×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

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


Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5459
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:03 pm Reply with quote
In my honest opinion, I doubt this series will swerve to a surprise yuri route. At the very least, I hope this series will give a right amount of attention to each of Katarina's potential love interest so it make it seem they all have an equal shot. And really, I just hope they don't treat female love interests as relatively jokey paths compared to the males.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime My Manga
TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5821
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:38 pm Reply with quote
The anime so far seems to be the Katarina Claes show. It seems not to be including the side bar POV from the other characters that much. Which is probably due to time constraints and not repeating the same scenes from another POV.

To be honest, from Katarina's POV, spoiler[she doesn't have a love interest, she just wants to live.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 482
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:44 am Reply with quote
TarsTarkas wrote:
The anime so far seems to be the Katarina Claes show. It seems not to be including the side bar POV from the other characters that much. Which is probably due to time constraints and not repeating the same scenes from another POV.

To be honest, from Katarina's POV, spoiler[she doesn't have a love interest, she just wants to live.]


The real OTP, Katarina and old age (and cat in the lap)?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NeedMoreCats
Subscriber



Joined: 06 Oct 2018
Posts: 299
Location: Westchester, NY
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2020 10:09 pm Reply with quote
Neko-sensei wrote:
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.

I think this is what I’m most enjoying about the show. Catarina figures, “hey, maybe if I’m just nice to everybody, no one will want to kill/exile me.” It simply makes the world a better place. And, boy, we could use some of that right about now. Yeesh.

I, too am a little sorry the cast has aged up already. They we so cute as kids, I wanted a little more of that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:13 pm Reply with quote
TarsTarkas wrote:
It seems not to be including the side bar POV from the other characters that much. Which is probably due to time constraints and not repeating the same scenes from another POV.


They have been uploading those monologues on YouTube every week shortly after the latest episode airs. Unfortunately there are no subtitles for these. It would be nice if any future BD release included them as an extra.

Gerald
Keith
Mary
Alan
Sophia
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Uchay



Joined: 27 Nov 2016
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:35 pm Reply with quote
I'm fairly disappointed the anime cut so much of the chilhood of the characters. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but on the novel their childhood makes up almost an entire arc, with a lot more details, character traits and how each character reacts to each other (and the growing competition for Bakarina's affection).

I do understand the decision to cut most of the chilhood part of the story in favor of jumping into the meat of plot already, though, considering how many episodes there will be (12?).

On people interested on more childhood shenanigans, do read the novel though. They are pretty amusing.

darkchibi07 wrote:
In my honest opinion, I doubt this series will swerve to a surprise yuri route. At the very least, I hope this series will give a right amount of attention to each of Katarina's potential love interest so it make it seem they all have an equal shot. And really, I just hope they don't treat female love interests as relatively jokey paths compared to the males.



spoiler[Tbh, I don't remember the novel ever really taking any of the romantic interests seriously, with exception of maybe Geordo on really rare moments late'ish on the novel, and that is if you squint really hard. Bakarina is denser than a blackhole.

I can tell you Sophia's (and her brother's) feelings end up more on the platonic side, from what I understood. They are happy if she's happy. Mary, however, can be just as aggressive as Geordo sometimes. The moment I had the best laughs was when Mary and Geordo were fighting over Bakarina. At least, Geordo seems to take Mary's threat levels very much seriously.

Of course, none of that matters when even a rock has better sensibility than Bakarina for this sort of thing.]


Of course, it's been a while since I last read the novel, so could be remembering things wrong.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:38 pm Reply with quote
bunny chan get.

Uchay wrote:


well, you know that sophia spoiler[has a very good reason to stop seeing katarina as a potential romantic partner] though it'd be fun seeing them overcome that, this is not that kind of story.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Neko-sensei



Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:58 pm Reply with quote
Seagloom wrote:

There's also Nicol here.

Good Japanese listening practice. Keith, Mary, Alan, and Sophia's monologues don't really add anything to what we already know of the characters, but Geordo's and Nicol's are helpful. Geordo reveals that the reason he fell for Catarina was that he was simply bored being perfect, and her unexpectedness entertained him (implied but not outright stated in the main series).

More importantly, Nicol's monologue confirms that he's also firmly on Catarina's side. His problem was that we always felt that he had amazing parents and a wonderful sister, and he was truly blessed in his family, but everywhere he went he found people patronizingly sympathizing with him about his unfortunate circumstances. No one would believe him when he told them that he was not unfortunate, and finally he gave up trying to correct people altogether and withdrew from a society that just didn't get it—until Catarina came along and (apparently) accurately read his feelings without the slightest nudging at all. Since he's friends with Geordo and Alan, he's also noticed that their relationship has healed and he strongly respects Catarina for being the catalyst of that change.

Again, this is all insinuated in episode 3, but Nicol's affect is such a weird emotional black hole, and Catarina's so convinced that people can't possibly really like her, that the viewer ends up much more uncertain of Nicol's feelings than perhaps should be the case.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:08 pm Reply with quote
^^Ah, I was wondering where Nicol's monologue went. Apparently it hasn't been added to the playlist yet. Thanks for catching it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 10:26 pm Reply with quote
I would have gladly traded half the cast for a more progressive development over the time skip. I guess literally nothing important happened in those 6(?) years? Maybe it works better in the novel, but now I'm barely remembering any of the character pass the first 3 love interest, and next week they're going to introduce even more!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:14 am Reply with quote
blameitonStarBlazers wrote:
I think this is what I’m most enjoying about the show. Catarina figures, “hey, maybe if I’m just nice to everybody, no one will want to kill/exile me.”

Except that she isn't even really aware that she is being nice to anyone, other than Keith. Her survival strategies are (a) learn to handle a sword, so that she can fight her way out of a Bad End, (b) learn to handle magic, ditto (though her lack of talent makes this futile), (c) seize on any weaknesses in the capture targets (such as Geordo's snake phobia) to give her a chance to escape, and, finally, (d) learn a trade to make a living in exile once the inevitable Bad End comes. Her farming obsession stems from (b) and (d).

On the love polygon that is developing around Catarina, suffice to say that all the participants have their own strategies for the future and they all make sense in context. I am waiting to see the dynamics of this play out in the background while Catarina remains blissfully oblivious.

Was there a credit for the VA for "Acchan," Catarina's otaku friend from Japan? I didn't see it in the encyclopedia entry. I want to see how the series handles that plot point, especially given how it calls out the Catarina Council.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
zztop



Joined: 28 Aug 2014
Posts: 642
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:50 am Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:

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.


I've read that one.

spoiler[Additionally, the villainess also ends up not only shipping the game's heroine and the prince together, but she becomes best friends with them too. Not that the villainess loses out, since she gets to be with her childhood friend/personal butler.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dumas1



Joined: 20 Dec 2012
Posts: 75
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 1:45 pm Reply with quote
I realized a bit late that the proper Jacobite toast is to the King Over the Water, not Across.

Speaking of Mary, James V's (father of Mary, Queen of Scots) last words were supposedly, "It came wi a lass, it'll gang [end] wi a lass." They're usually taken as referring to the Stuarts marrying into the Scottish royal family and a fear that the line would end with his daughter. Seems slightly apropos for an otome series.

As for the series, I'm looking forward to the meat of the story and life at the academy. I wonder what would happen if anyone ever got a peek inside Catarina's secret diary.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Kami-koto



Joined: 14 Feb 2019
Posts: 66
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 4:47 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.


Absolutely agree with this. I like the cast of Bakarina a lot but it kind of lacks a compelling story beyond its premise. Bakarina became somewhat boring for me after spoiler[everyone was conquered.] I love this sub-genre though, hope we get to see more adaptions in the future. Sadly my favorites are mostly webtoons.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 482
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 12:22 pm Reply with quote
Thank you to people recommending also "Daughter of the Albert House...", it has somewhat similar energy as Bakarina, and I found it a very nice read.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9  Next
Page 2 of 9

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group