When a genre, or subgenre in this case, becomes as entrenched as villainess isekai is, you need a twist to make your story stand out. Shiki has hit on a good one for their two-volume series (with a sequel), Observation Records of My Fiancée: have the game character as the point-of-view narrator. While it's not perhaps fully original, since the grandmother of the villainess isekai series, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! has chapters from each of the love interests' perspectives and Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte plays around with the concept, Shiki's duology still feels like a fresh take on the increasingly oversaturated subgenre. Most importantly, by letting Cecil be our point of view character, the story can drive home one of the key elements of villainess isekai as a genre: that even if it seems like a game, it's real life.

Like many a couple before them, Cecil and Bertia are engaged from childhood, which is when Bertia begins informing her fiancé that she's not going to marry him because she needs to turn evil. Bemused and bewildered, Cecil initially begins observing Bertia based on this baffling statement. He's not sure what an “otome game” is or why being in one means that Bertia has to step aside for some girl named “Heronia,” but he'd like to find out. In part, this is just because he's confused, but he also genuinely likes Bertia and wants to understand her better. He also has zero interest in setting her aside, so he carefully works a bit behind the scenes to put the kibosh on some of her more bizarre ideas. Chief among them is her attempt to turn her father to wickedness. Cecil quickly identifies one of the main reasons for this potential development when Bertia talks about her mother dying of a plague that sweeps the country; Cecil makes sure that the plague never happens, thus ensuring that Bertia's parents remain together and madly in love, which results in further changes to what Bertia believes to be “the story.” By the time they get to the official start of the otome game, things are well and truly changed, although Bertia seems to have trouble accepting the idea.

Cecil's greatest challenge is convincing Bertia that she's allowed to change the story as she knew it. We've seen this as an issue before, mostly when there's a heroine and a villainess who have both reincarnated, with the heroine secure in her role despite any terrible acts she may commit. Observation Records of My Fiancée doesn't disturb this basic rule – Heronia and Bertia still follow the law of narrative causality that states that if the villainess is good, the heroine must be bad. But the tweak that Cecil is, despite not being reincarnated, aware of everything that's going on is enough to make the basics feel fun again if you're beginning to find them stale, and being firmly in his head shows us how unhinged both girls look from the outside. Cecil is, essentially, trying to save Bertia from her inability to recognize the difference between a game and real life, and that translates into saving himself from being stuck in the character the original script intended for him.

Although it isn't as deep as I'm perhaps making it sound, the story is a look at both the metafictional qualities of game-based isekai and an exploration of how an inability to distinguish between reality and fiction can be harmful. Bertia, with Cecil's help, comes to recognize this by the end of the first novel (well, more or less), but Heronia never learns it, and the result is two very different paths for them. Bertia's acceptance that she's not actually in the game she once played leads to her character development and ultimately her happiness. Heronia is punished for being unable to tell the difference, and the fact that she doesn't have plot armor is lost on her until it's too late.

Hanashi Media's translation is generally quite good. The books read smoothly, and character voices are easier to distinguish between than in many light novels, and credit for that is shared between the original author and the translator. The only real complaint I have is that Heronia's name is spelled “Hironia” in the first novel and “Heronia” in the second. I do prefer the second spelling because it gets the joke across a bit more bluntly, which I think is a good thing in a character who lacks all subtlety.

Technically, this is a complete series in two volumes. The plot threads are all gathered up, the main story resolves, and the point is made. But if you enjoyed it, fear not! There's a sequel, Observation Records of My Wife, which is forthcoming as of this writing. I'm not sure that it strictly needs a follow-up, because things do wrap up very nicely here, making this a low-commitment title. Still, Bertia and Cecil are great characters; it's hard to object to spending more time with them. Villainess fans and those a bit tired of the genre alike should find something to enjoy.