There's a Lot of Generic Anime, But a New Show Is Bucking the Trend With a Clever Trope

Just the title of the new anime Bogus Skill > ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of Skill Fruits (that kill you)~ seems to provide enough proof that it could very well be yet another generic anime. The title implies that the anime will follow the common trope where the protagonist receives an apparently worthless ability that ends up becoming a broken power. The name even evokes the basic premise of the popular Berserk of Gluttony anime. Surprisingly, Bogus Skill actually bucks this trend almost immediately with another trope that's truly subversive.

Ironically, the trope in question was recently popularized by Kaiju No. 8, but it's rare enough to feel fresh, especially when considering the type of anime it appears in. It's based uponthe initial relationship between Kafka and Mina: childhood friends promise each other to pursue the same career, but only the female friend achieves their shared dream, even becoming one of the best in the field. Meanwhile, the male protagonist fails and is forced into an embarrassing line of work. Eventually, the protagonist beats the odds by reaching his female friend unconventionally. All this happens in Bogus Ability.

Bogus Skill <<Fruitmaster>> Innovates the Anime Rivals Trope Effectively

Based on the web novel series by Hanyuu; produced by Asahi Production

This trope is effective mostly because the audience is more inclined to sympathize with the protagonist, and getting left behind naturally evokes feelings of sympathy. When this happens among friends, the results are much more pronounced than between rivals, since the former situation risks upending or changing the dynamic of the entire relationship. For rivals, this only exacerbates preexisting feelings of competitiveness. The specific gender roles in this case are also critical, especially since each career path is typically male-dominated. Although archaic and based on outdated stereotypes, there's a sense of emasculation when a man is bested this way.

This dynamic is even more relevant in Bogus Ability, since only the male protagonist Light truly wanted to pursue his dream job of becoming an adventurer, while his female friend Lena's goal was to follow him. Ironically, this compelling setup is surprisingly scrapped by the end of episode #2. And yet, its replacement still diverges from conventional tropes. Light eventually helps Lena reject her high status as a famous adventurer so they may pursue their dream of adventuring together. However, the powers that be are, naturally, unhappy with this turn of events and now endeavor to complicate their shared livelihood.

Bogus Skill <<Fruitmaster>> Also Draws From Other Prominent Anime

Viewers can easily find remnants of Berserk of Gluttony and even RE:Monster

Without these new tropes, Bogus Ability would just be a carbon copy of the many other anime series that share the same basic premise. As alluded to previously, even one of this new anime's seemingly unique spins on the broken power system is almost identical to the series Berserk of Gluttony. Like that protagonist, Light is able to circumvent his world's formally unbreakable rule that limits every person to just one special ability: people can only eat one of a specific fruit that grants them powers, unless they want to die, a rule lifted from One Piece.

Light can eat as much of them as he wants without dying, and each time, he's granted a new power. Meanwhile, Berserk of Gluttony's protagonist gains another person's power by killing them when everyone else can only possess one. There's also the main premise of Re:Monster to consider, which basically just expedites everything that happens in Berserk of Gluttony to an absurd degree. Through these examples, it's clear that, without its two new subversive tropes, Bogus Skill would be just like every other fantasy anime with ostensibly weak ability that actually allows the protagonist to "cheat" the system.

Of course, viewers who actually enjoyed Bogus Skill's original trope that draws from Kaiju No. 8 in episode #1 will undoubtedly be disappointed by the developments in episode #2. That particular storyline concludes arguably much too soon since it effectively negates the tension and potential conflict that could have arisen between Light and Lena. However, at least the new direction of Bogus Skill > ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of Skill Fruits (that kill you)~ is still original and doesn't fall victim to the many conventional tropes that plague the industry.