The Fruit of Grisaia

Episode 4

Without putting too fine a point on it, this is not going to be a comfortable episode for everyone. While it offers us much more information about one of the characters than the previous one did, it also has a very sad ending that, while logical in terms of the tenor of the episode and the themes of the show, still may be upsetting for animal-sensitive viewers. I cried, is basically what I'm saying.

Apart from that, The Fruit of Grisaia's fourth episode is miles away from its third. Whereas last week we were forced to prospect for plot nuggets in a rather silly sequence about shark pouches, this week the balance is much better maintained. The primary girl this time is Michiru, the self-professed tsundere, but this in no way leads to as light-hearted an episode as you might at first think. There's definitely something off about all of the girls at Yuji's school, and in Michiru's case the issue is most certainly psychological. Yuji seems to be conversing with two very different girls wearing the same skin, one of whom is the crazy Michiru we know and the other who is a much quieter, more introspective girl. The question now becomes not whether Michiru is trying to be a tsundere because she likes tsunderes, but whether she's trying to hide an alternate personality. Could she have dissociative identity disorder? Or is this somehow related to that bus crash we saw in episode one, where I had initially assumed Yuji's sister died. Maybe Michiru had a sister too – one who is now sharing her body. That would explain why the “fangs” are more visible on the Michiru we initially met and why one has blue eyes and the other green. In fact, from this episode it's looking more like Yuumin is more of the tsundere character. While her new vulnerability does make her more likable, it also feels at odds with the knife-wielding maniac we met previously. Then again, none of the characters are exactly what they seem, are they?

There are some strange linguistic choices in the subtitles for this episode, with a lot of old-fashioned language being used, such as “waken” and “liken.” If it were only Green-Eye Michiru using it, it would be easy to overlook, as she gives off a much more refined air than even Sachi, whose schtick that initially seemed to be. But both she and Yuji are using the older, more formal language, which feels a bit weird in a series that only last episode was saying that something was “the sharkiest.” The only time this archaic language makes sense is when Yuji is trying to ascertain the existence of the two Michirus and uses the word “osculate,” which in 1656 meant “little mouth kiss.” (It hasn't had that meaning since 1670. Thanks, Oxford English Dictionary!) The kissing, incidentally, is shown with much more restraint than one might expect, and is a bit more G-rated than even some of the kisses in Disney movies.

The Fruit of Grisaia is moving slowly, but this episode shows us that there are hints and truths hidden everywhere. For example, we learn about Michiru's hair color (is that related to the two personalities?), which, although couched in silliness, presumably is important or we wouldn't have been shown. We also see her taking medication after an upset, so this is our first true indication that there are mental and emotional problems in the show, not just girls who are odd for the sake of oddness. While the ending was heartbreaking (for me), that it was able to have that effect speaks volumes about its direction, and this is probably one of the strongest episodes thus far. It still spends too much time in antics and uses chibis when they aren't really needed, but clearly there's a lot more going on that we are going to start seeing sooner rather than later.

Rating: B+

The Fruit of Grisaia is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rebecca Silverman teaches writing and literature and writes ANN's manga review column.