FIF#137-My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Catarina Claes is the prim and spoiled daughter of a noble family…or so she thinks.  One day, when she takes a nasty bump to the head, she learns the truth: She’s actually an Otaku who died in the real world and has been reincarnated into her favorite video game: Fortune Lover…as the Villainess.  Fully aware of the grim outcomes for her character if she gets a “Bad Ending” Catarina steels herself to reform her image and avoid dying yet again in another world.  How can Catarina change the end of her story?  Or is it fate that all routes lead to her doom?

 
Issekai, the Anime subgenre that will never die.  Every year a random protagonist will find themselves flung into another world either by accidental portal transport, death, or MMORPG malfunction.  Either way, you can be assured that every new season will bring at least 5-10 new Issekai titles with very little to distinguish them.  Yeah, almost ten years since Sword Art Online blew up the Issekai scene it’s becoming hard to make an Issekai series stand out cause what other variations can you see on the same premise?  Well, a friend of mine recommended this one to me so I’m willing to see if an Issekai with an incredibly long name (kind of standard though) can change my mind about the oversaturation of the genre.

Well…I’ll admit, this was an amusing first episode to watch.  I’ve seen the “getting killed and reincarnated in a video game premise before in “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” and it looks like Villainess is continuing in that shows vein of having fun with a rather grim premise.  After all, not only is Catarina dead in the real world, she’s also destined for a potential brutal end in all of the “Bad Endings” of the game.  Yet somehow, Villainess makes light of this and turns Catarina’s situation into a comedy gold mine.  I like Catarina and the Otakuness she brings to the aristocratic setting she’s been plopped into.  She can play the role of a proper lady but also wont hesitate to take a giant axe to break down her adopted brothers door to assure him theyre going to remain good friends, unlike in the actual game.  Not gonna lie, that scene got the biggest laugh out of me.  Seeing as how Fortune Lover is Romance Sim Game and not an RPG, this world is gonna play by different rules compared to the RPG/MMORPG worlds of most Issekai’s where the protagonist either levels up super quickly, OR is already so OP that there’s nothing anything in the game can do to stop them.  Playing the narrative, influencing events with a Prima Guide’s worth of knowledge (God I’m old), I’m genuinely curious to see if Catarina can avoid her grim fate…or exile.
 
I’ll be damned, I’m interested.  Not sure how much I’ll cover personally but I’m willing to give My Next Life as a Villainess a little more of a try.  Funny, I wouldntve known about this one if it weren’t for my friend cosplaying Catarina at a recent convention.  Shoutout to cosplayer CheeryKokiri for suggesting this one.  I guess I should note that if I’m ever doing First Impressions, I’m always open to requests and will even make room in the schedule if I’ve made it up already if that’s the case.  So then, All Routes Lead to Doom eh?  For Catarina’s sake, I hope not.