The Summer 2026 Anime Preview Guide

Though I Am an Inept Villainess

In a kingdom inspired by historical China, five clans put forth their maidens as imperial consorts–but only one will be crowned empress. The frail and beautiful Kou Reirin, the so-called “butterfly” of the imperial court, is a shoo-in to marry the crown prince. But when “court rat” Shu Keigetsu lashes out at her during the glittering Lantern Festival, it's Reirin who wakes up in the dungeons. Body-swapped by her assailant to steal her position at court, Reirin's plight seems dire...to everyone else. Now that she's got a robust new body, not even the looming threat of execution can stop her.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess is based on the light novel series by author Satsuki Nakamura and illustrator Kana Yuki. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu on Sundays.

What would a villainess story by way of a Freaky Friday body swap inciting event rather than an isekai reincarnation look like? The answer to this question is set up in the first episode of Though I Am an Inept Villainess and, while I'm not in the target demographic for these kinds of stories, I am curious about the drama that's going to unfold in the episodes to come. With rock solid visuals and a twist on the villainess genre that's set to create plenty of character motivated conflict, Inept Villainess could be on track to be the new high watermark for this genre if it manages to bring a bit more depth to its characters.

As a politics of the court drama, Inept Villainess spends its opening episode setting up various actors and dynamics that it will likely explore in future episodes. Of the five noble ladies set to wed the future Emperor, the sickly Kou Reirin favorite of the Prince and is widely beloved by the court. Shu Keigetsu, though, is described as the “court rat” and the subject of ridicule for reasons that aren't yet entirely clear. On the night of a meteor shower, Keigetsu pushes Reirin off a balcony, and Reirin wakes up in Keigetsu's body. Unable to explain the situation, she stands trial as Keigetsu, barely manages to avoid being devoured by a lion, and now must navigate this lifestyle from Keigetsu's further stigmatized position.

I really like that Inept Villainess is firmly rooted in a place of supernatural historical fantasy, as I'm pretty burnt out on these kinds of stories being rooted in video games and video game mechanics. Reirin not having an almost omniscient knowledge of the world and other characters makes the situations and dynamics that unfold feel like they have real stakes, and the way this episode unfolds feels more organic than pre-determined. With both the Prince and his top guard establishing themselves as distinct characters in this premiere, I'm curious if a love triangle begins to develop and how long the aggrieved Keigetsu will be able to masquerade effectively as the beloved Reirin.

My only gripe with this episode is that Reirin is a bit too perfect. Rather than be upset with Keigetsu for her magical trickery and how her life was put in danger in the process, she's just thrilled to be in a body that's healthier than her own. I understand what Inept Villainess is going for by making Reirin such a plucky character, but I need this show to give her more depth fairly quickly to stay invested in her and her exploits. So far Inept Villainess is novel enough that I'm going to stick with it for a bit, but it really needs to make me like Reirin more before I start liking the show more and recommend it to folks familiar with these kinds of dramas.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere in Though I Am an Inept Villainess…kind of. While the premiere episode of this Freaky Friday villainess story had its leading characters filling fairly archetypal roles without much depth or explanation for their motivations, this episode begins to shed some light on the actors driving the politics of this court. That being said, issues are already starting to resolve a little too cleanly, and characters are behaving in ways that feel more beneficial to the plot than to how people actually behave, but I can overlook some narrative contrivances if they're for the sake of setting up better storytelling down the line.

Resuming where the previous episode left off, Reirin, who is in Keigetsu's body, is escorted by her (which is to say Keigetsu's) attendant, Leelee, to the Shu clan's compound within the Emperor's domain. Here, Reirin gets a sense of how ostracised Keigetsu is within her own community, and we as the audience learn that Keigetsu is functionally an outsider whose parents disgraced the clan and is only filling the role of maiden due to the charity of her matron. This othering culminates in our protagonist being sentenced to live in a dilapidated shack on the edge of their property. However, between Reirin's endless pluckiness and joy at being able-bodied for the first time in her life, she's able to turn the lot into a self-sustaining farm by the end of her first day there!

Reirin immediately making lemonade out of lemons with little friction is a great example of my frustrations with Inept Villainess' writing. While her being forced into a dilapidated domicile could have been a great moment for her to get a sense of the world outside of her sheltered upbringing, empathise meaningfully with Keigetsu, or express understandable anger at the undo adversity she now faces, she takes this all on the chin and things immediately work out for her. While this does speak to the power of a positive attitude, if I were in Keigetsu's shoes, I'd also be annoyed with how everything seems to go Reirin's way, and I'm not sure that's the takeaway this show wants me to have from this episode.

We also get a brief look at what Keigetsu is doing with Reirin's body, which is to say cozying up to the Prince and reveling in the adoration of her ladies in waiting. Though we also see her struggle in Reirin's sickly body and get an inkling that Reirin's unwavering optimism might be a coping mechanism from the unreasonable expectations placed on her by her clan, which has me curious about how the story will play out from here. Add in the intrigue from one of the other clans seemingly plotting Keigetsu's downfall (or Reirin's if they're aware of the body swap), and I can definitely see myself binging this show at the end of the season if it manages to keep these twists coming and deftly execute them.

If there was ever someone who could make lemonade out of rancid lemons, it would be Reirin. After surviving for years in a sickly body – and learning how to cope with it – she suddenly finds herself the victim of a body swap with the villainess of the Maiden Court, Kougetsu. And since everyone now thinks she's Kougetsu (and that Kougetsu is Reirin), that means she has to die for harming the prince's favored maiden. Sounds pretty grim, right?

Not for Reirin! If you want a heroine with a can-do attitude, you can't do any better than her. Sure, it's a surprise at first, and it's difficult that part of Kougetsu's spell is that Reirin can't tell anyone about the switch, but becoming the most hated woman in the inner palace has one very specific benefit: suddenly, Reirin is in a healthy body. And if she refused to surrender in an ill one, now she's nigh unstoppable. Or at least, she will be if people stop trying to execute her via lion or poison. Kougetsu clearly spent a lot of time and energy making people despise her.

There is a piece of me that's uncomfortable with this scenario. Having Kougetsu be punished by putting her in Reirin's body isn't a great look, even as Reirin is rewarded with a healthy one. Chronic illness absolutely can feel like a punishment and like it's not worth living, but using it specifically as a punishment for Kougetsu isn't a great look. I'm glad Reirin is healthy and energetic now, but again, health isn't a reward for being a good person. That of course wasn't Kougetsu's intent when she orchestrated the body swap; she didn't realize that Reirin was in poor health. But there will be a temptation to frame it as her getting her just desserts, and that's simply not okay.

Of course, it looks like the real punishment is that she's now stuck with the prince. Granted, we haven't seen much of him, but watching his behavior at Reirin's trial-by-lion gives the impression that he's perhaps not the greatest guy; he's impulsive and doesn't give a fig for the fairness of the situation, telling Shin-U, the guard captain, to prod the lion into attacking Reirin despite that completely negating the point of the trial (that the lion won't eat the innocent). Shin-U is disgusted by this and definitely interested in (and wary of) this new Kougetsu, so if he turns out to be Reirin's love interest, I think it's safe to say she gets the better deal.

Even with the issue of how the episode uses chronic illness, this is a delight. Reirin is adorably enthusiastic in her new form and the rich colors (except for the pale yellow of Reirin's original body's clothing) form a gorgeous backdrop to the lovely art and animation. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this, and to seeing what Reirin can do now that she's no longer constrained by health and position.

Keigetsu isn't the real villain here – it's a society that told her she was less-than for the crime of her birth, a situation that's continuing on with her maid Leelee, who is denigrated for her red hair and the fact that her mother was a dancer. (Possibly that's code for “sex worker.”) Keigetsu may not have acted like a good person, but that's a result of the way she was treated rather than because she's inherently a bad person, and her motivation in switching places with Reirin is less out of jealousy and more a simple desire to be loved. Everyone loves Reirin, therefore Keigetsu wants to be Reirin. She's been taught to devalue herself based on the words and actions of others, and to a young woman who has the ability to use ancient magics, switching places with the girl she sees as her rival is the only logical step.

There's also something to be said about the Inner Palace ecology creating a system whereby women are pitted against each other in the hopes of claiming male attention, but that's a different essay. I fully trust Caitlin to explore it in her weekly reviews once those start next week.

How galling will it be to Keigetsu once she realizes what Shin-U and Bankou have already discovered, that Reirin is living her best life in the dilapidated former pantry? Isekai characters who discover farming have nothing on Reirin's absolute delight this week as she realizes that the leftover food in the hut have sprouted, allowing her to not only plant a gorgeous garden in record time, but to live out her dream of eating fried and salty foods and not get sick from them? While I'm still uncomfortable with the “chronic illness = punishment” thread underlying this story, watching Reirin be positively ebullient about her stamina and strong stomach is delightful. And it must be truly impressive amounts of stamina for her to do all that yardwork in the span of one day. Seriously, was she pulling out grass with her hands? Then replanting vegetables? That's not just stamina and willpower; that's a woman with a mission.

It's interesting to see that Keigetsu is doing a much better job of pretending to be Reirin than Reirin is doing playing her. Of course, Keigetsu has been planning this for a while, but it also seems to come down to the fact that she simply can't do much as she adjusts to her frail new form. She operated under the assumption that all Reirin had to do was exist and be sweet and people would fawn over her, though, so the revelation that she pushed herself – and probably had to in order to get out of bed regularly – is shocking and unwelcome. Keigetsu is about to learn that Reirin's personality is more than sugar, and I think that may be the hardest lesson she's ever had…and probably the most painful, as she faces the fact that life in the Inner Palace is not, and never will be, fair.

I love being completely taken by surprise when a premiere turns out to be positively excellent. The only thing I knew to expect from Though I Am an Inept Villainess was based on the one trailer I watched for the show, which merely indicated that this would be one of those anime with Villainess in the title that was at least pretty to look at. As it turns out, not only is Though I Am an Inept Villainess indeed very pretty to look at, it also has a great premise and a hell of a protagonist to back up all of that style with some substance.

Our heroine, Kou Reirin, has been placed in a nefarious trap by the dark sorceress Shu Keigetsu. Keigetsu has spent her entire life being rejected and bullied by the aristocrats in the emperor's court, and she has seethed with jealous fury over the way everyone fawns and preens over poor, delicate, beautiful Reirin. To steal away the life she has always felt should have been her own, Kougetsu uses the old secrets of forbidden magic to swap bodies with Reirin, framing her old self for the attempted murder of her new body at the same time. Reirin finds herself trapped in an ingenious prison of both the body and the soul. She now has the face and tainted reputation of the court's most hated pariah, and she's on death row for daring to place her poisonous hands on the Emperor's beloved court butterfly.

It's just an excellent plot for a court drama like this one, with some magical intrigue and immediately heightened stakes that have all been put into motion by a truly cruel villain who manages to earn just a teensy bit of sympathy while still being oh-so-easy to hate. What makes Though I Am an Inept Villainess such a standout series in just this first episode, though, is how well its protagonist holds her own as an awesome character in her own right. It would be one thing to just make her the preternaturally sweet and innocent Disney Princess who makes friends with all of God's creatures and doesn't have an unkind word to say about anyone. Don't get me wrong, Reirin definitely is that kind of girl. This is never more apparent than when she interrupts Keigetsu's evil expository monologue to give Keigetsu some advice on how to handle the frail constitution of her new body.

Reirin is also a real survivor though, which makes her positive attitude feel both earned and genuinely infectious. She's so used to living in her sickly little bubble that she's not about to be scared by something so banal as her imminent execution. Spending time with the rats in the palace dungeons is just fine by her, because the rats are her friends. She's even honestly kind of excited to be inhabiting Keigetsu's body, because Keigetsu hasn't been afflicted with debilitating circulatory and immune system disorders. Reirin can do jumping jacks, now! How could things possibly be all bad.

By the time we get to Reirin's Trial By Ferocious, Starving Lion, the story has crafted that delicate balance where we all know exactly how things will turn out—The lion will not eat our main character in Episode one, and Reirin will live to survive another day—but we still can't wait to see how it all unfolds. That is truly the mark of an excellent program, if I do say so myself. I didn't think Though I Am an Inept Villainess was going to be one of the must-watch anime of the summer for me, especially with how much sterling competition there is, but I am very eager to see where Reirin's time as the court's vilified villainess takes her next.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess came out swinging late in the Preview Guide run with one of the surprise best premieres of the season, at least so far as I was concerned. It looks great; the body-swapping premise makes for an excellent hook, and we've got a fantastic opposing pair in our heroine Reirin and her witchy rival Keigetsu. This week, now that Reirin is stuck living in Keigetsu's body, she has to figure out whether or not she can pass muster as the infamously shunned maiden in the company of Keigetsu's own retainers.

As was the case in the first episode, the biggest highlight of Though I Am an Inept Villainess is Reirin herself, whose curious and determined attitude makes her a protagonist that is incredibly easy to root for. Early in the episode, she sees how easily the lower-class ladies of the court hurl insults at her and Leelee, Keigetsu's long-suffering handmaiden, and instead of taking pity on herself or wallowing in misery, Reirin actually learns from the incident. Her life of constant coddling and reinforcement was not what most would consider a “normal” existence, and while she's stuck in this situation, she may as well learn to live more independently. This, as it turns out, will not be too difficult, since “Keigetsu” has been banished to a rotting old shack on the far reaches of the palace. Leelee is now Reirin's only lifeline to the rest of her small society of nobles.

For her part, Leelee is sick and tired of being sick and tired, and she immediately rips into “Keigetsu” for being a self-absorbed and self-sabotaging idiot. On the one hand, this outburst immediately endears us to the poor woman, who has had to serve as Keigetsu's pack mule and emotional step stool for years. It's just a shame that, now that Leelee's resentment has finally curdled over into outright rage, the real Keigetsu isn't around to hear it. Either way, though, the message is clear: “Keigetsu” is on her own. The real Keigetsu, as it turns out, doesn't have it quite as easy as she expected, either. It turns out that the luxurious life of a doted-upon princess comes with an incredibly busy schedule.

Thankfully, Reirin at least will surely be okay. This is the kind of lady who takes a look at a dingy, rotting shed that isn't even fit to serve as a dog house and sees a gorgeously cozy little fixer-upper with one hell of a front lawn to frolic and garden in. There may come a time when we tire of the joke of Reirin charming the pants off anyone who meets her and making friends out of old enemies, but today is surely not that day. At the very least, anyone left who wants to break Reiren's spirit is going to have their work cut out for them. There's just no keeping this inept villainess down.