Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou.: Revolution
I'm in Love with the Villainess

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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 a web novel 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 later adapted into other mediums. 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✧ )

Hello~ I'm writing this review since I thought it was fun to write a review again after not writing any for a while. Slight spoilers ahead, but nothing too detrimental to your reading experience, I think.

Story: 8/10
The story of this LN is great. Act 1 was amazing and I have no real faults with it. The story was wonderful and it was excellent at highlighting the development of the characters. The question "what happens next?" was constantly in my mind while I read this part and due to that, I was able to binge these volumes.

For Act 2, it was also great, but I ... would say that Act 1 is just slightly better. Act 2 was pretty much just a post-Act 1 story. That said, Act 2 was still a pretty good story. Act 2 pretty much extended the mystery of the world of I'm In Love with the Villainess and I think the answers to the mysteries they introduced were quite intriguing as well, even philosophical at times. Act 2 also made me truly appreciate Act 1 more as I often look back on Act 1 when I was reading Act 2 and see just how far the characters of this story have reached.
I say that I like Act 1 slightly better than Act 2 because in Act 2, I felt stressed often with how the story progressed since there were many times where things could've gone wrong, a worry I didn't have much in Act 1.

Also, perhaps this is a spoiler but I really liked how much the author liked writing in in medias res style. It's just somewhat refreshing to see.


Art: 10/10
The art (illustrations) is absolutely wonderful. They were able to excellently portray Rei and Claire's cuteness and beauty and that's all that matters to me.


Character: 10/10
Now, the characters. I think the strongest point of this Light Novel is its characters (for me at least). First off, the main characters' dynamic, Rei and Claire, is just absolutely fun to read. It's always a delight whenever they interact and I would honestly read more if I find any more of their stories. Besides that, Rei and Claire individually are really great characters as well.

Rei is this character that was very obssessed with Claire right from the get-go and I really found that obsession of hers interesting and wonderful. Interesting because I really enjoyed how her actions caused various reactions from Claire, wonderful because behind that obsession, is overflowing loyalty which I personally really like. Also, slight spoilers but as the story progressed, her flaws, which were seemingly nonexistent at first, started to become more apparent and I'm not sure why but I've come to really like her after I saw those flaws of her. Perhaps because of gap moe?
Come to think of it I always enjoyed moments when she showed gap moe.

Claire on the other hand is a character that could only be described as a tsundere. However, she's not really the annoying type, or perhaps she is, I'm not sure. What I'm sure of however is that she has some nice reactions whenever Rei teases her and I love her for that. Oh no, I think I've inherited how Rei thinks.
Also slight spoilers (maybe major) for the next part.
Her character also develops greatly throughout the story. Her development was so great in fact that when I looked back at the earlier volumes while reading the later volumes, I almost could not believe that she was the same Claire.

The other characters were also really lovely and wonderful. Each of them carried some sort of issue within them and I think it was spectacular how they came to solve it. Their interactions with each other were also really fun to read. I still liked Claire and Rei's interactions the most though.


Enjoyment: 10/10
I really very absolutely definitely totally completely undoubtedly fully enjoyed reading this LN. As a yuri fan, a yuri as great as this was an absolute blessing. As a huge anime fan, reading something like this which is pretty different (in more ways than one) from the anime/manga I usually watch/read was very nice and refreshing.


Overall: 9/10
Overall, I would say this Light Novel is great. I thoroughly enjoyed it since I was able to binge something again in a while.
Do I recommend it? If you absolutely despise yuri, I'd say to stay away from it since there is a high amount of yuri in here.
If you are a bit open-minded and would like to try some yuri, I'd say yes, definitely. Besides the yuri, I think the story is absolutely wonderful and I believe that it is very worth it to give it a try.
If you are a yuri fan, I would just like to ask why haven't you read it already? It's absolutely glorious and you need to read it. NOW.

I have never seen a series derail itself this quickly, and it stings.

For reference, the first four volumes of “I’m in love with the villainess” were AMAZING in my opinion, a solid 10/10. Even so, it’s extremely hard to recommend this series as chapter 17 derailed everything it had built up so quickly that it’s almost laughable. While I can’t say anything about what actually occurs without giving spoilers, the series completely discards the fantasy game setting which made it so charming in the first place. The big reveal is quite possibly the worst choice that the series could have taken at such a late ... stage, creating many plot holes and just generally crushing the burning enthusiasm I had during the first four volumes.

While the big twist could have worked alright if it had been introduced as a fundamental part of the series, tossing it in during the second last chapter of the final volume leads to a genre whiplash akin to nothing else I have ever experienced. It retroactively trivialises everything which happened before it - That being about 90% of the series at the point of reveal.

By all accounts, I would have preferred if this series ended at volume 4, as the final book is so out of left field that it’s almost comedic.

It’s extremely hard to rate this series, given that 85% of it is what I would call a 10/10, while the ending completely drags that through the dirt beyond the point of no return (given the length of the final chapter, I don’t even think it’s worth the time sink to finish the series now that my investment in what happens has been completely broken, hence my dropped status).