Review of The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made
"Living with fear stops us taking risks, and if you don't go out on the branch, you're never going to get the best fruit" -Sarah Parish. Just from the trailer, you can tell what kind of anime this is. From the long name that's literally a sentence to the art and character designs (along with which kind of characters are shown in the trailer) it's clear this is another isekai OP protagonist gaining a harem through sheer means of plot convenience, along with a side of magical battles. But what exactly makes it stand out from others? I rate shows on seven aspects, five of which holdthe most importance. Animation/Editing/Settings, Plot/Execution, Characters/Dialogue, Music/Sound Design, and Messages/Cultural Themes/Impact. Each of these are rated out of 20. 5 extra points are added for the anime's OP and ED each.
Animation/Editing (8/20): Just by watching the first episode, you can tell that many of these characters' movements will be stiff and slow later on. However, this proves troublesome, considering that this will involve battles going forward. And with these battles, while some may be entertaining, one can clearly see many issues in the fights. From strange movement, bad choreography, attacks that are launched in one shot then are shown being used in a different shot, without any motion or follow through. Some characters may digress back to strange animation for a joke, like a funny facial expression, but then sometimes those strange facial animations turn out to be better looking than the normal animation. To summarize, the animation is not the worst, there are more horrid examples that appeared this year, but it's not the best, and I'm sure there could have been better ways of implementing it.
Plot/Execution (7/20): I'd say that this is the most troubling part of the anime. Within the main plot involving Seiichi and his harem, no character has any end goal or ultimate strive they are working to get. Now, this is also a comedy anime, so that's to be expected. But, since this anime also takes place in a episodic nature following certain "important" events, it's hard to take this anime seriously. This is also not to mention that, along with the MC's story, there are at least FIVE other plots are occurring at the same time involving different characters are settings that hardly ever come in contact with each other and share no intersection between them. Some of these plot points are even more interesting than the main story that we're following, but none ever get a full chance to be fleshed out or taken seriously because the main plot where the characters are doing nothing takes the full amount of time.
Characters/Dialogue (7/20): When the main part of your trailer says that "The Main Girl Is A Gorilla!" one would assume most of the time would be focused on that character, right? Sadly, after three episodes, she becomes nothing more than another cardboard cutout to the overall harem. Plus, with this being the main selling point and distinction between your anime and many, MANY others like you, why would you not put this to the forefront? Why trick so many MONKE enthusiasts (like myself) and show that an atypical female cast member would be a part of the main cast and then make her into another typical, pink haired anime girl a few episodes later? The same follows with the rest of the cast, with any potential ruined and either resulting into bland background characters or episodes just made to advertise the next addition to the harem. Also, one of those girls on the poster, Karen Kannazuki, the girl on the top right, isn't even in Seiichi's harem and never meets him for the course of the 12 episodes present and hardly gets any screen time. That's just false advertising there. Like, what if in the JOJO'S Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood poster, Dire (aka Thunder Cross Split Attack Guy) was there? Or, if in the first season of One Piece, Koby was there? Yeah, it would be strange, right?
Music/Sound Design (9/20): Probably the best part of the anime is the music, which is not impressive on it's own either. It's average at best and forgettable at worst. That's not to say it's horrible either, but every sound/music never seems to stand out among the overarching world of anime, nor does it stand out among other isekais, harems, comedies. Magical attacks sound as basic as you can imagine them and there is no flare when swords and weapons clash. And while I may not be a sound designer myself, I can tell when a lot of thought and passion is put into an idea or concept. And here, I sadly cannot feel much from this.
Messages/Cultural Themes/Impact (9/20): This part may seem weird to many, but I think it's important to consider while watching an anime. What exactly is this anime trying to say or show? Where does it pull inspiration from? Who is working on the anime and what kind of impact can it have on others? This may not seem important, but it does have a major impact on the enjoyability of a show. Would Dragon Ball be as enjoyable if Akira Toriyama turned out be a serial killer? Would Naruto and One Piece be as fun to watch if they only spouted political ideas? Real world themes have a big factor in anime and stories as well. Everything you may see in this anime, either plots, characters, magic systems, and monsters are all pulled from the basic of basic video game/harem/isekai ideas that so many other anime have done better before. The whole world itself is just a big video-game like world without any explanation as to how and why. Tensions between humans and demons exist without any deeper reasons as to what you may expect. I have seen some people try to defend the show saying this is a parody of the basic isekai premise, and I agree, this is a parody, or is TRYING to be one. It's clear that another group of characters are meant to be the main heroes while Seiichi's journey is supposed to be a parody of common isekai tropes. But when Seiichi does THE EXACT SAME THING as these common isekai heroes, there's not much to comment against the practice. So I'm A Spider, So What is an effective isekai parody on many fronts and shows these examples without ever needing to explain them. The Fruit of Evolution shows the same with it's main cast, but never does anything interesting or new with them outside of the same stuff it's supposed to be parody-ing. And a parody is not a paordy if it does the exact same things but slightly different.
OP (2/5) ED (3/5): The most important thing before an anime starts is its OP, which hypes the audience up to watch it, along with its ED, which says goodbye to the audience every episode to reflect on what they just saw and keeping them interested to watch more. In an OP and ED, its important for the music to reflect the anime's overall themes while having animation that syncs with the music. However, it is also common that most anime also show the cast of characters that take place in the anime. So, its important to hint at who these characters are and what happens in the anime going forward without revealing too much before the actual episode starts. The OP's animation almost as bad as the animation in the show, with strange cuts and fight scenes that look like they've reused the same animation from the episodes they're coming from. It's more of a rollcall for the harem than anything, without hinting at any other characters outside of the girls in Seiichi's party. Evolution by Yoshino Nanjo is ok, but it doesn't sync well with the animation in the OP at certain points, and Moonlight Walk by Poppin'Party is just a big reference to a bunch of video games (that don't have anything to deal with the show?). It's mainly just an excuse for the animators to relax a little and reuse chibi walking cycles of the characters without needing to animate them much.
Overall, tallying up, The Fruit Of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made (My God that's long) ranks 45/100 for me. It's another standard isekai with a slight twist that will be forgotten in the long list of isekai, with it's only possible saving grace being it's OP and ED songs. However, that's not to say that some people will not find this show enjoyable. People who like the isekai genre may see this as just another fun time. It's fine to like whatever you want. However, to those who want to watch good isekais or anime in general, I'd say to avoid this anime. Why would you watch it when there was so many good anime in 2021 alone?
If anyone else has any opinions on my review or The Fruit Of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made (Still a ridiculously long name) let me know.