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


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Kirki



Joined: 11 Jun 2019
Posts: 296
PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 7:01 am Reply with quote
Oh come on! This might be a harem rom-com, but it is a little perverse to look at the maid and say she has romantic feelings, especially after her story in episode 9! It's the classic mother/ onee san/ caretaker story where the service staff and their masters develop familial bonds. It's so heartwarming and cute, and it screams "family" so much that I don't even know... how could someone see it as romantic? Not everything has to be about getting in someone's pants!
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babaca



Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:27 am Reply with quote
Kirki wrote:
Oh come on! This might be a harem rom-com, but it is a little perverse to look at the maid and say she has romantic feelings, especially after her story in episode 9! It's the classic mother/ onee san/ caretaker story where the service staff and their masters develop familial bonds. It's so heartwarming and cute, and it screams "family" so much that I don't even know... how could someone see it as romantic? Not everything has to be about getting in someone's pants!


I agree with Kirki, the relationship with Anne the maid, isn't a romantic one. It is more of a maternal or familial love. Anne was shocked and heartened by the fact that Katarina would stand up for her. Anne was used to being told what to do, but by taking care of Katarina she learned to speak her mind. She appreciated that Katarina treated everyone equally.

Given Nicol's amazed thought of staying up all night talking about Boy stuff was adorable and it is too bad we didn't get a boy's slumber party as well. Yes most of this episode felt like a recap but it had its cute moments.

I genuinely adore this series.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 5:13 pm Reply with quote
I almost thought this was going to become a recap episode as I watched, but I was glad to find out I was wrong.

I also didn't see Anne's affection as romantic.

Is Catarina's mother against her marrying Geordo (as seen in Keith's spot)? You'd think she'd be thrilled to have her daughter marry the 1st(?) prince.

Would a scar on Anne's arm (which can be covered by a sleeve or a long glove) be a reason she couldn't be married off and be cast aside? These kinds of marriages are all about forming ties for power, wealth, status etc and producing heirs. Seems like an extreme and short sighted reaction when she was just kept around to be married off.

Most of the isekai I've seen where the MC starts as a child (as opposed to being (re)born or transferring) usually implies some form of awakening memories from a past life. Though whether or not it's a merge or takeover and to what degree varies of course.

However, 8th son from this season just seems to be a complete replacement. The MC suddenly finds himself as a kid with no memories of the kids life and has to learn everything from there. This is in the anime though. I just checked the manga which seems to imply that he was born in this body. While the web novel (essentially) calls it a take over (and the MC even feels bad about what happened to the original owner), but soon has access to their memories. Though even with that it still seems to imply a take over along the lines of Parasyte


Last edited by Covnam on Mon Jun 01, 2020 5:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 5:31 pm Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
Is Catarina's mother against her marrying Geordo (as seen in Keith's spot)? You'd think she'd be thrilled to have her daughter marry the 1st(?) prince.

Would a scar on Anne's arm (which can be covered by a sleeve or a long glove) be a reason she couldn't be married off and be cast aside? These kinds of marriages are all about forming ties for power, wealth, status etc and producing heirs. Seems like an extreme and short sighted reaction when she was just kept around to be married off.

It was a joke about how fed up Katarina's mother is about her antics. She's basically saying that her daughter doesn't deserve Geordo

"Baron" is one of the lowest hereditary nobility ranks. And to top it off Anne was a bastard, her political value was extremely low. So the Baron's best chances at marrying her off to someone influential was to pack those political dregs with beauty and manners. And with one of those aspects being "damaged", her prospective value nosedived.
That arm scar is indeed pretty small and most potential suitors probably wouldn't have faltered that much (although they might have asked for some form of compensation, maybe a larger dowry) but eh, the Baron didn't seem to be too sensible either.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 7:46 am Reply with quote
I caught up with episodes 8 & 9 and...uggh! They’re cute, but I’ve been hoping for some plot momentum. Are the Mean Girls plotting with Sirius to take Katarina down?! C’mon show!
But they were cute! Episode 8 had me wondering if we’d have an isekai within an isekai—that was a scene out of Fushigi Yugi (ah, classic shojo isekai!) but we just had some gags, although Nicol’s scenario was quite interesting.I’d like to see more of “Tuxedo Mask” Nicol, please!

Episode 9 was a genuinely sweet story featuring Katarina standing up for another marginalized member of society and getting her devotion and loyalty in return. I didn’t interpret Anne’s feelings as romantic—she wasn’t jealous of the harem, for example—but I was previously of the impression that of Katarina’s friends, Sophia’s feelings leaned platonic (especially since she was Achan in her previous life), and was a bit surprised by her definitely romantic declaration in episode 8, so who knows?

Hopefully, next episode will have a meaty plot morsel!
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 3:14 am Reply with quote
Well, surprising no one, what a Sirius Dieke he turned out to be. (btw James, you missed an 'E' on that first Dieke, freudian slip perhaps? Wink) Though I wasn't expecting him to be a Yandere route.
I guess in game you would have to ignore everyone else and then focus only on him (instead of just ignoring him and going after someone else) and if you didn't (ie getting friendly with other characters at the same time), then you get the bad end?
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Calsolum



Joined: 11 May 2010
Posts: 898
PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 7:46 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
Well, surprising no one, what a Sirius Dieke he turned out to be. (btw James, you missed an 'E' on that first Dieke, freudian slip perhaps? Wink) Though I wasn't expecting him to be a Yandere route.
I guess in game you would have to ignore everyone else and then focus only on him (instead of just ignoring him and going after someone else) and if you didn't (ie getting friendly with other characters at the same time), then you get the bad end?


Well since he's supposed to be a 'hidden' character I'd imagine there'd be some interesting requirements to pursue him. From Katarina's perspective, fortune lover seems to be a straightforward fantasy reverse harem with a few tense moments with the villain. FL never seemed like it was trying to be dark or imply darker undertones, but that could just be Katarina oversimplifying from her perspective.

If FL was a VN like Fate/stay night then after romancing a hero subsequent playthroughs would unlock additional information and options allowing Maria to romance another or a different hero. It didn't sound like it was linear story but maybe it could have been? And Sirius had to or could only be accessed after romancing some or all of the other heroes?

The secret to unlocking his route could simply be do all other routes first and then replaying the game choosing to focus on him. Attempting to do so without learning the full story leads to the everyone dead route. For example, maybe Geordo's route reveals the existance of dark magic, and some of the other heroes sheds light on political events that on it's own seems random but relates to Sirius?
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:10 pm Reply with quote
I have seen tboth ways, if you go for no route, you get a pity route that is actually the bad end (true love story); that is actualyl from amria's perspective, if we assume catarina as the main character then the bad end happens when you choose a harem route but don't take care of the dark one (school days).
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Actar



Joined: 21 Nov 2010
Posts: 1074
Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 4:27 am Reply with quote
...and we're back to form. This was amazing payoff with some great plot development.

The entire episode was great, but that line delivery for "大丈夫ですか?" broke my heart. It wasn't a sarcastic, "Are you alright?". It was so pure and genuine. Instead of just being a mere means to an end (pacifying him in order to save Maria, etc...), she really wanted to understand and empathize with him first. Most of the time, people lash out not because the're bad people or have evil intentions, but because they're feel that they are all alone, helpless and misunderstood. I really wish I had someone to say that to me when I am angry, bitter or upset. I'd just lose all my anger and burst into tears. (^.^')

Also, the President looks to be the perfect dark reflection of Katarina, dealing with one of the biggest issues I was hoping the series would touch on from the very beginning. Is Katarina a hypocrite? I mean, she's obviously been helping everyone out for the sole purpose of avoiding her own death flags.

Thus far, I am beyond impressed. Looking forward to how the show reconciles this moral quandary in the final two episodes!
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 6:31 am Reply with quote
I predicted the Mean Girls Brigade being the Doom Flag a month ago, but not that they'd be mere tools of someone else. I'd been distracted by Sirius' villain markers to the point that I accepted I was totally wrong about the MGB. Smile

Poor Bakarina. Even with everyone openly calling her simple-minded, idiot, dumb, not clever enough, she kinda, almost got that she was being insulted, but still couldn't quite work her way through to feel sure of that conclusion.

I don't know if the series will finish the story or not (I assume the novel ended as well as the manga adaptation since this isn't that recent a title) or if they're hoping to finish in another season, but I have a sneaking suspicion (or maybe just a hope) that if she can avoid all the doom flags in the game world, this will somehow save her life (and Sophia's) in the real world. It just makes me sad that they both died, and this isn't the kind of series where a contrived resurrection would leave a bad taste, like more dramatic series.
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 9:34 am Reply with quote
I wish Geordo's infodump had been done differently. Half of the information feels like something that could have been inferred in another council-like scene with everyone talking about it and putting the pieces together. Actually, why was Geordo personally informing Catarina and only Catarina? Even if she was the first target this concerns everyone and let's face it - everyone else would make better use of that information than Catarina.

On that note, too many dummies. I can understand Catarina being alone after being explicitly told to never be alone, that's just like her, but why did Maria shut up about the black fog while they were specifically talking about something weird and dangerous going on and then go follow your one dangerous lead without telling anyone? That was unnecessarily reckless.
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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2457
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 9:42 am Reply with quote
^ My guess is she saw it was the President and just wanted to make sure of her deduction before 'outing' him. Maybe she didn't want to corner him with having the whole gang ask him about it, plus she's the only one who sees it, plus Dark Magic is hardly known, so her friends might not even understand what she was on about. It was reckless but I can see why Maria would do it - especially given how President had been a perfectly nice person to everyone so far.

The one thing I do find stupid though is how no one even considered speaking with the President given the 'coincidence' that everyone was away on council business at the same time Catarina was getting accosted by the Bully Gang.
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ZeroWX



Joined: 14 Feb 2016
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:01 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:


I don't know if the series will finish the story or not (I assume the novel ended as well as the manga adaptation since this isn't that recent a title) or if they're hoping to finish in another season, but I have a sneaking suspicion (or maybe just a hope) that if she can avoid all the doom flags in the game world, this will somehow save her life (and Sophia's) in the real world. It just makes me sad that they both died, and this isn't the kind of series where a contrived resurrection would leave a bad taste, like more dramatic series.


The anime will cover the first 2 volumes of the Light Novel, since with the time remaining is the most they can do. If they want to tease a possible season 2 they will probably do it like in the novel spoiler[They show a magazine in the normal world were is announced that Fortune Lover was a success and it will get a sequel game, it also implies that Katarina Claes will be in the sequel again has a villain]
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michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:07 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Her chat with Acchan also helped her remember some details regarding Sirius' hidden route, which allows her to find the secret chamber where Maria is being hidden.

Catarina* never finished the Hidden Character route, and stopped Acchan from giving away spoilers. I think this was Acchan herself, providing information Catarina couldn't have gotten any other way. This, in turn, may resolve why Acchan is here at all. It wasn't that she never had a satisfying relationship after Catarina, but she regretted that she hadn't been able to do more for her best friend who died young. With that wish fulfilled, she can let go of an active presence and settle into Sophia's compatible psyche.

*It bothers me on some level to say "Catarina" when I really mean "the Japanese girl who became Catarina," but since we're never going to get a name I guess I have to live with it. I do like that her Japanese persona was short, messy, and convincingly drawn as plain.
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James_Beckett
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 23 Nov 2015
Posts: 274
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:46 pm Reply with quote
[quote="michizure"]
Quote:


*It bothers me on some level to say "Catarina" when I really mean "the Japanese girl who became Catarina," but since we're never going to get a name I guess I have to live with it. I do like that her Japanese persona was short, messy, and convincingly drawn as plain.


Same re: the name. I tried out a bunch of versions of" The Girl Who Would Someday Be Catarina", but it all just read too clunky. It's a shame these isekai protagonists can't have names, though.
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