I'm in Love with the Villainess (2023)

[私の推しは悪役令嬢。]

Director: Hideaki Oba
Studio: Platinum Vision
Starring: Yu Serizawa, Karin Nanami, KENN
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
A young woman reincarnated as an otome game heroine pursues her true love: the villainess of the game.

Impressions:
They're just warming up when it comes to bringing these villainess stories to the screen and I've already had my fill of them. Oh, if there's an interesting twist on the formula that's well-executed, I'll appreciate it, I'm sure, much as with isekai in general, but it seems like quantity will be vastly overwhelming quality. The hook for this series is that rather than being reincarnated as the villainess, the protagonist takes the heroine role and then romantically pursues the villainess. Claire, however, isn't so much villainous as she is simply tsundere. I get a bit of MariaHolic vibes, except this isn't nearly as funny. Not only does the humor come up sort, but efforts at drama are fairly lightweight as well, and if you're coming to this as a yuri fan, the romance isn't all that great either. The side characters aren't fleshed out much, so your enjoyment hinges entirely on how much you're digging the Rae/Claire dynamic. I do rather like the OP, however. The contrast of Rae and Claire's respective singing voices stands out to me and sticks in my head, which is more than I can say for the plot. This isn't an awful show, but it is awfully underwhelming. It might be enough for you but it wasn't for me, so the best I can say is take it or leave it.

Rating:
50/50