My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

After an accident as a young child, the bratty noble girl Catarina Claes remembers her past life as a romance video game nerd. She finds out that the is destined to become the villainess of the magical academy romance game she played in her previous life and endeavours to avoid all the 'Doom Flags' that would lead to a bad ending. However, Catarina is as oblivious as she is dense. Her cheerful and likeable personality have her befriend (and accidentally seduce) all the characters of the video game without her even noticing.

The premise of 'My Next Life as a Villainess' (also known as 'Hamefura') is a fairly interesting deviation from the usual Isekai tropes, and Catarina is a likeable main character. That the various romances evolve into an 'inverse harem' not only with the male but also the female characters of the show is another unexpected but welcome deviation from the norm. That is, unfortunately, pretty much everything the show has to speak for itself.

While the first episodes are fairly fun, showing how Catarina befriends what are supposed to be both her romantic rivals or eventual murderers, 'Hamefura' quickly simmers down into a fairly slow slice of life show that doesn't really do much of anything. The quirky protagonist and some running gags are all that remain to keep the audience's interest. At least in my case, I fast-forwarded through the last few episodes of the first season and decided to outright ignore the second (allegedly considerably worse) one.

From a technical standpoint, there isn't much to say. The art style is somewhat unique, reminding me of crayons, but not all that stunning. The English dub gets the job done but certainly won't win any awards. The rest... well, it's a simple show only meant to serve as light entertainment. It's certainly not bad, but I also wouldn't call it all that good. I'm sure I'll have entirely forgotten about 'Hamefura' in a few weeks' time.

An isekai casting the protagonist as the "Evil" character isn't new, but her complete acceptance of the situation and then decision to avoid the inevitable doom the game has in store for her by hijacking all of the main "encounters" was, and it made for an entertaining diversion.

The story unfolds well with good jumps in the time line that make sense vs dragging out a particular segment beyond what the story could support. Characters are fairly standard, lacking serious depth but remain enjoyable, with the protagonist being the classic clueless main character trope that works well instead of being awkward.

My only significant issue was the classically "short" ending, personally want more than a 20 minute closing.

Pro's:

• Excellent and consistent art, not exactly my style but can recognize the quality.
• Fun characters.
• "Realistic" Isekai, the average person isn't going to suddenly become a "god" due to present day knowledge and was nice to see that.
• Complete story arc.
• Warm and fuzzy.

Con's:

• Main character is unusually clueless.
• Very predictable.

This is a bizarre and rare isekai. Really I've never seen anything like it and it was a blast to watch! No epic fights or serious drama but that's part of it's charm! It is a great anime to unwind and laugh a little! And since there is no fanservice it can also be watched by young viewers! All in all masterpiece.

I haven't watched the second season yet, but I just want to say that the background music in this show has no right to be as good as it is. Props to the composer and director and all that because the music in this show is absolutely great.

This anime series is centred on Katarina Claes; she is the only daughter in a noble family and her life is changed after she hits her head as a child... She suddenly remembers her past life and realises that her current life is following the plot of her favourite game. This is not good as she is in the part of the villainess; a character doomed to exile at best or possibly death! As various other game characters come into her life she tries to find a way of avoiding these cruel fates.

There are plenty of anime series where characters are reincarnated into a fantasy world but this manages to bring something new to the genre; our protagonist doesn't know she has reincarnated till she is a few years old and more importantly she isn't destined to be a hero; she can only hope to use the knowledge to save herself. Katarina is a likable main character and the supporting cast are fun too. The story moves at a fairly gentle pace although things inevitably pick up as the end approaches and the sense of threat rises. The animation is good and the character designs are suitably distinctive. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the genre who want a series that is character led rather than merely action.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.