The Series (5/5)

    The Fruit of Grisaia is a 2014 anime series based on a visual novel series. It has 13 episodes, and as far as modern anime is concerned is one of the best you are liable to see in recent memory.  It doesn't exactly end on a cliff hanger, but the series does have a lot of material that one can easily mine for sequels and spin-offs, and as such an OVA that serves as both a sequel and a prequel (it starts as a sequel before going into a flashback) called the Labyrinth of Grisaia and a fully fledged follow up called Eden of Grisaia was created.

      Fruit of Grisaia followed a young man named Yuji as he entered Mihama Academy seemingly to get away from his life as a hitman. Labyrinth of Grisaia goes back into his past, and shows the darkness that lead him to that life. It's a truly tragic piece that really informs the identity of the Yuji viewers got to know in Fruit of Grisaia. I have chosen to limit my synopsis, because I don't want to give away too many spoilers for these as the drama can be pretty heavy and effective should one go in blind. The Eden of Grisaia continues the sequel/prequel elements of the story. We find where the lead protagonist Yuji developed his murderous talents, and follow the girls of Mihama Academy as they try to locate him after he is accused of being a terrorist.

    Between Fruit, Labyrinth, and Eden of Grisaia (only the latter 2 are included in this Blu-ray set). One would find themselves with one of the most deeply involving both emotionally and storywise animes in recent memory.  There is a certain amount of complexity involved in the plot and characterizations in the Grisaia series which I found refreshing. Also, the action in the series felt less shallow due to the emotional investment in the characters. The animation was quite effective for the story being told.

Audio/Video (4/5)

     The Eden and Labyrinth of Grisaia are presented in solid 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfers preserving the shows OAR. Colors are nicely reproduced, detail is solid, and blacks are deep.

    The audio is presented with a DTS-HD MA track in English. The track is quite solid with dialogue and score coming through clearly. I did not detect any issues with the track.

Extras (1/5)

    Clean opening and closing animation.

Overall

    One of the most involving and awesome anime series I've seen in some time the Labyrinth and Eden of Grisaia had an unexpected emotional core to it. The Blu-ray looks and sound quite excellent. Extras are limited. RECOMMENDED.