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EP. REVIEW: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!


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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 7:21 pm Reply with quote
Kinda wish they had cut down the cast a bit, they were too many character that were introduced in those two episode and therefore most of them therefore comes off very one note. Did we really need the last prince? Is he going to be important in the story? I don't really think so in both case.

Otherwise its a fun show, Catarina and her council are great and the joke are good enough, without being amazing, to sustain most of it.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13224
PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:48 pm Reply with quote
I've consumed a ton of otome villainess isekai titles recently with this title being one of the first. As such it's an 'essentials' version of this sub-genre which also means there's nothing that special about it. Catarina is definitely the main selling point, but her being the villainess isn't really utilized since she just usurps the main heroine role immediately.

These things make a big deal of it, but all you need to do to avoid a bad end is not be a bully. That's why I prefer the spin off title where Catarina gets her memories back after she bullies the heroine, and thus has to make up for all the bad things she did.

My personal favourite is The Daughter of the Albert House Wishes for Ruin. There the villainess actually tries to be mean but ends up being helpful instead.
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Dian Z





PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:22 am Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
I've consumed a ton of otome villainess isekai titles recently with this title being one of the first.


I didn't realize this trope has become a sub-genre of its own. I saw a web series with a similar 'villainess' title, and figured this series perhaps started a new trend.

Anyway, I've been enjoying it so far. I like how she decided to plant vegetables and her farmer appearance seems to become iconic. Seeing the opening I wished they'll get to the grown up part soon. But after two episodes, I wouldn't mind seeing them in their kid versions longer. The council is also highly entertaining.

I wonder if there's a yuri route, lol.
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aimend



Joined: 20 Jun 2012
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:51 am Reply with quote
There's probably just as many titles as the usual RPG isekai ones', the stories are mostly presented in novel form with fairly short manga adaptations. Manhwua has been huge on this as well, bit with slight variation... instead of dating-sim they fell/reincarnate into a novel they read.

Tbh after reading a couple of these Bakarina is far from being special tbh they all use more or less the same devices how to solve the story. The only thing that's kinda different is that in Bakarina comedy plays bigger factor and main character is more oblivious to the romance genre that she's suppose to be in.

Also the council. The council is pointed out by so many reader so often I'm convince that is the only reason why this title got anime adaptation. Like seriously, the council.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13224
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 6:43 am Reply with quote
Dian Z wrote:


I didn't realize this trope has become a sub-genre of its own. I saw a web series with a similar 'villainess' title, and figured this series perhaps started a new trend.


I'm not sure if this series was the first, but it's certainly the first I heard about.

There's also a sub-sub-genre where the heroine is reincarnated as a minion of the villainess instead. Usually the overweight one.

aimend wrote:
Manhwua has been huge on this as well, bit with slight variation... instead of dating-sim they fell/reincarnate into a novel they read.


Survive as the Hero's Wife is great.
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michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:33 am Reply with quote
The depth of Catarina's obliviousness (hence "Bakarina") is what distinguishes this from the run of otome game/novel isekai offerings. The first two episodes haven't made much of it, but Catarina is pretty convinced that she is the villain the story makes her out to be -- evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. To be fair, her focus is on avoiding the Bad Ends despite her villainy, but it means that any romantic by-play takes place within and among the members of her harem and entirely above her head.

I hereby challenge the AMV community to create a "Hey, Bakarina!" video to the tune of the Macarena. It will have to wait until we have more visuals, but it's not too early to start collecting.

Edit to add: It occurs to me that the "trapped in a dating sim/romance novel" isekai genre owes a lot to the literature of time travel. There are the same questions of free will vs. predestination, and the morality of changing other peoples' futures for one's own convenience. Catarina's concerns over usurping Alan's "green thumb" event with Mary is an example of the latter.
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Kiskaloo
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Joined: 04 Jan 2018
Posts: 79
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:11 am Reply with quote
This is my #2 anime of the season. Clever with an interesting protagonist.
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 485
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:20 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
I've consumed a ton of otome villainess isekai titles recently with this title being one of the first. As such it's an 'essentials' version of this sub-genre which also means there's nothing that special about it. Catarina is definitely the main selling point, but her being the villainess isn't really utilized since she just usurps the main heroine role immediately.

These things make a big deal of it, but all you need to do to avoid a bad end is not be a bully. That's why I prefer the spin off title where Catarina gets her memories back after she bullies the heroine, and thus has to make up for all the bad things she did.


That's why I prefer Bakarina actually - in those titles similar to that spin-off the villainess is either actual villainess up to the point of recovering memories and has to convince the other people that she's suddenly changed and should be forgiven, which is pretty unjust and unreasonable, or she turns out to not be a villain actually - or even the real villain is the heroine - which basically changes the genre to otome heroine that has to fight off false accusations. Bakarina goes for the humor instead of serious danger of bad end and that's why it makes such a pleasant read.
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Dumas1



Joined: 20 Dec 2012
Posts: 75
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:57 pm Reply with quote
Did anyone else have a sudden impulse to toast "The King Across the Water" after learning that the royal family was named Stuart? I'm about as Scottish as dim sum, but I've been craving scotch for a while.

Other than that, I wonder which other villainous otome isekai series that folks who're familiar with the subgenre would like to see animated. If this is a basic starter series, what would be nice to have come out before the bottom falls out of the isekai boom?
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1006
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 2:21 pm Reply with quote
michizure wrote:
Edit to add: It occurs to me that the "trapped in a dating sim/romance novel" isekai genre owes a lot to the literature of time travel.


Indeed. Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is perhaps the ur-isekai of specifically the "being trapped in a known story" variety, as opposed to time travel stories about going to the future (Looking Backward or The Time Machine) or going to a known historical past.
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Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:15 pm Reply with quote
Dumas1 wrote:
Other than that, I wonder which other villainous otome isekai series that folks who're familiar with the subgenre would like to see animated. If this is a basic starter series, what would be nice to have come out before the bottom falls out of the isekai boom?


Top of my list goes to Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter. It's much lighter on comedy and skews more toward being a political thriller with a side of romance. The protagonist is hardworking, competent, and considered beautiful; but she doesn't steamroll every obstacle she comes across and effortlessly win everyone's hearts a la the typical isekai power fantasy.

Unfortunately, I'm not confident it will be adapted since the novels have already concluded and it doesn't have the broader appeal of Bakarina. Fingers crossed.
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:18 pm Reply with quote
Dumas1 wrote:
Did anyone else have a sudden impulse to toast "The King Across the Water" after learning that the royal family was named Stuart? I'm about as Scottish as dim sum, but I've been craving scotch for a while.

Well, I was amused by the younger Stuart being engaged to Mary.
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Neko-sensei



Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:41 am Reply with quote
Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but I just can't get over how gloriously positive the whole worldview of this series is. Every one of Catarina's actions demonstrates that the only way to save oneself is by being decent to others, because other people will return decency with decency.

The old, villainous Catarina's whole problem was that she assumed that the safest position was above others, keeping them down so they couldn't hurt her—which works only until one discovers that people told that they're at the bottom of a hierarchy naturally want to be on top. Throw contempt, get contempt. The new Catarina's goal is not to "win," but simply not to lose by antagonizing those who might resent her... and funnily enough, not trying to put yourself above others is all it takes to make people think of you as a good person, and to achieve the kind of stable life that the old Catarina could only dream of. Lend a hand, get a hand.

It's such a simple message, but it's so darn earnestly delivered and so darned wholesome. We all need a dose of stories like this every once in a while.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:10 am Reply with quote
Dian Z wrote:
...I wonder if there's a yuri route, lol.
Oh, I do hope so...Look, two potential yuri partners, one at least has to succeed, right?...
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 3:53 am Reply with quote
Ah, a shame we're at the timeskip already: I found the child designs to be stronger and now Catarina's scar is gone. Plus now childish antics might not be so feasible?
Hiroki not Takuya wrote:
Dian Z wrote:
...I wonder if there's a yuri route, lol.
Oh, I do hope so...Look, two potential yuri partners, one at least has to succeed, right?...

Make it three once MC makes it in.
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