Reviews for I'm in Love with the Villainess

Brief summary: The story is about Rei, a girl who, after dying, is transported into her favorite otoge (or dating game) where she's a student at an extremely exclusive school with magic and the like, and she has to choose between the three princes that fall for her throughout the game. Except, Rei has no interest in these princes, Rei's true goal is the game's villain, Claire who is supposed to act as a love rival/bully to her but she ends up trying to get together it *her* instead. Review: The manga is a parody in it's truest form and I think what makes it so funny is howrelatable it is for those of us that, while playing a game, are forced to choose between uninteresting male love interests though they'd rather just go for the much more attractive and appealing antagonist.

The jokes are all hilarious, its filled with references and jokes avid videogame fans will get and the art is absolutely beautiful.

This story is one of those things people on the internet joke about "wanting to see" not expecting to actually see it so I'm EXTREMELY excited to see how things pan out

Day 9/30 of the Yurithon: I was really struggling to continue reading this yuri. I think I only read thirteen chapters out of obligation; I probably would've only read like seven chapters if I wasn't just seeking for something to truly interest me. Nothing really stuck out to me in this manga; everything was pretty much just okay. I don't really care for Rae, Claire or anyone else, and there's nothing to me that indicates any semblance of chemistry between Rae and Claire. I think the isekai element of the yuri was just wasted, and Rae exploiting the game should've just been taken to an entirelydifferent level; the story still works about as well if she wasn't reincarnated into an otome game. The art was good, but I much preferred the style of almost all the other yuri I read. I think the author was trying to go for a social commentary thing regarding sexuality in chapter whatever (I'm too lazy to check it again), but I feel like this topic was just discussed far more competently in "She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat". Hell, I think that almost every element of this yuri was displayed way better in all the other yuri I read (excluding "Yuru Yuri"). At least this manga didn't waste time with its early chapters; instead, I was too busy feeling indifference towards it. The author should've really leaned into the isekai and otome game gimmick, because "I'm in Love with the Villainess" has pretty much nothing spectacular without it. I don't know, maybe after all the bangers I've read for the Yurithon, my expectations were just set too high. Regardless, I'm likely never going to pick this yuri up again. But honestly, it feels good not having to complete/catch up to yet another yuri after finishing the Yurithon. I'll take that as consolation.

This is one of the anime that can make a non-yuri fan into a yuri fan the manga - it hits more different [more darker - coz anime mainly focus on comedy] it adapts the light novel -in the 1st few chaps it was better than the light novel like the adaptation of LN vol 1 was better in manga - & it was till it reached the middle of vol2 [LN vol 2] after that point, manga gets a bit different - really different [tbh it starts telling more side stories than continuing the main plot- and changed some major events too] ----and manga isnot completed [it's only on LN vol last part as i write this ] + there is a rumour that manga is only going to adapt up to vol 2 [that means they skip the best part - but idk if this is true - i wish it's not ]

But the real masterpiece is the light novel - as it is completed [with 5 vols ] it's the best ever story u could hope for

-coz it goes to "rezero / steinsgates" lvl story by the 5th vol-

So if i rate it, it's gonna be like this

anime<manga<light novel

light novel - 10/10

coz it's one of the best yuri - with best storytelling]

manga -9/10 [this can change coz it's still ongoing ]

anime -8/10 [only s1- coz i'm still wishing for a s2/s3/s4]

it adapts only up to 1st part of vol2 [of LN] - it follows mainly the manga ver [it's ok coz it this part, the manga was better than LN] but anime ver. had limited the darkness of some parts of the story [it leans more into comedy] but if u read the LN or manga u can see the hidden dark parts too [as i watched anime before manga or LN i didn't notice them - but it rewatchs it became clear]

I will pose a rather strange question: what even is this manga? I have read 23 chapters, and I legitimately cannot tell you what the central theme of this story is. It's not girl love, it's not civil conflict, it's not friendship, it's not a fantasy adventure, it's not a coming of age tale... it feels like an amalgamation of tropes from various genres married into what is, quite honestly, borderline insulting narrative. There hasn't ever really been a clear direction letting you know how to read this story as, so you blindly try to figure it out only to be blindsided with, well, stupidity.I don't consider this a love story, and if you do, then perhaps it's good that you're reading this review: what you have here is a borderline psychotic case of love-bombing. You have one character who is clearly not interested, and one who is desperate for attention, and even if it's played off for laughs and wholesomeness and as though it's sweet, it's... well, it's really not. While at the start it may have worked as I simply believed the chick was just hard-simping for her favorite character (where the comedy would work), when it became clear that she is legitimately, unequivocally *in love*, whatever little was working in the story just... stopped. It was no longer funny, it was sad. And then from sad it became depressing, and from depressing it became, well, worrying.

Then chapter 22/23 came, and I was just kind of done. Not only did we get introduced to a trope so boring it was outdated in 1987, it was the story's last chance to actually go back to the roots of comedy, and it just didn't. It fully embraced the melodrama, and whatever little it still had going for itself (which was honestly almost nothing at that point) was just... gone.

So, ultimately, what you have here is some psychotic, perverted version of a love story that, quite frankly, isn't even a love story (and it shouldn't be), with a set of simple, one-note characters, and a world beyond inconsistent and full of logical holes. You have a main character that goes from being a comedic self-insert into... I don't even know anymore, to be honest.

This is not a love story, this is not a 'villainess' story, this is not girl-love story, this is just... annoying tropes inked with increasingly inconsistent art.

[More info about my review style can be found on my profile] I wholeheartedly recommend this manga. It is a decent story that explores LGBTQ+ themes which almost no other manga dares touch upon. However it has some issues when it comes to how it does it which I will focus on in this short review. However anything I can outline in this review pales in comparison to the great article covering the topic by the website AnimeFeminist. I recommend reading the article called "My Fave is Problematic: I’m in Love with the Villainess". They do a better job than me covering it. ▶LGBTQ+ themes: ----------------------------------------------------------------- ⚠️Iwill only address the LGBTQ+ aspects of this manga⚠️

Despite all the good things in this manga, I felt uneasy the entire way due to how it handles and presents LGBTQ+ themes. While very good for Japanese pop literature, I still found it very wanting.

The author compares homosexuality to incest, and promotes the idea that gay people are predatory by nature,, which I felt really put off by. The protagonist also comes on very hard, in a way that makes her seem a bit stalkerish.

Throughout the first 30 chapters. The author equates a homosexual relationship to that of an incestious relationship. The protagonist (from our universe) is sympathetic to the incestious siblings struggling with their hidden incest romance. Something that according to the author, is something a gay person who might have had to hide their sexuality would be able to relate to.

Another person the story wants us to feel sympathetic to is a boss who violated their employee.

The manga shows the boss in a sympathetic light, due to them having to repress their gay sexual... urges?

I have been told that the Light Novel (which the Anime is adapted from) is much less egregious than the manga, and retcons some of the less flattering scenes, but as I have not read it, I can only comment on the manga. The AnimeFeminist author has read and watched all the media, so I recommend their coverage over mine.