First Impression – Grisaia no Kajitsu
I don’t even know. But I’m coming back for more.
Being that this is Fruit of the Loom: The Animation, I was expecting fabulous underwear models outshone only by the sublime beauty of the underwear they are wearing. And as it turns out, Grisaia no Kajitsu delivers exactly this, and more.
Froots and Gurls
“Nice tits.”
I jest, but it certainly didn’t escape my attention that the show made it a point to expose almost every single girl’s undies within the premiere. In fact, I think the only one who escaped this fate was Yumiko. Take that as you will. But in any case, I must say that I’m honestly not sure what to make of this first episode of Fruit of the Spirit. Is it supposed to be an ecchi show? There were certainly plenty of moments to suggest as such, including some near-complete nudity near the end of such severity that it required the timely intervention of sunbeam-chan. But that can’t be it, because if this were an ecchi show, it would be much more up-front with the fanservice. Not to mention, Yuuji, our hero, doesn’t remotely resemble any ecchi/harem protagonist I know. He’s neither the lucky pervert nor the open pervert. He’s just… unapologetically blunt and direct to a fault. A guy who doesn’t fuck around or let fly any bullshit from anyone else either, if you will.
It’s just a greeting in America.
OK, so it’s not about the fanservice. Is it then a high school romcom? That one is a rather popular genre nowadays, despite the growing backlash against its alleged overuse, so it wouldn’t be surprising. But again I find myself puzzled. Romcoms don’t close their opening act with the hero retrieving what looks to be a sniper rifle from a hidden, locked suitcase. Much less do the girls surrounding him break into his room or attempt to slit his throat with a box cutter upon first meeting him. Aha! So then it must be the dark and edgy mystery. Surely there is no other option considering all the foreboding and disconcerting scenes inserted seemingly at random. And certainly, I want to say this is what the show really is at its core; it’s the best fit out of everything else I have considered. But then if this is the case, I can’t say I quite understand the show’s insistence on also including the equally random and seemingly out of place fanservice. If I had to sum up the show in brief, the whole thing feels almost like Frankenstein’s monster; a bizarre product of parts cobbled together from different sources that normally do not so much as acknowledge each other’s existence.
What’s Going On?
Do your maids make bombs at home?
Now, my inability to understand the direction or intended tone of the show does not necessarily mean that it is bad. If there is one thing Fruit of Your Loins has succeeded at with flying colors, it is in capturing my attention. Because I am so bewildered as to what might happen next that I wait with genuinely abated breath for the next episode. And this, if anything, is a sign of a successful premiere. It strongly encourages you to come back again to see what all the fuss is about. Will the blood start flying? Or will Yuuji’s “job” be resolved without incident? Better yet, perhaps the clothes will start flying again? I certainly would not be opposed to that. Though something tells me that the show strives to be above pointless fanservice seeing as it has refrained from the odious amounts of that stuff your typical ecchi show nowadays can put out. But even I am hard-pressed to believe the words I just typed considering the panty-shots here were pretty much textbook examples of pointless fanservice. Unless, of course, you mean to tell me that this show actually is indeed one big underwear commercial. Or that the kind of undies the girls sport is actually a crucial plot point.
Extra Fruit of the Loom
All in all, this has to be one of the more unusual premieres I have seen in a while. We definitely have no idea what’s going on, but it’s not quite as overwhelming as, say, In Search of Lost Future. Most likely, this is because Fruit of the Loops at least gives the illusion of a starting point for its first episode rather than springing on us in media res, though this is technically what it did. I guess we’ll just have to keep watching in order to straighten out our feelings about the show. And by then, it might already have us prisoners in the palm of its hand.
P.S. Who the fuck let this woman drive? More importantly, what driver takes her hands off the steering wheel to overreact to a passenger’s words?
About Sumairii
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
>not even one screenshot of naked Juicy Yuuji
And he was generous enough to grace us with some manservice amidst the pantsuservice.
It’s definitely a mix of different stuff but the one that would start nagging in your head is the fact that there are only 6 students in that school, including YuujiYuuji. It’s definitely not a normal school and these students aren’t normal in the sense. Diving into their issues and how they can be helped is pretty much what this show is going to be.
That said, I have no idea what route they’re going to do. As a VN, there’s a common route for all and then it branches off into the girls’ routes. There doesn’t seem to be a main or true route as far as I know so there’s a debate as to whose route will be covered in the anime. They could do an Amagami but that doesn’t seem to be optimal.
I’m hoping they can do service to some of the funny moments of the common route as that’s one of the best things of the VN. I need to finish another route as well. I only finished Amane’s route a few days ago. Which route should I go next?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
They could punt and not pick a girl’s route, doing some inconclusive harem ending that satisfies nobody.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Or they could go the yosuga no sora omnibus format.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I strongly considered this, but felt it more appropriate to use extra shots of the girls’ panties to reinforce the whole “fruit of the loom” thing. You can’t advertise underwear if you’re not even wearing anything.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
I suggest going for Sachi, her route is rather sweet, and pretty heartbreaking. But what did you think of Amane? She had plenty of H-Scenes, and they were nice. But her story, while it dragged a bit, was SUPER DARK and very depressing. It had a lot of great moments, but damn her life was the worst of all girls IMO
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
I was planning to go with Sachi since I got curious with that bomb assembling thing, which hopefully didn’t spoil me that much.
Amane’s H-scenes were…hot I guess. They were going at it like rabbits and all over the place. They really are nice tits.
Her backstory dragged on a bit too long though. Almost gave up after about an hour to it. But the payoff at the end of that was pretty thrilling and depressing. I had a hunch it would end up like that but I didn’t think it would really go there. Makes me sick a bit just thinking about it. The good end was done well and made me tear up a bit. I can see why this is one of the fan favorite routes.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
The anime will probably spoil some of the routes, and the bomb making does have a large part in her arc. Let me just say that there is a damn good reason why Sachi acts the way she does. And her H-Scenes are really good.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I wanted to point out that, like Ushinawareta, this show brings back the VN cast for all of the girls. But this one definitely seems to be higher quality animation.
I really liked the show, and thought it had a lot of the same kind of feel that Akuma no Riddle had, although that might just be my “school full of bad girls” alarm going off. The characters are intriguing, they had a good amount of explanation without giving the whole thing away, and the show looked really good. Definitely high on my list so far.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Sumaraii: last caption “Jesus take the wheel!”
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Lol. At least turn the cruise control on or something. XD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Last caption: Whoops, I forgot to switch to auto-pilot!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
I had a blast with this episode, but it was greater for me since I already played the VN. I like how they are hinting at all the girls “Sins.” And let me just say the sins of one girl in particular are insanely dark. Since this is a VN eroge, the fanservice is relatively restrained until they start bumping uglies. I think the show is setting Yumiko up as main girl, and her route does allow for interesting events. But if you play the game, you know that you can only find out a girls sin by pursuing her route. So maybe we get a semi original anime plot? I would not complain.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Why is there a lot of unnecessary steam? Including in the banner.
I originally thought that this was some epic original work until a few days ago when the discovery it is an eroge work suddenly made things seem… more cynical.
Combine this and vanadis and ushinawareta into metafap so we can suffer less.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Maybe they want you to suffer a bit. Who knows?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
OPPA-Icecream (too long to repetitively type) can be eaten altogether. Delicious Fruit Caek must be enjoyed on their own.
Delicious Fruit Caek lovers unite!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Best freaking first episode! I did not expect that twist at the end and gotta love those monogatari character designs <3 <3
PANTSU! PANTSU EVERYWHERE xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*Steals Fosh’s pantsu*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hey, isn’t there a law against that?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
NOPE.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Then there should be one.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
LLLLLOLOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
When I saw the chairwoman’s smile, all I could think of is “Akiyuki Shinbo”. The character design is has a lot of trademarks from him that I can recognise from the Monogatari Series and it makes me really happy.
Speaking of Monogatari Series, who said that romances can’t have a girl trying to slit someone with a box cutter on the first encounter? Senjougahara says hi!
But I see what you mean. It’s really confusing. It’s based off of a successful visual novel (is it galge?), so I came expecting something a lot more different, not a maid-san making bombs on her room or a girl nonchalantly stripping herself on the MC’s room. And then there is the random pantsu fanservice and the random fanservice for girls with MC-san walking around nude (that was probably just to show the scars on his back, though).
Also, MC-san’s character design reminds me of Oshino Ougi to some extent. I guess it’s more about his pitch-black expressionless eyes.
Oh well… I do not know what to expect right now. Animation-wise, I guess it was so-so. I didn’t pay attention to the songs, though… And the voice acting is kind of weird… There are some good ones, but there were some monotone acting that weirded me out. I did like Maid-san’s monologue that reminded me of some of Monogatari’s dialogue heavy scenes.
I guess this one would be the closest to being a Shaft show this season. Hopefully they are preparing for Kizumonogatari.
Yeah, I love Shaft.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Just to make sure you’re aware, the man behind the chara designs (for both this show and Monogatari) is actually Akio Watanabe. He was also the one behind the designs in The World God Only Knows.
Monogatari ain’t your typical high school romcom, though it certainly has those elements hidden underneath, so I don’t think it counts lol. There are definitely several similarities between these two shows though, beyond just some of the staff. Speaking of which, I recently came across this fanart.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Ops, I missed, but that’s the guy I wanted. Thanks btw.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Also, Senjougahara and that girl (I have problems memorizing new character names) are too similar. Though Senjougahara has the plus of having a staple and some thousands of stuff on her legal arms collection and she has the awesome ability of teasing using only words.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Yeah, Gahara doesn’t need to resort to violence immediately. Her words themselves are very powerful weapons. If Yuuji were bothering her, she’d give him a tongue-lashing. I suspect he might be able to play that game as well though if the two ever did encounter each other.
On the other hand, Yumiko definitely went straight for the jugular when she didn’t want to deal with Yuuji.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
I actually really liked it. I haven’t gotten far in the VN at all (I stopped a little after where this episode ended), but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played so far. And from what I’ve heard, it gets really good. The end of the episode certainly has me intrigued. I totally could have gone without all the extra panty shots though.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I did quite enjoy this first episode. I just had a really hard time placing the show, and might continue to until it’s revealed its true colors.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
A question to all those who played the VN: Did it also have random panty-shot encouters? I’m wondering if this was something they just added into the anime.
POWUH: iLurker with 9 comments
The panty-shots are anime exclusive. VN only has that part of Amane in underwears.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I see. Well, hopefully they don’t abuse it more often that it distracts from the other more interesting aspects of the show. Like the knives, guns, and bombs. Or a topless Amane.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
If you want to get a feel for what the VN looked like, feal87 played it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Ah… found the comment that I wanted to comment on but lost track of it… x_x
So, the anime adaptation is taking an already ero eroge and cranking up the erolevel to more than 9000?!?! Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better knowing that they have to use even more ero to sell the show.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
Since VN’s are typically low budget efforts, they really have like 5 different poses for the characters in the games, then the Visuals that pop up, and the H scenes. So you wouldn’t see as many panty shots in the novel, but there is the constant implication that you are going to fuck.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I have to admit, that this did little for me. It even bother’s me why I cannot come up with a reason or reasons why. I think it’s because all of these girls feel like they should be in other shows. The Hitagi rip-off is one thing…well rip-off is rather unkind at this juncture. The only character to give me any sort of feeling was the kinpatsu, shimapantsu, twin-tailed tsundere in training. Which, as Fosh pointed out, is rather predictable for me…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Shame on me for letting myself nearly get trolled. There’s certainly no indication to what’s going on. For some reason, I forgot about the ominous intro and was about to dismiss this a pure school life/romance show, which generally turns me off, and was about to leave it right there because it was slow and felt like nothing was happening until the episode pulled a 180 at the end revealing no one is who they appear to be. And Yuuji apparently is a sniper. That police officer was indeed right to suspect him of being a terrorist.
Okay, I’ll admit my interest has been piqued and there may be more to this show than it’s leading viewers to believe. Plus, I feel honored they went with a French title when intro started. Grisaia no Kajitsu meaning “Le Fruit de Grisaia”. What feels out of place is the tone of voice for Yuuji. Takahiro Sakurai is using too mature a voice for a character who is supposedly a teenager.
Make a note: Never leave weak hearted scatterbrains behind the wheel!
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
I guess his voice tone is acceptable. He isn’t a normal teenager after all. He has a muscular body and he has a mature personality (not the usual kind of maturity though) so I guess it goes pretty well with what Yuuji is supposed to be.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I agree with JPNIgor’s assessment above. His voice matches his body. Neither match his age, but anime is guilty of this all the time.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
when i saw the episode i thought to myself…i came to a strange place, so i’m not sure what to make of it…I invoke the ancient power of the 3 episode’s judgment