Over the past few years, the anime genre has seen a massive rise in popularity, leading to the development of several new series. With a wide variety of these series easily accessible, several interesting and intriguing animes have failed to gain recognition. Grisaia is one such series that you wouldn't be able to stop watching once you start, despite its low popularity!
Despite its short runtime, the series' psychological elements make it an interesting watch. On the surface, Grisaia follows the typical harem story where a male protagonist tries to impress the women around him. However, the story has many more aspects and cannot be reduced to a typical harem style.
The story of Grisaia follows after the very real Oslo bombing incident, where the existence of a fictional USA Japanese anti-terror organization CIRS becomes a matter of public knowledge. CORS is rebuilt from scratch, and its most secretive functions are taken over by a new agency called SORD (Social Ops, Research & Development).
Since the main goal of SORD is to train a new generation of agents who can help defend the country, the organization establishes many training schools throughout the country. One such "specialist training school" at the center of the story is Mihama Academy, home to a diverse group of students.
One new aspect of the story of Grisaia is that every character plays a significant part in the main story. The school sees the most female students who attend the academy with guns and ammunition. The students often engage in dangerous extrajudicial missions to protect the country from external and sometimes internal threats.
At first, the show seems like a usual harem story. However, as you move along, you'll see how different it is from the usual harem anime you've come across. Moreover, every character in the story is well developed with a meaningful backstory that makes them memorable, no matter how much screentime they get.
If you like harem anime with a psychological touch, this is an anime you shouldn't brush off! Unlike most harem-style protagonists, Yuji Kazami is not a goody-two-shoes or dense. He is extremely clever, with a great sense of humor. He can come off as somewhat perverted, but the character becomes quite likable if you can ignore these little things.
In addition to the seasons and movies already released, a new anime television series adaptation based on Grisaia: Phantom Trigger has also been announced! Fans looking to watch the series can check it out on Crunchyroll. The recommended watch order for Grisaia is its chronological order. Viewers can skip the specials according to their preferences.
Check out the full list of Grisaia episodes, movies, specials, and the chronological and release order to watch them below:
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