Hello, it’s been a while since I posted about the anime I watched, but here we are with a new recommendation! I planned to post this at the end of July, but I guess the beginning of August is not so late :p
Recently I’ve been watching these isekai anime about characters reborn as a villainess. I’m assuming you already know what isekai anime is, but in case you didn’t, isekai means different/another world, so to put it simply, isekai anime is anime whose story revolves around “life” in another world, either the character is reborn in, transported, or summoned to another world. World, not just place and time.
At first, I got sorta tired of isekai anime, ’cause the story was kinda repetitive, i.e. you either got an accident or died then when you woke up, boom, it’s a different world from the one you lived before. I’m not saying it’s bad, there are some that I really love, even. But you know, there are times when I crave for other types of stories and isekai anime looks tedious.
But I guess what caught my eye was the word “villainess!” I didn’t think I had watched this type before, so when it was recommended to me, I was like, “Ok, let’s give it a try. Let’s see how the story unfolds.” One anime, then another, then another. It’s very interesting even though at some point, the plot became so mundane, i.e. someone played a game, they died and were reborn or reincarnated as the villainess in the game they played and then tried their best to avoid their doom. But I couldn’t stop because I was such a “curious cat;” I wanted to know the difference between those animes.
But ok, let me just share them with you. Some of these aren’t really new; it was “new” to me, but surely not to others. And as usual, when I am telling you about how I feel about each anime, you can expect some spoilers. I don’t hate spoilers; I even search for them sometimes, so if you do hate spoilers, please read at your own risk. Also, since most of these are legally available for free on Muse Asia, I’ll link them to their channel in case you’d like to watch. Just click on the title of each anime^^
Alright, without further ado, here they are! Watch out, my favorites are no. (3,4), 5&6!!!
1. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
[Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta]
It was the first villainess anime that was recommended to me and the one that I first watched. The story revolved around Catarina, a supposedly villainess in an otome game. If you don’t know what otome game is, you can read here, but basically it’s a romance-based-story game usually targetted at/played by women where they got to play as the protagonist/main character and depending on what step they choose in the game, it could create a different story as they can build a romantic relationship with any character in the game, and of course there is a villainess (the villainess is basically the rival/antagonistic character that creates conflicts in the story that you build).
So yeah, in this anime, a girl who played the game died, and was reborn as Catarina, the villainess in the game. As she regained her memories from her past life as the game player, she knew that all routes in the game would lead Catarina to doom, so living as Caterina, she tried her best to avoid her doom. For example, she learned to farm in case she got ousted. She built good relationships with other characters that potentially caused her ruin in the game, and voila: spoiler: everybody came to fall for her.
It’s such a cute anime especially because she was so dense and unaware of others’ romantic affection towards her since all she could think about was how to avoid her doom. And there was a second session too, but I haven’t watched the second session yet. But well, I’m going to talk more about another anime, so let’s just keep it short here.
2. The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior
[Higeki no Genkyou to Naru Saikyou Gedou Last Boss Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu.]
This one is quite similar to the first one. The story was centered around a girl who died and was reborn as Pride, the princess and supposedly a villainess in a game she played. When she regained memories of her past life, she was horrified at how cruel and mean Pride, her current self, would be in the future, and she tried her best to avoid being such an atrocious princess.
It’s interesting that what she was scared of was not some doom that would befall her when she turned vicious. What she was concerned about was her becoming evil herself. Spoiler: aside from being genuinely kind and trying her best to protect everyone especially those loved ones, she repeatedly told them to finish her off in case she turned horrible and corrupt.
In a way, I can relate to her. I am always scared that I’ll become a bad person. I know I have the potential. When someone hurts me, I am often trapped between wanting and making them feel the same pain or becoming a good person by forgetting and forgiving. But we live in a world where, as humans, we’re expected to be an angel. That’s why I’ve never really claimed to be a good person. Like I’ve always said, I’m not being nice or kind, I’m just being decent. If you’re not mean to me and I act mean to you, that would make me an asshole, and I won’t like it. But if you’re mean to me, you can’t say I’m being bad for treating you the way you treat me. Simple.
3. 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!
[Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsu suru]
This tells a story about Rishe, who repeatedly died and got resurrected and brought back to exactly the same moment when her engagement was one-sidedly broken off. Every time it happened, as she kept her memories of the past lives with her, she tried a different route and learned different things to avoid her death but she always ended up dying in a war. And the seventh time she got resurrected, she ran into the very man behind the war that caused her death.
I love this one ’cause the romance is quite visible 🙈 It’s like a tsundere thingy? I just found it cute how at first she was kinda scared of him due to the memories of war in her previous resurrections, but as she got to be with him, she slowly fell for him 😍🥰💗 Man, I want a Season 2, please!
4. I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss
[Akuyaku Reijou nanode Last Boss wo Kattemimashita]
When I started watching this, I was confused because the beginning was very similar to the previous anime: it started with a moment where the main character’s engagement was called off. I had to make sure that it was a different anime, and was so glad to find that it was indeed a different one. This anime focused on Aileen, who regained her past memories as the player of the game she was reborn to when her engagement was canceled. Knowing how her fate as Aileen played out at the end of the game, she decided to find and marry the final boss, Claude the Demon King, to seek protection and save herself.
I love the romance in this anime too. Though she was rejected at first, she persisted and gradually made Claude fall for her (although he wasn’t aware of it at first. LoL It’s so amusing^^). And while her motive was initially to save herself from some doom, she came to genuinely care for and love Claude 🥰
5. Tearmoon Empire
[Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantoudai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story]
This anime revolves around Mia, the spoiled princess, who was reincarnated and given a second chance to relive her life after getting guillotined in a revolution against her empire.
Character-development-wise, I love this one the best. Unlike some other anime where the main characters were someone from another world who got reincarnated in the game they played, this one actually focused on the same person with the same characters or personality. It’s like traveling back in time to our younger self era and being given the chance to change the past for a better future. I’m not saying the other anime is bad, but if someone else was reborn as you with their memories intact and they got to live as you, it means it’s not really you anymore, right? It would be someone else in your body. If they grew or improved, it’s them who improved, not you.
That’s why I love this one the best. When she went back to living her 12-year-old self, she didn’t lose her character. She was still the same spoiled and selfish princess. But her memories of the previous life taught her who stayed kind to her until the end and she learned from that. She wasn’t trying to be good or such. She kept being egocentric but learned to appreciate others as she remembered how bad it was in her previous life. For example, spoilers: when usually she would throw a tantrum over some food served not to her liking, this time she forced herself to eat it up because she remembered the time when she was imprisoned in her previous life; she was treated so badly she couldn’t even eat a decent bread. She grew. Sure it became a surprise to others around her, but it made them super happy: the spoiled princess became so appreciative and considerate of others!
I myself believe that our personality or character is shaped by our experiences, i.e. our upbringing, our surroundings, our education, etc. It cannot be changed overnight. Again, this is why I loved this anime. Mia grew not in an instant. She experienced things herself and gradually changed for the better. Though at the beginning she was cunning and took advantage of how people misunderstood her thinking she was kind, smart, and amazing, and how she played along as she didn’t want to end up living the same miserable life and losing her head in a guillotine again, she eventually loved being good and surrounded as well as loved by people she cared for, those who looked after her.
And this anime is funny too. Here and then, the narrator reacted to or commented on the characters’ thoughts about Mia. For example, one character began suspecting that Mia wasn’t that amazing, but through some incidents that were purely accidental, they believed their suspicion was unbased and came to believe that Mia was indeed talented and great thinking those incidents were actually intentional and secretly planned by Mia. And the narrator would be like, “No, it was just as you thought!” LMAO Well, not sure if I could convey the fun in this anime well enough, but I really enjoyed watching this one^^ and I hope you could give it a watch yourself 😉
Oh, I just remembered: there was some romance too. I loved how Mia chose not the main prince but some other prince [Prince Abel💗] and stuck with her choice until the end. Wish there were more episodes ’cause I really want to see them two have a happy sweet romantic ending 🙈😍🥰💗
6. Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord
[Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: Watashi wa Ura-Boss desu ga Maou dewa Arimasen]
Similar to some other anime, the main character here was reborn in a game she played in her previous life. She was born as Yumiella, the hidden boss villainess who was supposedly revealed after the demon lord was defeated by the main romance-interest characters in the game. Achieving Level 99, she just wanted to keep leveling up and live in peace.
In terms of romance, this is my favorite. Unlike other anime where the main reborn and overpowered character tried to hide their power and high-level status, Yumiella maintained her composure and became true to herself. She knew she was the villainess in the game, but she had no intention to be involved in such a romance-led story. But she loved leveling up, so she focused on what she liked, fighting monsters, improving her magic, getting stronger. As she understood why people might dislike her due to her dark hair or get scared of her due to her power and even treat her badly, she didn’t let it bother her. That’s my girl!
And why I said this is my favorite in terms of romance? Spoiler: Because the male character, Patrick, grew to love her for the way she was. Yumiella herself was too dense at first as she wasn’t really concerned about romance thinking nobody would like her, let alone fall for her in a romantic way. But Patrick genuinely came to care for and love her as a person, not driven by some ulterior motive such as because she was strong or such. When others avoided her, Patrick treated her as a normal human being, trying to be with her as a friend. As he got to know her, he fell for her.
And I think it was beautiful. That’s just the kind of love I’ve been craving for, i.e. for someone to fall in love with me for the way I am. But appearance-wise, I am not as attractive or pretty; personality-wise, some would consider me nasty: I’m too headstrong, too serious, in a way gullible and such. Though someone might like me at first, as they get to know me better, I feel like they’ll grow to dislike me. Familiarity breeds contempt after all, so…
But, well, forget about me, I love this anime because the ending is also good. Spoiler: I love that Yumiella returned Patrick’s feelings🥰💗
7. Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
[Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endou-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san]
This might be the most absurd one ’cause it’s like a world within a world and the two worlds got mixed as the characters could interact with one another from the different worlds. The story itself centered around Endo and Kobayashi who played the game and their commentary was heard by the characters in the game and perceived as the voices of God. As they helped clear the misunderstanding between the characters in the game, preventing Kobayashi’s fav character in the game, Lieselotte, from turning a villainess, Endo and Kobayashi also developed romantic feelings for each other in their own world – though of course one of them was painted dense 🙃
I know I said absurd, but I’m not saying it’s bad. I’m just wondering that might be how it looks with AI [Artificial Intelligence]. I mean, I’m not a tech savvy person so I might explain this wrongly, but I believe a game is created with certain codes with pre-determined choice of plots for the story, so I don’t think we can change the storyline unless it’s programmed in advance. But also, people have been discussing how AI can grow from how we use and interact with them; they can even write a great story based on the prompts we give them, so again, I’m wondering if it’s how it’s like with AI if put in a story, that’s why I’m putting it here.
But well, I guess I end up writing too long again, so let’s stop here and see you in the next post. Hope you like the anime I reviewed! 🙂
