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


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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 6230
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2021 9:10 pm Reply with quote
The Nicol and Geordo thing is a very relatable friendship issue. Katarina is not the point. The friendship between Nicol and Geordo is. And that is what Nicol values. He knows that Geordo has wanted Katarina since the beginning, and he simply doesn't want to be 'that guy'. If Nicol did chase after Katarina, that friendship might end.

We have seen this situation in many a romance novel and shows. It doesn't matter if they are not together, what matters is that you know your friend wants her. And Nicol has known this for years.

Not an easy position to be in. And really anyone with a brain in this group should realize that Katarina is not looking for romance, well maybe in book form.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 12792
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2021 10:32 pm Reply with quote
TarsTarkas wrote:
We have seen this situation in many a romance novel and shows.

And especially in anime, where the guiding principle always seems to be "don't give up, it's ok to go ahead and horn in on your friend's relationship if you're in love." Or at the very least, express your feelings at all costs, even if that really puts your love interest in a super-awkward position, because your feelings matter most. It's a trope that always leaves me grinding my teeth.

But irl, your friend's love interest is off limits to you, unless you are done with that friendship, or their love is the one to bow out of their relationship. Even then, stepping in to pick up the now-free agent is generally frowned upon. This all goes triple if they're actually engaged!

Such situations aren't really rare, I guess, but they almost never have a happy ending. My college roommate got involved with one guy on our dorm floor, and his best friend decided he had to "follow his heart" and go after her too. She strung them both along for two years (and they let her), because she would not decide (she wasn't doing it maliciously, or trying to be manipulative, she just really couldn't choose and handled it all terribly). In the end, they all married other people and none of them remained friendly, let alone friends. It was amazing but sad to watch them all self-destruct.

Anyway, I really liked the episode, because I do like Nicol. I was surprised that all his wedding meetings didn't end in seconds with his potential fiancées fainting dead away the moment he spoke to them. Laughing
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15905
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 4:52 am Reply with quote
Nicol had been kind of on the bottom of my list, so an episode devoted to him felt like a long time running.
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1698
PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:08 am Reply with quote
Seeing Nicol so flustered, now THAT is a first. Frey is too powerful.
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michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 8:03 am Reply with quote
I have always like the characters in this show and I've never been the sort of anime fan to wrestle over Best Girl and the like, but: Frey Randall is Best Girl, even over Anne Shelley.

Quote:
Part of what this episode does so well is the way that it juxtaposes Nicol's belief that he needs a fiancée with new character Frey's own certainty that she does not want one. Frey, whose last name is tellingly the same as Susanna's, aspires to live her own life as a working woman, and she's emboldened by the idea that a woman is a high-ranking member of the Ministry, as well as the fact that Catarina plans to join it after graduation.


I presume a (close?) relative would know the connection between Larna Smith and Susanna Randall, so that puts a point on the comment.

Interestingly, Susanna Randall herself offers a different example for how to handle the marriage vs. work dilemma. She and Prince Jeffrey appear to be together despite being fully aware of each others' manias, in a sort of mutual non-interference pact. That could work for Nicol and Frey. (Mary and Alan, on the other hand, are allies of convenience against their mutual rivals.) Historically, at least, infidelity was commonplace and tolerated (as long as no public scandal resulted) when arranged marriages for political ends were more prevalent than love matches.

Quote:
Personally? I'm pushing for a polyamorous harem ending. But I'll be happy if we get a spin-off about Frey and Ginger, too.

Hear, hear!
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 4398
PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 12:15 am Reply with quote
Great episode this week. I hope we get more of Frey =)
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michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2021 10:21 am Reply with quote
Apologies: can't find the "delete" button.

Last edited by michizure on Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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yeehaw



Joined: 09 Sep 2018
Posts: 887
PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 1:13 pm Reply with quote
The backgrounds in this was stunning! Absolutely beautiful!
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 20109
PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:37 pm Reply with quote
The Claes family do seem to have a knack for getting kidnapped.

I kind of forgot Keith's family drama but it says a lot about how lucky he was with the new Bakarina when you see what his half-sblings and his half-sister are like.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 4398
PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:01 pm Reply with quote
It's weird that they have a magic item that tells them where to go, but still spend (waste) time asking around town and then just end up saying that "we're still a ways off". They really don't need to search for clues, they have a magic blood hound, why not just keep following that till they're close?
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 20109
PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:40 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
It's weird that they have a magic item that tells them where to go, but still spend (waste) time asking around town and then just end up saying that "we're still a ways off". They really don't need to search for clues, they have a magic blood hound, why not just keep following that till they're close?

Maybe the bear is just too general about it's directions and they've covering their bases...or it's too smug to keep pointing them where they need to go.
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1698
PostPosted: Sun Aug 29, 2021 5:12 pm Reply with quote
It's also useful to collect information about who has seen him, what has he been doing, etc.
That is, if they were sure he had been around there.
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1698
PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:02 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Catarina's worried, but it's Geordo and Sora who seem to realize that something's really wrong. It probably says something about them as basically good people that they're so gung-ho about helping find their competition for the girl, especially Geordo

To be fair, Geordo and Keith ARE friends.
Even if their main interactions are antagonistic bouts, they do know and collaborate with each other frequently, and when Geordo said something that actually hurt Keith he stopped and stepped back.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 20109
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 11:44 am Reply with quote
I love how Mary basically hires Sora to cockblock Geordo but doesn't count on no one being around to cockblock Sora while he's with Catarina.

Also I love how the bear is like the only character who doesn't take Bakarina seriously and brings out her inner villainess.

Will Catarina get this Dark Magic User to fall in love with her and turn good? She seems pretty sadistic and evil.
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michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:03 am Reply with quote
michizure wrote:
I am fascinated by the re-appearance of Atsuko (A-chan) in the tag. It goes with her prominent cameo in the opener. ...
Does this mean we will see similar progress-to-a-stable-plateau with the rest of Catarina's harem (particularly including the women)?

Hooray for more Atsuko! So it does seem that she appears to cap off each arc by pointing out whose "route" Catarina has "completed" this time. Looking forward to seeing who comes next -- Maria will likely be getting the most time with her, but I'm not sure I could see Maria becoming forward enough to seal the deal (whether by non-consensual kissing or some other unmistakable method).

I was a little surprised that the episode didn't make a point out of Geordo's fear of snakes. Yes, he's older and in control of himself, but phobias by definition aren't rational. It justifies (in part) why Geordo isn't helping Catarina free Keith, but no mention is made of it.
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