Villainy is interesting. So interesting that reincarnation into villainy would become its own subgenre of women-led anime: villainess stories. While the darker implications of villain protagonists can be relegated to NSFW stories, like these results from J-List, villainess anime isn’t automatically light. So, then what of The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess? Is it dominated by the doom of true villainy, or the sunshine bloom of a redeemed villain? Let’s explore.
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Death Is… Bad?
In The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess, a modest office lady, Konoha Satou, gets a visit from Truck-kun and gets reincarnated into a villainess story. Except, instead of entering an otome game or anime, Konoha is thrust into the world of her own creation. Written throughout Konoha’s school years, not only is the setting of The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess poorly written and cliché-filled and filled with the wild explorations of a pubescent mind, but Konoha can’t even remember all the details. Why should she? The point of writing self-insert fiction is not to have to remember it all.
That’s right. The titular dark history is Konoha’s self-insert fiction. Her heroine, named Konoha Magnolia, had the sweetest noble boyfriend, a jealous evil sister, etc. Story Konoha got magic powers, fought evil, and people loved her. Therefore, real Konoha even wished that she’d be isekaied into Konoha’s life, at least until Konoha grew up and forgot her story.
Then Konoha dies, and she isn’t reborn as her self-insert. She’s reborn as the villainous sister Iana Magnolia.
The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Transforms Doom to Bloom
One reason I like the villainess genre, even if I don’t watch a ton of it, is how each starts uniquely. One might begin with a young rebirth and a protagonist who makes it her goal to befriend the heroine in childhood. Meanwhile, in another, the villainess might start a business to try to get money to flee the plot.
In The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Konoha, now Iana, starts being caught out for trying to kill Story Konoha. She’s then locked up. Knowing the story as she does, Iana expects to be assassinated. She isn’t paranoid; she knows the butler assigned to watch her, Sol, is also going to kill her if nothing changes.
This part of the story was my favorite. Iana picks each of her moves carefully, tries hard to remember the plot, and focuses on her survival. It’s tense, and the wrong laugh could get her killed. It’s also these opening few episodes in which new characters and their accompanying complications expand the world. This anime is a reverse harem, so these complications include multiple men who are hot for Iana.
Good at Heart
Of course, Iana’s not a bastard. She’s a normal, if nerdy, girl who wrote a lengthy self-insert fiction fantasizing about being pretty and popular. It’s not in question whether Iana will be a villainess: she won’t. So, the paranoia and risks of her past villainy fall away as the story proceeds. The doom hanging over her changes as she blooms into a heroine, and the plot she wrote adapts to test her resolve as the good guy.
Shadows in the Sunshine
The attempt at getting extra drama from the plot going differently than Iana expects falls flat for me, though. Not only is it expected that once Iana changes things, the events of her life would change, but because Iana doesn’t remember all the details of what she wrote anyway, there’s no added tension. It’s not stressful that Iana must figure out what to do as conflict happens; it’s normal. Protagonists usually don’t know the plot. That Iana’s plot knowledge is more a convenience than reliable in the first place makes unexpected events feel less special as they aren’t different from her having forgotten something.
What works better is Iana’s shifting motivations. She goes from paranoid survivor to doting younger sister and true heroine. Helping people, but especially the sister whom she historically tried to kill, is her goal. I’m not totally sold on the shift, but it develops clear stakes because Iana isn’t only out for herself. If Story Konoha or one of the harem boys dies, that’s a loss.
Dark History
The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess starts strong for the paranoia lovers but becomes heartfelt and wholesome as the story progresses. I prefer a strong initial hook that makes a story’s tone clear, so this transition isn’t my favorite, but it’s not a deal breaker either. I had fun with this show, and if you like villainess to heroine, or female-led stories, you should too.
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