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 GL Bunko, who published the first light novel volume digitally in February 2019. The light novel has been licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment.

A manga adaptation with art by Anoshimo has been serialized in Ichijinsha's yuri manga magazine Comic Yuri Hime since June 18, 2020. It has been collected into two tankōbon volumes and also licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment.

Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou: Revolution began as a web novel on Shousetsuka ni Narou on January 14, 2018. The first official volume was published on December 18, 2021 by Ichijinsha under the Ichijinsha Novels label.

The series has been published in English as I'm in Love with the Villainess by Seven Seas Entertainment under the Airship imprint since November 10, 2020.

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:
Five volumes of the official light novel were published digitally by GL Bunko from February 26, 2019 to August 26, 2021. The Light novels featured cover art and additional illustrations by Hanagata. In 2021 Ichijinsha announced it would begin publishing the light novels in paperback, with volume 1 released on December 18, 2021. The light novel has been licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. 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.

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 Rei Oohashi is a former Office Lady who died of overwork and found herself reincarnated in the world of her favorite otome game, Revolution, assuming the role and identity of Rae Taylor. Her encyclopedic knowledge of Revolution comes from a plethora of sources such as memorizing the kingdoms history for the Liberal Arts exam, multiple playthroughs of the game, and studying all the secondary materials released about the game. Her motivation to understand all the details led her to consume all fan made materials and she was a perfectionist in the doujin novels she produced as well.

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, 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. At the end, they two get married and adopt twin daughters.

Personality:


 * Rae deliberately plays herself up as being a foolishly happy-go-lucky girl who is obsessed with gaining Claire's affection. However in reality this is more of a coping mechanism brought about by her early experiences with exploring her sexuality. She is actually far less open with her true feelings, often bottling them up and covering it with humor.
 * According to the game plot, the original Rae Taylor had many saint-like characteristics to which the story Rae Taylor considered troublesome. At the start of the story, Rae Taylor has been friends with Misha Jur for ten years.

Abilities

 * Modern Knowledge: Rae retains all her knowledge from modern-day Japan, including recipes and bookkeeping techniques.
 * Game Knowledge: Rae was a huge fan of the game Revolution, having an almost encyclopedic knowledge of its world, characters, and events.
 * Familiar: The water slime she names Ralaire.
 * Dual-caster: She has the highest magical aptitude, super, in both water and earth magic.
 * Spells:
 * Detoxification (Water Magic): Counteract and neutralize the effects of a particular poison.
 * This spell is highly specific and requires knowledge of the poison.
 * Earth Wall • Basic : A regular strength wall made with common earth materials.
 * Advanced: An extremely durable wall made of tungsten carbide, material only known by people with knowledge of another world.
 * Enchant Water : Bestows water attribute magic to another user's spell, augmenting its strength in the process.
 * Freeze : Ensnares the target within a large block of ice rendering it paralyzed in most cases.
 * Sleep (Water Magic): A support spell that puts a target into a deep sleep to help restore stamina.
 * Advanced • Enhanced Sleep: A high level sleep spell that renders the target unconscious on the spot.
 * Stone Arrows : A basic level low damage, small earth projectile.
 * Advanced • Tungsten Carbide Bullets: The strongest Earth projectile possible.
 * Shut (Earth Magic): A trap spell where a thick rock wall imprisons the opponent.
 * Water Barrier : A wall of water that is most effective in defending against fire magic.
 * Used against the Chimera's fire breath, Rei's version is extremely advanced due to how powerful fire breath is.
 * Said to be able to set mountains ablaze.
 * Said to be able to set mountains ablaze.

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 AnimeJapan'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 in 2022.

External Link

 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Syosetsu (Novel) Official Japanese website
 * 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
 * %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
 * 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
 * I'm in Love with the Villainess ─ Wikipedia (English)

Trivia
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