I'm in Love with the Villainess

I'm in Love with the Villainess (Japanese: 私の推しは悪役令嬢。, Hepburn: Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijō), often translated as I Favor the Villainess, is a Japanese light novel series written by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata. It was serialized online between January 2018 and February 2021 on the Japanese novel self-publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Ainaka Publishing, who published the first light novel volume digitally in February 2019 under their GL Bunko imprint.

A manga adaptation with art by Aonoshimo has been serialized in Ichijinsha's yuri manga magazine Comic Yuri Hime since June 18, 2020. It has been collected into eight tankōbon volumes. The light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime television series adaptation produced by Platinum Vision aired from October to December 2023.

Plot

Rei Ohashi, an ordinary office worker, is overworked to death and suddenly finds herself reincarnated as Rae Taylor, the heroine of her favorite otome game, Revolution. However, Rae has no interest in the game's three original romance routes with the Bauer Kingdom's princes. Instead, she sets her heart on Claire François, the game's main antagonist. Using her knowledge of the game's events that are yet to come, Rae tries to give Claire a happy ending before the coming revolution destroys any chance of it happening.

Characters

Rae Taylor (レイ＝テイラー, Rei Teirā) / Rei Ohashi (大橋 零, Ōhashi Rei)

Voiced by: Yu Serizawa (Japanese); Hannah Alyea (English)

An office worker who died of overwork and reincarnated as the player character of her favorite otome game, Revolution. Being a lesbian, she has no interest in the game's designated male capture targets and has instead developed feelings for the game's villainess, Claire, and aims to use her knowledge of the original game's plot to give her a happy ending. Underneath her happy-go-lucky demeanor, however, lies a woman beset by trauma from her previous lives' poor romantic experiences.

Claire François (クレア＝フランソワ, Kurea Furansowa)

Voiced by: Karin Nanami (Japanese); Lindsay Sheppard (English)

The villainess of the original game and the current target of Rae's affection. She is a noble who believes in the current aristocratic system within the kingdom and often has a low view of commoners, especially Rae, though this only serves to make her flustered and confused by Rae's interest in her. Over time, however, she begins reciprocating Rae's feelings, often resulting slapstick punishment; which Rae does not mind.

Rod Bauer (ロッド＝バウワー, Roddo Bauwā)

Voiced by: KENN (Japanese); Corey Wilder (English)

The eldest heir within the Bauer Kingdom's royal family and one of the romance options in the original game. He is often followed by a legion of devoted female admirers for his looks and skill. He is an energetic young man who becomes deeply interested in Rae due to her unrivaled abilities stemming from her knowledge of the original game, much to the latter's dismay.

Thane Bauer (セイン＝バウワー, Sein Bauwā)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese); Oscar Seung (English)

The second heir within the Bauer Kingdom's royal family and one of the romance options in the original game. He is often stoic due to suffering from an inferiority complex as he feels that his abilities are inferior to his brothers, causing him to be considered the least popular capture target. Claire has had a long-standing and obvious crush on him, especially apparent in his route.

Yu Bauer (ユー＝バウワー, Yū Bauwā)

Voiced by: Yoko Hikasa (Japanese); Ciarán Strange (English)

The third heir within the Bauer Kingdom's royal family and one of the romance options in the original game. While gutting on the guise of a charismatic prince, it is later revealed that she is afflicted with the Crosswire Curse, which inverts genders, actually being a girl but having been cursed by her mother to gain eligibility for the throne. Originally, only Misha, whom she is mutually in love with, knew of her secret, with even Rae having been unaware of it. However, after Rae learns of her affliction and offers her a cure, she decides to break her curse and live by her true gender.

Misha Jur (ミシャ＝ユール, Misha Yūru)

Voiced by: Aimi (Japanese); Marisa Duran (English)

Rae's roommate and best friend. Her family was once a noble house, but they fell from grace and were demoted to commoners. Having known the real Rae before Rei reincarnated as her, she becomes increasingly suspicious of her and eventually learns of the reincarnation. She also mutually loves Yu, being the only one aware of his gender-swapping curse, and continues doing so even after said curse is broken; showing she is pansexual.

Lene Aurousseau (レーネ＝オルソー, Rēne Orusō)

Voiced by: Ikumi Hasegawa (Japanese); Kara Edwards (English)

Claire's maid who has worked for her as long as she can remember, sharing a bond that is closer to sisterly. She is a commoner and the eldest daughter of a wealthy merchant family. She is also in an incestuous romance with her brother, which disgusts even Rae. It is later revealed that her family is part of a revolutionary movement seeking to overthrow the nobility and she and her brother are exiled after the plot fails, Claire and Rae having bargained to spare them the death penalty.

Loretta Kugret (ロレッタ＝クグレット, Roretta Kuguretto)

Voiced by: Sara Matsumoto (Japanese); Erin Nicole Lundquist (English)

A childhood friend of Claire's, later revealed to have a crush on her. She is from the House Kugret, a family well known for their history of military service. She has a boyish face with freckles.

Pepi Barlier (ピピ＝バルリエ, Pipi Barurie)

Voiced by: Minami Kurisaka (Japanese); Abigail Blythe (English)

A childhood friend of Claire's, who later develops a crush on Loretta. She is the daughter of the House Barlier, a family with deep-seated connections in Bauer's business world. She has pink hair. Her name is sometimes translated as Pipi Barlier.

Manaria Sousse (マナリア＝スース, Manaria Sūsu)

Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese); Katelyn Barr (English)

A princess of a foreign country who has known Claire since childhood. She is a tomboyish out-of-closet lesbian who transfers to the Royal Academy after being exiled from her kingdom following a scandal where she was revealed to be in a relationship with her maid. After transferring, she develops a crush on Rae and gets close to Claire to make her jealous. In the end, she transfers out again after her status is restored, having left a profound impact on Rae and Claire's relationship by getting them to seriously pursue each other.

Media

Light novels

I'm in Love with the Villainess was originally serialized online from January 14, 2018 to February 21, 2021 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō.

Five volumes of the official light novel were published digitally as Amazon Kindle exclusives by Ainaka Publishing under their GL Bunko imprint from February 26, 2019 to August 26, 2021. The light novels featured cover art and additional illustrations by Hanagata. In April 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they had licensed the light novel in North America. On March 19, 2021, Seven Seas issued a statement that they would be releasing a new version of the first volume due to the localization decisions in the original omitting several paragraphs.

I'm in Love with the Villainess: Revolution

In 2021, Ichijinsha announced that it would begin publishing the light novels in paperback as expanded "Revolution" editions, exclusive to Japan, with the first volume released on December 18, 2021 under their Ichijinsha Novels imprint. In order to incentivize purchases by fans who may have already owned the original e-books, these editions feature refinements both to the editing and to existing illustrations, as well as additional bonus stories, additional illustrations, and other extra content. Several bonus stories which were originally published with the third light novel were also moved forward in order to better fit chronologically with the mainline story, with the result being that the existing second light novel's content is covered in two books instead of one. As of November 2023, only three novels (corresponding in mainline content to the original two novels) have been released in Revolution editions.

Spin-off

I'm in Love with the Villainess: She's so Cheeky for a Commoner (平民のくせに生意気な！, Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!) is a retelling of the original series from Claire's perspective. It began serialization online on May 25, 2021 on Shōsetsuka ni Narō. Ainaka Publishing published the first light novel volume digitally under their GL Bunko imprint on February 28, 2022, with Hanagata returning for cover design and additional illustrations. At Anime Expo 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they licensed the spin-off for English publication.

Manga

A manga adaptation is written by Inori and illustrated by Aonoshimo. It began serialization in Ichijinsha's yuri manga magazine Comic Yuri Hime on June 18, 2020. In February 2021, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they had also licensed the manga adaptation.

Spin-off

A cooking spin-off manga illustrated by tsuke, titled I'm in Love with the Villainess: Maid's Kitchen (私の推しは悪役令嬢。メイドキッチン, Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijō Meido Kitchin), began serialization in Comic Yuri Hime on June 16, 2023.

Webtoon

A manhwa adaptation written by Kim Migyo and illustrated by TSTeam, titled Korean: 내 최애는 악역영애 ~Another Revolution Story~; RR: Nae Choeaeneun Ag-yeog-yeong-ae ~Another Revolution Story~, began serialization on Ridi Books' webtoon platform on January 13, 2023.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on December 13, 2022. It was produced by Platinum Vision and directed by Hideaki Ōba, with scripts written by Ayumu Hisao, character designs handled by Yōko Satō, and music composed by Noriyuki Asakura and Usagi to Uma. The series aired from October 3 to December 19, 2023, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Raise Y/Our Hands!!", while the ending theme song is "O.C. Optimum Combination", both performed by Yu Serizawa and Karin Nanami. Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia.

Reception

In Anime News Network's Fall 2020 Light Novel Guide the series was generally received positively, though not as strongly as other yuri titles released at the time. However, it was noted that "if Rae and Claire both start off as almost intensely difficult to like, they do undergo enough of a change by about midway through the novel that makes them much easier to root for."

Others had more positive reception to the series. Erica Friedman, the founder of Yuricon, awarded the first light novel an overall score of nine. Friedman also praised the series for its frank discussion of LGBT identity, writing "And then you hit a moment when Misha, Rae’s best friend, roommate and foil, turns to Rae and asks, 'Are you gay?'…and the characters have a frank discussion about sexuality." Nicki Bauman noted that the series' open focus on LGBT themes in its characters and storytelling was not typical of the yuri genre and proposed that it might signal change in yuri themes and stories. The audiobook adaptation was also positively received. Kevin Cormack of Anime News Network praised it for reinstating segments, missing from the first English-language print run, which explain Rae's motivations, and said that the narrator, Courtney Shaw, nails down the many-faceted personality of Rae, and the voices of other characters, and hoped for an audio adaptation of volume 2.

In March 2021, I'm in Love with the Villainess placed fifth in AnimeJapan's annual Manga We Want to See Animated Ranking. In June 2021, the series was nominated for the Best Printed Manga category in the Next Manga Awards and placed seventeenth out of 50 nominees. It was also nominated for the same award and placed eighth out of 50 nominees in 2022.

The anime adaptation received mixed reviews. Kevin Cormack of Anime News Network described it as one of his favorite series in fall 2023, saying it stands above "its subgenre competitors," and said that humor is funny at times, but said Rae is "initially offputting," but notes that Rae and Claire are "multi-layered characters" and praised anime dub voice actress Hannah Alyea for her being a "more unhinged lesbian gremlin joker" with Rae, but lamented the series for ending "halfway through the main arc." The anime preview guide on Anime News Network had a mix of reviews, with some criticizing the series for cliches, visuals, and its comedy, the uncomfortability of Rae's interactions with Claire, while others praised it, enjoying the villainess stereotype embodied in Claire, the comedy between Rae and Claire, and asked people to give the series a chance to build to become stronger.

However, Andrew Henderson of Anime Feminist, reviewed the first episode, and was critical of the series for putting a "queer spin" on "stale romantic archetypes" and found Rae's actions toward Claire grating, though it was "kinda funny" in small amounts, and hoped that the dynamic between them changed as the series went forward. A later update on Anime Feminist echoed Henderson's review, saying the series held potential, but was mired in "uncomfortable gags" by Rae toward Claire. However, Cy Catwell, on the same website, took a different take. They argued that they were quickly "charmed by Rae Taylor" and the reasons behind her behavior, which was initially off-putting, making them look forward to watching the series every week, and praised direct engagement of the series "with real-world issues," including an exploration of what it means to "be queer using queer language." They hoped that the series received a second season, while providing content warnings for the series, including "depictions of queerphobia...romanticized incest," sexual harassment, and fan service.

See also

• Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!, a light novel series whose manga adaptation has the same illustrator

Notes

References

External links

• Web novel at Shōsetsuka ni Narō (in Japanese)
• Official anime website (in Japanese)
• I'm in Love with the Villainess (light novel) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia