My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

In a nutshell

Katarina Claes is the only daughter of a duke. One day she hits her head so hard that she remembers her past life, during which she played a game very similar to her life now. She is now an antagonist of the otome game and she knows every possible game route. With her knowledge of the game, she tries to avoid a route that will end with her death, or exile. Will her knowledge save her?

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! has quite a big title, so this series might have been on your radar since the 1st episode. If not, this review is for you. The series focuses on nerd girl that is obsessed with story-based video games that are targeted towards women (otome games). She is fatally hit by a truck at the age of 17 and is reborn into another world. From a baby girl, it has been 8 years already and only now does the main female protagonist of the series regain her memory to find out that she is Catarina Claes, one of the main villainesses in the last otome game she has played, Fortune Lover. As a person, who has played the game many times and knows most, if not all the routes, she knows that whatever route she might choose, it will most certainly lead to either her death, or exile. Hence the title.

Storyline Critique

I know that you are thinking about two things: 1) ‘I am not a girl to watch girly anime’ and 2) ‘oh, no, another otaku is reborn in the world of a video game series’. First, this anime is targeted at both males and females and it does not mean that as a male, you will not want to watch it. And second, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! is different from its isekai counterparts, because Hamefura is actually a very unique series. As it has been mentioned before, Catarina has been an otaku in her previous life. This is just an ingenious decision. Catarina is reborn into a noble, but she, as an otaku has her charm about her, which makes this series that interesting. Her personality changes the main villainess into something that people want to protect and they just want to help Catarina in everything they can.

Unusual Art For Unusual Series

The art style is cute and colorful which fits the otome theme well. While it is somewhat weird at first, but after some episodes you will get used to it and appreciate the art style of the series.

Angela’s Voice Will Not Let You Skip OST

The OST, however, is simply amazing. The opening and ending themes both fit the series amazingly well, as well as other OST pieces and the voice acting, which make this series that amazingly entertaining to watch. My personal utmost respect for the creators of the series for the opining theme ‘Otome no Route wa Hitotsu janai!’ by angela, who has been my favorite singer, since Heroic Age. Please, do not skip the opening!

Characters Make This Series That Amazing

Katarina is reborn in a new world, which she thinks is a game. But in reality, all characters she meets, are not NPCs, but real people. So it has quite nothing to do with your favorite isekai MMORPG story, sorry to disappoint you. It does resemble the game she has played, but you will never get an explanation why. And it is not needed. Being an otaku, who is now a noble, Katarina is not your self-conceited aristocrat. She is bold and helpful, often acts without thinking-- that kind of a friend you want to be with and protect. However, having cleared the game, she knows that she is in the world of an otome game and she has the main role of a villainess. So she will do everything for her to avoid her ‘dooms route’. In addition to this, whenever a problematic event occurs, she will discuss the situation with many chibi Katarinas in her head, something similar to a cartoon Inside Out, if you have seen it. Whenever this scene occurs, it is just so funny.

Of course, a show with only one entertaining protagonist has no right to be called a masterpiece. And Hamefura has a huge cast of characters that have a story about them. Even many of the supporting characters get so much development, which makes this series that intriguing. Indeed, I will not try to hide the fact that some supporting characters could have got a slightly better development, but that is not much of a problem for me to touch upon.

Criticism

The only thing I can criticize this series for is that it is romantic comedy and romantic comedy only. But it would be wrong to think so. There will be a moment that will MAKE you drop a tear. Never mind that, all I can say is that this series is made for the viewers’ enjoyment; everything about it is good: the writing, the animation, the story, the OST, the characters; great show.

This is one of the best romantic comedies, with a drop of drama that I have ever seen. Never before did I find romantic comedies that breathtaking to watch. And truth be told, I even dropped a tear, because of how heartwarming this amazing series, Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta, is. Are you a fan of romantic comedies with amazing writing, what are you waiting for? Go watch Hamefura right now!