Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou

Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou (私の推しは悪役令嬢, I'm in Love with the Villainess) is a Japanese light novel series written by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata. It was serialized online between January 2018 and February 2021 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Aichu Publishing, who published the first light novel volume digitally in February 2019 under their GL Bunko imprint.

A manga adaptation with art by Aonoshimo has been serialized in Ichijinsha's yuri manga magazine Comic Yuri Hime since June 18, 2020. It has been collected into six tankōbon volumes. The light novel and manga have been licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime television series adaptation by Platinum Vision premiered in October 2023.

Synopsis
Ordinary office worker Rei Oohashi wakes up one day to find herself as Rae Taylor, the heroine of her favorite otome game, Revolution. Surrounded by attractive men all vying for her attention would be any maiden's dream—but that is not the case for Rae! None of them can hold a candle to the villainess, Claire François, whose blonde, drill-shaped ringlets only accentuate her haughty irresistible charm.

In the original story, Claire harasses and bullies the heroine, which drives the latter closer to the male love interests. But Rae has no intention of pursuing any of the men; her heart is set on Claire herself! Unused to being on the receiving end of affection, Claire is left at the mercy of Rae's endless teasing. With the power of true love, can Rae successfully convey her heartfelt feelings to the villainess?

Novels
I'm in Love with the Villainess was originally serialized online from January 14, 2018 to February 21, 2021 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō.

Five volumes of the official light novel were published digitally by Aichu Publishing under their GL Bunko imprint from February 26, 2019 to August 26, 2021. The light novels featured cover art and additional illustrations by Hanagata. In 2021, Ichijinsha announced that it would begin publishing the light novels in paperback, with the first volume released on December 18, 2021 under their Ichijinsha Novels imprint. In April 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they had licensed the light novel in North America. On March 19, 2021, Seven Seas issued a statement that they would be releasing a new version of volume one due to the localization decisions in the original omitting several paragraphs.

Spin-off
She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner! is a retelling of the original series from Claire François' perspective. It began serialization online on May 25, 2021 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. GL Bunko published the first light novel volume digitally on February 28, 2022, with Hanagata returning for cover design and additional illustrations. At Anime Expo 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they licensed the spin-off for English publication.

Manga
A manga adaptation is written by Inori and illustrated by Anoshimo. It began serialization in Ichijinsha's yuri manga magazine Comic Yuri Hime on June 18, 2020. It has been licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment.

Spin-off
A cooking spin-off manga illustrated by tsuke, titled I'm in Love with the Villainess: Maid's Kitchen, began serialization in Comic Yuri Hime on June 16, 2023.

Character
"It's a labor of love for you, Lady Claire.... No... If anything, I'm the one getting a service!!"

- Rae Taylor to Claire François

A woman reincarnated in the world of 「Revolution,」 a love simulation adventure game. Before her reincarnation, her name was 「Ohashi Rei」 and she was a busy company employee in modern Japan. In the world of 「Revolution,」 she is the main heroine from a commoner's background. She is bullied by her rival Claire Francois, who also attends the same boarding school, but in the end, they become lovers with the man of her dreams and turn their lives around. However, since Ohashi Zero was a big fan of Claire, the "villainess character," after her reincarnation, he ignores the male target character and follows her around. He also knows more about the game's scenario and historical background than the developer because he has played 「Revolution」 so many times because he loves Claire so much. She loves the way Claire harasses her and the sound of her voice, and gets excited whenever she is abused. She has never been in love with a man, and in the world of "Revolution," she is openly gay. However, he does not want to be lovers with Claire, but dreams of helping her to be happy. Claire calls him a "commoner."

Rae was accepted into the Royal Academy, where the story takes place, by scoring well in examinations and earning a scholarship to attend.

The main protagonist was previously known as Oohashi Rei before she died of overwork and reincarnated as the player character of her favorite Otome game, Revolution. As she's gay, Rae has no interest in the game’s capture targets; in fact, she becomes vexed when they pay attention to her. Instead, she aims to give Claire François a happy ending; falling in love with her. In the end, they two get married and adopt twin daughters.


 * }

Abilities
Due to being reincarnated into the Otome Game that she likes. Rae has Beyond Extreme (immeasurable) aptitude for Magic power, she even can use Earth and water Magic. Because of her knowledge of the game, she can take it easy and understand everything. Due being to too powerful she intends to hide it because it will cause too much commotion. ae retains all her knowledge from modern-day Japan, including recipes and bookkeeping techniques. The game character's settings include "excellent aptitude for magic and grades," "top special student in the commoner's bracket," and "eventually overcomes Claire's bullying and ends up with the man of her dreams." In addition, in his previous life, Ohashi Rei was a huge fan of the game, so he is extremely knowledgeable (encyclopedic knowledge of its world, characters, and events) about the strategy information and world setting.


 * }

TV Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on December 13, 2022. It will be produced by Platinum Vision and directed by Hideaki Ōba, with scripts written by Ayumu Hisao, character designs handled by Yōko Satō, and music composed by Noriyuki Asakura and Usagi to Uma. The series is set to premiere on October 2, 2023, on Tokyo MX and BS NTV. The opening theme song is "Raise Y/Our Hands!!", while the ending theme song is "O.C. Optimum Combination", both performed by Yu Serizawa and Karin Nanami.


 * Staff
 * Original Author - Inori.
 * Character draft - Hanagata, Aonoshita
 * Director - Hideaki Oba
 * Series composition/screenplay - Ayumu Hisao
 * Character design - Yoko Sato
 * Chief animation director - Yoko Sato, Toshimitsu Kobayashi
 * Action animation director – Yasuhiro Saiki
 * Prop Design - Tomokazu Sugimura
 * Color design - Aiko Yamagami
 * Art director - Kiyotaka Yachi
 * Director of Photography - Shigeteru Asakawa
 * Editing - Yoshiko Kimura
 * Sound Director - Hajime Takakuwa
 * Sound effects - Yusuke Inada
 * Music - Asakura Kiko, Rabbit and Horse
 * Music Production - King Records
 * Producer - Takahiro Fujii, Shogo Ikenori, Takeshi Jinguji
 * Animation producer - Emi Yonezawa
 * Animation production - Platinum Vision
 * Production - Wataoshi Production Committee

Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia.

Reception
In Anime News Network's Fall 2020 Light Novel Guide the series was generally received positively, though not as strongly as other yuri titles released at the time. However, it was noted that "if Rae and Claire both start off as almost intensely difficult to like, they do undergo enough of a change by about midway through the novel that makes them much easier to root for."

Others had more positive reception to the series. Erica Friedman, the founder of Yuricon, awarded the first light novel an overall score of nine. Friedman also praised the series for its frank discussion of LGBT identity, writing "And then you hit a moment when Misha, Rae’s best friend, roommate and foil, turns to Rae and asks, 'Are you gay?'…and the characters have a frank discussion about sexuality." Nicki Bauman noted that the series open focus on LGBT themes in its characters and storytelling was not typical of the Yuri genre and proposed that it might signal change in Yuri themes and stories.

In March 2021, I'm in Love with the Villainess placed 5th in Anime Japan's annual Manga We Want to See Animated Ranking. In June 2021, the series was nominated for the Best Printed Manga category in the Next Manga Awards and placed 17th out of 50 nominees. It was also nominated for the same award and placed 8th out of 50 nominees in 2022.

External Link

 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Syosetsu (Novel) Official Japanese website (in Japanese)
 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Comic Days (Manga) Official Japanese website
 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Pocket Shonen Magazine (Manga) Official Japanese website (in Japanese)
 * Manga Artist - Aonoshita Official (@aonoesu) - Twitter Account
 * %e3%80%80キャラクターデ/私の推しは悪役令嬢. / I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Ichijinsha (Manga) Official Japanese website (in Japanese)
 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Ichijinsha Plus (Manga) Official Japanese website
 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Seven Seas Entertainment (Novel) Official English website
 * TV Anime "I'm in Love with the Villainess" Official Website (in Japanese)
 * TV Anime "Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou." Official (@wataoshi_anime) - Twitter
 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Wikipedia (in Japanese)
 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Wikipedia (in English)

Trivia

 * The story is original to most reincarnated into otome games with the fact it introduces the concept of "incompatible orientations". A lesbian reincarnated as the heroine, so she actively avoids the capture target's, fearing they will the interest in her; additionally severing as a "closet key" to her love interest.

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