Autumn 2021 First Impressions – The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew it, My Life Had it Made

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Seiichi Hiiragi is the target of his class’s bullying, and when a literal god decides on a whim to transport the entire class to another world, this doesn’t change. While his classmates buddy-up into parties and arrive in a local castle town, Seiichi ends up in the middle of the wilderness. Despite his luck stat starting at “0,” though, he seems to have at least a bit of it on his side; he happens to find a “fruit of evolution” on the ground which he eats to fend off starvation. Though it tastes terrible, it seems to set the stage for his future success.

The mechanics of this new world are awfully game-like, and somehow Seiichi finds himself defeating monsters, gaining more skills, and “evolving” – a painful process where his body actually physically changes. Gone is the heavy-set kid he once was, replaced by a more average physique. After several months, word of his power gets out, and Seiichi is suddenly confronted by Saria, Kaiser of the clever apes. She immediately seems smitten by Seiichi’s show of power, and though she fights to kill, Seiichi’s survival skills win out – and win Saria’s heart in the process.

Impressions: This episode begins at a point slightly later in the story, after which a young woman (obviously Saria, which can be extrapolated from some of the show’s key art and her evocative coloration that carries between her ape and human forms) evolves into a naked woman who only has eyes for Seiichi. The story then returns to the beginning to follow his journey to that point. I couldn’t help but think of the “record scratch” meme as I was brought back to Seiichi’s classroom. I suspect there was some sense while this production was being assembled that it was kind of a stinker, and so someone made the logical decision to front-load the episode with some boobs and call it a day. That’s probably the best part of this episode, and coming from me that’s saying something.

To be honest, I think I began to tune out fairly early into the episode when the characters began to discuss Seiichi’s weight. There’s a general attitude that basically amounts to “well, of course he’s getting bullied, he’s fat.” As he “evolves” over the several months he’s left to survive in the wilderness, his body takes on a more slender form. The implications of that are really gross to me – that a more evolved body is one that somehow falls more in line with what society considers traditionally appealing. That having and wielding power somehow makes one more deserving of affection. It’s just a cluster of ideas that only serve to put people down for aspects of themselves that aren’t easily-changed and shouldn’t have value judgments attached to them, and the fact that this story poses them as simple assumptions that anyone would accept is gross.

There’s otherwise not a lot to this premiere. Seiichi levels-up and gains new powers, but the linchpin of his abilities ends up being his killer body odor. Wow. The lady gorilla wants to jump his bones. God is a jackass. You know, typical isekai randomness. I’ve tried in vain to come up with more to say, but there’s just nothing else worth talking about.

Pros: Typically these types of series feature more active vengefulness; a scenario in which a character gains deadly powers that tip the scales away from the people who have done them wrong are often made to be much more misanthropic. Seiichi hasn’t met up with the rest of his class yet, but throughout his level-gaining and gorilla-hugging, it doesn’t seem like he’s hyper-focused on the poor treatment he previously received, so at least there’s not that grossness to deal with.

Cons: Along with the fat-shaming and unappealing cheesecake that this episode serves up, the animation quality is also skewed way toward the low end. It’s not the type of thing I like to pick on too harshly because there are many factors that go into how an anime looks and typically a strong story outweighs mediocre production values for me anyway. But I also think that, if part of the point of a series is to provide nudity and fanservice, then at the very least the bodies and faces of the characters ought to look appealing in still-frame.

Seiichi is also not sympathetic in the slightest. It puts me in a difficult position, because I don’t like it when characters are bullied, and this is no exception. But it’s a good reminder that you can believe people don’t deserve to be bullied while also not being obligated to be friends with them.

Content Warnings: Nudity (undetailed and mostly obscured). Comic violence with blood. Mildly non-consensual attraction.

Would I Watch More? – No, I’m not into this one. Typically I’ll watch more of a show I don’t initially like if I feel like it might have something else to offer in the way it explores various ideas and themes. In this case, I don’t get the sense that there are any interesting ideas to be discovered by sticking around any longer.