, she brushes him off she doesn’t need his help and goes away. Of course he can’t leave her alone and finds her sitting at the cliff with the cat. This Michiru sounds different. She is calm and composed. She assures her health is better now and talks about that death definition he told her. She is confused if you slept that night like as though you are dead, what happens if you wake up tomorrow morning? But since she is not interested in this topic, she changes it and asks something more interesting. Does he have a lover and what is it like to kiss? His simple explanation sounds a bit scientific. She wants to try it out and he gives the green light. But even after kissing him, she still doesn’t understand. Then when she says see you later, her character changes back to the familiar tsundere we know. She flusters upon knowing how close they are, trips and got her hand stuck on dog poop! When she asks if she said something weird, he sarcastically puts it that everything she said has always been weird.

In class, Michiru is teasing Yumiko’s habit of reading and challenges her to ‘fight’. She takes out her cutter… Still not scared? Well, Yumiko flicked her forehead and that was the end of it. Michiru ‘complains’ to Yuuji who isn’t really listening. She then tries to bug him about what she did to him then. She tries to act like she knows it all especially about the meaning of the word oscillation. Since she is insisting so badly, he will demonstrate what she did to him. As his lips closes in, she flusters, pushes him back and runs away. Outside school, she tries to calm down by taking some pills. Later she baked some cookies for the cat but couldn’t find it. With Yuuji’s help, they go search for it but to no avail. He thinks since it is a stray, it will come back when it is hungry. As they head back to school, Yuuji spots something amiss on the road. The cat has been run over and became road kill! Bloody! Michiru is in shock seeing this and becomes panicky. Yuuji has a hard time calming her down as he hails a taxi. He knows the cat has not much time left. Michiru tries to look positive and that everything is going to be alright. But when the cat vomits blood on your hands instead of eating the cookies, that’s a big sign. She really doesn’t want it to leave her alone. But there is nothing more she can do but cry.

Episode 5
Yuuji finds Michiru collapsed with her room as she has taken some pills. Thanks to Chizuru’s help, she lives. She seems back to normal again but Yuuji knows it is the other Michiru. She says the real Michiru won’t return again and has fallen into darkness. Later Sachi hands over a box from Michiru to Yuuji. She wanted to open it with a chainsaw but was in a dilemma about breaking other people’s property. Yuuji later confronts Michiru again about the diary she writes to her other self in the box. Seems Michiru’s split personality was gained from a heart transplant. She reveals she tried to talk her out of death but since this is her body, she can do what she wants. Yuuji deduces if Michiru never comes back, she is free to live her life. Although that is what she wants but she wants to honour her wish. But Yuuji wants to hear from that Michiru himself and forces down those pills that she downs to suppress her other self, believing that Michiru will come out. He tells her to tell him what she wants and he’ll do anything to help. Guess what? She wants to die. If she’s going to lose everything again, might as well die. In that case, he’ll kill her. Next thing she knows, she is being buried alive inside a coffin! Don’t worry. It’s that cliff place she loves. She can die a slow death in this world she wants. Michiru remembers her strict piano teacher. Always abused just for getting a part wrong?! In school, she wanted to go kill herself by jumping off the roof but a girl beat her to it! She screamed the unfairness and this made her stop. Ironically they become good friends but soon that when she finally decided to kill herself for real. Michiru fell into shock after that because if they were best friends, shouldn’t they die together? Due to her weak heart, she was soon sent to America to do a heart transplant. Now her friend is living inside her?

Suddenly Michiru doesn’t want to die. She feels scared. But she sees her other self who tells her that she wanted to live but her life was cut short. So why is she throwing her life away? As Michiru recovered from her transplant, she realized she was a lost cause and decided to become a joker or tsundere, a personality that wasn’t her and convenient to others to keep her emotions suppressed. She didn’t need an identity. Her friend wants to spend eternity together but Michiru apologizes that she can’t. She is already dead and that she needs to move on. She can’t live in the past forever. Michiru summons all her strength to break through the coffin lid. Hmm… Yuuji hasn’t covered the hole? She is weak but wants to see everyone. That is when Yuuji helps her out. He thought she was pretty quick to u-turn her death wish. It has been 3 days since. 3 FREAKING DAYS???!!! He knew she didn’t want to die and waited for her to break out. He never thought she would decide to die. There was no plan B. Once confirmed that she is alive, she gives him a big hug. He reveals the pill he gave her was just ordinary candy. This means she came out because she didn’t really want to die. Michiru wanted to confess she loves him but turns into back a tsundere. More surprise in store for her as Yuuji drives her all the way to let her see her parents! I’m sure he has Chizuru to thank for with her connections and he has to pay her double the next time on his job. So happy that Michiru breaks down in her gratitude. Ever since, the other Michiru never came back although Yuuji notices she does come out in a while. He believes they are coexisting well. Yuuji and Michiru pray at the cat’s grave at the cliff.

Episode 6
Flashback shows Yumiko’s friends badmouthing her so she cuts one of their hands with a cutter! The CEO of Tohin Group is talking to JB of preparing Yumiko to take over the company’s position and thinks of letting her people give her a taste of fear. Yumiko doesn’t like Yuuji following her around but it seems he has been commissioned by JB to act as her bodyguard. Not to just guard her but to get beaten up if she ever gets attacked. While she is drawing at the river bank, it suddenly rains and they’re surrounded by MIBs. Since they’re not playing nice, Yuuji isn’t going to and attacks them. As they take refuge, the lightning causes Yumiko to be really scared as she clings on to him. She reveals her story. Dad married mom in hopes to bear a son as heir for the company. Unfortunately she was born. As mom’s body was weak, she couldn’t bear another child. She was condemned by everyone and became ill and sick in mind due to it. Because of their status, they have her confined to hospital but abandoned her eventually. Yumiko continued to visit her despite okay not having friends. But one day mother said this that broke her heart: Had she only been born a boy. She became very sad. Soon, dad’s mistress bore him a son and this causes mom to go crazy and commit suicide. The son died shortly due to some illness. Father then came back to claim her like as though nothing happened just so she can inherit the company. She was scrutinized by the public and couldn’t have friends. After slashing a classmate, father created Mihama Academy to hide her away and cool down. Being the heir is the only value she has but something she didn’t earn. She so happened to be born with them. Yuuji calls her story boring and although understands why she wants to be alone, this has nothing to do with him.

Father is not pleased that Yuuji fought back and threatens Chizuru to expel Yuuji or he’ll send Yumiko to study abroad. Once Yumiko learns of this, she locks herself in her room. Father and his men come to get her but Yuuji stands in his way. But the best line goes to Michiru who tells the big shot to go away since he is so busy so don’t waste his time here. Then Yumiko pops up and fires a warning shot! She bought that gun online. It’s like a hostage crisis with the entire SWAT barricading outside! Father tries to convince her he did everything for her but Yumiko isn’t buying all that crap. They were alone and he did nothing that was in her interest. Father won’t stand her insolence and walks towards her, braving her warning shots. He gets shot in the shoulder. He won’t let selfishness ruin the family and company. When she has run out of bullets, the SWAT thinks they can barge in but she has a grenade! Bought that online too? They never understood each other and needs to cut off their relationship. Think of it as she never existed. She lets go the pin and boom! Father cries his heart out seeing Yumiko has died. He’s really sad. No kidding. In the aftermath as he prays at her grave, Yuuji wonders why he kept the academy going. He saw a letter from Yumiko to remain at it is. It was her first and last request. Father feels grateful to Yumiko she put her life on the line to teach him something that he will be thinking for the rest of his life. After he goes, we see Yumiko still alive and heard everything he said behind a tree. Although she still hates being born into the family, she is happier to be born to her parents. Goodbye, father. Yuuji talks to JB and it seems all the men were in cohorts planning this. Although Yumiko’s first shot was real, the rest were duds. Yuuji sniped and hit away Yumiko’s bullet that hit dad. It was his bullet that hit his shoulder! WOW! SO AMAZING! And of course, the corpse was actually fake and planted. Yumiko wonders the real Yuuji although he says he is just a normal student. He can tell she has changed now. She is more attractive. Yeah. Nice smile too.

Episode 7
Sachi notices that despite Michiru being her usual silly, that level has reached new heights. Yumiko too. But their silliness seems to be cheerful, like as though they are free from some burden. Even Amane and Makina have gotten closer to Yuuji. Ever since he came, they changed. It must be Yuuji’s doing somehow. After Sachi temporarily gets sick for staying in the hot bath for too long, Yuuji takes leave from class to visit some town. Michiru is not pleased that an upcoming test is announced so she hopes Sachi could get rid of tests. Oh dear… Be careful of what you say since this girl will take on your request and complete it. She accepts the task and ever since has been holing up in her room. Amane talks to Yuuji about this and everyone is worried she is acting strange since the bath incident. Yumiko asks if he has heard about a girl who blew up the school to avoid taking a test. If he hasn’t, she’ll stop right now. Yuuji assures he’ll do all he can so that harm will not come to Sachi and the girls. Days leading up to the test, we see Sachi burning the midnight oil doing her research in how to make bombs! I don’t even know how she got lots of gas tanks in her room. And she’s psyching herself to be a good girl… On the night before the test, she places all the bombs around the school. She sets the timer but then the rest of the girls come into class. They claim Yuuji called them here. Sachi gets worried and tells them to leave quickly. Time is running out. They think she is really acting weird this time. Due to Michiru’s clumsiness, a bomb rolls out from the desk although they didn’t see it. Sachi grabs it moments it is due to explode. It didn’t. Yuuji then comes here just to inform that they are here to check about the tightening of school rules before summer vacation. And since everyone is here, that’s great. Now return to your rooms. Except for Sachi whom he wants to talk to. She was so scared that she wet her pants. But why didn’t the bombs go off? Yuuji has tampered with it to freeze when it reaches zero. Wait. How did he even…

Yuuji remembers Sachi. He first met her when they were young at that town’s park. He went there to ask around about her and luckily her uncle does. Sachi relates her story. Her parents were very proud to have Sachi as their daughter and loved her very much. But they got too busy to spend time with her so she often spent time to forget that loneliness at the park by spending time with him. On her 10th birthday, they decided to spend the entire day with her but she was not happy. It was like they’re trying to make up for all the neglected times. She ran away to the park but soon regretted it. She rushes back to them when she heard them calling. I thought this part was unbelievable. Because who would ever stop right in the middle of the road to greet their child?! Surely they got run over by a truck! Father died and mother went into coma. She felt that accident happened because of her selfishness. That is why she needs to be a good girl. Yuuji mentions thanks to her, he also remembered something about his time in that town. He was having problems with his family but she distracted him with her selfish whims. He is sure her parents were torn between work and her and eventually realized spending time with her is more important. It wasn’t her being selfish but what they wished for. A child’s whims are sometimes a cause for joy. And since she saved him, he is also indebted to her and prepared to repay her kindness. Yuuji is going to detonate the bombs to cover the evidence. Wouldn’t it cause some commotion? After he sets them off, the fireworks in the background provides a great distraction and cover up. Yuuji takes Sachi back to her home. She is sure mom still hates her but there are letters wishing her happiness and thanks for being their child. Sachi will try to visit her mom in hospital more often. Her recovery signs are very slow but for sure. Sachi has a selfish request she wants of Yuuji: Hug her a minute. That will be more than enough.

Episode 8
Makina suddenly wants an upgrade! She wants Yuuji to become her father! She is buying him for 70 million Yen! Wow! An amount he can’t refuse? Talking to JB, he is keeping that amount for safekeeping and since they’re not getting married, JB won’t press further. However she tells him her family have been politicians for generations and Makina is the eldest head of the family. Her father was the accountant of the Defence Ministry but died a few years ago in an accident. He wants more information and although JB doesn’t like it, she’ll see what she can do. What kind of daughter head butts her father in the guts and then kisses him like a lover?! Holy sh*t! That’s Makina for you. Chizuru informs Yuuji more about Makina’s family. The women are the one holding real power in the family. There was some corrupt politics. Makina’s dad stumbled upon some information and tried to inform the Cabinet but an unfortunate incident resulted. It was Makina’s kidnapping. Following that, she was diagnosed with some mental illness and cut off as the family heir. Her little sister, Sarina replaced her. However Yuuji finds an information odd. He was sure Makina was the only child. Since he is her father now, Yuuji imposes military training on Makina! Well, she’s accepting it. For the summer holidays, Makina wonders if Yuuji is going back to his hometown. He doesn’t have but he is going to visit the grave of his master, Asako Kusakabe in Yamanashi.

As they make their way there, Yuuji describes about Asako. He first met her 5 or 6 years ago. Every family member had died and he was taken in by his father’s acquaintance. However he turned out to be a villain. That is when Asako turned up and saved him. He continued to live and train under her and ended up going to America because of her work. Without her, he would have been dead a long time ago. She gave him a reason to live or at least a reason not to die. Unfortunately she died before he could repay his debt. At the grave, Yuuji introduces his ‘daughter’. Makina happened to spot Sarina and her MIBs shopping in the street. She remembers Sarina’s father was a stranger to her and that this little sister was never told about Makina’s existence. After Makina walks past her, a bomb detonates the car Sarina just got in. Makina is fine and put to bed back at the dorm. Yumiko has got little information that Sarina was the target and Makina just happened to be there by coincidence. He should find out what is happening in her family. Once Makina wakes up, Yuuji informs her Sarina is alive but in hospital. He assures he will protect her and will not leave her behind. Shortly, he gets a call from JB to come to HQ. There, her secretary, Chiara Farrell seems to be interested with Yuuji and tries to flirt with him but was made to leave. JB has a job for him although Yuuji reminds her he can’t kill anyone right now, the reason why he went into reserves. But as he takes a look at the file, he is shocked to see Makina’s information. This is his target.

Episode 9
Makina still has nightmares of her father being killed before her eyes. When he came with a ransom, he was shot and told that the one who set him up is no other than his wife. Makina spent several days next to her father’s corpse… It seems Yuuji has taken Makina and are now on the run. JB’s operation team is on the hunt but it is not easy facing Yuuji. Flashback reveals Yuuji didn’t want to accept this mission but was told he would be taken into custody. So he lied he accepted the job. He then told the other girls that Makina’s life is in danger and they needed to go into hiding for a while. They wished goodbye, Michiru ‘lending’ 2000 Yen and Sachi giving Makina an apple sapling. She is told once the fruit blooms, everything will be over. A sign of hope. Of course JB meets up with Yuuji to tell his foolishness if he can shake off the Irisu family by running away like that. She explains they are afraid of Makina because of her super memory. Apparently Makina memorized all her father’s documents on the family’s corruption and they believed Makina was supposed to be suffering from some sort of illness and started worrying when they hear she is recovering. Last night, Makina called her mom, Kiyoka to cut a deal and threatened to expose her dirty past if her sister’s safety is not guaranteed. Because of that, she is being targeted. However Yuuji will protect her and is ready to die for that. He dares everyone to come and kill him. Because he too will not hesitate to kill. Yuuji isn’t just a sitting duck hiding. He makes mock calls because he knows he is being wired just to test their response time. Just when the rented place they are hiding is discovered, the units all move in. And you should know by now that Yuuji isn’t going to play fair either. The room is then filled with gas from pesticides. This confuses the heat signal. Where are they hiding? In the freezer! Those SWAT guys should have also known better not to simply pick up suspicious stuffs. Because when they do, the room explodes! Yuuji and Makina make their escape by hijacking a supply van which is not tagged with GPS. They ditch it after securing a safe distance.

Makina realizes she forgot to bring the sapling with her. Although Yuuji told her to forget about it, while he was out taking care of those agents, he returns only to find her missing. She is back at that place looking for it. Well, it’s not harmed a bit. An agent spots her but she is no damsel in distress as she employs a little trick and even pins him to submission. Unfortunately another agent shoots her in the guts. Then they start to kick this defenceless little girl! Well, hope you had your fun because now papa Yuuji will show no mercy in killing you. He takes Makina and sends her to hospital but JB is before him and orders him to put her down. Makina is in hospital with Kiyoka by her side. She hopes her internal organs are not destroyed because of Sarina’s critical condition. Yuuji disguises as a delivery boy to enter Kiyoka’s corporate building. He then shoots and kills her! No mercy! It is reported in the news that Kiyoka’s killer was chased and shot by police but died on the way to hospital. JB talks to Chiara about the aftermath how their organization has bought a powerful blacklist (the corruption files) and has been promised a mutual guarantee of safety. Yuuji knows JB once again helped him out. He goes to pick discharged Makina. Everything on Yuuji has been dropped considering what has become of the original clients who are no other than the Irisu family themselves. Yuuji took them on and came out alive. Yuuji and Makina return to the dorm and all the girls are happy they are back. Oh, Michiru wants her money back…

Episode 10
JB sends Yuuji back and gives a cheeky peck on his cheeks. Did anybody see that? Sachi… Oh God… She’s promising her lips are sealed and would allow him to do the same to her! She wonders if she’ll be raped next… Oh, Sachi… Amane is waiting in Yuuji’s room like a wife. But he prefers the bath first than her… Then Sachi sends an image of that kiss to Amane… What is this? Amane thinks it is Yuuji’s plan to make her jealous so Yuuji tells her to close her eyes. He really kisses her! What was that for? Oh, that was their first kiss. Was that just for fun? Yuuji assures he will not do something so reckless without following up. Since it was Amane’s decision to fall in love with him, he cannot promise to make her happy. He agrees to be her girlfriend on a condition that if he dies or disappears, she must forget him within a year. She accepts but also wants to know if she likes him. That runabout thing he said about not understanding those feelings, to cut things short, he likes her. She is so happy that her legs start feeling weak. She even hints getting naughty with him but he doesn’t want her to get carried away. Now Yuuji wants to know the real reason why she wants to go out with him so much. Does he know who Kazuki Kazami is? My, that is the most shocking facial expression I have seen on Yuuji’s face! Of course he knows her. She is his sister. Amane is her classmate and fellow basketball club member. 6 years ago there was an accident involving her club. Amane is the only survivor. She kept this secret because she couldn’t bear to tell it to him when they first met. She shows him a diary that details everything that happened 6 years ago. Flashback time.

As the girls are returning from training camp, the bus tyre bursts and lost control, went over a cliff. When Amane wakes up, it was the first time she spoke to Kazuki. She is cold and sarcastic probably because Amane was sitting on top of her. As the duo gets out, Kazuki throws a psychological question who to save first. Personally, she will save the girl she hates most because if saved for last, she might lose interest in saving her. Once all are out, Chiaki Sakashita, the club president doesn’t like how Kazuki is trying to give orders and be in charge. Sakashita wants Ritsu Koide to administer first aid but she can’t as she doesn’t know how despite coming from a family of doctors. Kazuki defies Sakashita’s orders and goes off with Amane to explore the surroundings. When they return, first aid is still not administered so Kazuki takes over and tells to just boil water for her. It isn’t that Kazuki has medical experience, she just got knowledge from reading books. So this is her first time? Well, better than doing nothing. Kazuki’s left hand’s pain is worsening and Amane feels guilty as she was sitting on top of it. In that case, if she wants to repay her debt, she must obey her orders without question when she asks. Once their teacher Ochi wakes up, Kazuki takes the liberty to explain the cause of the crash. Some metal piece fell and pierced the bus tyre. It was unfortunate it happened at a corner on a curved road. Sakashita thinks of waiting for rescue to come but Kazuki disagrees and should use all the energy they have right now to find a way out because their rations are limited too. Sakashita tells her if she doesn’t like her decision, she can go off herself. Surprisingly Kazuki apologizes. Later as explained, Kazuki purposely picked a fight with her and then backed down because if she didn’t, she might cave in 3 days later and break out. But now that would mean admitting Kazuki was right. Everyone sets up tents to tug in for the night. Amane sees Kazuki reading and is amazed she can remember it like a picture to read it any time she wants.

Episode 11
Things are looking fine on the second day of the disaster. Some of them try to get their handphones to higher place to receive signal and call for help but since it doesn’t work, it proves they’re in an area out of the network’s reach. Kazuki and Amane tend to a couple of seriously injured girls. Kazuki talks about the efficiency of the girls being paired to carry out errands instead of forming a group to stem laziness. When Amane says she paired up with her because likes her, for the first time we see Kazuki’s blushing face! She’s really blushing! And you thought she is the kind of b*tch who can never put up such expression. A helicopter passes but a bunch of girls screaming won’t do any help. Not even Amane pressing the bus horn. It never came back. On day three, the corpses of those who died start decaying so Ochi carried them into the forest. Kazuki tells Amane about her younger brother and how they are always compared. This makes Amane yearn to go back home. Rationing begins on day four and on day five, Koide panics because it seems she is short a carrot. Sakashita will kill her if this is found out. So as not to spread paranoia, Kazuki cuts the carrots and then assembles the pieces to look like there are enough. So grateful that she’ll repay her someday. You don’t know the kind of trouble you’re going to get by indebting yourself with her. On day seven, Sakashita thought she is doing some good by feeding injured Tamaki Hirooka but she seems forceful. Kazuki tells her off to be considerate of others. Kazuki knows why Hirooka doesn’t want to be fed. As she cannot walk, she has soiled herself and thus didn’t want any more ‘inputs’. Amane laments Kazuki never treated her this kindly. Has she? Maybe this will prove her wrong. Amane’s neck is bleeding from a leech’s bite so Kazuki sucks it out for her. Such an ambiguous scene…

On day nine, Ochi claims he has found a route to leave this place so he leaves with promise to bring back help. He’d better because he took half the rations with him. I don’t know, shouldn’t everyone come along too including bringing the injured? You can see everyone is at their limits on day ten. The continuous pouring rain and the sickening feel of eating snails really get to you. The injured are not getting any better. Even more disheartening is how Hirooka wants to die. She knows she isn’t going to make and it hurts everywhere. Amane tries to give her motivation to continue living by being in her debt and to repay it. Sure, she’ll never forget this kindness even when she dies. Malnourishment causes Haruna Ibuki to lose her mind as she becomes a retard and mentally unstable person. Two days after Ochi left, he never returned and the girls desperately do all they can to survive from eating bugs to even drinking muddy water. They pretend to sleep despite their stomach suffering from diarrhoea. Then Megumi Komori’s dog dies. Instead of burying it, Kazuki suggests eating it. This will be doggie’s last service to them. It is depressing but what else choice do they have? I don’t know why they draw lots to see who cuts it up because it’s like Koide gets the short end of the stick. She’s going crazy just thinking about it so Kazuki butchers the dog so as to let her. Shouldn’t just Kazuki do it herself? Anyway the miniscule glorious meat brought tears to their eyes for all reasons and extended their lives. Best meat ever…

Episode 12
On day 13, everyone else is turning crazy. Amane thought of giving up but Kazuki tells her it is too early for that. On day 14, Ochi returns! However he is laughing like a madman claiming he has finally got back. Looks like he failed. With a couple of more deaths (Komori committed suicide), everyone now thinks fewer mouths to feed. Ochi and Sakashita managed to get deer meat but Kazuki refuses to eat them because she doesn’t want to get hepatitis. Even if she survives, she doesn’t want to suffer. One night, Kazuki wakes up Amane to tell her that they are escaping now because help will never come. They see Ochi and Sakashita heading into the jungle deeper as Kazuki will show her the truth. They’re having sex!!! Even more shocking are the chopped up dead girls! So that’s where the meat comes from? Kazuki is so shocked that it gave their position away. They run as fast as they can but Ochi goes after them. Doesn’t he look like a demon? Kazuki smacks him with her bag. However the other girls are also looking for them. Amane is so scared to move that she tells Kazuki to just save herself. To avoid being killed by them, she is going to kill herself. However Kazuki won’t allow that and reminds her of her promise to protect her. She is going to be a decoy and hands Amane a map that details routes back to civilization and her bag with food. Kazuki is caught by the girls as Amane runs like the wind. She knows Kazuki will be sacrificed and die a painful death just to save a coward like her. But because she was so scared, she could only think about saving herself. The last time she turned around and looked back, she saw Kazuki’s smiling face. There was no hate in those eyes. Like as though she has accepted her fate. It has been days since Amane has been lost in the jungle. She thought she saw visions of her dead friends trying to guide her to heaven but that is when she finally found the road. A cabbage field before her and she ate an entire cabbage herself! Vegetable never tasted this good, eh?

Of course the demons of her past continue to haunt her even when she returned to her normal life. When the mass media interviewed her for the story, soon rumours and conspiracy theories surfaced of why she is the only one who survived. Even her classmates start tormenting her on this. She believes this is the price to pay for surviving. Amane thought she had to be punished as an excuse for a reason to live. That is when Yuuji appeared before her. She thought he would be the perfect punishment. Since she took Kazuki away from him, she decided to do whatever he wanted. So she fell in love with him out of obligation rather than affection. But now she really does love him. However being with him feels her sin is lessened. That is why she requests him to kill her. There is no other way she can be punished and no matter how much she apologizes, it won’t bring Kazuki back. Yuuji knocks her head and says if that itself is so much pain, how can she expect to be killed? He ticks her off to stop acting like Kazuki because she is not her. He understands her past and regrets but doesn’t intend to pity her. So instead of killing her, she will serve him for the rest of her life. He is her master/owner. Live for his sake. Amane hugs him in tears. But he chides her that she looks ugly while crying. Oh, she can only cry for 5 minutes! I know it’s mean but this is punishment, right? Yuuji narrates the only way to save her was to accept her fully. But she will be the only one who can forgive herself one day. He will be that punishment till she realizes that. Even if the world hates her, he will be the only one to forgive her till that day comes. Yuuji wonders if Kazuki is still alive. Because although there is an official body count, it is not like they ever found her head. Remembering about that carrot puzzle, it may seem so. Amane shows the map Kazuki gave her and judging on how detailed it is, Kazuki intended for her to escape herself. She thinks of going to visit that site again. Will it be okay? She’ll have to overcome her trauma one day. Besides, she’ll be okay with him. While Yuuji waits for her, a creepy old man named Sakashita goes up to him and proclaims he is a big fan of Amane. He was from some IT company but sort of lost his purpose in life. He realized he still got things left to do. He doesn’t want to bore Yuuji anymore and leaves.

Episode 13
At the supposed site, they dig up a makeshift grave and find a letter by Kazuki. It states everyone died from a skin disease illness they contracted from eating tainted meat. Kazuki knows Amane will be reading this a few years down the road and has only a request: To help Yuuji. This is the only regret she has and hopes one day they will meet again. So is she alive or dead? Don’t know. When they go back to the truck, Amane gets a surprise call from Makina. Similarly, Yuuji gets one from Sachi. But it isn’t the voices of those girls. Instead it is that creepy Sakashita guy! He is holding them hostage as he wants revenge on the only survivor of that incident. You could have guessed he is that club president’s father. Yuuji calls JB to request for backup. They can’t let the police handle this because they’ll know Yumiko is still alive. Sakashita starts shooting outside when he spots those SWAT team peeping from outside the school wall. Amane starts wondering what kind of work Yuuji does when she sees special operatives outside the school. However he tells her not to over-think. As they can’t snipe Sakashita because the curtains are drawn and there are no other places to do this sniping job effectively (because the school is situated next to the vast ocean), it seems the only way is to lure him to the edge of the building into the men’s toilet where Yuuji will take on the role to snipe him through a tiny window. But he has to snipe from a lighthouse 900 metres away! He can do it. Believe it. But from that angle, he will be in his line of sight at a certain spot. Yuuji knows there is a marine among the hostages and will get her to break the urinals. A Morse code is sent and Makina picks it up. She makes an exaggerated feign to go to the toilet. Michiru wants to come along too. I know she’s complaining even using the men’ toilet but it is fine with Makina. How to break it now? Due to some silly slip up, Makina trips and breaks it! Ouch. That’s got to hurt. Sachi keeps Yuuji updated because her handphone was never off when Sakashita confiscated it all. Wow. The bill is going to run high.

Once back in the room, Sakashita cannot wait any longer and calls for Amane. She enters and the plan is to make him drink till he needs to use the toilet. Sakashita continues to blame Amane for everything and wants her to make a choice. He’ll let her live if she sacrifices her friends or she can die and he’ll let the rest go. She has no regrets in choosing the latter. But this is not what he wants and beats her up. He is not going to let her die easily and make her suffer. The other girls try to make him realize he is just taking out on her and that he has no right to judge her. You think he will listen? Like any other men, he wants to rape her but needs to use the toilet first. At this point, Sachi’s handphone runs out of battery. But Yuuji spots him right where he wants him and fires the shot. Sakashita is surprised to see blood coming out from his shoulder. Amane steals his gun and returns to the other girls. JB gives the orders to arrest the suspect and rescue the hostages. Chizuru commends Yuuji for a good work done and he claims he doesn’t know if this is ordinary or not but this is his school. He reunites with the girls who are very happy to see him. A year later, an unidentified boat enters Japan’s waters. What better way than to take out the coast guards by blowing them away with your bazooka!!!

Specials

After all that gruelling and dirty job, it is time to reward Yuuji with another kind of ‘dirtiness’. That’s right. I suppose these are what these 3-minute specials are for. Fanservice moments of the girls as they take out their inner most desires on Yuuji. YUUJI YOU LUCKY BASTARD!!! And real fanservice meaning real tits are shown! YUUJI YOU LUCKY BASTARD!!! Hmm… Why doesn’t Yuuji have any dialogue? Not even a sound…

Special 1
Today, Yumiko is dressed in a sexy bunny Playboy outfit and is going to give him a big reward~pyon. She’s teasing and flirting with him, enough to make him get ‘aggressive’. What’s this? He wants her to warm up this carrot with her cleavage? As you wish… Feels good? Now he wants her to ride and straddle on a giant toy carrot. Having fun, isn’t she? Although comes to a grinding halt when Amane spots her. Yumiko tries to brush it off as rehearsal but Amane promises she won’t tell what she saw. She understands… I guess hearing her out won’t work now, eh?

Special 2
This time Michiru is relaxing on a flat at a beach. She wants Yuuji to put sun lotion on her. Okay. He could be the world’s greatest masseur. But his hands go wherever he wants. Yes, touching all those ‘dangerous’ parts. If she is against him going there, why didn’t she stop him? Enjoying it? Then it all turns out to be one big dream. Michiru must be tired enough to fantasize this in the dorm’s bath. When she gets out, she slips on the soap. She spots Yuuji soaking nearby and gets very embarrassed. She thinks this is a dream too. Only, it isn’t.

Special 3
It is Sachi the maid’s turn! She is going to wash Yuuji’s back! I know the sexy lingerie is to turn us on but why is she entering the bath with gloves and panty stockings? How can washing be effective with those one? It doesn’t matter since she uses her boobs to rub her back. Ironically it is her who is feeling turned on while Yuuji is just sitting there like a rock! Now it’s time to wash his front. Oh yeah. She’s rubbing and caressing his thick hard thing! Need to clean it more thoroughly! Well, the blacked out censors make it look like so. The irony is that Sachi is the one climaxing! She snaps out of it when she heard Michiru calling her. Be right back. Well what do you know? Turns out Sachi was washing the shower head all along. Best troll ever? That’s what you get when you wear gloves when you clean. Can’t feel the real deal…

Special 4
Makina becomes a foul mouthed drill sergeant to train her recruits how to hold a gun. But noticing their big boobs, she decides to demonstrate a training to reduce those fat lumps. This is where your fanservice of Makina comes in because you get to see her mini tits when she does her push ups thanks to the loose singlet she wears. Then there is this pole climbing training when she suddenly starts to feel good while climbing up! She’s addicted to the rubbing! However she is called by Amane since it is getting dark. Oh yeah. Fear the poles… Another way to climb the stairways of adulthood…

Special 5
Amane and Yuuji. What a lovely couple in their lovely yukata at the festivals. Then it starts to rain. An excuse for Amane to get horny, tempting Yuuji to do it. Her yukata is already wet and undone. They’re all alone, right? She doesn’t mind if it is him. You have got to be gay to refuse her… Suddenly… Wait a minute! WAIT A MINUTE???!!! When did this suddenly turn into a hentai scene???!!! Because Yuuji is fondling Amane’s naked tits!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He’s good! She’s enjoying it!!! More groping! Don’t stop! And you know it is too good to be true when it turns out to be just Amane’s horny fantasy because Yuuji is actually fixing her yukata. Then she shifts the blame to him that he is trying to plant horny ideas in her head by doing this. Well, he knocks her head…

Special 6
I guess Kazuki needs to have her own special too. And here I thought we’re going to have a final orgy with the other girls. Anyway it goes back to the time when Kazuki and Yuuji are kids. They’re playing doctor. Kazuki is a naughty doctor. After she examines him, she allows him to examine her. And my, does he know how to turn her on by just using the stethoscope to touch her chest here and there. Now that she is stimulated, she can’t hold back and wants to do something more than this. So young, so horny… Then the doorbell interrupts them. Good thing because we won’t be viewing any child porn here. But Kazuki promises to play something far more interesting when she gets back. Would you like to know?

Grisaia No Meikyuu

In this 48 minutes special, we take a look at Yuuji’s past. The opener of Grisaia No Meikyuu sees a hostage drama at Vancouver Airport 2 years ago. Although the terrorist leader is shot dead, a handful of his subordinates escaped and took refuge by hijacking a taxing plane. Yuuji is a sniper positioned out in the foggy weather getting ready to take aim whenever the chance presents itself. When a terrorist comes out holding a little girl hostage, he takes the shot and hits his hand. Yuuji is worried he might have hit her although the only thing that did so was the terrorist’s blood splattered all over her face. Despite the terrorists escaped via sea, Yuuji considered this a good ending as the hostage was unhurt. Little did he know that the bullet he fired in the battlefield would one day find its way back to him. This little girl turns out to be Chizuru but she is not a kid at that time. In fact she has a driving licence to prove she is clearly an adult! And perhaps a very old one? Yuuji’s American buddy couldn’t believe it. Chizuru is grateful and would grant Yuuji anything. Anything? That is when the thought of having a normal high school life crossed his mind.

JB is going through Yuuji’s files since he is seeking promotion and narrates a little about his family background. Yuuji’s father, Ryouji may look like an antique dealer but his primary income comes from under table money of politicians as he acted as the middleman under the guise of political donations. Yuuji’s mom, Satoko is a weak person. Despite distrustful of others, the irony is that she relies on everyone else. And then there is his sister Kazuki who is a prodigy in art and her talent was discovered when she was 4 years old. It is said her works are worth millions today. JB calls Yuuji for interview and asks him about his sister to find out his true feelings for her. He once hated being compared to her and tried to avoid her because people treated him like a fool each time he is with her. However Kazuki was kind and always teaching him like how to do things with both hands (no, nothing hentai, mind you) and giving good advice like never giving up. One day, father was upset Kazuki drew a childish painting and it won’t look good to his art client. She won’t take it down because she likes it. Yuuji, perhaps wanting some sort of approval, tore that painting of hers but it’s not like father appreciated it. One day, Yuuji met this strange art dealer guy of his father, Rei Kirihara. He was given chocolates before Yuuji retired to his room. Yuuji couldn’t understand why Kazuki didn’t paint as good as she always did and lied. That is because being known as a girl who could do anything is annoying. Kazuki introduced Yuuji to manga so that he could have something in common to talk with his friends. Take a look at their father. Does he want to become like him? Eventually Kazuki ‘downgraded’ herself to live a normal quiet life. She doesn’t flaunt her artistic talents and turned down an offer to study in Paris. But still her art was the main income source and no one could argue with that. Even when she enrolled in a local high school, she betrayed her parents by not joining a fine arts club and joined a basketball club instead.

One night, she is appalled to see Yuuji just eating bread when the fridge has lots of food. I mean, his parents never really cared for him, right? Kazuki is sad that she never knew and gave her parents a long lecture! But that hardly changed anything. Father’s hatred for him became more obvious while mother now avoids him the best she can. When Yuuji made his first friend (Sachi), Kazuki isn’t amused. She didn’t remember telling him to make female friends?! I’m not sure about her decision to find an appropriate girl for him but if he ever wants to make any, make sure to introduce her to big sister. What is she, his mother? Oh, that feels true… I’m sure she is concerned about him becoming a man who makes girls cry. Kazuki continued to play ‘pranks’ on Yuuji but siblings taking a bath seems normal. Then they even kiss and that is when she taught him about incest. It’s pretty normal for siblings to love each other, right? Well, if you’re into that kind of stuff. Of course, due to genetic thingy, Kazuki explains why siblings cannot get married. As Kazuki continued to spend her peaceful days, nobody knew about her prodigy talent except him. If she had to show them, it was just to set in motion for some scheme of hers. Even their parents moved according to her will. That was the side Yuuji was scared of because he thought maybe Kazuki wasn’t human and could be God.

Until that fateful bus tragedy, Kazuki’s ‘death’ is only confirmed months later. The family fell into depression with Ryouji who pinned all his hopes on her now turning into a useless alcoholic. He abused his family especially mom. All she could do was apologize. So I guess she couldn’t take it anymore and one day ran away with Yuuji. The new home was less comfortable but as long father wasn’t around, it is already like heaven. Around a year later, father found them and is going to rape mom to produce another art prodigy. Yuuji will not stand for this and smashes his head with a bottle. Interestingly, he remembered Kazuki’s words of what hand he would use to kill. I suppose it is time to run again but Satoko gave her son all the money they had and told him to run to the station. He waited but she never showed up. He noticed ambulance heading towards his home and when he rushed back, he saw his father’s corpse being stretched away. Apparently he heard this was a murder-cum-suicide. It was traumatic for a kid to see his mother’s naked body hung from the ceiling. When he woke up in hospital, he read mom’s suicide note that was nothing but apology and why things turned out so wrong.

Shortly, Yuuji is taken in by Kirihara. But this sicko has some weird fetish. Yuuji is dressed like a girl and became his play doll. Well, life is so meaningless to him so it doesn’t matter. One day, one of Kirihara’s henchmen decided to beat him up. That is when Yuuji released his instincts and killed him. Kirihara was impressed and praised him for a job well done. He suggests he should study more and become a tool more excellent than any other instead of just holing up here as his pet. In some snowy country, Kirihara ran a school and went by the name Heath Oslo, a name that Yuuji had to call him too. This school is actually a guise for a terrorist training camp as Yuuji is trained to be one. Because Oslo favoured him, he became the target of bullies. Even more so when he had the talent for long range marksmanship. Only a fellow girl, Marlin treated him kindly, treated his wounds and shared her food. He thought at least there was still hope in humanity. Yuuji’s training intensifies with some lessons under Oslo himself as he is being brainwashed to trust nobody except him. One day for his ‘graduation test’, he must kill or incapacitate his opponent. That opponent is Marlin. Yuuji is clearly stronger as he shows no mercy in beating her up. But this brings back traumatic memories of his mom and he realized he was only becoming like his father. He became paralyzed and this gave Marlin the chance to turn the tables and beat him up. Oslo could not be more disappointed in this failure and locks him up. Even so, Marlin still came to see and tend him. But her apologies only reminded Yuuji of his mother’s. Pessimistic words that left him weak and powerless. Marlin promised to come back and see him after she ‘graduates’ but that was the last time he saw her. Later he learnt that she died in her first job after screwing up. This made him wonder had he ‘graduated’, would Marlin not have died?

Two months later, Yuuji was given another chance to ‘graduate’. But this time he had to carry out an assassination bid. His cross-dressing is perfect as he stabs the unsuspected judge from the International Court of Justice in the neck in his private hotel room. He carried out more high profile assassinations around the world. At that time JB was working with the CIA and was on the trail of this mysterious assassin known to them as ET-01. ET as in Enfant Terrible, not that extraterrestrial creature. They were stumped by his identity until that fateful night when an operation led by Asako to storm into Oslo’s mansion. They killed all the small fries but the big fish got away. They discovered an underground cell that Yuuji was being held in. Asako thought Yuuji was a girl but his wig fell off. It was the first time they met and had he not met her then, Yuuji would not have been right here today. The rest is history. He doesn’t remember much about the events of that operation as he was drugged then. As Yuuji takes a breather from this interview, we see the girls together at the dorm. While Sachi was cleaning Yuuji’s room, she discovered something. No, not his crusty underwear like you hoped for, Amane! It was shredded pieces of paper detailing the personal report of Yuuji’s past. Sachi did an awfully wonderful job in piecing back every shred! So why show it to the others? As she couldn’t help read it while putting them back together, she couldn’t bear her guilty conscience and brought it to them to read so she can make them accomplices! I guess there is no turning back now. The temptation is too great to ignore since they’re interested in Yuuji’s past that they know too little to nothing of. Take a deep breath and let’s do this. What is seen cannot be unseen.

Seeds Of Hope
Well, it isn’t over yet. I have yet to see the final series in the trilogy so perhaps I my conclusions won’t be so conclusive yet. But as far as for both seasons that I have watched, it is fair to say that the stories and plot are interesting enough. From the start you can guess that everyone has skeletons in their closet and not as ‘normal’ as they look. Everyone has ghosts of their pasts that they thought they buried but comes back to haunt them. Then a certain guy comes into their lives to help overcome it. Well, doesn’t sound original but heck, at least they make it interesting.

I don’t know, somehow I see a handful of comparisons of this series with Little Busters despite both series are made from different developers (albeit both are adapted from the adult visual novel of the same name). Maybe it is because of that Amane’s route and that bus crash scene. Both series had that. Both main characters are not are what they seem although in this case, Yuuji is more tough and badass compared to that ‘weakling’ in Little Busters. And sure, he also helps out all the girls with their problems and solves it. There is a ‘featured’ cat in both series as well.

Amane’s survival horror story seems to be the most interesting story of the lot and it really fleshed out her past. It kept me glued to my screen and seat as I was eager to actually know what will happen next. Surprisingly and to a point disappointingly, Yumiko only gets one stinking episode. Because from her cold behaviour and the only one who seems to be rejecting Yuuji (even resorting to hurting him), I thought she would be one of the toughest to crack. I knew she wouldn’t be the last one (because I was betting to be Amane and true enough it was) but I didn’t expect her to only just get one lousy episode to solve everything. Like as though it was rushed or there was nothing more to expand on it. Or the producers aren’t interested in her route and just crammed it all in one. It makes everything feel so tame about her after that. So as not to make Yumiko as the only one with a single episode, it feels Sachi is also ‘sacrificed’ with only one episode to be focused on. Why do you have to treat maids like this???!!! Ahem… But then again, you wonder how much materials they can cram into a season with only more than a dozen episodes.

I have not played the visual novel game so I am not sure that the character development in the adaptation is all fully fleshed out. Because it feels like your typical setting with every character having a dark past or some sort of issue bugging them. And that is when Yuuji the guy who can do it all, solve it all, steps in to ensure they go back in leading a normal life without worries and in turn he too would get that normal life he wanted to live so badly. What else can I say about him? He might not have the friendliest face that will get girls swooning at first sight (but you got to admit that he is considered good looking – just without the smile), but at least he has a set of survival skills that makes him badass and the toughest that will even have Terminators running back to the future crying for their mommies. Heck, sometimes I feel his insane and precision skills make him some sort of a robot. Or makers. So if you’ve got any life threatening thing bugging you, just make friends with this dude and he’ll even protect you from God’s wrath. Just exaggerating. But you know what I’m talking about. And it must run in his family because just like his sister, sometimes he has got the knack to make witty and sarcastic comments, a reason why it’s sometimes funny and nice to hear this guy make his comeback. Even he himself is not perfect despite looking like the guy who can do everything and anything. The insight to his past is interesting and gives a lot of depth to his character hopefully more of it will be revealed and fleshed out in the next season.

For the rest of the girls at Mihama Academy, they may look normal when they are first introduced. But at the back of our heads you know that more than meets the eye. At the end of episode 2, we see how they arrive at the school for the first time with their twisted personalities and predicaments and it makes you go that there are definitely some big issues waiting to explode. And sure enough, trouble comes looking for them (although one at a time for the sake of the series’ flow) but it is just odd that after the girls find peace with their past, they feel like they have become less ‘intimidating’. Like as though there was nothing that scary or crazy about them in the first place.

For example, like I have mentioned about Yumiko. She hates Yuuji’s guts to the core but after her fake death and all, she becomes docile. She was also the only one who isolates herself from the rest of the girls, not sharing or joining them in everything. But after that, this cold personality seems to be a distant memory wants she starts mixing like normal. Sachi also feels the same because her initial scenes show her like making some sort of dangerous bombs or weapons in her room. But it turns out she wasn’t any terrorist in disguise trying to sabotage the school or anything. Just that she takes things too seriously even jokes because of her penchant to perfectly fulfil all requests. Then there is Makina who mike look innocent and carefree but be careful sometimes because her speech can turn nasty. Every group needs a mood maker or a joker and that is what tsundere Michiru is for. Finally, when a guy isn’t a pervert, one of the girls has to take on this role. That is what Amane is. Flirty, seductive and telling dirty jokes at times (she even has the nice voluptuous body to go with it – porn star material?), despite this nature of hers, she feels like the big mother and big sister to the rest of the girls in school. At the end of the day, despite all their problems and predicaments, they are just human beings who yearn for the normal life. That is pretty normal itself, right? Who are the ones judging them as not normal?

As you can see, that these 5 girls harbour feelings for Yuuji but romance isn’t directly played out here. Thanks to Yuuji for helping solve their problem, it is safe to say that there is no reason why they shouldn’t fall for a guy like him. You will definitely feel safe around him. Now with Yuuji and Amane being a couple, I wonder if that is official and real. There are prospects of turning into a harem but I suppose that would ruin everything in this show. Heck, there is a prospect of them playing house here. Yuuji and Amane the parents, Yumiko the eldest daughter, Makina the youngest child, Sachi the maid-cum-friend and Michiru, uhm, the pet? Yeah, Chizuru can play the grandma… Haha!

Other secondary characters don’t feel too bad although I feel they too have more than meets the eye. Because like Chizuru who is much older than the way she looks, it is also a sign that there is a lot more to her than being the headmaster and only teacher of the academy. Or maybe I’m just being paranoid. Then there is JB, Yuuji’s boss constantly on his side and helping out whenever she can. Is there any ulterior motive or just truly assisting him? Also mysterious enough is Chiara whom I feel is hiding ulterior motives. Because aside the main 5 girls, she seems to be ‘interested’ in Yuuji… Maybe I am getting paranoid. Kazuki’s death was never made certain and remains a big question mark if she’s really dead or still alive. She has a knack for survival and with her quick thinking and calm demeanor, she won’t be killed off that easily but you never know. Lastly about Asako who only made her debut at the end of the special. I feel there is more to tell about her and how she became Yuuji’s master.

There are a handful of fanservice shots in the series but I feel that they are somewhat teasing. As they do not spam panty shots every 10 seconds or so, sometimes when they ‘feel like it’, the girls will flash their panties or the angle will be so that you can see their striped or coloured pantsu in that short second. It is like if you blink, you’ll miss it in some scenes. Okay, at least long enough for you to spot. Fair enough ;p. And for Yuuji to not be stimulated by some of their flirty advances and seduction, I am beginning to think he is gay… Thank his strict training never to give in to the pleasures of the skin or never to be off his guard. Then again, what do we know about the type of women he likes? Ah, not relevant, eh? Well, if Yuuji was that typical main character pervert you see in ecchi series, I this show will turn out less palatable and less awesome. No more just tragic. Just tragic romance comedy…

Art and drawing are fine and I have no complains about it except for this one tiny thing that I seem to notice. How come all the female characters have this red shading on the side of their eyes? I think it is supposed to be the visual trademark but sometimes it just feels weird looking at them. Like as though they forgot to completely clean up the eyeliner or they just finished their Chinese opera and forgot to remove the makeup near the eyes. Another ‘unique’ thing about this series is how the episodes are displayed in very a wide screen resolution as compared to your standard 16:9 resolution. Well, if you have a television screen that long (or watching it on a real silver screen), you will have to be content with black lines at the top and bottom of your screen. Yeah, it is indeed a very wide screen resolution.

Voice acting feels okay with perhaps Kaori Mizuhashi as Michiru being the ‘best’ one because she sounds cheeky, bubbly and playful. Something like Miyako of Hidamari Sketch series. It has been a long time since I have heard Ai Shimizu but she is instantly recognizable as Sachi. Oddly, we have a reunion of a handful of casts who lent their voice in Little Busters like Ryouko Tanaka as Yumiko (Kurugaya in Little Busters), Tomoe Tamiyasu as Makina (Rin) and Natsumi Yanase as Chizuru (Komari). The rest of the casts are Takahiro Sakurai as Yuuji (Suzaku in Code Geass), Hiroko Taguchi as Amane (Miyako in ef series), Erika Narumi as JB (Shokatsuryou Koumei/Shuri in Shin Koihime Musou, Kiriha in Fortune Arterial) and Akane Tomonaga as Kazuki (Yui in Ushinawareta Mirai Wo Motomete).

The opening theme, Rakuen No Tsubasa by Maon Kurosaki feels okay and fits the theme of the series well. There are a handful of ending themes and my favourite one is for Amane’s arc, rainy Veil by Nagi Yanagi. It is a slow and beautiful but yet a sad piece. Anata No Aishita Sekai by Yoshino Nanjoyu is the only other theme that appears in more than one episode. Hearing this piece sounds familiar although I can’t seem to put my finger on it right now. Skip by Chata is a lively and bubbly piece to signal the end of Michiru’s arc. Sousei No Thanatos by Faylan for the final episode sounds like one of her typical rock pop anime songs. At least I like this one better than Eden’s Song by Hana (ending theme for episode 2). There are also a handful of insert songs and they fit the scenes like a charm like Holograph by Eufonius for Yumiko’s ‘death scene’, Mayoi No Mori by Hiromi Sato at the end of Makina’s runaway, Home by Miyuki Hashimoto for that touching Yuuji and Amane hugging scene after he agrees to become her girlfriend.

This series isn’t an easy watch since you have to focus on the heavy drama and watch tragedy after tragedy in the stories. Sure, it may looked like the girls have a happy ending at the end of their arc but if you think about it, they wouldn’t have to go through all that suffering had not all those things occurred in the first place. They could have led a normal and boring life, a life without ever meeting Yuuji. Yeah, that wouldn’t be fun. Also, some who played the game complained about cramming the stories into a season which didn’t do any justice to bringing out some of the characters and even cutting off many scenes, thus the incomplete feel. Even so, personally I feel that this series has been interesting although there were certain parts that I did not understand and had to go back and rewatch it a couple of more times. So give this a try and whether you call it a masterpiece or a piece of crap depends entirely on your tastes. And Yuuji did say something about not repaying your debt is more shameful than being indebted, right? Well, looks like I have to repay that debt by watching the final trilogy then.