Bogus Skill 'Fruitmaster': About That Time I Became Able to Eat Unlimited Numbers of Skill Fruits (That Kill You)

This fantasy anime series is set in a world where individuals, upon reaching a certain age, eat a skill fruit; this will bestow on them a random skill. To eat a second is fatal. Protagonist Light, and his friend Lena dream of getting top level skills; she gets one he though is disappointed. He gets the 'Fruitmaster' skill; this sets him up for a life as a farmer, growing various fruit, including the skill fruit. He adopts orphan Ayla who one day accidentally prepares a meal containing a skill fruit. To his surprise he doesn't die... it turns out the Fruitmaster skill enables him to eat more skill fruit and gain more skills; she gains the useful 'Appraiser' skill. He is soon living the life of an adventurer he dreamt of. Unbeknownst to him just as he gains his new skill the leader of the church has a revelation about a great evil; and it looks as though she will suspect Light. Over the course of the series Light will face various dangers and gain further skills.

This series started well enough with the opening episode setting things up nicely. Unfortunately as it progressed it felt more and more just like any other series set in a fantasy world. Light faces down various threats, some of which come close to beating him but nobody will think he could really lose. The ability to gain more skills is used less than expected... at least this does mean it avoided having him gain just the right skill each episode. The characters are solid enough; typical of the genre as is the animation. The final episode feels like a season finale; the story clearly wasn't over, I have no idea whether or not there will be more. Overall a decent enough series; perhaps worth a watch if you enjoy the genre but ultimately I suspect it will be forgotten about as the viewer moves onto the next series.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.