I don’t like Villainess stories. The whole Otome Game thing is beginning to oversaturate the market. So, what in the holy hell am I doing watching… *takes a deep breath* Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss desu ga Maou de wa Arimasen (Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord)?
Well, part of that answer is simple… I reviewed the first volume of the manga from One Peace Books and, to be honest, I discovered that it did something a little bit differently than some of the other Otome Game series I’ve tried to read (yes, I attempted to get into this genre! You know… open mind and all that.) What did it do differently and does that mean it’s worth your time if you’re not into this sort of stuff?
Let’s go…
First Episode Synopsis
We start with your typical pink-haired light-wielding magic user, Alicia Ehnleit. She’s heading to the royal academy; however, she’s just a commoner. Because she knows how to use light magic, they are making an exception because the demon lord is scheduled to awaken and, of course, light magic is quite the powerful weapon against darkness incarnate. The only problem is that she stops to help an elderly woman and ends up getting to the school’s gate at 6 sharp… right when they close.
There, she meets, Oswald Grimsarde. He is a first-year like her and is helping out with some of the school’s duties. He cites that the rules are the rules but mentions something about a broken wall she can use to sneak in. She finds the broken segment and meets William Ares, the son of a general who is strong. No, really… he’s so strong that she has to mention it every time he interacts with her. SO STRONG!
He gets distracted, and they fall through a window (because putting windows on roofs that nobody can reach unless you were on the roof itself is just genius architecture!). She lands on Edwin Valschein who is nobody special… he’s just the Prince from the Royal Family. Once we’re all settled in with our main characters, we get misdirected and discover that we were just watching an Otome Game this entire time!
In reality, a girl got smacked by a truck and ended up getting reincarnated into the game but she’s none of the characters I just mentioned. She is Yumiella Dolkness (what a name) and in the game’s original story, she ends up being the hidden boss after you beat the demon lord; however, since she played the game and knows everything about it back in the real world, she knows that she’s destined to die to Alicia… so, she hatches her master plan… level up in secret so that she could become strong enough to beat the demon lord if she has to… and stay the hell away from Alicia so she can live a peaceful life!
That plan seemed perfect until they determined everyone’s levels at the academy’s opening ceremony. Everyone went ballistic when they saw that William was level 10. Surely, Yumiella can’t be THAT high, right? Nope… she’s level 99. And there goes her plans for a peaceful life.
Worth Watching?
YES – As I stated, I’m not really into Otome Games (even though romance is my favorite genre period ever period. Because I loved the genre so much, that’s why I tried to get into these reincarnated/transported/summoned/etc into an Otome Game genre. I thought that it would offer a nice little spin on the things that I liked… and they did, at first… until I realized that almost all of them did the same thing… they tried to change the game’s story all while bagging one of the dudes for themselves and typically the person doing all this was the villainess.
Sure, things have altered some in the past couple of years but, generally, I didn’t care too much for what they had to offer; however, this one mixes a bit of seriousness with comedy, and rather than be a villainess looking to bag a guy or change the story, we have a girl who is just trying to change her fate while letting the story of the game play out normally. The only change would be that there would be no hidden boss after the demon lord because she wouldn’t allow herself to get set up as such.
Eh… there’s not enough in the first episode to cover the first volume of the manga; however, I will give a SLIGHT spoiler and say what made this stand out is that later on in the first volume, this series ends up more like a comedy fantasy isekai rather than a villainess Otome Game. Yeah, it could be considered a generic isekai at that point but this series has so much charm that it stands out in a good way.
Just based on the first episode, there is enough here to hook you. The fact that it took over half the episode to swerve the viewer (even giving us an OP of the game and not the anime itself), threw in some great comedy, and set us up for a different twist than what we’re used to seeing shows that this show is daring to be different by… well… not being different at all. It’s a classic fantasy comedy isekai disguised as an Otome Game.
That means I’m game to check this out and I think fans of both isekai and Otome Game genres will be happy with this one. Check it out.
