「レーゾン・デートル」 (Rēzon Dētoru)
“Raison D’être”

Remember how last week I noted that Yumiko’s route was more straightforward than Michiru’s route? Turns out, it was so straightforward we didn’t even need two episodes. No, we can do it in one! Push that fruit metaphor! We need to go, go, go!

I suppose I wasn’t really speaking with any authority, though, because the Yumiko route we got in the anime is a much different beast than than one in the visual novel. Or, at least, the way it was resolved was. At it’s core, it’s still about Yumiko and her personal problems, in particular the issues she has with her father. Sakaki Michiaki is a very special sort of scum, but it may come across that way more because his values may seem rather outdated. Inheritance based on male primogeniture is positively medieval, but I can imagine it still being a big deal in old families like the Sakakis. After all, we’re talking about leading a huge financial conglomerate, the kind that we tend to only see in Asia with their comparatively weak anti-trust laws. They are veritable corporate empires, and empires must have on its throne an emperor. Sakaki Michiaki is a tyrant, and wishes for a princeling of his very own. Yumiko is the nominal prince, but would but rather be a pauper. She’s a pitiful character, in her own right, and not just because she used to be such a cute kid. It must be tough, being snubbed by both her mother and her friends. From what I know about female bullying, it’s a different kind of cruelty than the male version; the stories I hear are of a much more subtle kind of sadism. Did they deserve to be cut? Well, violence is supposed to be never the answer.

This is Le Fruit de la Grisaia, though, and we have on hand violence specialist Kazami Yuuji, so that’s always the answer. It’s just a matter of application. If you haven’t figured out what kind of business Yuuji is in by now… well, I guess it’s not really a secret. Before Grisaia I wasn’t aware Sagara Sousuke could be played so straight, but Yuuji seems determined to try no matter what I think of it. Staging your own death is an old con, so I suppose Yumiko really needs to go out with a bang to make an impact. Was the show and dance really necessary? Perhaps not. The important part, I feel, is how Yumiko ultimately chose to solve her problem (though of course we don’t know how much of it was her own idea). At the risk of spoilers, in the VN Yumiko and Yuuji decide that her father needs to be removed from the picture. In the anime, Yumiko decides to remove herself. That, in my opinion, is the most significant change in this adaptation so far. I can understand why they would need to change the route in the anime—it needed to remain platonic, and it needed to fit in a single episode—but I do wonder why there was such a fundamental change of philosophy. It’s something to think about.

While this new story does fit better into a single episode and I do mostly agree with rewriting the route (though it’s still too bad that we didn’t have any time for turkey), I still feel that it came out a bit rushed. They needed to speed through the development very quickly, so some of it felt rather heavy handed. For a girl who professes to not like talking to people, Yumiko goes ahead and narrates her life story rather easily. It’s a good thing weather has such good dramatic timing in anime or we wouldn’t have had a chance to see Yumiko so wet and bothered (sorry, sorry). Vulnerability in characters is usually a good thing, but here it felt like it was forced out of her. And still, we didn’t get long to examine the relationship between Yumiko and her father, which in my opinion was the most important foundation of this narrative. For example, a good deal of Yuuji’s scheme counted on Yumiko’s father having an epiphany moment about her daughter’s death, but if he was that kind of understanding guy you wouldn’t need to pull such a stunt in the first place. What if he did close the school down? That’s not a pleasant outcome to think about. Mr Sakaki morphed from cartoon villain to clumsy dad rather rapidly, but we never really see the relationship that would have justified this development. I don’t know if the Sakakis feelings for each other felt more inconsistent because I’ve read the VN—again, Sakaki Snr was treated somewhat differently there. As always, comments from everybody are welcome.

Peeking outside the garden ~ looking forward

So we seem to be moving on to Sachi next week, and it looks like it’s also going to be a single episode affair. I think. Even though I still think we’re going through things too fast, I’m sort of fine with this. If it’s only one episode for Sachi and two episodes for Makina, that leave three for Amane. If I accept that they’re not going to make a second cour and the narrative must be cut down, then I would like Grisaia to do one thing completely right rather than everything halfway. Amane’s route, in my own, personal opinion, is both the best story and contains the most significant developments for Yuuji’s character as a whole, when viewing Grisaia as a trilogy. It would be a terrible shame if that, at least, is not given it’s due share of time.

So, I salute your sacrifice, Sachi. But I won’t raise the flag to half-mast just yet. I’m by no means sure of next week’s content yet, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. I’m always willing to let anime surprise me.

Full-length images: 07, 21, 22, 32.

By the way, for this episode, I should note: please spoiler tag plot details about Yumiko’s route as it is in the visual novel. Just to be safe. Thanks in advance. 

 

End Card

44 Comments

  1. Two episodes per route is too long! Let’s go with one now! Perhaps they’re doing this so they can sneak in one more episode from the common route (beach episode?) and a finale at the end, ’cause I can’t see them giving anyone three episodes. Everything I said last week applies, doubly so, except that this time they actually went out on a limb and significantly changed things around. Was actually OK with most of the changes, except that it didn’t really make sense for Yuuji and JB’s “organization” to go against orders out of the blue like that, much less keep her at the very same school!

    Not sure who decided on this format, but I don’t think it was a good idea. If you want to get more people to read the VN going through each route just spoils key plot elements while making the overall story look bad. And if you want to sell the anime to VN readers, chopping everything down like this will probably just turn them away.

    Based on my reaction to this episode, all the alcohol in the world wouldn’t be enough to get me through a one-episode Sachi route without throwing something at the TV (IMO best girl and best route). Sayanora and burn in hell Grisaia!

    Hochmeister
    1. Sachi’s route is only getting one episode too, yeah.

      Which is, indeed, terrible, since the entire point of her route was to show Sachi gradually taking the necessary steps towards becoming her own person and overcoming her guilt and trauma.

      I wonder if they’ll totally rewrite her route like they rewrote Yumiko’s. Yumiko’s route wasn’t very good to start with (imo). Sachi’s route was fine the way it was. But again, if they adapted it straight there’s no way it could fit into one episode.

      I’m just hoping this means Makina and Amane’s routes are getting 3 episode arcs. 3 episodes still won’t be enough for Makina unless they cut a lot of content, but it’s better than 2. 3 episodes for Angelic Howl could be fine. Maybe. Hopefully …..

      Tunafish Man
      1. Looking ahead in the schedule, Makina’s route is listed for two episodes. They can always add to that, I suppose, but I doubt. One episode for Sachi and two for Makina does technically leave three for Amane, but they may also need to do a final episode conclusion or hook or whatnot, so realistically we’ll probably only get, at best, two and a half for Angelic Howl.

      2. It’s scheduled for 13 episodes, and next week is Episode 7. If they’re doing Sachi’s route in one episode (sigh), then six episodes remain. So they could give three episodes each for Amane and Makina’s routes. But if Makina’s route is listed for two episodes, well, that settles that then. There’s absolutely no way to cover the events of her route in that little time, not even if they rush her route like they rushed Michiru’s, so I guess we’re in for more anime-original content?

        Tunafish Man
      3. I only have 12 episodes listed on syoboi, but I do hope that it’s 13. They definitely need all the episode time they can get. That’s probably not going to stop Sachi and Makina’s routes from having to go under the knife, though. Anime-original content looks very likely, especially for Sachi.

    1. Since I first heard Grisaia would get animated, I have whole heartily yearned for this single scene to be animated…. Why must you torture me this way?!
      I can only hope the loss of such a scene, will mean Amane will have a longer ep count. Show Spoiler ▼

      Reaper
  2. Man, the first scene was really well-done. I was actually getting excited to see what would come next.

    Then …… the rest of the episode happened. Lol.

    Let’s just hope Yumiko’s dad never notices that his supposedly dead daughter is still a student at the school he owns!

    Tunafish Man
  3. I had nice memories of the Yumiko route from the VN…
    Then came this episode.
    https://randomc.net/image/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
    Hey what? I don’t remember that..
    https://randomc.net/image/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
    Whatttttttttttttttttt. Did they seriously just kill off a main girl?
    https://randomc.net/image/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
    Whattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt. *rage coming*
    https://randomc.net/image/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu/Grisaia%20no%20Kajitsu%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    Troll turn is trolling…Though does that imply she basically has to earn her own living now?

    I would have liked to see the part of the VN where Show Spoiler ▼

    or even Yuuji and JB pulling the “cactus eaten by the worm” pun..

    Techim
  4. I’ll just say there were moments in Michiru’s route I wish were included, but I figured I could live with it because the turkey moment was incoming. I intentionally chose that picture for the VN post for a reason! =[

    Wish that was included (among other things), but in the end I guess it is what it is given the (sadly) one-cour nature of it all. I didn’t expect original content, but I can see reasons for doing so. Like you and many other fans out there that’ve played the VN, I just hope at this point the Amane route is done right, because that could certainly go far towards changing overall impressions regarding the series.

    That said, it does make me wonder if we’re not in for some more anime-original content. Sachi and Makina’s respective routes aren’t exactly ones that work well with the 1-2 episode + no romantic commitment way of doing things…

    1. I guess in hindsight Michiru was pretty fortunate to even get two episode for herself. That’s kinda sad in its own right.

      I have little doubt they’re going to rewrite Sachi’s route something fierce; I don’t know how they’re going to do it in one episode otherwise. Makina’s I can see in two, with some trimming, but eh. Right now I feel like I’ve got no choice but to put all my hopes on Amane’s route, in that expect the worst but hope for the best way.

      1. Yeah, and we can see how much that extra episode made a difference overall.

        I sure hope there’s going to be 13 episodes like some sources say, so Sachi’s route doesn’t need to be super truncated, but ack. Episode 12 comes in the second to last week of the year and they usually never air stuff during the last week, so it doesn’t look too good.

        Makina’s I can also see as 2, but considering some of the developments, they’re going to have to probably cut out one of the most significant parts of the route to get it to stick in the format so yeah… all boils back down to Amane’s route now.

      2. I don’t really get all the love for Angelic Howl. While the rest of Amane’s route was good (especially the endings), The Angelic Howl section was hands down my least favorite of the entire VN. Show Spoiler ▼

        Wouldn’t really count on it to “redeem” this adaption, especially since it’ll almost certainly only get one episode.

        Hochmeister
      3. I think I’ll save a discussion of Angelic Howl for when they actually animate it, but needless to say, tastes differ. Suspect logic is more or less endemic to all the routes (and I don’t necessarily agree with all of yours, but again, we’ll sort through them later), but on the whole I consider Amane’s route overall better written than its competition. I don’t think anyone said it will ‘redeem’ this adaptation, but if it at least is done well I do think it will ‘go far towards changing overall impressions regarding the series’.

  5. Yumiko’s dad in the anime looks younger than the one in the VN, Maybe it just the hair, how he has that small tail behind him, which is something we don’t see in the VN. I was so thrown out of loop when they all cornered the school, was all like, wait did i miss something in the VN, when did this shit happen. But the grenade, man i thought it was damn hilarious. I knew it was some sort of fake death thing but it was damn hilarious.

    Tomislol
  6. Am I the only one that doesn’t think Yumiko’s dad is a villain? Antagonist sure, but he’s trying to be a good father within the boundries of his social-economic upbringing. As for violence as an answer: It is certainly a tool for communication, not a ‘solution’, but a reply and voice for projecting power. Prisoners understand that more clearly than most:
    http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/violence-is-currency-a-pacifists-guide-to-prison-weapo-1643807529

    When I watched this anime, I go against the modern trend and I don’t think her Dad is a ‘bad guy’. We see Yumiko’s portrayal of events, but she’s also a young girl with the child / teenager’s perspective. Definitely not the whole picture if only one person is speaking.

    Dad setup a whole school specifically for her. Who knows what the real story behind the seperation was? Parents don’t share everything with their children, especially the burdens. The mother seemed… batty. A hospital was the right place for mom to be, especially if both mental and physical health were strained, just the execution went awry beyond the dad’s power (he does have a corporate empire to run).

    Yumiko’s father is flawed, but he does care for his daughter and he is not wrong. He wouldn’t spend so much of his precious time, and vast wealth, if he did not. How he expresses it, his communication skills need work, and the father-daughter pair definitely need to build relationship rather than shy away from each other, but he’s not a terrible dad (negligent, abusive, deadbeat, etc) — just a flawed one in a tough world.

    Drasca
    1. Who knows what the real story behind the seperation was?

      That’s the thing: we don’t. It’s my main issue with this episode really. At the beginning Sakaki Snr is all ‘I’m going to get my thugs to attack my daughter to terrify her into submission! Muahaha!’, wouldn’t have needed Yumiko if his son hadn’t died, and lounges in his black cars with his black suits generally being shady, and then half an episode later he becomes ‘My daughter! I care! It was for you! Etc!’. There could be a story behind their relationship, but the anime never tells it. What we do see is a character 180 for Reasons. If you’re feeling generous, you’re left to guess at those reasons. If you’re not, you’ll assume writing inconsistencies. Either way, having more than a single episode would probably have helped.

    2. It’s funny, I actually though he was the most compelling character from Yumiko’s route in the VN. The adaptation skipped over most of his jerkassery, but he’s not completely evil. The thing is, his redemption here comes off as very cliche and rushed instead Show Spoiler ▼

      Hochmeister
      1. Worst case I can imagine (speculation, not spoiler, but I’ll tag it anyways)
        Show Spoiler ▼

        Drasca
  7. See the problem with rushing? I didn’t have the time to get to sympathize with Yumiko at all. She was this all mysterious tsundere/yandere in the previous episodes who did not interact with people and then suddenly she cracks open to Yuuji like an egg that almost completely felt out of character based on how she was presented to us previously. Usually when you are presented with a story as tragic as hers you feel heavy and get heart ache, wishing with all your might that the character may find happiness. But that feeling comes along when the story is told over a wider period of time so that the implications have time to sink into you but here…damn dude it just didn’t click. I would just describe it as “interesting to watch” but nothing to get emotionally attached to.

    gawrshness
  8. one episode was just NOT enough. dammit i would have liked this anime arc alot more if they fleshed out Yumiko’s story more and her relationship with Yuuji. Overall it was entertaining but not as good as Michiru’s arc.

    gustave154
  9. Episodes like this make me think there should be “rules” when it comes to adapting visual novels like this, with multiple routes and such.

    Like they should decide whether to adapt just one route or all the routes. If just one route, then 12-13 episodes should be more than enough to flesh it out and give it the development it needs. If all, then they should have to be 24+ episodes, more or less depending on how many routes there are and what their content is (as some routes, of course, may be longer or shorter than the others), and perhaps done in an omnibus format like either Amagami SS or Yosuga no Sora did, in order to give each route its own (more) decent amount of development and uniqueness.

    Even as an anime-only viewer, I could tell that there was A LOT missing in this episode. They’re trying to follow every route while squishing it into a shorter series and all that does is hurt the adaptation because of being forced to rush and end up lacking (sensible) development in a character(s).

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  10. Never play this VN before….have no idea what going in this episode… no feeling…if this she is a not a main char., just leave her story to BD extra…it make no sense at all to rush through it…at least for me…poor girl…><

    hmmm
  11. I haven’t played the VN, I’m sure the story’s more professionally carried out there but this episode was very superficial. I didn’t sympathize with the character at all. It felt as if the director has a goal – to portray the individual routes one by one, the episode felt obligatory. The story itself has so much potential, yet I felt it’s being conducted rather poorly.

    Kanade
  12. Wow…. this is the one of 2 routes that I really hoped to be animated perfectly…. my hopes are dashed.

    I guess I cant expect much from the rest of the girls if this is how it goes.

    Never the less, I can see what’s going on here. They’re obviously aiming to make an ending that will lead to Grisaia no Meikyuu and eventually Rakuen.

    That or they simply want Suou Amane to be the main heroine.

    Ginobi47
  13. And there goes my favorite route,the one which has the best romance too,even though the story itself isn’t as interesting as Amane’s.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    In a way,I can see why the anime skipped this part since it didn’t want to pursue a romantic relationship between Yuuji & Yumiko,which is why I’m starting to think that Grisaia might just not work that well in anime form. The routes are too separated from each other,as once you go down a certain girl’s route the others don’t really play much part in it unlike in something like say,G-Senjou No Maou or Sharin no Kuni,where you go through each route consecutively to progress with the main story line.

    MgMaster
  14. Wow, talk about a weak episode. It’s like they didn’t even try or something. I mean, it didn’t have even a single panty shot! And Yuuji doesn’t even defy gravity with his posing skills!

    Jokes aside, for all my talk about dealing with VN adaptations last week, I’m certainly not a fan of making up original material instead of adapting the existing scenes. I didn’t get to the Yumiko route yet (as she’s my least favorite heroine), but surely there was a way to adapt it without any drastic changes (other than cutting them out for timeframe reasons, of course). At least my friends who haven’t read the VN don’t seem to be too bothered by it, so I suppose it still works in a vacuum.

    SingerOfW

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