Jan 16, 2019
I Reincarnated into an Otome Game as a Villainess With Only Destruction Flags... doesn't look like much at face value. The "otome game" (Referring to a genre of visual novels that generally revolve around a heroine protagonist trying to woo one of several male "princes.") setting has been explored in various other manga and light novels. Some have done the same as this and explored the trope of the villainess, the main love rival to the heroine. Not to mention how well trodden over the isekai genre has become in both shoujo and shounen manga.
So, in order to be worth reading a manga like this
...
needs to either do something different or do at least something else better than everything else like it. So, how does Otome Game Villainess stack up?
Story (7/10):
As with a lot of shoujo romantic comedies, the story is mostly used as a frame for the characters to interact with one another. Because of this, the story is somewhat in the background and certainly less important than in other genres. There is at least a little more meat to the story than some others in the genre, but it certainly isn't the reason to read this manga.
What is there is decent enough. The story has moved along pretty quickly for now, with two or so "arcs" being completed as of 14 chapters. While there is slight drama, it never goes far enough to throw off its lighthearted tone. The tension that results never really feels all that threatening either. With the latest chapters, it seems to be gearing the story up a bit more, but time will tell.
Art (7/10):
The art is perfectly fine. There isn't really any need for the art to be anything above and beyond. The general art style is clean and cute, and all of the characters are easily distinguishable and attractive. You can't really expect a lot more out of the genre.
Character (9/10):
Here is where we get into the real reason to read this manga. Katarina Claes. A lot of the isekai series go in one of two directions with their main characters. Incredibly overpowered and/or intelligent (most series), or a complete idiot in over their head (Re:Zero). Katarina certainly falls much closer to the second option, but in a very different way than in other series.
Katarina is that really nice person that just isn't all there. They can be really, really dumb, but they are just so sweet you can't help but love them. Kind of like a dog.
Katarina bumbles her way through life doing what she thinks will save her from the bad ends she knows are coming. A lot of the humor comes from this, as what she thinks of kind of makes sense, but only in her dumb little way.
She is also unbelievably oblivious to the feelings and thoughts of people around her. She inadvertently causes every single one of the possible "princes" and even the other girls in the story to fall in love with her. It's from this that most of the rest of the humor originates.
Speaking of the other characters, they are all fairly entertaining, though some are better than others.
The princes are her brother-like cousin Keith, her fiance and the prince Gerald, the prince's brother Alan, and the son of the prime minister Nicole. So far Gerald and Keith have generally been funnier and more interesting than the other two, but Alan and Nicole are also perfectly fine.
Maria and Mary round out the rest of the main cast. Maria is the original heroine from the game and is a very sweet character. Mary is Katarina's best friend and the fiance of Alan. Both end up falling for Katarina as well, with Mary being a bit more proactive in trying to claim her for herself.
Overall, the cast is very likable, and it is hard to hate any one character. Katarina remains the standout through the series so far though.
Enjoyment (9/10):
This is a very funny and enjoyable series. There are a lot of running gags involving Katarina's behavior, and almost all of them continue to work. Really the entire series just works. There isn't really a lot of depth here, but that also helps to keep the story from bogging down its humor. If you have even a passing interest in romantic comedy mangas, then you should give this series a chance.
Overall (8/10).
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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