My Next Life as a Villainess Is the Ultimate Princess Visual Novel Escapist Anime!

That title is a mouthful, isn't it? The full name of this currently running anime series is My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Usually, I stick to Magical Girl anime for my Japanese princess fix, but this show caught my eye due to my guilty pleasure for visual novels. It follows the adventures of a spoiled noble girl named Catarina Claes who gets hit on the head one day, which causes her to remember her past life as a modern-day high school student. She realizes that she got hit by a bus in the real world and got reincarnated into her favorite visual novel as the villain. The concept seems a little silly at first, but what follows is loads of fairy tale fun as her true personality takes over the villainous princess archetype that the fates bestowed upon her. The girl living in Catarina's body refuses to suffer the dire fate of the villain, so the voices in her head come up with elaborate schemes to change her fate through visuals that are reminiscent of Pixar's Inside Out. Her adamant refusal to live out the life of the villain allows her to grow up with all of the most admirable qualities of a fairy tale princess.


Catarina lives inside a visual novel called Fortune Lover, which is filled with all of the beautiful aesthetics of princess settings. It is a visually rich world of colorful gardens, elaborate architecture, and beautiful flowing gowns. When Catarina comes of age, she attends the Magic Academy to learn how to manipulate the elements. Magic is an everyday occurrence in this world, but it does not overpower the romantic elements of the show. Catarina is introduced to each potential love interest from Fortune Lover at various social events throughout her early years. She has a leg up over the competition because she already knows their personalities from playing the game in her previous life. Aside from the handsome princes, there are also several female characters she befriends in the world of Fortune Lover, one of whom is heavily implied to be a reincarnation of someone she was friends with in the real world.

Catarina charms each character by appealing to their desires in an attempt to avoid getting one of the many bad endings for her character. She fails to realize that her efforts have an added side effect that causes all of these romantic interests to fall in love with her instead of the game's protagonist, Maria, who she charms as well. The trope of an unassuming protagonist ending up with an entire cast of characters competing for their affections is a long-standing genre called harem anime that was popularized by shows such as Tenchi Muyo. However, it was rare for a harem anime to feature a female protagonist, which makes this a more modern take on the concept. It also has queer elements, which are trending right now with shows such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, due to Catarina charming her female peers just as much as the princes in her story.

Anime has changed a lot since it was popularized in western society during the '90s. Instead of action-packed "monster of the week" episodes that feature fearsome villains, many newer series provide "slice of life" storylines where we follow charming characters who get into silly conflicts that can be easily resolved with a simple conversation. Sometimes, this formula gets boring due to the lack of any real stakes. In My Next Life as a Villainess, Catarina has no enemy because she believes that she is the villain of Fortune Lover. However, once she gains control of her past memories, she turns out to be the sweetest character in the game who wins all of the love interests away from the former protagonist, Maria. As a result, any possibility of getting a "bad ending" for her character becomes null and void, but that doesn't make it any less fun to watch her panic about it as she overcompensates by being fun and charming to everyone she meets.

If you need more shows to binge in your tower, I recommend My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! for a quick princess fix. There are currently eight episodes out with new ones releasing every Saturday on Crunchyroll. The anime is based on a series of Japanese light novels by Satoru Yamaguchi that began online in 2014. It stars a charming and somewhat naive heroine who is an absolute blast to follow as she lives out her favorite visual novel, Fortune Lover, and remains completely oblivious to the fact that she has become the protagonist and can have her pick of any love interest in the game. It is the ultimate escapist fantasy for any visual novel fan.
I have always dreamed of being a writer and creating the next great fairy tale princess heroine. Princesses inspire us to be our best selves. While you're here, feel free to follow my page on Facebook, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and check out my books. I'm also on Instagram and Twitter.

Would you like to contribute to The Princess Blog? Become a patron, and you could pick the topic for my next post!

Comments

PrincessContent said…
I’m not completely sure if I get it.
When she regains her memories about her former life, she ends up with her former self as a voice in her head?
Maybe it’s better if I just give it a watch.

The princess stuff I’m currently binging now is videos from different Youtuber who often or always do princess related stuff.

Princess Liana Rose – She is living the princess dream and all of her videos are absolutely gorgeous! Highly recommend!

The Magic Crafter – A cute mermaid Youtuber with a very unique style.

Mermaid Melissa – You’ve probably seen one or more of her videos before but they’re always great to go back to.

Jessica Vill – Lots of vintage styling and cute princess videos to be found here!

Micarah Tewers – a dressmaker who now and then makes princess dresses.

李子柒 Liziqi – Now this lady does not make princess videos per say, but she has been pretty much dubbed a princess by her fans. She makes wonderful, magical videos! Highly recommend these four videos but all of her videos are pure magic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGQvyEjX2MM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8O3fRC4tSk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd9GxmQbJ9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvmC-leoj9U

Have a nice day and stay safe! :)
May 25, 2020 at 2:10 PM
Lisa Dawn said…
Nice to hear from you again! :) It does make more sense if you watch it, but the voices in her head are just like the voices in anyone else's head. They remember everything she knows about the game from her past life and her new life as Catarina and plan her decisions accordingly to prevent her from getting all of her character's bad endings.

I've been following Princess Liana for at least a year now! Her videos are so beautiful. I shared one of them on my Facebook page, but she doesn't have anything significant enough for me to write a full post about. Micarah's videos popped up on my feed recently, and I wound up binging a bunch of them. Her voice is so soothing! As far as the mermaid videos, I went through a "mermaiding" phase a few years ago and learned how to swim so I could wear the tail I ordered from Sun Tails. I haven't done much swimming since then, though.

Stay safe and take care! <3
May 25, 2020 at 3:55 PM
PrincessContent said…
Ok, now I understand better :)

I came across Liana Rose and Micarah Tewers a couple of weeks ago. I agree on that Micarah’s voice is soothing. She can also be really funny.
I was completely blown away by Liana Rose’s beautiful videos! I’m really happy that I found her channel. :)
Maybe you could include her in a post that is about real people who have found their ways to live like a princess? Or about Youtube channels that have the princess magic? :)

I have wanted to start mermaiding for a while now. The hobby has gotten an upswing in my country but it’s still very hard to find mermaid fins for adults plus I don’t have the money to spend on one at the moment. I just have to practice my mermaid kick without one for now :)


Take care! <3
May 26, 2020 at 11:11 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Find Me in Paris Has Its Last Dance

Image
Only one month after my recent obsession with Find Me in Paris , the time-traveling ballerina princess drama dropped its third and final season on Hulu today. Though somewhat predictable, this season offered a satisfying conclusion to the show's unique concept that combined dance with science fiction and tied up all remaining loose ends from the previous seasons. We finally learned the truth about Lena's birth and why she's always being chased by anyone remotely interested in time travel. Nearly every character got paired off at the end, even if it meant some questionable decisions on behalf of the writers. The season also offered some of the most beautiful dance sequences in the show yet for its key story moments. While I could have done without the repetitive recap sequences, the final episodes made it clear that this was always meant to be the end and gave the cast and crew many happy memories to look back upon. The final season of Find Me in Paris incorporated the ...
Read more

The Nutcracker Prince Is the Best Nutcracker Movie You've Never Seen!

Image
The holiday season has begun, but like many other things this year , it is a mere shadow of its former self. That's why I was so pleased when one of my readers referred me to an animated version of "The Nutcracker" that I had missed during my childhood. The Nutcracker Prince  is by far the most accurate version of E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" that I have ever seen. After my overwhelming disappointment with Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms , I thought that the Barbie movie was the closest I'd ever get to an accurate feature based on this classic fairy tale. I was wrong. The Nutcracker Prince  is an animated film released in 1990 with a surprisingly impressive cast of voice talent. Sadly, there's no chance of seeing it on Disney+  any time soon because it was distributed by Warner Brothers , one of the only major film studios that Disney does not own (yet). However, it is free to watch on YouTube for those o...
Read more

Princess Fashion

Image
I've been seeing several viral posts recently about historical fashion lately. One was  a gallery of women's fashion every year from 1784 to 1970 , and another was a video re-enactment of how women got dressed in the 18th century . These got me thinking about some of my favorite princess fashions. Though princesses are not known to be  historically accurate , their fashions drew inspiration from many different places, and history is one of them. If you take a look at the way fashion has evolved over time, you can get an idea of which parts inspired the princess movies and which parts were altered. Something that surprised me in the re-enactment was how many pieces were assembled on a woman to give the appearance of a single dress. Today, most dresses are a single piece, but historically, gowns consisted of a corset bodice and a large skirt with a crinoline underneath. This was something I also noticed about Disney's  theme park princesses . Though they look like one ...
Read more

One Hundred Princesses for My 100th Post

Image
Today is a major accomplishment for me. I started this blog 100 days ago, and I've managed to write a new post in it every day since then. Some of the topics were easier to come up with than others. I also had to go back and edit some after the fact due to poor proofreading. Speaking of which, I'm really sorry about the disastrous short story from my first Story Saturday post . The whole thing was written on my phone on the way to a Mermaid Art Show event in San Diego, so I was a little distracted. I promise to put more effort into future Story Saturdays, which should be easier now that I will no longer be writing new posts every day. Don't worry, though. I will still keep everyone informed of the latest princess news and review all the new princess movies and specials. Without further ado, in celebration of my 100th post, here is a list of 100 princesses with all of the posts I've made about them (in no particular order). Thank you so much for reading my blog. 1-11:...
Read more

Review: Wicked (Part 1)

Image
While not technically a princess movie, Wicked  is quite possibly the most high-profile release of the year with a princess-like character, G(a)linda. I have been a huge fan of the Broadway show  for almost 20 years and know it by heart, so this release was a pretty big deal to me as it was to many other die-hard fans. Many were concerned about the fact that the play was split into two films--one for each act. Now that I've seen it, I have to say that I understand this decision. There is so much that happens in the musical that forcing it all into a single movie would feel overloaded. The longer runtime gives the story a chance to breathe while adding more exposition to enhance the phenomenal characters and plot. As an added bonus, there were lots of Easter eggs referencing the original 1939 Wizard of Oz  movie that inspired Wicked  as well as an anticipated cameo from two beloved Broadway performers. Wicked  is the story of Elphaba Thropp, who is better known a...
Read more

Review: Time Princess - Vengeance of the Witch

Image
When I think of witches, I think of Bewitched , Sabrina the Teenage Witch , and most recently, Wicked . So when Time Princess announced a new visual novel called Vengeance of the Witch, I expected something along those lines, especially after their latest collaboration with Wicked . Instead, the robust dress-up game app pulled the old bait and switch, releasing yet another bland Chinese story about demons . This app contains several other visual novels inspired by Chinese mythology that are way more interesting than this one, including White Snake  and Ancient Dreams . If you are looking for a compelling story that incorporates Chinese myths, I recommend playing one of those. The Apothecary  is much closer to what I expected from Vengeance of the Witch, as that story actually focuses on magic and sorcery with some compelling plot twists. Vengeance of the Witch tells the story of Qingqing, who is part of a demonic cult that we're apparently supposed to root for. To be fair, it...
Read more

The Legacy of Sleeping Beauty: Is She As Passive as We Think?

Image
When I wrote my series of fairy tale origin posts , one major story that I skipped was "Sleeping Beauty."  It wasn't because I didn't care for this story as much as the others, but instead that it had a less complex narrative of changing with the times . In fact, this fairy tale is so simple that no matter how many updates modern adaptations incorporate, it is rarely altered so drastically from its roots to the point of being unrecognizable,  except in the case of a ridiculous 2016 horror movie called The Curse of Sleeping Beauty . Of all the movies I argued against depicting the theme of "Be pretty, girls, and things might work out,"   Sleeping Beauty  is the biggest outlier. It is probably for this reason that it is the only Disney Princess movie that did not get a direct live-action remake , but instead a creative reimagining with Maleficent , which focused on the more active villain than the mostly passive princess. Determining how much Sleeping Beauty h...
Read more

Review: The Spanish Princess/White Queen Trilogy

Image
Yesterday, the Starz network  released the series finale of The Spanish Princess , concluding  The White Queen  trilogy of miniseries that began in 2013. Based on a book series called The Cousins' War  by Phillippa Gregory , the trilogy covers the women who stood behind the men in power in the English monarchy from 1464 to the 1530s, preceding the first two sovereign queens, Mary and Elizabeth. The White Queen , The White Princess , and The Spanish Princess  grant us a rare opportunity to see what life was like for medieval monarchs. Watching them reminded me of why I prefer the fairy tale versions of royalty. Those stories do not contain the gory deaths, gruesome births, and invasive politics that historical dramatizations like these exemplify. In fact, I had very little interest in watching the second season of The Spanish Princess until I watched some historical videos and learned that the king that Catherine of Aragon was married to was none other than King...
Read more

Review: Moana 2

Image
After reading some of the initial reviews , I was skeptical about Moana 2 . However, now that I've seen it, I can say with confidence that it is an underrated classic like Wish . While it may be an infamous Disney sequel  that was converted from a failed concept for an animated series , we've come a long way from the days when Disney would slap three barely finished episodes together and call it a sequel . This is a polished, complete, and cohesive story with theatrical-quality animation and music. I am grateful that Disney finally released something original instead of another  live-action remake . Considering the destructive path they've been on lately , this movie is a step in the right direction. It is a return to what Disney does best--beautiful animation, songs, and a thrilling adventure story with a spirited princess-like heroine that is on par with the original film . A few years have passed since Moana's big adventure of returning the heart to Te Fiti so her ...
Read more

The Burning Question: Is Mulan a Princess?

Image
Mulan  is a wonderful animated  feature that was released by Disney in 1998 . Showcasing a young woman who broke tradition by disguising herself as a male soldier and saved all of China in the process, it is, in my opinion, one of the most empowering films for girls on the market. Yet, with my reputation as a self-proclaimed princess expert, there is one burning question that people are always asking me: "Is Mulan a princess?" She was not born to a king or queen, nor did she marry a prince, so why is her visage so often plastered alongside the other royal heroines ? The short answer is that she's not a princess, but she is a Disney Princess. Why aren't the two mutually exclusive? The answer to that is a bit more complicated. When the Disney Princess line was launched in 2001 , it initially focused on the main six--Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine. However, since Jasmine was the only heroine of color in the line, it expanded shortly therea...
Read more