#The one where the girl gets isekaied into an otome game? I liked that one.

[rosielav]

Just this weekend I watched the following:

She loves to cook, she loves to eat

Sign of affection

Apothecary Diaries

Quintessential Quintuplets

....... So if anyone could recommend some good shoujo apparently I'm in the mood for it 😅

[evilminji]

Okay, But, >.> Listen...

So MAYBE, just MAYBE, I am an incureable RoFan Isekai nerd. Shut up about it, maybe. What're you a cop? Mind your business. BUT! And hear me out...

W...What would actually? HAPPEN if Danny went into a Visual Novel? Some Otome game? You know, aside from being vague flustered by and then DEEPLY ALARMED by these walking Red Flag Fruitloops that girls are supposed to find "dreamy" or something?

Like we know how MMOs work for him. And probably OTHER open world games? But a visual novel? Would it be like the Christmas Episode? Would he hear narration? Be stuck in static "scenes"? Or would it be like a cut together "only the interesting parts" movie that he's somehow IN?

Like?? At SOME point his curiosity is gonna get the best of him. He's gonna want to know what different video games are LIKE on the inside? What's Pong like? Tetris? Mario? One of those Mama's cooking games? Etc etc.

He probably hits up a game sale. Buys a box or two. Figures he can always resell um or just give them away for free. Might even use them for parts. Who knows. And?

It's kinda cool!

It's even SCIENCE! See? Tucker's in charge of notes. Sam's in charge of hilarious commentary and pizza. Jazz is keeping them from drinking and doing ghost shit (terrible combination, we never speak of What Happened(tm) again). And the Dr's. Fenton got distracted by making fudge and debating what games should be counted towards which categories.

They've made an afternoon of it.

And NOW? They've reached the bottom of box one. It was "Survive The Villainess! My Rose for You!" Or... judging by Sam's climbing eyebrows and growing scowl? A DEEPLY unpleasant porn game about school girls.

You could not PAY him enough.

Yeah, he DOES realistically kinda want to know what happens.. if.. like? You know... sexy games... like would he? Or does he just WATCH or...? *awkward cough* But! That's NOT for Family Science Night! And DEFINITELY not THAT game, THANKS.

He'll find himself an ETHICALLY SOURCED smutty game full of consensual boning. For PRIVATE TIME. Those test results are gonna show up like MAGIC and we WILL NOT be talking about them! Got it? Good.

Now what the fuck is he look at here?

Jazz is surprisingly knowledgeable. They are not allowed to ask. They respect it. The main character "wakes up" inside the body of a "villainess" and must survive. Turn her terrible reputation around. Avoid "death flags". Preferably romance one of the hot guys?

Uuuuuuuh... you realize Danny's in a committed relationship, right?

Sam and Turker allow it. But they reserve the right to blast his taste in Fantasy Guy's. Chose carefully, for their roasting shall be BRUTAL. Luuuuuv yoooou~♡

He wants a divorce. They're not even MARRIED and he wants a divorce. You see how they mock him, Jazz? The cruelty he suffers? He's taking the Blobs and moving to Frightknight's. They always warned him about you living folks and your fast ways, but he didn't listen! *continued dramatics* *is smacked with a pillow*

But actually going IN? The weirdly, vaguely European over the top EVERYTHING? Giant jewels and ridiculous, fancy dresses? The walking red flag Romantic Archtype Leads? He wants to PUNCH half these guys! This is ABUSE! Are people OKAY!?

Like? I feel like he'd stay way, WAY longer then he needed too? Just out of morbid curiosity? W-where is this plot GOING? It's so dramatic. Why is my dress MORE dramatic now? Why is everything so... Sparkly.

It would be? AMAZING and baffling and I would pay real money to hear their live commentary. "Why not simply judo flip the crown prince off the balcony, then take over the country, sweetie?" "Solid plan, honey! He deserves it!" Beautiful. Flawless. Sage advice really. Too bad Danny can barely walk in his five million bows dress.

It's the BEST Au and I might be a genius. Or deeply sleep deprived. Meh. We'll 50/50 it, six of one, half a dozen of another.

@hdgnj @ailithnight @nerdpoe @the-witchhunter

[cyberbun]

Sell me on love with the villainess if you like it so much

What starts as a silly romantic comedy about a girl trying to romance her favorite side-character from an otome game gives way to one of the most beautifully written romances I've read in my entire life, about two people learning to find worth within themselves through each other and fighting the world to love one another.

It's a story, fundamentally, about healing from the damage the world does to you through love - for one is healing from the trauma of being abandoned and never getting to say goodbye to someone you love, for the other from bigotry. It's about finding oneself in another and building something greater than the sum of its parts. Once it stops being a horny comedy it just hits you back to back with some of the most heartwrenching romantic narratives I've read without going full into tragedy territory.

It also helps that Rei and Claire are some of my favorite romantic leads ever, even if it takes a good chunk of the story for their romance to really kick off for good. The manga does a better job of giving them some more romantic development before they get together for good at the end of the second novel, but either way, I'm just such a sucker for undying devotion like that. Rei's early characterization of just being surrendered to ensuring her beloved is happy, even if she is not, just hits such a strong chord with me personally.

The manga does a good job of showing the growth of their relationship a little bit less one-sidedly, compared to the light novel. There's some wonderful moments that are added or mixed in just through aonoshimo's wonderful art excellent facial expressions communicating a lot of internality for both characters.

Definitely read the manga, but also check out the light novels - the first two are fantastic, third is my favorite, four is kind of mediocre but still fun, five is the author choosing to take a silly isekai premise and see how far she can run with it, such as "let's make it so it's not an isekai anymore".

The anime, so far, is really surpassing my expectations, especially with its visual direction. I fully expected it to be kind of a throwaway project, but they're really putting everything into it! They even condensed the worst parts of the story into just one episode this week.

Oh also the story also constantly grapples with the inherent maliciousness of capitalism and provides some pretty scathing commentary on being gay and trans in japan - nothing new, but it's refreshing to see something this mainstream get so overtly into the topic. Next week's episode, if they don't coward out of it, should be the one where they have one of the most iconic conversations of the story regarding the latter.

I hope this rambling mess of an answer is what you wanted, anon.

[shroomyart404]

Brewing up an villainess in an otome game isekai au, with Ludwig as the Villainess.

But because it’s an otome game, I need to come up with a harem to fill our classic roles.

Starting with my favs:

Alfred - playing the role of the Prince that the villainess is engaged to

Lovino/Lorenzo - rich eldest son of a lord who’s standoffish but shockingly has a soft side

Kiku - the quiet son of a lord who’s extremely talented and who’s friends with the prince and probably will end up his advisor

I’m thinking maybe having a brief Matthew thing - brother to the Prince who thinks the marriage won’t go well so tries to make himself a viable option but realises that the marriage might actually work.

But I need to figure out who else could be apart of the harem. Maybe Ivan? I need some input on who else to add.

Plot below btw:

Ludwig attends an all girls school and doesn’t have too many friends, but one of the ones he does have is obsessed with a new fantasy otome game. Keeps yapping on about the surprising amount of lore and how it’s such a funny coincidence several characters look like either people they know or the boys from the nearby boys school. So eventually he goes out and buys the game to play when he’s not studying. And then BAM gets hit by the isekai truck.

He’s now stuck in the villainesses body, about half a year away from the start of the game. Ludwig’s quickly realises doing out of character stuff just causes bad reactions, and feels forced to play the role of this snobby pretentious girl, trying to figure out either ow to get out of the game or fix the doomed past he’s on.

Eventually, about a month before rich people’s school starts, he can’t do it. He’s in such an unfamiliar place having to fit in and he just can’t handle it. Breaks down in front of the villainesses brother, who shockingly looks like Ludwig’s brother. Very heartfelt coming out scene where Gilbert, whos been not a great brother the past several months because the villainesses isn’t a nice person, kind of figures that the whole reason the villainesses has been such a horrible person was because he was trans all along. Fully accepts what’s happening, a nice hug, and helps convince their parents to support the transition.

Now Ludwig can be more himself, he doesn’t have to play this one dimensional asshole. This saves the engagement he’s had to Alfred, instead of the breakup that happens in-game.

The start of the school year goes well, the bad things that had happened to the villainess Ludwig is able to solve because A) he now has a little of the prince’s favour B) he’s Ludwig’s he’s a problem solver

Eventually, about part way through the school year, the actual MC shows up. And I’m tempted for it to be Feliciano, but because Lorenzo is apart of the harem that’s weird as fuck and makes me feel sick

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group D Round 4: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vs Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

#D6: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta…)

Most adorable-dork villainess in dating game isekai

#D8: Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

Singer idol android goes back in time to save humanity

Details and poll under the cut!

#D6: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta…)

Summary:

Most people would prefer being the protagonist of a world full of adventure, be it in a game or in another world. But, unfortunately, a certain girl is not so lucky. Regaining the memories of her past life, she realizes that she was reborn in the world of Fortune Lover—one of the games she used to play.

Unfortunately, the character she was reincarnated into—Catarina Claes—is the game's main antagonist, who faces utter doom in every ending. Using her extensive knowledge of the game, she takes it upon herself to escape from the chains of this accursed destiny.

However, this will not be an easy feat, especially since she needs to be cautious as to not set off death flags that may speed up the impending doom she is trying to avoid. Even so, to make a change that will affect the lives of everyone around her, she strives—not as the heroine—but as the villainess.

Propaganda:

This show is so much fun. The protagonist is a lovable girl himbo, who is completely oblivious to everyone around falling in love with her. It’s a bit of a harem anime, but with equal opportunities: the girls are just as enamored with the main character as the guys are. The increasingly dumber ways in which she thinks she’s going to meet her doom (she is supposed to be the villain of the story, after all) are a delight to behold.

Trigger Warnings: Incest, Rape/Non-Con. The main character gets assaulted like two or three times, but it’s not graphic. One of these instances, where a kiss is forced on her, is by her adoptive brother, who is also her cousin, who is one of her main love interests.

#D8: Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

Summary:

When highly evolved AIs set out to eradicate mankind, the carnage that ensues fills the air with the stench of fresh blood and burning bodies. In a desperate bid to prevent the calamity from ever occurring, a scientist bets everything on a remnant from the past.

Turning the clock back a hundred years, AIs are already an integral part of human society, programmed with specific missions meant to be carried out for their entire course of operation. Vivy, the first ever autonomous AI, is a songstress tasked with spreading happiness through her voice. In a theme park where she hardly ever gets a proper audience, she strives to pour her heart out into her performances, bound to repeat it day after day—that is, until an advanced AI from the future appears before her and enlists her help in stopping a devastating war a hundred years in the making. With no time to process the revelation that flips her world upside down, Vivy is catapulted into a century-long journey to avert the violent history yet to come.

Propaganda:

Most first think that this anime is an idol show. I promise you, it is NOT. Quite far from it. Vivy is regrettably underrated despite having great animation—just watch the fight scenes. It has the best of songs that will get stuck in your head for a long time. Character growth for characters - you will adore them. It even won some recognition from anime awards, yet no one talks about it. You have to watch it at least once and appreciate how this anime is made with love as it talks about experiences that make us human. You will be surprised how well the storytelling is.

Trigger Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Suicide

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form with your revisions, and I’ll consider adapting those changes.

New: Starting round 5, screenshots will be included in the poll post. You can submit screenshots through the form linked above, or through here, via ask or dm.

Guidelines in submitting screenshots:

No NSFW or spoilery images.

Pick some good images please. Don’t send any blurry or pixelated ones.

You may send up to 9 screenshots, but not all may be used.

[sometimesthatsbetter]

Recommendation: Yona of the dawn

I've decided on a new tradition, the first story i read this year will be given a review and ooh boy did Yona of the dawn gave me something to write about.

The a story premise is quite simple at a glance. Yona was a sheltered and spoiled young princess who's ignorant towards the world outside the palace. She grew up adored by her father, the king and being protected by her bodyguard Hak, she spends most of her time fawning over her cousin and childhood friend Su-won. Yet on the eve of her 16th birthday her small world was crushed in pieces by a coup d'etat, driving her into hiding.

So let's talk about our main character, Yona. She started out as a ditzy, beautiful young princess who's main concern is clothing and taming her curly red hair. Yona's not exactly a bad character per say, but she just had a very narrow world view, oh and she has a crush on her cousin Su-won... Yeah, i mean it's a historical setting what did you expect. Her, Hak and Su-won were childhood friends, they did everything together, ate together, slept together, fought together which makes it devastating for Yona and Hak when they realized that Su-won betrayed them.

One of the aspects that i really enjoyed was the realistic depiction of grief that Yona went through, like my girl was in a catatonic state when they first went on the run. Like girl was going through the five stages of grief for the first three volumes. And then came the hard truth that her dad was just, not a good ruler, he was a spineless coward who couldn't protect their nation. So on top of now having a bounty on her head, her father being dead she now has to grapple with the legacy her father left behind. And from those hard truths we see Yona growing up.

As she continues her journey of growth she encounters the four 'dragon warriors' from the prophecy, which will be where the reverse harem tag comes in. Oh don't get me wrong i truly adore the cast from the bottom of my heart but I didn't enjoy the romance part very much. It's painstakingly obvious who the male lead is so having all these guys pining away at a hopeless cause makes me feel really bad for em. But besides that they are great characters, i especially like the yellow dragons backstory.

Okay now let's talk about another character that totally captured my attention, Su-won. Su-won is like a guy you could out from game of thrones, like my guy is definitely a 'the outcome justifies the cost' kind of person you know what i'm saying? He knew that if Yona were to take throne as queen she would be an even worse ruler than her father, at least the version of her at the beginning of the story. Everything he did was in the name of the greater good, having no foreign allies he had to choice but to the choose the asassinantion route to the throne. Like yah he could've married Yona but that plan kinds went out the door when she saw him kill her dad. But like, he cares about Yona deeply, maybe not in the way that she would like but he does. But he will always put his country first. That's why he's such a striking character for me, he stands out from a sea of mediocre villains who's backstories are basically 'my family abused me and i'm obsessed with the heroine' that i see in alot otome isekais. Everyone are just pawns on a chessboard to him, even his loved ones and he's willing to sacrifice them all to gaurente the safety and stabilty of the kingdom.

So yeah, go read Yona of the dawn.

Signing off

Josephine

[cerealmonster15]

Tokyo Debunker is an otome game that was canceled and then started reproduction in 2020 because of "market changes" (most people think it is because they saw the success with obey me and twisted wonderland and decided to style their game based off them)

It was marketed as a horror game, but this company is known for lying in their ads, and they did in fact lie because there is only a very small amount of horror. Most of the game follows the same plot as twisted wonderland (isekaied to a magic college where there are 7 dorms and forced to move into an abandoned building but at least you made two new acquaintances, who are both very similar to ace and deuce, and you spend the rest of the game solving cases with one dorm at a time)

It is basically a twst clone. It does have some good writing and art, and they enlisted a lot of the voice actors working with twisted wonderland, but at the same time, all the background art in the game is very blatantly made with AI. Also, the gacha rates are a 1% chance to get an SSR character and you get the guaranteed SSR character after 500 pulls. There's no consistent way to grind for diamonds either so unless you pay, most people can only do like 5-10 ten pulls for their entire time playing the game :/

HELJFKLEHFSLKDJFSKDLG well, hmm. at first i was gonna be like "well phone game ads lie/exaggerate all the time, obey me has some goofyass ads, so does love nikki [i think, maybe it was a ln clone idr lol] that's not unheard of-" kjldsfklds me defending false advertising LOL [jkjk]

but omg that does sound a Lot Like Twst but. worse i guess LKFJDSKLFJDS ai art.............................. ough.... and 500 PULLS FOR A GUARANTEE???? girl help sjlkdfjdksljf based on this description alone it sounds like it's made by people that do not understand anything about the game genre theyre trying to emulate and are severely underestimating what makes these games successful and like. fun. dsjkfljdsklf also the BALANCE the MATH the . GAME DEV KDJFKSLJ

[ladyloveandjustice]

Winter 2023 Anime Overview: Two More Anime!

I already did a massive review of The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, check it out here! Highly rec'd show.

So here are the reviews of the other two shows I watched last season! (I also watched BOFURI season 2 but it's experiencing delays because of COVID and isn't finished yet. Also, I'm not caught up. Basically it's a fun relaxing show, though). Now onto the reviews!

Ippon Again!

Ippon Again! follows Michi, who plans to quit judo after middle school, but then the very girl she lost against in her last tournament gets her back in the game! From there, a scrappy high school girls judo team goes for the gold!

 It always feels like a miracle when we actually get a sports anime focused on girls that takes them seriously as athletes and doesn’t sexualize them to hell and back, and Ippon Again is one of those miracles. It’s an all around really solid sports anime with lovable characters. It does an especially good job fleshing out the rival team members just as much as our protagonists and making you really root for both of them- and the amount of attention paid to the opponents can make the matches feel genuinely unpredictable.

The show doesn’t really explain a lot of the judo terms, but they’re easy enough to pick up from context. It’s clear the show doesn’t have all the resources in the world from its reliance on freeze frames, but it has smart directing that knows how to cut corners to keep it looking good, and they do whip out some nice looking fluid animation for big moments like the fight in episode four and the fights in the final episodes. I did find the characters a bit hard to distinguish in the early going due to the show’s muted palette and character designs, but I recognized them all eventually.

Like most sports anime, it’s really gay but all the gayness is relegated to subtext (Michi likes to constantly mention she wants to get a boyfriend to the point where it feels almost like a parody, but it’s pointed out she’s never going to look for one because she cares about judo more). I do like the handsome lady that acts as team coach. Another thing I really appreciate is that there are heavier characters on the opposing teams at times, but no disparaging comments are made about their weight- in fact, it’s noted as an advantage.

Overall, it’s a good series that I’d recommend to any sports anime fan, especially ones hungry for sports anime that respects its female characters and pays attention to all the competitors!

Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte

Kobayashi is a huge fan of the villainess character in an otome game, Liesalotte. The villainess is in love with the prince, but she’s such a tsundere that her feelings never get across to him! (When it comes to love, she lies a lot. Do you get it.). Tragically, Lieselotte’s inability to communicate her feelings leads her to die in almost every ending of the game. Kobayashi decides to sit down with her friend, Endo, and they do some live commentary on the game as they play it. Then they discover that the prince inside the game can actually hear their commentary! These game fans are determined to use this new found power to give their fave villainess the happy ending she deserves, and so they slowly start to change the plot of the game…

This is a clever twist on the villainess isekai genre and it’s pretty fun at times! (The prince's confusion over "tsun de rais" is great).

However, the production is noticeably struggling. I read a chunk of the manga alongside this out of curiosity, and the contrast between the two made this especially apparent. The animation is barely hanging in there and is much less expressive than the manga’s art, and the story suffers from skipping over a lot of moments that flesh out the characters in the manga in order to fit into the twelve episode runtime. Unlike with Magirevo, almost everything the anime omits is pretty necessary to help the characters feel fully rounded- for instance, one character realistically get angry that a parent lied to her in the manga, but the anime has to cut that for time, so she just seems to roll with it and feels less like a person with reasonable emotions as a result. The manga's story is just much better paced than the anime, and it looks really good and gets both the comedy and badass moments across a lot better.

There’s also a few sexist, heteronormative or just plain offputting moments/lines and moments in the anime aren’t in the manga (and it’s not just a matter of translation, because the art reflects it in one case).

All that said, the anime does complete the story while the manga is still ongoing. So if you want to know the end (and don't read light novels, since if you can't tell from the title, it is a light novel adaptation!), the anime's still a decent option.

As for the story itself, it’s pretty tropey but cute. I wish the commentary angle was implemented more, and I feel the show could have benefited from being willing to delve into the experience of fandom and the contrast between the two worlds a little more too. It’s worth noting that in-story games’ original love interests for the teenaged "heroine character" include a teacher and a pre-teen kid, though in the storyline of the actual show they both get with age-appropriate love interests.

 I was also pretty annoyed that a very combat-capable female character who is  initially put off by her love interests constant declarations he’ll protect her suddenly (and conveniently!) reveals that she hated physical fighting all along and wants him to be stronger and bleh. She’s given an in-story reason for this, but it feels very contrived to place her in an  “appropriate” feminine role. But then she still physically fights in the finale anyway?? (and so does Liesalotte) (and there’s a minor girl character that explicitly wants to be a knight who physically protects her fragile mage boyfriend even if the anime skips over most of that plotline) so…I guess that mollifies things a bit?? But why did it need to be there?

(It’s even weirder in the manga btw, because there’s a moment the anime skips over where she actually tells him to stop saying he’ll protect her and that they should protect each other and he agrees, which was a very sweet and good resolution! But then they go and undo it!)

All my caveats aside, the ending of the anime was just so completely ridiculous  and full of fannish wish fulfillment I couldn’t help but be endeared. You have an absolutely bizarre reinterpretation of Adam and Eve, a flip on the premise that brings everyone together in a fun way, a scenery chewing villain who’s dealt with in an unintentionally funny way, and it’s just a feast of pure cheese.

If you want to watch something goofy and earnest and fun and don’t mind a clunky production and slightly rushed story , you could do a lot worse than this show. And hey, if the anime’s too threadbare for you, the manga’s getting published in English and it has great art! So you can always give that a look.

[humorisstoredinthetits]

Heathers x I'm In Love With the Villainess

I'm a fan of both properties, and I've noticed that Claire and Heather Chandler are basically the same person, so I've thought of an AU where instead of becoming obsessed with Revolution, Rae/Rei becomes obsessed with Heathers the Musical and Heather Chandler and gets isekai-ed into it

So instead of her friend giving her a copy of Revolution, she gives Rei a link to a slime tutorial of Heathers the Musical, and she similarly becomes obsessed with it, watching it over and over again until she could recite it from memory

And similarly to canon, she ignores the male love interest in JD and obsesses over Heather Chandler

In either universe, Rei still has a type, spoiled bossy rich blonde girls who wear red

She reads Y/N fanfiction about Chandler, and when she runs out of that she starts to write her own

She would watch the musical every night when she got home from work, over and over again

That is until one night when she falls asleep after an exhausting day at work, and wakes up and sees Heather Chandler speaking to her, saying 'This is an excellent forgery, who are you?'

She is super confused until she looks at the mirror next to her and sees that she is not herself, she is Veronica

Chandler gets impatient and asks again

Rei/Veronica panics before quickly deciding on her response

"I'm Veronica Sawyer and I love you!"

All 3 Heathers are completely stunned at her declaration and it takes a minute before they get their wits together

Chandler says she was going to invite her to their clique, but they don't want lesbians and to go back to playing dolls with Martha Dumptruck

Rei thinks about just leaving the bathroom, but a plan was starting to from in her mind and to fulfill the plan she needed to be in the Heathers, so she throws out Veronica's line about permission slips and absence notes and that grabs the Heather's attention

Chandler does agree to let her into the group, but she lets Rei know that if she pulls the lesbian shit again, she'd become a social pariah

Rei says "I'm perfectly okay with that, as long as I get to be around my Chan-Chan"

So over the next two weeks before JD arrives, Rei attempts to get settled into her new life as Veronica

Of course, there are a few problems with that

For one, Heathers the Musical has a very limited canon, especially compared to say, an otome game and as such the amount of information she has access to is also very limited

Like, for example, she doesn't know where Veronica lives or what the name of her parents are

And since Heathers was in 1989, she doesn't have a cell phone to find her house or call her 'parents' to come pick her up and she doesn't know their phone numbers

She has to go find a phone book, find her 'parent's' numbers, and find a phone to call them on to come pick her up

Another issue, Veronica is very intelligent and takes upper level classes like Physics and shit, and Rei is not very good in those subjects, so her grades start to dip and she had to explain it to her 'parents'

But back to her plan, she plans to follow canon up until the point where JD hands her the drain cleaner and right before she gives it to Chandler and 'notice' it before yelling at JD while also saving Chandler's life and making her grateful and hopefully she begins to develop feelings for her

As you may expect, things do not exactly go as planned

Rei flirts with Chandler at every given opportunity, turning her harsh words against her into compliments which only enrage her more

Chandler can't get rid of her though, as (who she believes to be) Veronica's talent for forgery is too convenient to let go, as well as the possibility this could be used against her

Rei learned how to forge handwriting in her old life because she obsessed over any thing that was apart of Heathers, forgery included

Thank god she learned how to do it, because if she didn't then she would have no leverage to stay in the Heathers, which is vital to her plan

If she's not in the Heathers, she can't be kicked out later, and if she isn't kicked out then she has no reason to show up to Chandler's house to apologize then save her

Another problem, Martha knows something is up

She tries to question 'Veronica' about it but she always deflects

Martha keeps quiet, for now, but eventually she says to herself that she'll confront Veronica about it, because the Veronica that came out of the bathroom with the Heathers is not the same Veronica that went into it

Two weeks pass and Rei gets settled into her role as Veronica

She goes to lunch that day and the Heathers goad her into writing the fake note from Ram, which Rae remembers from the show the Heathers don't actually look at

Much to her dismay, they don't get up and start singing Candy Store, which is a shame

So instead of writing what Chandler wants her to, she writes "Martha, the Heathers are trying to trick you, after you finish reading pretend like you've heard the greatest news in the world and you're just so excited that you had to tell me, I promise that I'll explain everything later"

Thankfully like she predicted, the Heathers don't read the note and they hand it to Martha, who reads it and while she is confused, she does as Rei explained and the Heathers are none the wiser

Rei decided to change this because she planned to get kicked out of the Heathers when they discover that Martha didn't show to the party, when she would reveal that she faked the note

While this didn't boost her chances of getting with Chandler in any way, this saves Martha from going through much of the emotional turmoil

JD approaches her and with her knowledge from seeing the show over and over she is able to copy the conversation they had during the musical

JD then starts the fight during lunch

She later meets up with him at 7/11 while he talks about his dead mom and thats when Rei comes to a realization

She's a lesbian, how is she supposed to do the deed with JD

She has to go to JD's house to make sure that he tries to give the drain cleaner to Chandler, but she can't stomach the thought of doing it with a man

That thought stays with her all night because she doesn't have a good answer to it

She goes to the party, avoids drinking or smoking as to not cloud her judgment and loosen her lips so nothing gets revealed prematurely

Eventually Kurt and Ram bring out the pig pinyattah (i'm spelling it like this on purpose) and Chandler tries to get Martha to come hit it, but to her shock Martha is no where to be found

Of course she blames 'Veronica' and Rei confirms that she faked the note and warned Martha about the plan

She then gets kicked out of the Heathers, before vomiting on Chandler's shoes instead of her, the need to vomit coming from stress instead of whatever she drank or smoked

She then leaves the party before freaking out bc holy shit what is she gonna do

She can go to JD's house and just not do it, but that introduces unknown variables, like what if his reaction isn't the same when she comes into his house and they don't immediately do the deed

And again, she doesn't know where his house is, which this lack of knowledge on where people's houses are is becoming a problem, so there's no guarantee that she even finds his house anyway

She decides to screw it and just find JD's house and hope for the best, but while walking around looking for it she passes by Chandler's house (which she knowns where it is bc she's been there before) and sees that her car is in the driveway, meaning that she is home

Rei takes this as a sign and climbs up into Chandler's window

She, of course, freaks out seeing 'Veronica' climb into her room

She tries to apologize and get forgiveness but Chandler just laughs her off, telling her to enjoy her last few hours of freedom before Monday comes around and she's dead meat

At this point Rei is desperate, she doesn't know what else to do besides pull out her secret weapon

**Line break bc tumblr is dumblr**

Her favorite song had always been The Me Inside of Me because she assumed not everything Veronica and JD made up was false so she decided to shout in fake anger "Why are you like is, why do you feel the need to be such a bitch? Do you parents not love you? Is your bitchiness some kind of mask? Just what the hell is your problem?"

She said some more than that, including lines from the song like "looks being just like prison bars"

It hurt Rei to speak to her crush like that but if it worked out like she hoped then it would be amazing

Chandler looks pissed, but quickly drops her scowl and slumps down onto her bed saying "Is it really that obvious?"

From there Chandler begins to vent about her problems, the impossible standards her parents held her to, her need to always be the best so that people have a reason to keep her around and wanting to be in charge so she feels like she has some control over her life

Rei reassures her that she does like her regardless and that if no one else, she wants her around

Chandler says that she's just saying that, but Rei asserts that she does and that she loves her

She questions those feelings, to which Rei confirms they are genuine to which she can only ask why

Rei then goes into this long, fangirly speech about how amazing Chandler is which caused Chandler to blush

Chandler then sighs before telling 'Veronica' that this conversation never happened, but she's back in the Heathers as long as she keeps the secret

Rei agrees gleefully before leaving the house

At this point in her plan, she questions what she's gonna do, before saying 'I don't know, I didn't think I would get this far"

She comes to the conclusion that there are two main goals

She needs to placate JD's homicidal urges, and she needs to keep up her friendship with Chandler, which will hopefully blossom into a relationship

She decides the best way to deal with the former is to introduce JD and Martha so they will have a friend outside of 'Veronica', which works out well, they get along and have someone to spend time with when she's busy with Heather stuff

She also decides to make time to spend with them and talk to them about their problems, during which she hopes to get to the root of why JD wants to kill and put a stop to it

However, she thinks that she's already sort of done that, as during their talks she revealed that she's a lesbian, making dating JD an impossibility

She hopes by doing that, it wont make JD so desperate for her, as he knows that no matter what he does, it wouldn't work out between them, and she knows that their relationship was one of the main factors that led to him wanting to kill

She also makes time for Chandler, pulling her aside sometimes to ask how she's doing

Chandler finds this annoying at first and brushes her off, but eventually she breaks and starts talking to 'Veronica' about her struggles, which Rei always comforts her over

Rei starts to notice a change in Chandler during these times

Chandler has less outbursts where she yells at freshmen over things, she doesn't bully people as much, and she's even nicer to Duke

By giving Chandler another outlet to vent her struggles to, she felt less of a need to let out her struggles in other ways

She still flirts with her whenever the opportunity arises, and sometimes she sees her blush

Eventually one day Chandler asks her to stay behind while the other two head to class, after which she pulls Rei into a bathroom and before she can say anything she pulls her into a long, deep kiss before blushing deeply and running out of the bathroom

Rei pretty much cannot function normally for the rest of the day after that

Of course, something had to ruin it, and surprisingly it wasn't JD

JD had been doing really well, he had two stable friends who were willing to listen to his issues and actually wanted him around and even if he couldn't date 'Veronica', he still appreciated her friendship

Martha was the one who ruined everything

She'd been suspicious ever since Veronica joined the Heathers, her personality seemingly shifted overnight and she went from detesting Chandler to being in love with her, and when she happened to see her and Chandler making out in the bathroom, she felt enraged and betrayed and decided to spread the rumor around school

By lunchtime the whole school knew that Heather Chandler was a lesbian, and Chandler didn't even know until she entered the lunchroom and everyone started laughing at her before Duke explained everything

She fled the room, with Rei in pursuit

When they got to an isolated place Chandler starting bawling, saying that her world was falling apart and that she blamed 'Veronica' for making her fall in love with her

She then told her that she hated her and wanted nothing to do with her

Rei's heart shattered at this point and she sank to her knees while Chandler bolted out the front doors

After crying for a bit her sadness turned to rage

She assumed Duke was the one who saw them, because who else would have been around and had enough social status to be believed

And given what happened after Chandler's death in canon, she was sure it was her

Her hands curled into fists and she marched into the lunchroom and launched herself at Duke, sending the both of them flying across the table

She fucked up Duke pretty badly, broke her nose

She got suspended and her 'parents' had to come pick her up

She got grounded but she ignored them and immediately went to Chandler's

Chandler was sobbing into her pillow when Rei came in through the window again

She cried harder and tried forcing her out but Rei wouldn't leave so eventually she calmed down

Rei told her about what happened between her and Duke to which Chandler said that she got what was coming to her, but she also is gonna make their lives a living hell after that

Rei says something sappy like "I'd go through hell as long as we're together" which makes Chandler giggle a little and then they kiss

Rei tries to tell her that its not gonna be so bad, they'll hang out with Martha and JD and sure it won't be like she's used to but difference isn't always a bad thing

Chandler seems unconvinced but she agrees to at least try

Chandler skips school until Rei's suspension is over because she's too afraid of what's gonna happen

The day comes when Rei returns to school and Chandler is basically hiding behind her

Rei walks into school with her head held high, but its all for naught because people stay away from her and by extension, Chandler, probably because they are too afraid of getting their asses beat like Duke did

At lunchtime they go straight to the loser table with Martha and JD

Everyone has their eyes on them, including Duke, who has a large bandage covering her nose

Martha tries to hold in her disdain for Chandler while JD actually gets along with her

Eventually it gets to be too much and Martha launches into a triade, accusing Chandler of doing something to change Veronica and of bullying her and all sorts of shit

(Martha is sort of in the right here bc Chandler did bully her, but she also outed Chandler and by extension her best friend to the entire school which is also pretty fucked up)

Rei quickly comes to the realization that it wasn't Duke who found them

It was Martha

The only thing that stops her from attacking her like she did with Duke is that she had sympathy for Martha because of everything that happened in canon, while she never really cared for Duke

Rei launches into her own triade, asking Martha just what the hell her problem was

Martha realizes at this point that she fucked up but is still pissed that her best friend, her only friend for literal years took her bully's side over hers

**Line break 2 electric boogaloo I hate word count limits**

Rei argues that yeah, what Chandler did was really fucked up and that she needs to apologize, but that didn't give Martha the right to fuck up Chandler's whole life

She isn't exactly thrilled over Chandler's actions but she's also pissed that Martha outed Chandler, also outing herself, which is when she gets really mad

She starts getting flashbacks to when she got outed in her old life and that only fuels her rage

Martha didn't think it through fully and she begins to apologize but Rei doesn't want to hear it and walks away

Chandler and JD also get up and walk away

JD is in the same boat as 'Veronica', he agrees what Chandler did was shitty but Martha did something that was almost worse

Surprisingly Mac also gets up and follows them, telling them that she's so tired of the popularity bullshit and she just wants her best friend back

Things stay the same for a few weeks

The 4 of them hang out and just try to live and have fun outside of the popularity bullshit

They all kind of feel bad for Martha though, even Rei once she calms down a little and when she comes to their table a few days later to apologize, Chandler surprises everyone by apologizing first

Throughout all of this Rei and Chandler continue dating

They go on dates and don't really have to hide because the news spread around like wildfire, in addition to the news that the tall blue one would beat the crap out of you if said anything

Eventually high school ends and Chandler and Mac take a bunch of their parent's money and they all leave Ohio for good

Rei never ends up telling anyone about her true origins, she decides that coming from the future and an alternate reality would be too much to explain and it provides little to no benefit

I find the idea of Rei being isekai-ed into Heathers interesting bc unlike in canon where all she needed to do was ensure that Claire survived the revolution, something that she could not prevent, in Heathers she would have to prevent JD's murder spree and then figure out how to keep going after that which because of the butterfly effect could have been a number of any different scenarios, while on top of all of that getting together with Chandler

[yuisdad]

The Women Love Women Phobia in Otome games and fandom

You ever find yourself reading a summary for an otome game that you either can’t get overseas or are looking to see if you’re interested in buying said game? Does this particular game have a route where the MC can date another girl? If it happens to have one, then you might see opinions on said summaries saying “I wish it was a best friend/platonic route”, and that’s if you’re lucky to not find a game summary that doesn’t skip the wlw route entirely.

This has thankfully died down, but in the early to mid 2010’s, you’d usually see these opinions floating around, especially when it came to console otome games. Now, there are some otome game fans who don’t like wlw romance in their games (or lgbt+ romance it seems), which isn’t inherently bad, but it’s still weird how they go out of their way to say they don’t like wlw routes in otome games and wish they were platonic routes instead…which is essentially a variation of people who don’t like lgbt+ romances saying “Why can’t they stay platonic? Not everything has to be romance”. But it’s even worse when otome game fans say this rhetoric because they’re playing a ROMANCE GAME!

There is also a double standard at play since some players don’t like wlw routes…yet are fine with incest (“as long as they’re not blood-related” or whatever bs), teacher x student romances, concerning age gaps, etc, simply because they find the male love interest attractive.

There are also players who are not attracted to women, so they don’t play wlw routes…But even that doesn’t hold much water considering that you don’t need to find someone physically attractive in order to enjoy a romance, which now makes me concerned how adult players view high school love interests if they’re basing likability off of attractiveness…

This wlw phobia is also in a few otome games themselves. One example that comes to mind is Gekka Ryouran Romance, where they have a girl as a love interest since all of their routes have a forbidden romance theme…even though same sex relationships aren’t and will never be forbidden. (Oh boy, can you tell this game was made by Rejet?) Hamefura, All Routes Lead To Doom is a harem isekai anime set in an otome game where the original MC and two female friends explicitly fall in love with the protagonist, Catarina. When it got adapted into an otome game by Otomate, they not only have no routes, but any romantic attraction they had for Catarina was written out of the story. The game came out in 2022…

However, there are otome games with genuinely good wlw routes, especially in mobile otome. My awesome mutual, @lolotheparagon, has played these mobile games and has more knowledge on them then I do, but from what I’ve seen, they’re pretty well written and are given the same attention and good writing as other male routes. Some of them have marriage ends, so the ladies are winning in that department!

Validate is a recent game that not only has a ton of lgbt+ romance, but has very good POC and plus size rep. There’s also an obcure otome game called IDEA Sensen Fukoku Hen, which not only has two wlw routes and I believe a nonbinary route, but the two male love interests have the option to date each other, which is something I haven’t seen in an otome game AT ALL. Although, considering how the company writes mlm relationships, I’m a little afraid about how good the lgbt+ rep in IDEA is.

If anyone has any wlw routes they’d like to share, or just thoughts about wlw routes in otome games in general, then feel free to add to this post.

[lirillith]

I've been in a funk lately and it makes me feel better to remember that the fall anime season is coming up, SO:

Delicious in Dungeon is based on quite possibly the best manga I've ever read, an absolutely delightful fantasy dungeon-crawler that applies genuine worldbuilding logic to everything - magic systems, the existence of dungeons in general, how adventurers are revived, where they poop, and how they bathe - and also features a ton of amazing food porn only all the food is made from monsters. Studio Trigger is making the adaptation. Yasunori Mitsuda is doing the music. My only concern is that it's on Netflix, but Netflix has been releasing anime weekly of late, so prayer circle they keep that up...

Tearmoon Empire is based on one of my all-time favorite LNs. The protagonist is a spoiled, self-absorbed princess who goes to the guillotine after a revolution in her country... only to wake up at the age of 12 from a nightmare, in possession of a blood-stained diary detailing the famine and plague that led up to the revolution, and her own awful behavior that led to her unpopularity. She sets out to try to do everything different this time, but while she's had some character growth thanks to losing everything, suffering, and dying - "imparting a kindness as deep as the deepest of cake trays and as broad as the broadest of teacups," to quote the novel's English translation - she's still a twelve-year-old girl and a spoiled, self-centered princess. So she proceeds to Irresponsible Captain Tylor her way through trying to avert disaster, and it's a delight from start to finish. The novels got an excellent, witty localization, and I do worry a little that the narrator could be cut, or won't be as funny in a different medium, or that the adaptation will fall flat - but I'm still excited to see how they adapt it.

I know it's weird that Spy x Family is only my third most-anticipated show for this season, but that's how I feel! Like, it's going to be great, but these two anime are adaptations I've been WAITING for, there's anticipation, doubt and excitement. We know Spy x Family is solid.

Frieren - By all accounts this is an excellent manga with a ton of talent lined up for its adaptation. I haven't read much of the manga, just a chapter or two, but I'm looking forward to the anime.

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned as an S-Rank Adventurer - A retired adventurer finds an abandoned baby, raises her as his daughter, and she follows in his footsteps as an adventurer. Everyone who hears this description immediately gets nervous, but source readers have confirmed: The usagi does not drop. The dad does not marry the daughter. They have a normal family relationship. The dad later finds an age-appropriate love interest who's not family. Also, the dad is a big muscular bearded man in his 40s who's voiced by Junichi Suwabe.

The Faraway Paladin - The first isekai on the list, this is the second season of a series that handled the "loser from our world reborn as a baby in a new world" premise with genuine creativity and heart, and managed to go an entire cour without any harem elements at ALL. The only traveling companion our title character picked up was a guy.

There's also the next season of Dr. Stone, the second season of "The Saint's Magic Power Is Omnipotent" (isekai about an adult woman!) the Precure sequel following the cast of Yes! Precure 5 (and apparently Splash Star?) as adults, a couple of workplace comedies, a yuri otome game isekai, and I feel like I'm still overlooking one or two things.

[yunarim]

. . . loading : real-life otome simulator ☆ - chapter 1

❤︎ prologue ❤︎ tags : female reader, reader is yuu, extrovert reader, second-year reader, sfw, fluff, chapter 6 spoilers ❤︎ author's note : english isn't my first language, please make sure to point out mistakes if any! :) you can read this work on ao3 ^^!

. . . loading 1st chapter : 35% (in which she just knows she needs an additional rest because sleepless gaming nights aren’t so helpful after all)

 Yuu didn’t know whether Ortho talked to his brother in a serious, more persuasive way, or was it just “Yeah, fine, sure, just don’t let her enter any further” answer from Idia, but the girl managed it right to the Ignihyde. 

Ortho even was there with her for some time. They laughed together as she described characters, but then he said he needs to check his brother, and left her with a cup of hot tea. What an angel he is.

Yuu grabbed headphones and looked around, checking if there was someone in the lobby, but hell no - no way an Ignihyde student will willingly go out of his room. At any rate, an exciting feeling boiled up in her, and she proceeded to download fresh out of the oven game. 

Oh, so the prologue starts with a main heroine’s voiceover. She sounds so mature and mysterious! Still kinda familiar, though… Yuu thought she looked through all of the details beforehand, and even the name of the voice actress lingered in her memory, she still couldn’t get where she heard her for the first time. Even so, there was no time left thinking about this. Her 2D boys and girls are waiting, after all!

Yuu chuckled at the main plot features. Main heroine strongly resembles Yuu herself. The way she speaks, the way she befriends everybody… The way she got transmigrated into the magic world, being absolutely magicless herself. Yuu saw many manhwas with similar situations and almost could claim she were an isekai excerpt at this rate, but it was much more ironical to read something like that now .

“Oh, so it has two story modes, I see… I guess I need to clear each of them in order to unlock the true route, then.” She mumbled to herself, already clicking on a cute girl profile, choosing her as her first ever route to play.

The game has started.

───◌┈┈───♡⃝───┈┈◌───

Lilia didn’t interrogate her, as usual, instead, the smile of amusement stretched on his cute face all the time she excused herself and headed straight to the Ignihyde dorm. Ah, the sense of the blooming soon-to-be-friendship with a totally shut-in dorm leader lingered in the air, which only bat fae himself could feel.

Today was the exception, though, and Lilia appeared in front of her, hanging out of the ceiling at the exit of the school building. 

“Oh my, Lilia!! Give me a second, I’m out of my breath… I told you not to do this little prank of yours with me!!”

“Don’t you worry, Yuu, hehe~ It’s just I’m worried about your appearance.”

“Eh?” Yuu genuinely blinked in incomprehension.

“I bet you can win over Ignihyde dorm leader’s eye bags at this rate. Come here, I have something from Rook.”

Lilia, still hanging out of the ceiling, applied some BB cream on the girl's skin, smiling proudly after seeing her looking not so tired anymore.

“I’m not in the right position giving you advice on this matter, given I’m the gamer myself, but I’m not human, unlike you. Pulling all-nighter is critical for your health!”

“Okay, dad, I understand.” She chuckled, leaning over, and tried to hug Lilia in this position of his. “I’ll sleep properly today… It’s just I had to finish the last chapter of the remaining route and I can unlock the last, true one!”

“Yeah yeah, as you say! Alright, take care!”

After arriving at Ignihyde she pulled on her headphones as usual, already entering the game and continuing her walkthrough.

It was the last, best-friend troupe route. It was considerably hard to play since this character was voiced by Neige and Yuu cringed at times, but really appreciated all the amount of hard work he has done. 

Alright, the tricky last choice comes! The heroine is known to be quite ambitious, yet she still has to maintain the image of an exemplary student who never disobeys her beloved sister. At first she suspects Neige’s character to be a delinquent (Yuu actually genuinely laughed at the image of Neige behaving in a Deuce way, but quickly collected herself), but he proves wrong, suggesting the main heroine to fly off the cage she is believed to be trapped in. Heroine isn’t sure whether she should let her heart decide or think about her sister who was left out in the heroine's original world. Debating with her ideals, she meets her crucial moment in this route, and Yuu is here to solve this problem.

“What’s with this Makoto Niijima* kind of experience even…” Yuu mumbles to herself, getting a lot of resemblance. “But well if I’m getting her character right, then…”

Yuu decided.

  ╰► Explain that you can’t do it

╰► Forget about your previous life and risk it all

  Sudden increasing trust stat gave her the thought that she did everything right. And she actually did - with that tricky situation Yuu managed to gain understanding from Neige’s character and he agreed to wait until the heroine’s heart is ready. It seemed actually ridiculous, but still cute and interesting enough to get her bursting into tears at beautiful CG andー

  “No, what the hell is this choice?!”

  Huh.

Yuu quickly wiped her tears, afraid of showing her emotional side, and tore off headphones, looking back.

“I mean, what??? You’ve been playing the fool just to do something actually smart in the end and it works??? What for were the previous dumbass options then?!”

Yuu blinked once. Twice. She couldn’t even register that Idia appeared right in front of her, lamenting over her choice, so she forgot she had a otome-related business to discuss with him. Tips of his hair were blazing with an orange shade on them, hence Yuu got a sneaking suspicion he was furious. Once her attention shifted to this amazingly beautiful iridescent hair, she stared at him for a moment, until finally regained herself.

“Uhm, hello, Idia?..”

Ignihyde's dorm leader appeared out of nowhere, reminding her of Lilia suddenly, but in any case - it was unexpected. Idia looked as if he was grumbling about something extremely serious, and for a second she felt an urge to ask if everything was alright.

When his breath hitched with incessant whining, she dared to speak up.

“I assume you chose the second option?..”

“You bet I am! I mean, the task was playing dumb, and I did just that. Why pull out a smart kid card so suddenly… I don’t get it.”

Yuu mentally chuckled at his commentary. She was amused at his indignation. Though all of the “I hate otome games” popped out in her head. 

“Ugh, first of all, I don’t think we’ve met properly, right?” She stood up, and Idia suddenly jumped on the spot from the realization that he was talking to a stranger. Well, not to a stranger exactly, but similar. 

“I’m Yuu. It’s nice meeting you, Idia.”

“Erghhh, I know your name, no need for an introduction or whatsoever…” Idia mumbled to himself, his voice began to dissolve into near-total silence to the point she needed to concentrate on him talking. “You were doing just fine gaming, why are you playing extrovert all of sudden…”

“I’m always being extroverted, but alright. Actually, it’s quite funny that you chose the second option, lol. You truly didn’t get the main heroine’s character, huh.”

Now that seemed to startle Idia for a second. He can admit he’s bad at finding out how feelings work (especially romantical ones - they could be compared to the dark forest submerged in a dark maze), but her statement has awoken something indescribable in him. 

  ✎﹏﹏ ⌜ Would you like to turn on competitive mode? ⌝

  YES NO

  ➩ . . . Proceeding to react accordingly to your choice. Countdown before starting: 3… 2… 1…

  “Huh? Why would I even try to analyze something that useless?” Idia hushed, completely forgetting he’s staring at the girl like she was stating nonsense. 

“Maybe for the reason that it actually helps you during your walkthrough, nah?” Yuu fends his argument away in a light manner, but Idia didn’t seem any pleased.

“The main heroine doesn’t even have logical reasoning, she lacks common sense and she’s dense af. Why would I, again?”

“But I assume you didn’t even reach this ending yet, heh? You look like you’ve been for a bunch of reloading due to the wrong choices. Correct me if I’m wrong on that one.” Yuu chuckled softly, drawing her knuckle to her lips to hide a smile.

“Oh Great Seven, watch this normie trying to touch the inner core of mine. Good luck to you on that, then.”

“I’m right, though. I know I am.”

“Never in my life thought that Ortho was begging for such a normie to be able to use our lobby PC, geez. To think that would be you, even…”

“No, I actually have to reciprocate to that one. To be completely frank, I thought you would hate this game. Uh, to be more exact…”

Yuu cleared her throat, drawing all of Idia's attention to her. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest before she continued. 

“ Otome games are out of my league. I don't want to waste my time on them… Since I’m in a good mood today, I’m taking criticism regarding my intonation. I believe I did well. So?”

Frightened look came across Idia’s face for a second before it switched with pure anger, but she still found it quite amusing, considering she was planning to get the exact same reaction from him. 

“Hey, you!!”

“It’s Yuu, thank you very much. Yes?”

“U-ugh, nevermind… Was it Azul who told you?..” suddenly the cocky tone of his faded away, leaving a place for stuttering, and she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t cute at some rate.

“Not exactly, but close. Anyway, what’s the matter with such a sudden change of heart?”

“Like a normie like you would actually u-understand,” Idia pulled on the hood, pulling the strings down, trying to hide from the girl, now almost physically feeling her determination and nearly fainting due to talking to an extrovert. Extremely popular extrovert magicless girl out of people! He could manage talking to Azul, but being confronted by a girl, never talking to one irl? Never!! 

Still, she was standing in front of him, waiting for an answer. He could give a try, considering she was playing after all, but it was otome which caught her attention, although he saw boys playing other dating-sims in their freetime, too, what made her different from them then? Does she even know Star Rouge at least? Yes, she may be from another world, but it’s impossible to skip this legendary totally OP five-star game, right? But then again, what ifー

“Ugh, listen, I’m sorry if I was impolite or hurt your feelings, I was just curious?..” Yuu tried to sound not offensive in any rate, but she was still curious as hell. 

“Have you looked through characters’ profiles?” Idia spoke so suddenly and silently that the girl took a few steps closer to actually hear what he said, causing Idia to step back accordingly. 

“Yeah, I spent two weeks on simping on teasers,” Yuu chuckled softly, but Idia heard quite a bit of highly specialized slang from her, peeping out of his hood for a moment. Normies usually don’t speak in that way. “Why?”

“D-do you know the main heroine’s voice actor?..”

“You mean Kim MinjiU** ? Yeah, I definitely heard this name, but I can’t remember where… Is something the matter?”

“And there I was, thinking you could consider you not so normie I thought you were at first…” Idia took off his hood, to which Yuu smiled gently, ignoring his words. “She’s a Gakemo leader. But of course you don’t know what a girlboss she isー”

“OH MY GOD HOW COULD I FORGET!” Yuu exclaimed suddenly, her voice reaching almost a desperate scream level, and Idia considered hiding in his hood again, but was so stunned at her behavior that he couldn’t think properly at the moment, continuing staring at her. “I’m jamming to their last release, but I forgot the leader’s name… You’re right, sorry I didn’t recognize her at first. Geez, it’s so embarrassing. Gakemo songs are quite similar to my favorite group songs in my world.” 

She was smiling sheepishly, while Idia tried to process what the hell happened just now. His inner demons were fighting with each other, debate unfolded, reminiscent of a battlefield, where Idia was trying to decide whether she was considered normie or not. 

“So she’s the reason you’re playing?” Yuu continued her attempts in restoring the conversation and getting it back on track, finally remembering her plan.

“Y-yeah,” Idia answered, seeing the monitor turning off behind her back. “A-and what’s the reason you are playing?”

He thought it was Neige at first. They had a thrilling discussion, after all, it would be just as logical for her to play for simping. He had no interest in romancing all characters, all that matters is his bias’ words regarding true route. In an interview, she said that she was incredibly happy to play in a new role. Moreover, the voicelines of the heroine were very emotionally different from those she voiced in other routes.

That could play for Yuu simping over Neige as well, right? He’s new to this whole games industry, it was normal for everyone to appreciate his work? Or so Idia thought.

“I just happen to like otome games,” she shrugged. “I like the characters and the story, too.” 

“It's dumb as hell though…” Idia mumbled, noticing Yuu frowning. 

“The hell? The game is top-tier, it’s impossible not to notice. Have you ever read the reviews? No one has unlocked the true ending yet, and it’s so fucking thrilling. It’s such a challenge!! And you think it’s dumb?” 

“MinjiU is slaying all by herself, though,” Idia regained his confidence once more, his smile sly.

Yuu got startled for a moment, feeling rage overwhelming her, but what was the reason? It was just his opinion, he could think whatever he wanted to, she had no right to prevent him from it. And yet…

Something irked her.

“Never took you as someone who turns down the challenge.”

“Huh?!” He frowned at her. “Who said I’m turning it down?”

“I will be the one who reaches 100% clear first-try true route, obvi~” Yuu grinned. 

“Ha, says someone who never used presents for characters for unlocking extra secret CG.”

“Ugh how did you!ー” Yuu paused and bit her lip. She didn’t notice him watching her playing, for how long has he been doing it? Was it just today? If it was, then she opened her in-game inventory just once by accident, how could he manage to get this that quickly…

“Classic normie behavior spotted, lol!” Idia folded his hands, laughing at her. 

“Call me normie once again, and I’ll!..”

“What? Don’t know how to fight back, normie ?”

“Shut the fuck up, you won’t handle my top-tier references, you can cry about it. Oh to be you, not knowing my world games masterpieces.”

They continued bickering, completely forgetting what was the reason in the first place. Yuu didn't seem to realized she forgot to save the game, when the lights went off in the entire dorm just for a half of a minute, but this case got all Yuu and Idia’s attention. 

Great, stuck with a normie girl in a complete darkness, what a flop era of mine, Idia thought, revealing his tablet and tapping really fast, his focused face was illuminated by the bluish glow from the tablet. Yuu heard a mechanical sound, followed by another bluish glow in an opposite way of the lobby, so she guessed it was Ortho who floated into the room.

“Oi, Ortho, what happened?” 

“My sensors indicate that the freshmen in the system room caused a short circuit. One minute, I'll restore the lighting.” With that being said, Ortho closed his eyes, then suddenly the whole lobby was being illuminated again. Yuu blinked twice, trying to get used to the light. “All done!”

“Thank you,” Idia smiled. 

“Hello again, Ortho,” she smiled as well but then finally noticed her PC was shut. “Oh shit.”

“Is there a problem, Yuu?” Ortho floated to her, and then looked at the monitor too. “Oh…”

“I forgot to save my walkthrough… Shit, there was like, a lot of time spent on this route…”

“ Go cry about it or what did you say?” Idia went back into a mode where he freely mocked her, ignoring the upsetting state she was in. 

“Big brother, it’s bad to talk that way to Yuu! But I don’t believe there’s a way to restore the data, I’m sorry, prefect…”

“I’ll manage I guess… It’s just.. Ugh, I feel like a fool after saying I’ll reach the true ending first. What am I supposed to do now?”

Idia proceeded to go back to his room, when Ortho suddenly did something similar to clapping his hands and smiling, then grabbed his brother’s hood and tagged him back despite his complaints.

“I know the way out, Yuu!”

“Alright?..” Yuu glanced back at Idia, turning pink. “Does it have something to do with your brother?”

“Yes!” Ortho, despite his small body, was built quite strong, being able to grab her and his brother at once to get closer to each other. “Just finish the last route together!”

Silence. This is it. This is where Idia dies.

“I’M NOT GOING TOー” “I’m sorry, Ortho,” Yuu interrupted him, ignoring Idia turning absolutely crimson at this point. “Idia seems to lowkey being not so fond of the plot and the characters, while I am. I also don’t think your brother really supports this idea either.”

“YES, SHE’S RIGHT, ORTHO, LISTEN TO ANOTHER EXTROVERT HERE.” Idia protested, but still couldn’t make a move, Ortho’s grip on his arm became even stronger.

“It would be such a great experience for my brother to make a friend here in NRC! You seem to have similar interests, too. Oh, I’m sorry if I’m being pushy, I didn’t intend to… But I just think you'll benefit from this too, Yuu.”

Yuu looked at his pure big eyes, filled with a genuine hope, and couldn’t stand against them, raising hands in surrender.

“Alright, alright… I’m doing it just for you, though.”

“Thank you so much!!” Ortho hugged her, turning at his brother, still holding the girl in his hands. “Brother, will you agree, please?..”

“I didn’t add you puppy eyes function, just how the hell..”

“Hehehe,” Ortho laughed. “Don’t worry about my brother’s decision. Well, see you tomorrow, Yuu?”

“Yeah, it’s getting late already. Will you bring your computer here in the lobby by tomorrow, I presume?”

“Why, no!”

This when she and Idia knew it won’t end well.

“Since the computer didn’t save your gaming data for something I think was approximately 5-6 hours, you’ll be playing on my brother’s computer. In his room!”

What the actual fuck she didn’t really subscribed to?

“ORTHO WHAT THEー”

“Okay bye-bye see you tomorrow!!”

Yuu didn’t remember how she got in the Mirror Chamber, but well, she guessed it was another confidant rank she had to max out, speaking Idia’s language. He knew the true choice based on her walkthrough now, after all, it’ll help him to adjust to her gaming pace quite fast.  What could go wrong, really?

Yuu thought she heard Idia screaming in desperation in Ignihyde, but decided to return to Ramshackle in peace, thinking whether she should bring some small gift as a partially uninvited guest to Idia’s room tomorrow.

 Meanwhile Ortho somewhere in Ignihyde: being happy his little light trick was a huge success.

© yushiiae 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡����𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

[regarding-stories]

Winter Was Not An Exciting Season

When I started writing this, about 3-4 episodes had dropped for most shows that started in winter 2024 season on Crunchyroll, and I came to the conclusion there was no reason to get excited... And I think that's pretty much how it worked out. I stopped watching most of these shows at some point. Eventually I dug into the archives on Crunchyroll instead... which was much more rewarding.

I by the way never bothered with "Solo Leveling" or "Shangri-La Frontier" because I don't get what's the point with these kind of shows. OP skill this, video game that, and usually no actual stakes at all. Why bother?

Delusional Monthly Magazine

Hot trash.

Weird scientist tries to place his research in a paper that's more of an "I saw an UFO manned by Elvis" style tabloid. Lots of unconvincing hijinks happen.

Stopping point: I switched off in episode 1 when somebody suddenly developed a superpower because this is all over the place. And stupid.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I'm Not the Demon Lord

Girl gets reborn as the hidden boss of a game she used to play. She decides to avoid becoming a problem and also levels up to 99, which is a level reached by no one in this world (and the limit).

It does not help that she has dark magic as attribute and the heroine of that game is a light magic user.

What's hard to bear is that she gets constantly ostracized way into episode 4. Everything she does is taken negatively and the potential love interests of the heroine (it's a dating sim) constantly stir trouble for her because everyone assumes the worst.

On the surface this is yet another show about being reborn into a dating sim, like "The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs" or "I'm in Love with the Villainess". Though I can't help but think that the setup is also a tongue-in-cheek about how being exceptional can get you bullied in Japan. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down" is idiomatic there for a reason.

In general a decent show, but what kind of person is the protagonist that she doesn't understand social cues at all? I don't think that's established very well.

Stopping point: I'm not sure why I stopped watching around episode 6, there seems to be no strong reason beyond losing interest. Might revisit.

Sasaki and Peeps

Middle-aged salary man gets himself a pet bird which turns out to be a reborn wizard from another world.

What follows is a wild (and also illogical) mix of genres. He gets transported to an Isekai world and learns magic, but mainly he wants to open a business there by transporting Japanese goods there and selling them. (Yet he never figures out that he could transport gold back to pay for them - or just be rich.)

His magic then gets him recruited into a squad of psychics fighting other psychics. He's totally OP because psychics have only one ability and his magic works differently for every spell. Anyway, the show doesn't benefit from cutting across plots. It first tries to hit the "living the quiet life in another world" vibe, then goes into "everyday man thrust into the world of superpowers", and now seems to also tap into "adventuring in another world..."

Sasaki is likable enough, an innocent man, mostly, really drab and unassuming. What disturbs me is that so far all the females appearing are minors. There's a high school girl waiting for him every day next door - why? I don't want to know. His wild colleague at the agency who is a snappy dresser? Supposedly 17. (Yes, high school age.) The person he's supposed to protect next - a child beauty. (She seems important as she was given a completely "doll style" credits variation of her own.) I seriously don't want to know where this is going...

None of the GIFs here on tumblr feature the protagonist. Funny.

Stopping point: After Episode 3. After the third under-age girl appearing I was wondering how many other genres they are going to cram into this one.

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!

Tokyo boy moves to rural Hokkaido and meets his future girlfriend, a total gyaru (gal).

Actually, he meets several, but I can't imagine this show playing out any other way. Has surprisingly little to say about Hokkaido itself except that it snows a lot and you need to keep warm.

The show has a mellow, slice of life flair but lacks originality. I actually ended watching the full season, it's an easy show to watch. The three heroines are all pleasant people that overlap with part of his life, making the harem-ish setup of all three crushing on him a bit annoying since two of them never stood a chance.

Stopping point: I actually finished this one but I must say the drama built for the last episode was a complete no-show and completely unconvincing, even by the typical "Japanese is a language of unsaid things" standard.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Frankly, initially this was the absolute highlight of the season. I waited for every episode.

Two talented teenagers are summoned to be the heroes saving another world. And a third, average guy, who happened to be nearby. He ends up stealing their thunder because he has the rare healing magic talent.

Surprisingly, the other two people are really decent (looking at you, "Shield Hero") and in general he's treated well. The only dramatic concern is that healing magic has found its master in his teacher, an over-the-top drill sergeant style woman.

It quickly becomes apparent that healing magic, if used wrongly, is the strongest of them all - giving you infinite stamina, instantly restoring your strength, making you the perfect tank. You just have to train like a maniac. Which our drill sergeant ensures will happen.

Stopping point: After episode 7. The show is funny and has heart up to a certain point, but somehow I lost interest, also because it's destroying its previous vibe by hinting at impending doom. Interestingly I read a review today that points to mid season being a complete drag and messing up the pacing, and the finale not saving it. I guess I'm not surprised?

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!

A woman gets reborn into another world as a noble, only for her defining moment to repeat over and over. She turned down by her prince fiancé and basically ejected from her social status.

But this filly has spirit, and so she cuts out a life of her own successfully. Only to die in a war years later and to find herself at the same scene! Since she retains her memory she starts to pick different routes, leading various lives, picking up skills and knowledge, only to die eventually in the same continent-spanning war.

Her last time around, something odd happens. Just as she's escaping her betrothal she runs into the instigator of that war, the dark prince of the empire. And he is so taken with her, he proposes to her.

An unusual setup for sure. At some point we will likely learn what is behind the whole war business, but just watching her navigate all situations in stride is actually interesting by itself. As the title suggests, big drama is mostly absent so far ever since her "final life" started.

Stopping point: Middle of Episode 6. The mini-villain little brother turns out to be the complete opposite of a schemer and actually only wants the attention of his oniiii-chaaaan!! The whole flip was so unconvincing, I couldn't anymore. It's absolutely unclear why the guy she married does anything, including telling her to avoid his brother.

Tales of Wedding Rings

It would be hard to take this show serious at any level as it mostly exists as a vehicle to get this guy together with big-buxomed vixens for plot reasons - but there isn't much plot either.

He follows his childhood love to another world and accidentally marries her, getting the first ring of power. Then he learns he must fight off some evil led by the Abyss King. For that he has to marry more princesses.

There's no logic to the action, though. In the first kingdom he can fend off abyss monsters but gets his ass handed to him by an abyss knight. So they run off, abandoning their own kingdom?!? Then, as soon as he gets the ring from the elven princess he easily hands the abyss knight their ass without even trying. Instant wipe. So that knight keeps showing up and somehow evil rings appear and there's no rhyme or reason to the drama.

Otherwise it's pretty clear that he wants things to work out with his childhood love, but the other girls want attention, too. So another unrequited harem, badly done, too. And yes, the kingdoms they encounter are sexy elves, sexier cat people, and lolicon demon people. Expect plenty of fan service.

Stopping point: Episode 9. No special reason. The show is easy to watch, undemanding, but also doesn't deliver much. You can pick it up at any point and leave it and you won't miss much. Ironically I got mostly GIFs for "Rings of Power" when searching, and frankly, even this anime is better than that.

A Sign Of Affection

I almost forgot this one.

The heroine of the story is for all practical purposes deaf but she soon gets to know an absolute boy-hunk and wonders what these feelings are. Which she then proceeds to find out since he also likes her.

As for a story that focuses on a character with a disability, it does very little with it except her having a lot of trouble reading situations around her and the impediments of communication. And people constantly getting in her space. (Which is a necessity but unusual in Japan.)

It's certainly a high profile production for a romance, with great art.

Stopping point: After Episode 2.

In spite of being a fan of romance stories, it somehow rubbed me wrong that not only does an absolute model boy (the art is good enough that nobody needs to tell us) become immediately interested in her, he also is portrayed as this interesting character who travels abroad in a moment's notice for his studies. Mr Perfect on day 1. There didn't seem to be anything interesting to be going on at all. So I lost interest.

When looking around on the internet, in most places this show is described with one short paragraph for a synopsis. A critic compared it to "A Silent Voice", but that show needs almost a full page to have its synopsis laid out on Wikipedia - because it's a complex take on multiple topics - disability, bullying, social dynamics, and the ability to change. Somehow that strikes me as a contrived comparison.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group D Round 2: #D6 vs #D4

#D6: Villainess dating game isekai

#D4: Two kids join in hunting monsters and uncovering secrets

Details and poll under the cut!

#D6: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta…)

Summary:

Most people would prefer being the protagonist of a world full of adventure, be it in a game or in another world. But, unfortunately, a certain girl is not so lucky. Regaining the memories of her past life, she realizes that she was reborn in the world of Fortune Lover—one of the games she used to play.

Unfortunately, the character she was reincarnated into—Catarina Claes—is the game's main antagonist, who faces utter doom in every ending. Using her extensive knowledge of the game, she takes it upon herself to escape from the chains of this accursed destiny.

However, this will not be an easy feat, especially since she needs to be cautious as to not set off death flags that may speed up the impending doom she is trying to avoid. Even so, to make a change that will affect the lives of everyone around her, she strives—not as the heroine—but as the villainess.

Propaganda:

This show is so much fun. The protagonist is a lovable girl himbo, who is completely oblivious to everyone around falling in love with her. It’s a bit of a harem anime, but with equal opportunities: the girls are just as enamored with the main character as the guys are. The increasingly dumber ways in which she thinks she’s going to meet her doom (she is supposed to be the villain of the story, after all) are a delight to behold.

Trigger Warnings: Incest, Rape/Non-Con. The main character gets assaulted like two or three times, but it’s not graphic. One of these instances, where a kiss is forced on her, is by her adoptive brother, who is also her cousin, who is one of her main love interests.

#D4: Karneval

Summary:

While in search of his precious friend, a young boy named Nai falls captive to a beautiful woman, whose looks are matched only by her taste for human flesh. Meanwhile Gareki, a clever thief, is in the midst of robbing her luxurious home. After causing a distraction, Gareki agrees to help Nai escape, but they are discovered upon the woman's return. As she transforms into a ghoulish monster, the boys flee.

On the run, Nai and Gareki are found by “Circus,” a government defense agency that deals with criminal activity too difficult for the police to handle and protects civilians from “varuga”—terrible monsters that devour humans for sustenance. In the hope that it will lead Nai to his missing friend, he and Gareki decide to join Circus. On their perilous journey, they face dangerous varuga and begin to uncover the secrets behind a shadowy organization known as Kafka.

Propaganda:

Karneval has two of the best protagonists I’ve ever seen. Gareki is superior to every other teenage boy protagonist in anime. His character arc, even in this one season that covers just a fraction of the manga, is so well-developed. I like that his arc is an emotionally driven coming-of-age and not a power fantasy.

Along with the main characters, Karneval has fantastic characters across the board. There is not a single supporting character I don't love (even the ones who annoy me). None of the female characters are reduced to love interests and are all unique and interesting, which can be hard to find sometimes in anime.

It is made by a female writer, which is always great to see, and for people who aren't really interested in romance, the anime is extremely friendship and found family driven. The found family aspect is really at the forefront of the series as Circus is not a glorified group and they don't get to have families which makes the bond between members so important.

The tone balance is amazing. In one episode, you can go on an emotional journey from laughing to crying in seconds. The plot is engaging with wild reveals and compelling mysteries to follow. The fantastical world is unique with the contrast of the dark monsters in a bright and colorful world. If you watch it in Japanese, the voice cast is so good and the soundtrack is also really good.

TL;DR it’s an interesting story with amazing characters to whom you will get attached.

Trigger Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Misrepresentation of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how they’re presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[vampkomori]

im watching The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady and it makes me go insane so i have to write about my feelings on it and twts dead and the character limit is not enough so im doing it here

im going insane. it is that good. heres why 1. its yuri (literally) and 2. ITS A GOOD ISEKAI.

i watch a lot of isekais (unfortunately. i enjoy the concept bc a lot can be done with it Very many Interesting things can be done with it but all of them are shitty harems or a carbon copy of one another and. its tough out here.) and this is like one of . a handful. that actually. LIKE. ITS GOOD. ITS A GOOD ISEKAI YOU DONT GET MANY OF THOSE

i still havent explained why its good. basically heres a lesson on current isekai culture(?) (<- guy that cant get to the point)

theres exactly 2 kinds: one is the male fantasy where a guy reincarnates into a fantasy world and gets all the waifus. the second is the relevant one, the Reincarnated Villainess Trope which is SOO LOADED YOU DONT GET ITTT

the reincarnated villainess, to my knowledge, started with My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom aka hamefura (the jp abbreviation, henceforth refered to as such) and summarized, its about a girl that reincarnates into a fantasy otome game as the games villainess and bc the girl is a weirdgirl she basically derails the plot by being weird funny and endearing and everyone falls in love with her and she has a harem consisting of boys AND girls (in the first season. the girls side is unfortunately not taken seriously afterwards) 

and magirevo (The Magical Revolution of the Reincar- you get the gist. isekai names are long) is very similar in that the protag is a #weirdgirl but theres no harem this time and its gay for real.

where was i. basically hamefuras Thing is that its a “subversion” of the “villainess is put on trial by the crown prince who publicly annulls their engagement and accuses her of wronging the otome protagonist and also sometimes shes either killed or exiled” trope except its not a real trope. bare with me this is hilarious. its not a real trope but everyones feels like it is bc it feels familiar but there isnt a single existing example of this trope, its like a fake trope. theres certainly villainesses especially in older animes, but otome games very rarely ever even had a rival and this specific situation has literally never happened. just a fun fact. this is irrelevant to the discussion. but ill call it the fake villainess trope bc its not real but every villainess isekai “subverts” it. theyre subverting a fake trope. thats great. i could write an essay about this (already has)

anyway2.0 the point is there are literally so many. SOOOO MANY manhwas/mangas that base their story off this fake trope. some subvert the subversion some kinda follow it some deviate a lot more etc. but there always tends to be some flavour of “villainess is put on trial by the crown prince who publicly annulls their engagement and accuses her of wronging the otome protagonist (and also sometimes shes either killed or exiled)"

magirevo does this as well but in such a roundabout way you dont realize its doing the trope until its happening bc the protag, the crown prince’s elder sister, entirely does her own thing. she invents magic technology and tries to fly and tries to gain magic bc she doesnt have magic etc. so she Literally crash lands into the villainess’ trial and, in a fit of writing brilliance which i can only describe as bordering on genius, only vaguely implies that she knew it was going to happen (aka that the world shes in is a game) and literally whisks the villainess away on a whim (which in this case isnt even a villainess, shes never portrayed as one and shes not misunderstood, but as previously mentioned this is a common trope and euphy would be in the position of the villainess here) and now come the insane parts

euphy (stand-in “villainess”) is shown to have the worries/anxieties/issues that, logically, the villainess in the trope would have. i have to derail again for context on why its brilliant, the fake villainess trial trope in its most pure form is that the villainess was for real bullying the FL (the “female lead” of the otome game) and the FL/crown prince reveal this in public for revenge, in this the FL/prince are in love and portrayed as the side thats in the “right”. in the subversion of this, its literally flipped. the villainess is Wrongfully accused by the prince and “FL” (who at this point is no longer the protag of the story, but still is the protag in the original otome game which the reincarnated person.. knows about.. its getting complicated) who team up to, for never explained reasons, publicly ruin the “villainesses” image (my personal input would be that its so the engagement can be annulled more easily, its kinda like divorce where its easier if you can prove the other person was cheating. sort of. also palimony. there is technically one specific subversion that has the reincarnated person be a lawyer who helps the villainess get palimony- im getting carried away. i read a lot of these)

lost my train of thought. um. so the FL/prince are sometimes portrayed as antagonists in opposition to the “villainess”. who the reincarnated person even is kind of varies, sometimes its the villainess, and even then it depends on When in time she reincarnates (its not always since childhood) since some reincarnate during the moment of the trial, and in those the villainess was Actually a villainess, and the now-reincarnated-villainess (a wholly new person) takes this as an opportunity to do her own thing and rebuilds her life (whether in exile or not) but sometimes the reincarnated person is someone entirely unrelated to the trope, and in those cases the villainess in the trope is intead portrayed as a proper royal lady who follows etiquette very very closely. her “bullying” is mostly just telling the FL that it is inappropriate for her to spend a lot of time with the crown prince since Shes his fiance, and seeing him with another girl is very bad for his image. ultimately, the villainess is a kind person and is wrongfully humiliated/accused. magirevo does this, euphy is the perfect rule-abiding proper royal lady who only ever wanted to do right by her family and do what her father said (due to this her and her fathers relationships is strained, the anime actually touches on it . and parents are not given depth or show remorse in these things usually) so once shes whisked away by anis (magirevo protag) she suddenly doesnt have to fulfill any responsibility, has any expectations to fulfill, and is just told to do what she likes and what makes her happy, and she is not handling it well. once youre used to being ordered around and have etiquette ingrained into you its hard to just do what you Want to do and it becomes even more difficult to be able to Tell what you want to do. its very good.

anis is also an incredible protag but her whole deal isnt based on any sort of trope, so i wont go into it this time (also bc im only 5 episodes in and her thing is definitely going to span over the whole 12 eps so. refraining from commenting too early) but her BROTHER??? LETS GO TALK ABOUT HER BROTHER

as ive so eloquently and elaborately x paragraphs before (making fun of myself), the crown prince is portrayed as either the good side or the antagonistic side depending on writer, but ultimately tends to be a very paper thin one-note cardboard character that only exists for villainess angst and to hate him. which is a real shame bc theres clearly a lot of room for elaboration on motivation and just general. Potential. for a good arc. like, for real. the basic trope is just about the crown prince disgarding his fiancé for the (commoner) FL and thats it, but nobody??? sees the actions for what they are??? and magirevo does . its that the crown prince goes against his fathers wishes, against the rules imposed upon him by his royal blood and Does What He Wants and wants to be with the person he loves regardless of their status or his. thats good. thats insane. how has nobody banked on this. stocks are rising. so algard (magirevos crown prince) is that. he disregards the royal familys rules and wants to defy his fate, wants to be with the commoner girl he loves and is generally a very self-righteous person, which is used as the explanation for Why he accuses euphy in public, he thinks hes in the right for it (theoretically, bad means for good goals) and basically its portrayed as a sort of naiveté, bc hes the younger brother of anis, and still thinks the world revolves around him. zero consideration for others, doesnt think of consequences, gets manipulated by older nobles who use his self centric thinking against him, that sort of thing. plus hes a FOIL!!!! TO THE VILLAINESS!!! where the villainess is forcibly ripped from her responsibilities and now gets to live a life where she can do whatever she likes despite not having wished for it, the prince is forced to stay in his role as the crown prince and actively tries to go against the expectations placed upon him and cannot leave Despite Wishing For It (the “leave” in this case meaning the societal expectations, though its unclear if he still wants to inherit the throne at this point) and even Better, his actions and personality were entirely shaped by his sister, the protagonist, they used to be close as children with similar interests, but once anis invented magical technology (due to her knowledge from reincarnation) theres a growing rift between them bc shes heralded as a genius for her talents, and hes considered talentless. and even ! though ! anis is aware of this, and even revokes her right to the throne so that he can become ruler instead. theres so many misunderstandings in this royal family its insane. its the good kind of messy family drama. nobody knows how to talk to each other.

so im going insane bc isekais arent usually good or give any depth to characters and i feel like ive been given catnip. watch magirevo if you like weirdgirls and lesbians and like to see the fake villainess trope be explored in depth w motivations. yahoo

[nerdpiggy]

all of the shows i've decided to continue watching this season are not 100% sold for me. Like all of them have a 50/50 chance between being good and being unwatchable. only 4 so far:

Undead Girl Murder Farce has good direction and voice acting. we'll see if it has good storytelling

My Happy Marriage is very slow, quiet, and deliberate. it could be a lovely touching show or it could be unbearably boring, and i have absolutely no idea which

The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen is only half of the title and already a mouthful, typical for a show taking place within a fantasy otome game i guess. definitely the most compelling isekai i have watched this season, which isnt saying much, as all the other isekais this season are kinda dogshit. except maybe that one where the guy gets reincarnated as a vending machine. i'm keeping an eye on that one

AI no Idenshi is one that i'm prooobably gonna drop? story & characters havent hooked me yet, has potential but im not confident. hoping that it gets weirder