©七夕さとり・Tea・のこみ/KADOKAWA/ 「悪役令嬢レベル99」製作委員会
Villain Level 99 took a real risk with the first episode, because if you weren’t in on the joke, it could have fallen very flat. Instead of starting with the actual story, we’re treated to half an episode of the dullest otome game imaginable: a lucky and beautiful commoner Alicia is the only one who can use light magic and is therefore the only non-aristocrat at her posh new school, and she quickly proves that she is sweet and sweet when she meets three of the smartest and hottest guys in school. I play a lot of otome games and it almost makes me nauseous – but that’s the problem. The opening gambit is designed to show us how out of touch the show’s real protagonist is, because although she may have played it in a previous life, she’s not in on the simulation. dating or story elements. No, the girl currently Yumiella Dolkness is an avid gamer, so finding herself reincarnated as a sickly sweet otoge might be one of the cruelest tricks someone could play on her .
But that’s also what makes this series successful. As a fan of the original light novels, I will be the first to admit that these two volumes, while still faithfully adapting the plot, are not nearly as good as the books, but they can’t all be Apothecary’s Diary medicine. And one thing that will definitely happen is Yumiella. Ai Farouz’s downtime delivery is impeccable; it shows us how disdainful she is about the whole situation. Yes, she desperately wanted to avoid being the hidden boss, and no, she wasn’t as excited about living like Yumiella, but mostly, she just wanted to be left alone to do her own thing. She specifically wants to stay away from the game’s four main characters, not only because they are the most likely to kill her, but also because she doesn’t care about them. She just wants to live as a background character, kill the demon lord if necessary, and move on with things.
However, it has never been easier, has it? Poor Yumiella shot herself in the foot, because she’s such a crazy person that she accidentally reached max level just trying to figure out how to survive the game’s plot. And that’s where things really start: Yumiella mistakenly believes herself to be super strong and instantly angers everyone around her, especially the four main characters. And if that were enough, it would be enough–this show takes the macho posturing and the anguished screams of a defeated man’s tears to a whole new level as Yumiella easily defeats/humiliates both three characters are captured. Seriously, those screams are works of art, especially Edwin’s when his attempt to expel Yumiella fails. Although perhaps William’s is better when he’s rushing through the training ground? It’s hard to say.
But wounded pride is not the real issue here. There are a lot of underlying themes of prejudice shown through the chibi photos and poses of the male lead. Everyone finds Yumiella annoying by her mere existence, and hints of that appear when they all call her “you, with black hair”. Notably, she is the only dark-haired character in any scene and her parents are so disgusted by her skin color that they never even meet her, abandoning her in the manor in their countryside shortly after she was born. Her dark magic also causes fear and many props to the magic teacher, who immediately tells everyone not to assume she is evil because of her appearance and magical abilities. that. She is the only voice of reason in the entire cast, the only one who stood up to the principal and the prince when they wanted to expel Yumiella. Not only does that make her the only one on Yumiella’s side (and let me remind everyone that she’s probably about fifteen years old, so as far as anyone knows, she’s actually a child), but also the only one with immediate thoughts. Yumiella notes that the kingdom would be crazy to let a level 99 dark magic user go to another country. Surely, this is something Edwin should know, which raises the question of how much the game influences people’s actions.
And that’s the question most of these game reincarnation stories deal with: is the game a game? is still being played, or are these real people living their lives? Yumiella was in no state to question any of it; she has just accepted who she is supposed to be in terms of how the new world sees her. But it’s something to keep an eye on as this goes on, because she’s noticed that some timeline issues have occurred, and we may see some background characters get more attention than the characters. other. This isn’t perfect, but it’s working well enough to make it interesting and has the potential to become more interesting.
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Villain Level 99 is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.