Disclaimer: This review covers "The Fruit of Grisaia," as well as it's sequel double-length episode/film "The Labyrinth of Grisaia," and finale series "The Eden of Grisaia."When "The Fruit of Grisaia" was being broadcast in 2014, an easy way to describe it was "the poor-man's alternative to 'Bakemonogatari.'" Indeed, the two series share the same distinctive character designer, Akio Watanabe. Both like to use an extreme wide-angle (2.39:1) for stylistic purposes. Both (if greatly summarizing the premise) are about a male protagonist meeting a series of young women with a variety of psychological or supernatural problems, in need of a seemingly non-urgent but complicated and tense rescue. "Bakemonogatari" is most certainly the more famous of the two series, with ongoing anime adaptations spanning over 10 years. But in America, the episodes are released by Aniplex USA, requiring a premium penny should anyone want to own that show. Alternatively, "The Fruit of Grisaia" was released by Sentai Filmworks on DVD and Bluray, in sets that can be found at a standard price less than 1/3 Aniplex's rate, and when on sale, even cheaper. As expected, the "poor-man's" version of anything is bound to require some compromise on the viewer. When taken as a whole, "The Fruit of Grisaia" series isn't particularly good. It IS incredibly ambitious, and that in itself makes it worth investigating. Depending on your preferences for dark storylines, you might be won over. But a lack of focus or direction with the story betrays that ambition, making me feel wanting at the end, as well as slightly confused about what exactly I watched. Based on a sprawling series of visual novels, the first season of "The Fruit of Grisaia" opens as a mystery-psychological-romance. Yuji Kazami is a mysterious transfer student, enrolling in the even more mysterious Mihama Academy, an all-girls' school that only has five students. The girls are... unique, each with some strange social quirk. The school seems designed to keep them locked in, or perhaps to keep danger locked out. Who are these girls, and why are they here? The story abstract of "Grisaia" is a bit misleading. At first, it seems like a show entirely focused on the girls, each cute and with distinct hair colors, growing into the protagonist's personal romantic harem as he saves each of them. There isn't really any fantasy element in play: it's best to imagine this as complex spy-thrller, given the pasts, accquaintances, skills and personalities of the cast. The first season (13 episodes) takes it's sweet time to explore, and eventually resolve, whatever disorders or fears each girl has. But ultimately, this is Yuji's story, secretly a trained mercanary planted at the school for a reason. In the sequel film and series, the plot focuses heavily on Yuji and his own past, as well as his mission to take down a major enemy... all the while, the girls are mostly just background objects, fawning over Yuji after learning the truth about him, but unable to really do anything. By comparison, Yuji is a one-man army, like a James Bond in a movie with several "Bond girls." 
That confusing lack of focus, mixing moments of light comedy, sexy fanservice, and incredibly dark and violent subject matter, as well as over-the-top story conclusions... frankly, "Grisaia" is a mess as an story. A handful of arcs last multiple episodes, without much relevance to the main plot: one big arc was a recollection of a "bus accident" that left a class of students stranded in the forest for days, playing out as a horror story akin to "Lord of the Flies." Sex isn't ignored in the show: an early episode shows one of the girls masterbating to Yuji's clothing for a significant amount of time, and another reference shows Yuji was "sexually active" before the age of 14, thanks in part to his mentor. These types of elements will shock some viewers, and interest others. But the entire time, I just kept thinking... why is this here? Where is it trying to go? Why is it taking so long? The resulting story is something I would struggle to summarize to curious fans.It's a shame the plot direction is such a mess, because eventually, it comes to an exciting and satisfying conclusion with Yuji and the core villain. I can't help but wonder if the visual novel is any better at portraying the story. As it's a SERIES of visual novels (not just a single massive one), this is far more complex than a typical game or anime, and no doubt the games contain hundreds of hours of fascinating details and character development. But the anime will either come across as really clever or really stupid, or for me, somewhere in between.At least the show looks pretty. Both colorful and well-imagined with dramatic lighting, "Grisaia" is more stylish than most anime, even if the animation is mostly just "standard." Your taste in the character designs, or in the symbolism of the girls matched with specific fruits (which has no ties to the story at all) will ultimately make or break the visuals for you. The opening and ending songs are fine, and the background music is also... fine, but not tangibly memorable. The Japanese acting (no English dub here) is reasonable.There might have been an opportunity to save "The Fruit of Grisaia" by keeping the story more focused, and purposely ignoring most of the details behind the characters, or where ever the plot ultimately goes in the series. But assuming the show doesn't cover the games to their fullest already, I have no idea where one would start in disecting a better plotline to follow. One might ultimately be curious to watch, and keep watching, simply to see what it tries to do and where it goes, or simply to learn more about the cute cast. But fruit tends to be most fragarent when it's spoiled a bit, to the point of being no longer edible.