I’m in Love with the Villainess is the newest isekai villainess series to be adapted to anime, and joins the ranks of other similar series such as I’m The Villainess, So I’m Taming The Final Boss and Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte for fans of hot villainesses.
Studio Platinum Vision is making this anime possible, and they’ve released a PV ahead of its scheduled 2023 release introducing the two leading ladies, Rae Taylor and Claire François. Claire François is voiced by Karin Nanami, and Yu Serizawa provides the voice of Rei Oohashi/Rae Taylor.
They also released a key visual, and on their Twitter account, they released a Christmas-themed key visual.
The story of I’m in Love with the Villainess begins with Rei Oohashi, a Japanese office lady playing her favorite otome game Revolution. As it’s an otome game, the main character is female and all of the romantic options are men. However, Rei is a lesbian and wants to romance the villainess of the game, Claire François. Unfortunately, that isn’t an option in the game, much to her disappointment.
Rei gets a chance to pursue her romantic interest after dying of overwork, a real phenomenon in Japan known as karoshi (being overworked to death), and entering the world of Revolution. The first person she meets is Claire herself, and Rei Oohashi has become Rae Taylor. Despite the insults and bullying, Rae is absolutely infatuated with Claire, which only makes Claire confused and flustered. Rae hopes to win over Claire before a revolution erupts, which would lead to Claire’s death, setting the stage for an interesting romantic isekai series.
I’m in Love with the Villainess first gained fans as a light novel series written by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata, and ran on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō between January 2018 and February 2021, until it was acquired by Aichu Publishing who begin publishing it under their GL Bunko imprint label in February 2019.
The manga adaptation of I’m in Love with the Villainess, with the art provided by Anoshimo, began its publication on June 18th, 2020, and is printed in Ichijinsha’s yuri manga magazine Comic Yuri Hime.
In a twist that fans of the series were lightly elated about, Inori began work on the light novel series She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner!, a retelling of the series from Claire’s perspective. It first hit the web on May 25th, 2021, and as before, it appeared on Shōsetsuka ni Narō before Aichu began publishing it. The artist Hanagata came back to provide cover design and other illustrations.
Are you looking forward to the anime adaptation? Are you already a fan of the original novels and manga? Let us know in the comments below.