DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

MANGA ComedyWatashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou.
NOVEL ComedyHeimin no Kuse ni Namaiki na!
ANIME ComedyWatashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou.
MANGA ComedyWatashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou. Maid Kitchen
MANGA ComedyNae Choeaeneun Agyeogyeongae: Another Revolution Story

REVIEWS

• 

  MeSsIAKAFERNO

  90/100
  The new best Yuri . . . ?

  As per usual, do not consider this a review for various reasons. I will simply give my thoughts on the title, a rating and maybe a recommendation as well.

  Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou or WataOshi for short is written by Inori sensei. It is her first published series which has a light novel and manga adaptation. This essay will be on part 1 of the web novel. I chose to read the web novel first because it is the original source that was adapted later into other formats. Still, I do have plans to read both the light novel and manga later on.

  Rei Oohashi is an average office lady in 21st century Japan. Suddenly for unknown reasons, she finds herself in the body of the main protagonist from one of her favourite Otome games. Although, a typical girl would do everything in their power to get the main princes to fall in love with them. Rei wants the villainess to fall for her. While WataOshi initially starts as a typical slice of life, wholesome Yuri as the story goes on gradually the complex and exciting overarching plot will be revealed.

  Likewise, the realization of "Oh, this isn't like that, isn't it?" was quite exciting. WataOshi is written similar to a mystery series. Despite not being categorized as one, there will be many questions that pop up here and there only to be answered in the most satisfying way possible by the end. While reading this novel, you will encounter various topics on subjects such as debating, law, politics, accounting etc . . . All of those will be carefully explained for the readers to understand certain points in the story they come across. Especially cases surrounding LGBT+. Topics such as sexual identity vs sexual orientation and gender dysphoria were completely new to me. Thanks to sensei, I was interested and started researching and learning more about them. Regarding LGBT+, although I've read a bunch of Yuri/ GL and a few Yaoi/ BL titles, I've never come across a title where they have a proper debate with those who have a prejudice against LGBT+. All of sensei's arguments were not only informative but solid without holes as well. Moreover, this might be my first time encountering a plot-driven Yuri title. Every Yuri I've read so far has been about the internal conflict of the characters (character-driven). While WataOshi does have some internal conflicts the highlight of this specific title is the external conflict or the plot. As the author said this is more of an "Adventure Yuri". It certainly is a breath of fresh air to a sub-genre that doesn't have much diversity. On the contrary, when some emotional scenes managed to bring me near tears others were handled poorly. Sometimes the scenes felt like they had poor writing or felt rushed and other times a touching moment would be suddenly interrupted by a joke or something similar. The ability to convey emotions through text and other mediums is truly a gift, it is not something I will think light of. But I do think one-day sensei will become excellent at it.

  Above all, the main duo in this Yuri is a delight to read. Rei, our protagonist, is an oddball. She has some questionable fetishes and is never afraid to display her affection for the villainess in public. However, she is quite selfish. Rei will do whatever it takes so that Claire makes it out alive, even if it means her own death. In other words, she can be quite terrifying at times. Sometimes I understand her and sometimes I don't. That eerie unpredictability is what I love about this character. I like Rei but my favourite is the villainess, Claire François. I will make it clear, I despise tsunderes. I cannot stand their personalities or actions no matter what. But for some reason, all the "bullying", huffs and puffs and pouts she does make me fall for her without a question and I don't know why. She is the character I love the most but she is also the character I see the most flaws in. Adorable as she is, I cannot help but notice her lack of contribution to the overall plot (other than for two instances). Everything is Rei's hard work. To which Rei hardly ever gets good rewards for either. However, I will accept that she has some of the best character development in the story and she is a strong, brave character who is compelling to read. But I wish she would contribute more to the overall plot rather than being just cute and strong. The side cast is charming as well. Strong characters such as Manaria, Rod, Lene, Yuu and Misha not only does huge contributions to the overall plot but sometimes they can be even more entertaining than the main duo.

  So finally, would I recommend this? Most certainly. Although this has won a few awards here and there, WataOshi is not quite well known in the genre. But thanks to the manga adaptation it seems to be rapidly gaining popularity. I hope more and more people would get to know and come to love this little gem just like me. Since I praised this soo much some of you who know me might have the question "So now what's the best Yuri?" Well, YagaKimi has a great story but I simply could not care about the main duo, AdaShima also has a great story and I like the main duo but WataOshi has an amazing story and I loove the main duo soo . . . ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Consequently dethroning AdaShima as my favourite Yuri and claiming the 5th spot in my all time favourite manga/ light novels, I rate I'm in Love with the Villainess a 9/10.

  (Those who want links to read the WN feel free to PM me. And I won't be writing an essay like this for Part 2 cause that is too much work. Instead, I'll write the usual 2000 character essay for it (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ )

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• 

  WholesomEnjoyer

  90/100
  Don't judge it by it's cover

  (Excuse me if I express myself weirdly, English is not my first language and this is my first ever review)

  You look at the title and the cover and the first thing you'll assume is that this novel is a generic yuri in the same generic otome game isekai setting. This couldn't be farther from the truth.
  Firstly, let me assure you that the world-building and the politics in this novel are surprisingly good. The conversations between the characters about the discrimination of peasants and homosexuals, society changing thanks to the increasing labor movement and how some of the privileged characters (lets remember, in a world based on the Middle Ages) slowly start to comprehend repressed minorities...for me it was just very enjoyable.
  Let's not forget about the romance. If you are a massive wholesome roncom consumer like me, you'll need to do some exercise after reading some chapters, otherwise you might get diabetes. At first the relationship between the two protagonists is purely comedical: Claire hates Rei and her response is constantly declaring her love for her in the most extreme ways. However, Claire will slowly open her heart to her and that will lead to lots of sweet, wholesome scenes (starting from the 2nd volume).
  Respecting the isekai aspect of the novel, it's not insufferably generic and boring as you would expect. It's mainly used for world-building from the perspective of the protagonist, but her backstory is also really good and fits nicely with the themes of the novel.
  As for the negatives, sometimes the exposition in the 1st volume takes a little too long and that could seem kinda boring. This is also the case with some of the secondary characters, which aren't bad, but neither deep enough to carry any scene they are in (again, for me this was a problem only in volume 1).
  My favourite scene (spoilers) is chapter 6-4, where the protagonist leaves a nun that though that homosexuals were heretics spechless after spiting fact after fact. And of course that the nun didn't change her mind right away, but she said she would reflect about it and would love to talk with her another day. A nun from the Middle Age. And after that, another nun that had been hiding that she was homosexual and felt as an heretic thanked the protagonist in tears...what a scene.
  Finally, this isn't very relevant as there are very few illustrations and you can already see it in the cover, but the art is really good. Just look at the cover from volume 3

  

  I didn't expect to like this novel so much, totally recommend to at least finish volume 1. Hope this review was helpful ^-^

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• 

  SoulBlade17

  95/100
  Revolutionary in more ways than one.

  Please note

  This review is all subjective and my own personal opinion. You do not have to agree with it, nor am I asking you to. I hope that this just helps you get an idea of what the manga I am talking about is like and form a basic and general consensus on it. The ratings I give anime and manga are mostly my personal overall enjoyment. This review will be spoiler free, but there will be sections where I discuss content including **massive** spoilers, all of which will be marked. TL;DR will be at the bottom.

  
  

  Introduction

  

  'I'm in Love with the Villainess' is a light novel series written by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata is an isekai Yuri (what a combination!) depicting the isekaied Rei Ohashi (now Rae Taylor) thrust into the world of her favourite otome game. However, instead of romancing the typical male love interests, she only has one unlikely target in mind, the villainess Claire François. Will Rae be successful in pursuing her true love interest, against all odds?

  
  

  Plot

  The plot of 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' has... a lot within it. From the cover, you may go into the novels with certain expectations. Perhaps it is one of those many villainess stores that you see on Webtoons. Or maybe it is some romance in a fantasy setting. The novel kind of has that. And more.

  You see, you would be mistaken to think 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' is merely a Yuri story. Whilst the romance between Rae and Claire is obviously a large focal point of the tale, there is much more nested within the plot. On top of being a Yuri story, it is a fantasy tale sprinkled with action, politics, and philosophical moments all tied into the same story, only to name a few. You may be inclined to think that to stuff so many themes into the one series is too much, it would simply result in a mess of a story. And yet, Inori surprised me with how well she managed to weave and link all of these elements together.

  The first arc (volumes 1 and 2) have a greater focus on the buildup of the relationship between Rae and Claire, whilst also including side plots with other characters and an overarching obstacle for the cast to deal with. Typical of many romances, the story zooms in on how the main duo grow into a romantic relationship, however this one was quite different to the others I have read. Rae, absolutely infatuated with Claire, makes many advances towards Claire. Being the tsundere she is, that often results in being shot down, resulting in the comedic elements of the novel. The novel had moments that were able to make me laugh just with how ridiculous it was. The humour may not be to everyone's tastes, but it worked for me.

  Throughout the whole novel but more so in the first arc, the story has its overarching plot and romance, and then it occasionally shifts between different side plots with complications other characters face, resulting in their own development. I really enjoyed these parts of the novel since it fleshed out the world and its inhabitants, making it livelier and easier to get engrossed in. Most of the cast gets their own development in tandem with the main two, to my great appreciation. A story is more than the leads, it is also comprised of those that support them to grow as people.

  Moving onto the second arc (volumes 3-5), the plot changes pace and moves from being more focused on Yuri to other themes. Whilst this may seem sudden to some readers, I enjoyed the change. As Inori said in the afterword of Volume 5, she wanted to write about what she wanted after focusing on romance in the first arc. On top of this, this arc explores what I wish many more romances do, what happens after the coveted moment of the establishment in the romantic relationship. Many romance stories focus only on the buildup to a couple dating, but many omit what happens afterwards. This leaves me to desire more. After all, life does not end once you start to date someone. There is more to romance than that. The arguments whilst dating, living together, having a family, so much that can be explored in a story. And so, I was pleasantly surprised that the story of 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' did not end at arc 1.

  That said, despite everything I enjoyed about the plot one thing I disliked was how antagonists were handled sometimes. There is a wide cast of villains that appear to throw a wrench in Rae's plans. Luckily most if not all of them were not shallow antagonists, but the problem lied in their resolution. After being established as 'evil', it quickly gets resolved with either there being a reason why the individual was acting in such a malevolent way or them not actually being themselves. I do like the idea of antagonists have complex motives behind their actions, but sometimes it felt overly idealistic that everyone was justified in their actions and/or was not a bad person. But I only felt this sometimes and overall, I enjoyed this approach to constructing antagonists. There was one villain I think was done well in this regard, but the execution could have been improved in my opinion. (Whole novel spoilers) This antagonist is Sallas, who is painted to be the character to hate in the story. Inori does a good job in making you want to wish for his downfall, but after the first arc he sort of plays a background role, appearing from time to time with his antics. This is exemplified with his sudden reappearance in the final part, where it felt to me that he was shoved back in because there was not much time left for things to be resolved with him. The POV chapter is good as it gives a lot of backstory to him, but it falls victim to a problem I have seen in other media, dumping the villain's motives all at once right at the end. More buildup would have made him appear less as simply an evil individual.

  One writing technique I enjoyed was the shifting of POVs throughout the novel. I am a fan of this, as many of the novels I read when I was younger utilised this. It allows the story to remain fresh, adding new perspectives to change how the reader sees the events in the plot, reminding them that the world is not comprised of one perspective, but of many, differing ones.

  This novel also had many plot twists in it, a large portion of which were completely unexpected for me. Luckily, there is a good amount of foreshadowing sprinkled throughout the novel, so the twists are not fully unfounded. Near the end, the novel takes a complete twist and shakes the very foundation of the worldbuilding at its core. No longer is it mere a fantasy isekai, but one with science fiction elements thrown in, with a touch of a dystopian future. I was completely surprised by the direction the novel went, but I was not against it. Whilst I greatly enjoyed the previous parts of the novel, this too was engrossing in a different way. It became more philosophical (even if it was not trying to), making me question my own the existence and the world around me. I am not sure about other people, but when a piece of media starts to make me ask a lot of questions, I know it is good.

  The novel also often makes use of suspense leaving the reader in the dark in the truth behind mysteries of the plot. Think of dramatic irony (where the audience knows something the characters do not, often seen in Shakespeare's play 'Othello'), but the opposite. As the protagonist is an isekai protagonist, they possess knowledge of the world they are in that the readers are not privy to. This follows into the next section of my review...

  
  

  Isekai elements

  To be honest, this is my first proper isekai media that I have ever consumed. Discounting Sword Art Online which is kind of an isekai (but not really???) this was my introduction to the infamous genre. In reality, I had poor expectations of the genre. It had become synonymous with the shovel ware equivalent of the anime/manga/light novel industry, with many titles being pumped out with varying quality. But given that it was Yuri and recommended to me I was willing to give it a shot. My expectations sure were shattered.

  The isekai elements are one of the parts of the series that I really enjoyed. It made the world easily immersible and added intriguing aspects to the story that were previously unknown to me. Things like possessing knowledge on the future and transferring knowledge from one's past life to their new one, I never expected these parts of Rae's character to be really interesting for me.

  
  

  Queer themes

  If I am going to talk about this novel, I have to talk about one of the underlying parts of it.

  'I'm in Love with the Villainess' is a queer novel. A very queer one.

  "Queer? Of course it is queer, it is a story about a lesbian,", you may be inclined to say. And yes, this story is undoubtedly Yuri, containing lesbian themes, a lesbian protagonist, and a romantic relationship between two women.

  But this novel goes much deeper than that.

  Despite Yuri being a genre with links to being queer, many stories within the genre do not profoundly explore what it means to be queer and the many intricacies of it. Many Yuri simply contain a romance between two girls, there may be little to no questioning of one's sexuality and the obstacles it brings. That can be good sometimes, if an author wants to focus on a story which is more light-hearted.

  But 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' takes it a step further, a step I very much appreciate. Throughout the story we gain an insight into Rae and her struggles with being homosexual in her previous life. Her past experiences allow her to confront the homophobia and misunderstandings towards queer people in a manner that very much relates to real life events. There are many scenes where it felt as if Inori was inserting her own voice into the character of Rae (a writing technique also seen in 'Pride and Prejudice') to voice her own thoughts about being queer. When I was reading these moments I could not help but feel that Inori really understood what it meant to be queer, and knew how to articulate her thoughts in a manner that many queer people can relate to and find solace in.

  The novel also goes beyond lesbianism which was a pleasant surprise to me. Many other Yuri titles I have read only look into that particular aspect, but this story explored other aspects as well in a way with great understanding and it also acted as a way of breathing more life into the world and its characters.

  As such, I think this novel has a pretty niche audience. For those not queer, these moments could seem to be confusing. For example, imagine you are reading a manga about shogi and all of a sudden they start explaining really complicated strategies used in a match. If you have never played shogi, it would probably go over your head. That is how these moments may be for a non-queer reader. That said, Inori explains it in a way that any reader could understand (hopefully). In fact, I think that is part of why Inori wrote this novel, to educate non-queer people about what being queer means (maybe I am reading into it too much, I do have a habit of doing that...). That said, I am not saying you have to be queer to enjoy this novel, rather for those who are, it can really pull you in.

  
  

  Subverting tropes and genres

  With all of what was previously discussed, it can be easily said that 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' breathes new life into tropes and genres of generations past. In terms of the Yuri genre I touched upon this slightly beforehand. The genre does not have as long of a history to its counterpart BL as well as every other genre, but this novel has the potential to change things in the long run. Like I mentioned, this novel not only covers the buildup to a relationship but what happens afterwards. That is not to say that 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' is the first to do it, but to this extent is a first for me for sure. It is also revolutionary in the sense that it is a Yuri story that is not purely focused on romance. Whilst it has to be said that Yuri is a romance genre - and consequently many titles that fall under it only focus on romance - this novel goes beyond that by including many other genres that take centre stage. Sometimes the romance takes a back seat (which was more the case in act 2), but it is still integral to the story. It is clearly stated through the afterwords that Inori wished to write a Yuri that was not only about romance, and I would like to think she succeeded quite well.

  Another way that this novel potentially subverts tropes is through Claire, who takes on the villainess archetype. Whilst I have not read any other typical villainess story (and thus feel free to correct me on this), 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' looks at this trope in a new light, revealing a hidden side to villainess. At first she appears to be a mere thorn to the side, but through Rae's persistence we realise that there is more than meets the eye. We - as people - are fallible to pushing individuals into stereotypes to make them easier to comprehend. But in reality there are many nuances to a person that make that conclusion simply untrue.

  
  

  Characters

  With its expansive world, 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' features a setting with a large scale and thus many characters residing within it. As such, I will not discuss them all, partly due to some containing spoilers for later segments of the novel.

  __The isekaied protagonist - Rae Taylor - presents herself as a "foolishly happy-go-lucky girl", constantly vying for Claire's attention.__

  Rae may seem like a goofy protagonist. And yeah, she is. She often does blatantly ridiculous actions, often using humour to drive her words even if it may result in the backlash from others. But deep within her character there is more than a 'happy-go-lucky' girl, one riddled with past life experiences that still infest her mind. Her position as an isekai protagonist also provides her knowledge unbeknownst to anyone else in the story, and the moments she uses this to her advantage can be satisfying to read.

  __The subject of Rae's affection, Claire François, first appears to be a fiendish villainess who will do nothing but rain on the protagonist's parade.__

  Claire is quickly characterised as the quintessential villainess, with the trademark laugh, posse, and endless scheming to ruin Rae's day. That said, Rae - being who she is - takes this with great pleasure forcing Claire to deal with these unexpected reactions. She could be described as a tsundere, and it is through Rae's actions that her character begins to unfold, and she becomes more than a mere villainess.

  Indeed, the interactions between Claire and Rae are pivotal to the novel series. Their interactions are often of humorous nature, bearing similarities to the manzai comedy routine immensely popular in Japan. This involves the tsukkomi (the straight man) and the boke (the funny man) do skits to entice laughter in their audience. This usually involves the boke saying something stupid and then the tsukkomi admonishing the boke for it. This can be seen within Claire (the tsukkomi) and Rae's (the boke) many interactions. Further, their relationship goes through much growth to make it one easy to root for and want to see through to the end.

  __Misha Jur is Rae's long time friend within the world of 'Revolution', providing much needed support for Rae and her antics.__

  Misha could be seen as a foil to Rae, in other words her opposite. Where Rae can act brazenly, Misha on the other hand carries a more serious demeanour. As such, she is able to provide Rae a second perspective to the complications she faces and acts as a reliable support for the protagonist. Later on, she faces her own character arc, but that goes into spoiler territory...

  __Lene Aurousseau is one of the very few maids that have managed to keep serving Claire through her bouts of harsh treatment.__

  Lene plays a similar role to Misha, instead playing the support role for Claire. She is a bit livelier than Misha but has a sense of maturity that comes with the small age gap between her and Claire. She too gets her own character arc later that fleshes out her character to one more than a mere support role.

  Although 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' features a predominantly female cast, unlike many others in the Yuri genre it features a wide cast of male characters as well.

  __Rod Bauer, the most popular target for the playerbase, is energetic and confident in his strength.__

  Although pictured to be a beloved character by the players of 'Revolution', Rae's perspective illustrates him to be a mere annoyance in her goals to romance Claire. He could be seen to fall under the trope of the cool male main often seen in the shoujo genre, but as the novel plays out extra nuance is added to his character.

  __Yuu Bauer is the second most popular romancable target, with charisma and charm attracting many fans.__

  Unlike Rod, Yuu prefers to utilise intelligence to achieve results. Yuu has a friendly exterior and often plays a supporting role for the two heroines. Yuu has a major character arc later that adds many layers to their character, one that surprised me for sure. But that made Yuu one of my favourite characters in the series.

  __Perhaps the least celebrated of the three princes, Thane Bauer expresses a stoic demeanour that makes him appear to be hard to approach.__

  Suffering from an inferiority complex, Thane certainly stands out from the two other princes. Not appearing as perfect as Yuu and Rod, this makes him all the more interesting. Luckily, he has his moments to shine as the novel plays out.

  Beyond these characters are many more side characters that get introduced as the series play on. They all add extra life to the world building whilst also acting as means to carry more themes into the story.

  
  

  Art

  There is not too much to say about the art, as being a light novel it does not have many illustrations compared to a manga. But I really enjoyed Hanagata's art style. It was visually appealing and portrayed the characters in a way that filled my imagination.

  

  
  

  Conclusion and TL;DR

  Wow, this sure turned into a rant. I just really like this novel; it is undoubtedly one of my favourites. This is an easy recommendation for any Yuri fan, hopefully you will get as much enjoyment out of it as I did. I am probably biased with my evaluation of this novel, but I do really think it is a good read. To summarise this review:

  • The novel features a world rich with characters and concepts that make it all the more immersive.
  • The romance between the two heroines are compelling and unique, full of development between the two.
  • Antagonists have depth to them, but sometimes suffer from idealistic resolutions.
  • 'I'm in Love with the Villainess' subverts many tropes and genres, focusing on being more than merely a Yuri romance.
  • The queer elements of the plot are sure to attract queer readers.

  If you have only seen the anime adaptation, then I would highly recommend picking up the light novels as well. I have not read the manga or Korean adaptation so I cannot attest to their quality. After finishing the main series, there are three more spin offs you can consume to satiate your desire for more. First is the retelling of the main series under Claire's perspective. I will begin reading this someday and (hopefully) review it to see whether it is a meaningful DLC or a soulless cash grab. Next is a cooking spin off manga. There is no official translation of it yet, but I managed to secure a copy from Japan, so I am looking forward to seeing how it is. Finally, there are the Pixiv FANBOX stories. Some are explicit side stories which do not add too much story wise, but one of particular interest is a sequel of sorts. Inori expressed interest in writing this in the afterword of volume 5. I have no idea if there are plans for this to be officially published, but for now you need to subscribe to her FANBOX to read it (the cheapest plan at 100 yen is enough to read it). It is translated into Chinese, Korean, and English, but they are possibly machine translated. It seems to be good enough to be able to read though.

  This brings an end to my longest review so far. I am guessing many people will choose to skip over the wall of text (not that I blame you), but if you read the whole thing then you have my sincere thanks. Hopefully you were able to get something out of this review. If would like to send me feedback on my reviews, please post a comment on this thread or feel free to send me a message.

  __Thank you for reading!__
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