English Dub Review: The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made “Lulune Appears!”

Overview:

Seiichi goes to buy a horse, but gets a donkey named Lulune instead. They enter the Grand Cup race in order to boost Seiichi’s new friend’s confidence.

Our Take:

It’s time for Seiichi to get a horse to assist him on his adventures. Instead, he ends up with a short-tempered donkey named Lulune. The two quickly become friends and all Seiichi really has to do is get her food.

The two enter the big race known as the Grand Cup, which Seiichi previously said he wasn’t interested in. That changes when he runs into his new friend: May. Her friend Clay thinks she should enter a big painting competition and Seiichi does too. He enters the race to boost her confidence. Lulune only wants to enter because one of the prizes is a fish that’s said to be exquisite.

There are some set backs in the race including Lulune losing strength from hunger and one participant summoning monsters. Those are non-issues because Seiichi and Lulune don’t just win the race. They’re so strong that everyone else drops out. They don’t win the fish, but they win the grand prize.

The episode ends with Lulune crying and Seiichi celebrating. Then all of a sudden, Lulune transforms into a human and the other girls are in shock.

First off, this episode is much better than the last one. I enjoy the old cowboy who runs the stables. His voice and dialogue are both fantastic and I would love to see more of him. I also really like seeing the creatures known as deer horses. They look funny and they’re ultimately useless, but they got a chuckle or two out of me.

The race bored me because I knew what would happen from the beginning. There’s no tension or suspense in these types of situation. The most entertaining part was the exchanges between the other racers when they agreed to forfeit.

Lulune herself isn’t that interesting either. At first, it seemed like her personality was just anger. Now, it seems like her personality is just that she’s hungry all the time. I expected her to transform into a human and I expected Artoria to be shocked. I didn’t expect Saria or Seiichi to be shocked because they’ve been through this same thing before. It really shouldn’t be a surprise to either of them.

While this episode is much better than the last one, it’s still a pretty standard episode for this series. It has the same tropes I don’t like and it doesn’t advance the forthcoming war plot at all. At least it has some entertaining moments, so it’s not a total loss.