I’m in Love with the Villainess – Review of the first volume

Last November the highly anticipated first volume of I’m in Love with the Villainessnew manga that Star Comics he included in his very rich series QUEERtaken from the book of the same name light novel written by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata. Here they also take part in the creation of the work Aonoshimo, responsible for the comic book transposition, and his assistants who took care of the backgrounds. Some of you may have already seen the anime and therefore will know what we are talking about, but let’s go and see the plot anyway.

Rei Ohashi she is a Japanese employee and one day she is reincarnated in the world of her favorite video game, Revolution. Here he plays the role of Rae Taylorbut his favorite character is Claire François, the antagonist of the story! Thus begins Rae’s incredible adventure, who will do anything to conquer Claire, even at the cost of seeming a little crazy and insistent… but after all, there are no rules in love, right?!

• Original title: 私の推しは悪役令嬢。(Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou.)
• Italian title: I’m in Love with the Villainess.
• Japanese release: 2020
• Italian release: November 22, 2023
• Number of volumes: 8 (in progress)
• Publishing house: Star Comics
• Type: Yuri, romantic, comedy, fantasy
• Drawings: Aonoshimo
• History: Inori
• Format: 12.8×18, dust jacket, b/w, colours
• Number of pages: 192

We reviewed I’m in Love with the Villainess via the print volume provided to us free of charge by Star Comics.

Opposites attract…or not?!

The characters of I’m in Love with the Villainess there are many, but two female protagonists stand out in particular: Rae Taylor And Claire Françoiswhich in the video game represent respectively the heroine and her antagonist. The two are so different, practically one the opposite of the other, both in physical appearance and in character. If in fact on one side Rae wears brown hair in a bob, she is a girl of humble origins, cheerful, lively and determinedon the other Claire has long blonde hair that falls to her shoulders in soft curls and icy blue eyes, just like her cold character, as a typical aristocratic girl who puts on a lot of airsbelieving that she is always the best at everything, or at least these are the first impressions we can have of her at the beginning of the story.

During the course of the first volume we also meet Misha JurRae’s confidant, who believes his stubborn love for Claire is just pure madness; Lene, Claire’s trusted maid; of her his groupie Pee And Lorettaas well as his father, the finance minister Dole François; then we have the three princes of the kingdom of Bauerwithin which the game is set: Rod the eldest, seems to be interested in Rae, Thane the second born that Claire likes and finally Yuthe youngest.

This manga features numerous strengths: originality of the plot, the topics covered, the sensitivity with which he addresses problems and describes feelings, not to mention illustrations. But let’s go in order. Personally, I was struck by the fact that the protagonist finds herself catapulted into living inside her favorite video game, which in this case is a otome game, which is an adventurous romance simulation game for girls. The element Fantasy However, it’s just a backdrop to the story, which focuses on‘unconditional love that Rae feels for Claire. We are therefore faced with a very sweet girl’s love that clearly face up important topics such as falling in love, the courage to be yourself without being afraid of what you feel deep inside, the willingness to take risks even at the cost of seeming crazy and being misunderstood, just to do what makes us feel good and make the people we love happy. we love.

In addition to these precious messages, I’m in Love with the Villainess holds one in particular that I believe makes any type of reader reflect: that of never give up, no matter what painful or difficult things may happen. Even though this is very often really difficult, the concept of hope it is a value that has always been rooted in me since I was a child and I was very surprised to find it in an apparently funny and “mere entertainment” manga. And that’s exactly how it is yuri which at first glance might seem “carefree”, in reality it speaks to the hearts of the most sensitive people with incredible delicacy.

Attention to detail

From a technical point of view, we can say that the tables they result take care of down to the smallest details (with only a few small exceptions). Faces, hairstyles and clothing are in fact portrayed with the utmost care precision and the same can be said for the wallpaperscharacterized by rather detailed natural and/or architectural elements. The very first pages, done in colourare of notable visual impact, as they prefer the warm notes and I’m embellished with floral motifs which give everything a touch of royalty. Below the glossy dust jacket that portrays the two protagonists, the front and back covers in black and white respectively present us Rae Taylor and Claire François through two cards accompanied by information, photos and brief descriptions of the characters. At the end of the volume, Inori cheers us up with a little story about the birth of chocolate.

The price of €6.90 is adequate for the increases that have also affected the publishing market for a year now, given the difficulty in obtaining paper and the increases due to the increase in energy costs.

Who do we recommend I’m in Love with the Villainess to?

If you are Romantic video game fans and you’ve always dreamed of waking up one day and finding yourself catapulted into your favorite virtual reality, then I’m in Love with the Villainess It’s definitely for you! We recommend you read it if you like love stories, if you love challenges and fun without giving up a pinch of emotion.