The Grisaia series was one of the first series I watched when I was new to the anime world. Back then I had no prior experience of other series - bar Chuunibyou, Initial D and Wangan Midnight. Thanks to this I couldn't really find a flaw because I had no idea what a flaw was like. Thanks to this I decided to give it a rewatch in the quality it deserved, instead of the 360p I watched it previously in.
One of the most obvious flaws that are touched on the most are the pacing issues. Huge life corrupting illnesses/problems are catered to, and solved within the matter of a day in most cases. Considering these life issues are things such as another complete personality within someone - for it to be solved in the matter of a couple days spanned over the course of one episode is dreadful. One thing that does catch me off guard is that they structure the episodes in a way that makes them feel much longer - in a good way. I think this is down to the amount of content force fed into one single episode, but I felt it's not really noticeable until you finish the said episode and realize how much you had gone through in twenty five minutes.
Thanks to the visual novel the quality of the plot and arcs are of high standard. Fantastic words of wisdom from Yuuji, the protagonist, and numerous other characters. The supporting foundations are there - it's just that the process on how it is executed isn't. I look forward to getting a job at some stage to pony up the money for the Steam English translations. While the Steam versions are absent of hentai, thus removing itself from its true roots, I feel this compromise is for the best as it makes the story more believable. I guess it'd be akin to removing fan service from, say, High School DxD.
On the subject of fan service, there is a lot of it. While this is not surprising due to the after mentioned visual novel roots, during Kajitsu it feels like it's there for the sake of it. While it is implemented in a way where it gives a good comedy relief calming things down for the events to follow, it is a tad over done, sometimes taking away the seriousness of the situation in a bad way.
Characters are fantastic thanks to their visual novel roots. Thanks to these roots, however, they still showcase the same visual eye candy, in the case of Asako and Amane for example. Each and every character is diverse, with one, hell, being a makeshift maid! As AOS- earlier mentioned the underlying illness is similar bar Amane's, but the direct cause of these problems are heartfelt and realistic. Yuuji made a fantastic protagonist with his constant witty remarks and insightful dialogue, same with Kazaki. Yumiko was my best girl, with her quiet personality just seeming attractive.
tl;dr, if you have the means, wait until the visual novel is on sale
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