#i’m still not over him faking being the no 1 player in Path of Exile 2

[lady-griffin]

My Next Life as A Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom OP

I personally love the OP for this anime and have watched it multiple times already. Since I saw the first episode before I read the manga, I thought it was just a fun, cute, and creative opening.

Now after reading the Manga, I am very impressed with all they’ve managed to pack in, so I thought I would break it down bit by bit.

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW

Part 1

The OP opens with chains of roses appearing and disappearing and Mandela-like designs on the side. This appears to be the overall aesthetic of the otome game Fortune Lover. The world Katarina lives in now is the world of Fortune Lover.

Next, we see the Start Menu screen for Fortune Lover. With “New Game” highlighted in a different color than the other two options. 

A player is picking a new game for Fortune Lover – which is adept as we could argue that this is Katarina’s completely new start of “playing the game.”

Then the Start Menu is disrupted by bright colors in static waves – indicating that there had been a “glitch” or something has changed within the game world.

It’s safe to say that Katarina gaining her past life memories is said ‘glitch’, but if there was any doubt, we get a quick image of the villainess Katarina Claes – or how she appears in the game.

The story we are about to embark on is not the same as the one in Fortune Lover, the original villainess character has now become front and center, influencing the characters of the world and changing the original timeline, so to speak.

Part 2

We are then introduced to the main cast characters in quick flashes and in the order that Katarina officially meets them. In these quick introductions, we get a slight hint of their different personalities.

I included the quick shot of Game Katarina with her villainous face, showing the contrast in how Game Katarina appears vs. how the non-game versions of all her friends appear.

Geordo Stuart – Confident 

Keith Claes – Nervous and panicked

Mary Hunt – Friendly and endearing

Alan Stuart – A tsundere

Sophia Ascart – Shy

Nicol Ascart – Reserve

Maria Campbell – Sweet and kind

Now we know that we are being shown the real characters and not the game versions, because of Keith. As Game Keith was a confident, playboy and the Keith we see is not that at all (and thank goodness).

Part 3

We see Yong Katarina walking confidently with two different and separate backgrounds rotating behind her.

In the first walk, Young Katarina is outside and wearing her work clothes and carrying a hoe, likely her favorite one as we get a separate close-up shot of it.

In the background there are lettuce heads, carrots, bushes and trees rotating behind Katarina.

This little walk shows that Katarina not only works in a field/garden, but enjoys the work as well as being outside in general. Another aspect of Katarina is her love and skill of climbing trees and the trees in the background are a hint at this.

In the second walk, Young Katarina is inside her family home wearing her day-to-day blue dress. She is carrying around the fake snakes that she has made in order to scare Geordo. The snakes are Katarina’s diversion plan in case Geordo attacks her, which he does do in the game’s bad ending of his route. 

Rotating behind her are candelabras and battle axes.

I’m not sure if the candelabras represent anything specific – I don’t recall there being significance to them. Overall, I think they just represent the wealth and aristocracy of the main characters.

The battle axes on the other hand represent when Katarina took an axe to Keith’s door and broke it down when she was child, saving him from the loneliness that was swallowing him whole. 

That is one of the major changes she does to the game’s original timeline as she completely reroutes Keith’s path to a happier one.

Part 4

Young Katarina grips one of the fake snakes she was holding and it makes a funny face that transitions into Katarina’s own scared and funny face as she is confronted with her angry mother.

On her mother’s sides we see Katarina’s father trying to calm her mother down and Anne being exasperated with Katarina’s antics.

These are the three most important adult and authority figures in Katarina’s life.

Her father is a doting and loving man. While he is aware of his daughter’s eccentricities, he is pretty okay with them, especially when compared to his wife. He has little hearts next to him, representing his overall loving nature to both his wife and daughter.

Katarina’s mother is less adoring. In the scene, she goes from a calm angry expression to berserk as she berates her daughter for her unladylike behavior and interests.

Given this quick shot of Katarina’s mother, we see how Katarina’s own ‘villainess’ face while just a mechanic in the game, in the actual world it is clearly inherited from her mother. 

Next, we have Katarina climbing up a tree. This is one of Katarina’s favorite hobbies and a skill she is very proud of and one that she inherited from her former past life.

It’s also a nice detail that the battle axe, fake snakes and Katarina’s tree climbing come before and after Katarina’s mother goes berserk. As all three of these items are directly related to a time Katarina got in trouble with her mother.

Part 5

We get a still image of some delicious looking Macaroons and then we see a Young Katarina having a great time stuffing her face with said Macaroons, as she stands behind a table with other delicious looking treats in front of her.

She eats so much that she upsets her stomach/has to immediately go to the bathroom – a common problem for Katarina in her youth.

Katarina has a big love for food, sweets in particular. It’s often a way the other characters have endear themselves to her and her gluttony is also seen as one of her unladylike qualities.

Part 6

Katarina and Maria are sitting opposite of one another in a large spinning tea cup, surrounded by other tea cups and rose petals. 

This seems to show their relationship as ‘opposites.’ 

In addition, how important Maria is to Katarina’s life and her overall fate – since Maria is the heroine of Fortune Lover and her choice of romance in the game, leads Katarina to different degrees of doom in the game. 

The two spinning in a tea cup could also represent the spinning of their roles. 

Katarina is the heroine of My Next Life as a Villainess and while not the villain by any means, Maria for Katarina does represent a potential danger, especially in Katarina’s mind.

I also think that the tea cups represent Sirius Dieke, as tea is an important aspect to his overall character and he is a threat to both Maria and Katarina.

The fact that Maria and Katarina are sitting together in a tea cup could represent how in both their stories (particularly in the game) they are the heroine and villain.

Again, for the actual story that’s not the case. Maria is far from a villain, but Katarina does view Maria and her actions as potential threats to her well-being.

However, their hero/villain dynamic as romantic rivals, is completely dwarfed by the very real danger of the much worse threat that is Sirius.

Part 7

We get a glimpse into Katarina’s head and the council of her different sides.

From Left to Right we have

Studious Katarina Timid Katarina Chairmen Katarina Brave Katarina Happy Katarina

We see them every now and again, particularly when it comes to Katarina deciding what she should do to avoid doom flags (her being killed) or how to make the best of doom flags (her being exiled).

They are all as ridiculous and oblivious as the real Katarina. 

While their contingency plans for how to deal with the endings/doom flags aren’t bad, Katarina becomes so focus on them that she misses the obvious fact that she doesn’t actually need contingency plans. 

Part 8

Next, we have what is my personal favorite part, the sequence of Katarina and her friends from children to teenagers, which shows Katarina’s relationships with each of them.  

Geordo and Katarina - Engaged 

Both Geordo and Katarina appear in their childhood and present day-to-day outfits. They also appear to be on a stage, with the curtains revealing them to the audience and the wood panels and strung up stars behind them.

They bow and curtesy to one other before they start to dance, but instead of dancing Young Katarina wildly spins Geordo around. Representing, how Katarina kept throwing Geordo off and surprising him in their younger days.

As Geordo spins around to the front of the camera, the two become teenagers and are dancing properly. Geordo leans in for a kiss and Katarina looks surprised by this, before she is pulled away.

The transition of them from children to teenagers, exemplifies Geordo’s feelings for Katarina and how they’ve developed over the years and of course her own obliviousness to them.

Katarina is not even aware of the possibility that Geordo could be in love with her (let alone that he is), mostly because Game Geordo did not care for Game Katarina and Game Katarina only really cared about her status as his fiancée. 

This dancing scene likely comes from Katarina’s 15th birthday party, where the two danced together and Geordo kisses Katarina on the neck, as he wanted to get it through to Katarina that he’s not breaking off their engagement for the very simple reason that he loves her.

Keith and Katarina - Siblings

Keith is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing her work uniform.

Before Geordo can even kiss Katarina she is pulled away by Keith.

This is not necessarily a specific scene from the Manga, but it definitely shows the dynamic between the three. 

Geordo flirting with Katarina and Keith desperately trying to separate the two, while Katarina remains oblivious to what is actually going on. While Keith states he does this because he wants to protect his big sister, everyone except Katarina knows that’s not the case and it’s just simple jealousy.

Young Keith spins Katarina around and she jumps on him and they soon run off together with him being carried on her back.  

Young Keith is surprised by this, showing his hesitation in the beginning with being close to someone out of fear that he might hurt them, but nonetheless Katarina both in the story and OP bulldozes through that hesitation with gusto and enthusiasm.

This also just shows Katarina’s genuine excitement in having a younger brother.

As they run off screen the two transition into teenagers and Katarina is now on Keith’s back.

Keith is happier than he was as a kid, showing how much Katarina has changed his life for better. As they run, Keith appears to trip and the two of them fall down.

Possibly indicating how Katarina’s wilder and less than ladylike antics (being carried on her brother’s back and running around the house) can often bring Keith down with her.

Though Keith is the more responsible one of the two and often emulates their mother in disapproving of Katarina’s choices and actions – he does, for the most part, go along with her antics. 

Keith is definitely frazzled as they fall down, and in the story, he is very much frazzled by Katarina both in her eccentricities and his romantic feelings for her.

Alan and Katarina - Friends/Future Bother & Sister-In-Law

Alan is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing her tree-climbing outfit and an unknown dress (I couldn’t place it from the Manga).

A Young Katarina falls from above and lands on a tree branch next to Alan. As Alan begins to yell at her, Katarina just continues jumping down and Alan looks on in surprise (and perhaps a bit in fear).

Alan and Katarina’s friendship, begins with Alan having a hostile attitude towards her as he thought she was seducing his fiancée (technically he wasn’t wrong) and also due to his competitive nature and need to prove himself, in general. 

They had multiple tree-climbing contests as children, which Katarina always won without much effort.

Katarina jumping off the branch away from Alan, seemingly not caring as he yells at her, is possibly a representation of Katarina’s confidence in her skill as a tree-climber.

As Young Katarina drops to the ground, a teenage Katarina lands in Alan’s arms and while she looks sheepishly at him, she seems overall happy that he caught her.  

Alan slightly blushes and turns his head away from Katarina, as he is the tsundere of the romantic options. 

In addition, Alan can often be flabbergasted and flustered by Katarina’s less than ladylike manners and overall frankness – best example comes from her 15th Birthday party.

Alan’s blush and him looking away from Katarina, could also reflect how Alan is not aware of his own romantic feelings for Katarina until later in the story.

Mary and Katarina - Best Friends 

Mary is wearing her childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing the dress she wore when she first met Mary and her 15th Birthday party dress.

The scene of Katarina in Alan’s arms and them both slightly blushing transitions to a Young Mary upset by this scene and she runs off to be comforted by Katarina and or to tell her that she would absolutely catch her if she fell from a tree too.

Mary can be quite jealous of others, especially when they are the focus of Katarina’s attention and or vying for her attention and Alan is no exception, despite being Mary’s own fiancée.

For example, in the manga it’s revealed Mary has been keeping Alan in the dark about his own feelings for Katarina, so she wouldn’t have any more rivals.

It’s also significant that they appear in Katarina’s field, as their love for gardening/farming is what brought them together as friends in the first place.

As Mary runs to Katarina, the two become teenagers and dance together and Katarina gives the audience a friendly wink and Mary is blushing slightly as she dances with Katarina, showing that this is more than just a platonic dance for Mary. 

Mary and Katarina’s dance, like Geordo and Katarina’s dance, is also from Katarina’s 15th birthday party. The two danced together on the balcony away from the rest of the party as Mary wanted to dance with Katarina, but couldn’t as it was against high society rules. 

This scene is just a quick show of Katarina and Mary’s friendship and Mary’s feelings for Katarina. 

Nicol and Katarina - Friends

Nicol is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina seems to be wearing two different dresses that I can’t place from the Manga.

As teenage Katarina and Mary pull away from the camera, it is now Young Katarina and Nicol who are holding hands. 

The camera spins around the two and they become teenagers. Nicol smiles at Katarina, unlocking his full charm on her and Katarina is left dazed and dizzy.

Their relationship is not as well developed as some of the others in the story.

Katarina likes Nicol and enjoys his company as a friend and of course Nicol has fallen for Katarina due to her overall kindness, compassion, and friendship with his sister Sophia.

Because of Nicol’s more reserved nature though and the fact that Katarina is engaged to Geordo, he doesn’t act on his feelings in the same way Geordo and Keith do.

When he does though, he is very direct and Katarina is usually left dazed and a bit flustered. However, because she’s so dazed by him, Katarina doesn’t realize what Nicol has just said to her - meaning she’s still oblivious about his feelings. 

Sophia and Katarina - Best Friends 

Sophia is wearing his childhood and present day-to-day outfits, while Katarina is wearing her pajamas.   

A dazed Katarina becomes a young and dizzy Katarina who falls on a couch next to Sophia in what is likely the Ascart Library. 

Sophia moves closer to Katarina so they can read a book together. As the book pushes forward, we see an extremely quick glace of the cover – showing the Devilishly Charming Earl character from one of their favorite romance books.

As the book is pulled to the bottom, Katarina and Sophia have transitioned into teenagers and are still eagerly reading the book together. Showing the basis of their friendship - their mutual love of love stories and reading in general - is still going strong. 

This is the most friendship-based sequence.

Even though Sophia also wants to be able to be with Katarina forever (like the others), her feelings seem to be less romantically inclined than the others.

Sophia treasures their friendship a great deal, but she often leaves Nicol and Katarina alone together, as she tries to give her brother a proper shot at confessing his feelings to Katarina.

Part 9

Next, we see Maria presenting a strawberry cake to Katarina and Katarina eagerly turning to Maria in excitement. Maria looks a bit confused and embarassed(?) most likely because Katarina is lavishing her with praise and attention. 

Maria does not have a past to present transition scene with Katarina as they meet when they are teenagers.

This scene’s setting is most likely Maria’s home kitchen, as Katarina is wearing her merchant’s daughter disguise – which she wears in the Manga when she ends up visiting Maria at her home during their summer vacation.

The strawberries on the cake are cut into hearts, this is possibly just a cute design or possibly an indication that Maria also falls for Katarina. 

On top of the cake is a flag, flags are important to Katarina’s story as she is actively trying to destroy the Destruction Flags that lead to her doom.

The flag being just a small decorative piece could be nothing, but it might signify that while Maria is technically tied to Katarina’s doomed endings, that’s not really a factor anymore.

Do to the fact that Katarina’s actions for the past seven years, before Maria even enters the story, have been successfully destroying her doomed flags – by having good and loving relationships with the other characters (mainly Geordo and Keith - whose routes were once guarantede destruction for Katarina).

Now Katarina is not aware of that and still sees doom befalling her especially (in her mind) when it comes to whom Maria will choose to confess her feelings to. But nonetheless that doesn’t stop Katarina from befriending Maria and the two becoming genuine friends.

This scene once more shows that Katarina is always happy to receive sweets. Furthermore, Maria and Katarina’s friendship grows out of Maria baking her homemade sweets for Katarina (among other things).

Part 10

We are next introduced to A-Chan, Katarina’s best friend from her previous life. 

A-Chan is reading from a strategy book for Fortune Lover. A-Chan would often spoil the game for Katarina which she didn’t appreciate at the time, but now she is very thankful for the extra information she has about the world she now inhabits.

Next, we see a large image of a pixelated game flag.

We can easily presume this is a Destruction Flag, which are essentially bad checkpoints (for Katarina) that lead to a specific path in the game for the player.

Basically, they are choices (or scenes/characters) throughout the game that decide whether or not the player receives the good or bad ending. And since the majority of the endings of the actual game are bad to awful for Katarina, all the check points or flags are destructive to her and her life. 

The one big flag transitions into multiple smaller, pixelated flags. Which could represent all the different flags Katarina is trying to avoid or destroy.

It’s a nice detail that the flags are pixelated as they are a simple mechanic from the game itself. That detail could also indicate that while the flags have great importance in the game, in Katarina’s actual life, the majority of them aren’t a factor in deciding her future due to her own choices and the choices of the other characters.

But Katarina has yet to learn that.

Part 11

We are introduced to the final character, Sirius Dieke, the President of the Student Council. He appears to be in the Student Council chambers, in front of his own desk, with piles of paper on it.

Sirius is the 5th and secret love-interest in the game Fortune Lover and he has the darkest story of the romantic game-targets and just in general.

It’s very telling that he also appears in multiple small squares like the Destruction Flags did in the scene right before he appears.

As he really is the only true Destruction Flag and path for Katarina.

Part 12

Next, we see two school-girls standing together on a beach watching either a sunset or a sunrise. 

This is Katarina from her previous life and her best friend A-chan. While the sunset/sunrise could just be there to be a pretty image, one could take away a deeper meaning, particularly with the idea that it’s both a sunset and a sunrise.  

As their lives have ended in their previous lives (sunset) they get to live new lives in their reincarnated forms of Katarina Claes and Sophia Ascart (sunrise). 

This idea is potentially reflected in the waves crashing onto the shore, then returning back to the ocean, only to crash again on the shore (similar to the idea of reincarnation).

We get a close up of their hands as A-Chan grips Katarina’s hand and she returns to the gesture. Their friendship is an extremely important element of the story. As A-Chan comes to Katarina’s aid in her time of need, showing that their friendship transcends time and worlds.

And this is a very compelling idea, because while romance is certainly a major element in the story, friendship is even bigger. 

Katarina has changed every one of her friends’ lives not because they fell in love with her (like the game’s setup) but because Katarina was kind and befriended them with sincerity and true kindness (causing everyone to fall for her).

Part 13

Finally, we are at the end. 

The OP ends with the main cast bowing to the audience on a stage, possibly the same stage Katarina and Geordo danced on, but with the curtains now closed.

Sophia and Mary do more traditional lady courtesies and Mary does a bow like a commoner.

While the guys and Katarina do a slightly exaggerated bow.

This possibly shows Katarina’w significant ties to the guys as she has inadvertently become the main love interest. This could also indicate that Katarina has also technically become one of them – in the fact that Maria, the original main character, who was supposed to fall in love with one of the guys, actually falls for and adores Katarina.

In a similar sense, the two other rival female characters of Mary and Sophia don’t fall for Alan and Nicol, but instead fall for Katarina.

Or it could also just be a sign that Katarina is more of a tomboy than the other girls.

Either way the main cast bows to the audience, signally the end of their show/performance that they just put on for us.

Quick Summary

My Next Life as a Villainess Opening is packed with so much detail, symbolism and deeper meanings and that it is just astounding in itself. 

Not only does it do all of that, but the OP still remains a fun, creative and enjoyable introduction to each episode with a catchy song. 

A slight nitpick from me, is that I wish some of the scene transitions were smoother. For many of them it looks quite smooth and flows very nicely, for other it just cuts to a new scene very quickly. Again, this just a nitpick.

Overall, this opening is just amazing in my humble opinion and seems to have almost everything one could ask for in an Anime Opening.

I apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes that might remain here.