I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss (2022)

[悪役令嬢なのでラスボスを飼ってみました]

Director: Kumiko Habara
Studio: Maho Film
Starring: Rie Takahashi, Yuichiro Umehara, Toshiki Masuda
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
A girl reincarnated as the villainess in an otome game decides to fight her character's fate by allying with the Demon Lord Claude.

Impressions:
I liked HameFura pretty well (especially the first season), and if you saw that series, you might think this is some sort of knockoff, but a brief perusal of a bookstore revealed to me that "reincarnated in an otome game as the villainess" is its own sub-sub-sub-sub-subgenre. (Isn't the Japanese publishing industry grand?) Comparisons to HameFura are inevitably going to be made by people with a limited frame of reference, so let me start by pointing out some of the distinguishing points. First off, unlike the oblivious goody-goody Bakarina, Aileen is generally more perceptive and willing to embrace her villainous persona, which is particularly entertaining coming from Rie Takahashi. While you can see elements of a reverse harem, the romantic focus is almost exclusively on Claude, who tends to be rather assertive, making the power dynamic between him and Aileen fun to watch. Also, the conflicts have a little more weight to them, though this is undercut somewhat by the pacing. We essentially cover three games' worth of content in a mere 12 episodes and while it works well enough, I would've liked it if the material had more room to breathe so that we could more fully flesh out the characters. Production values are good but not amazing, though the voice casting is outstanding. I enjoyed it fairly well and if the premise appeals to you, I'd recommend giving it a watch.

Rating:
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