Hey folks, I've gone through and sourced every story I used in this project, so if you're struggling to figure out exactly which story is on screen at any given time, please check the closed captions / subtitle track "English (Canada)" which will have the corresponding title for whatever is on screen.
I still want to witness a villainess who gets called out on her wrong doings but instead of backing off or it turns into some fluffing Saintess instead not only calls out persecutors' bs, owns up to her own sh-t but makes certain she gets revenge by BEING The True Evil "Villainess" they made her out to be. A you Created Your Own Worst Enemy Situation. OR a Noble Heroine who is Framed as a Villainess, before "'dying" but Returns as Thee Overlord like Villainess who became the very Monster they framed and tried to murder prior. Call it Saintess OR Villainess, Why Not Both? OR The Betrayed Heroine Seeks Retribution by Becoming the Ultimate Villainess?
The best are the non-isekai variants where the villainess genuinely regrets their actions in their previous life and struggles to be a good person when doing it over again.
In that case, you’d love The Villainess Lives Again. It deals exactly with that issue where the villainess grapples with what she’s done in the original timeline and agonies over whether she deserves any happiness in the new timeline.
Absolutely! Esp when the author generally forgets about the main character being isekai’d. It’s so weird how so many doesn’t really utilize that practically op trait and is used just for a memory and personality wipe
Ok not necessarily following the Villainess trope but kinda in the mood to rewatch Gankutsuou and by extension reading good ol Count of Monte Cristo or y’know the movie too who have some slightly different endings
Except that one where she still accepts the guy who raped her in her past life because in this new one he was "kind" to her. Like Jesus fuck he made you get an abortion because of physical abuse wtf is wrong with you-
And a happy ending, which shook me as someone, who was indoctrinated into xtianity as a child. It's quite liberating to see them not forgiving and not forgetting but striking back at their abusers!
Sometimes you just want a nice revenge fantasy!!!!! Sometimes u want a lil evil in ur mc!!!!!! Sometimes u want some morally gray revenge!!!! 😂 SOMETIMES U JUST WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN---
It's pretty good, but i'd say its too early to tell. Other villainess stories with over 100 chapters like your throne or solitary lady, which starts off really strong, falls off at around the 100 chapters mark. But for classic villainess stories "I am the real one" is over 100 chapters, has all the classic tropes, and is just done so well. "The villainess lives again", and "what's wrong with being the villainess" are also goated. The best "non classic" villainess story for me might have to be "roxana", absolute psycho mad mc who you can somehow relate to. I love it. The best completed one for me is hour glass, super well known and actually deserves it.
@@Bt-cq6teAgreed on all aspects. I hate that the “guy in an Otome” doesn’t hit the same bars as the female ones. There is this power fantasy element to the guys in the story who are suddenly loved. Similar to how Bakarina gets everything by being nice. There isn’t exactly intrigue. One story I loved at the time was “The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion”, but since got bored of that sort of romance only genre to ones like “If Only I Was You, Just For A Day”/“Your Throne”. Political intrigue and fights are the best.
@@Bt-cq6te I wouldn't say it's necessarily "too early to tell" because it does seem to be nearing its conclusion? it's definitely not going for the hundreds of chapters manwha tend to do lol
its probably a pushback to the isekai genre not having enough female protagonists, and then deciding to make it extra hell for them by dealing them a bad hand
@@tumbke yes to that, but also, the OP power fantasy stories don't really appeal to most women. They seem to have much more fun with watching the underdog triumph.
A few OP power fantasies exist with female MC's, like "Saving up 80k gold for my retirement" or even level 99 villainess which he mentioned in this video.
How to Survive as a Maid in a Horror Game is a delightful dark twist in this genre. As the title suggests, reincarnator becomes a maid in a horror game. There’s genuinely quite tense moments but balanced with lightheartedness.
I love this one a lot it's really unique and the ml is *actually* terrifying for once. So many stories seem to have "handsome that will kill you" as a trope but Adrian is the only one that's actually intimidating (probably bc of that blue eyed stare.) I did here from novel readers that some info was cut out tho so that sucks.
Preach it brother. Villainess stories have replaced Isekai as my junk food media. I think what I like about them the most is how in villainess stories the MC is often a well fleshed out character, that already has an established background and relationships and a reason to be in the position they are in whereas in Isekai the fact that the MC was isekaid gets irrelevant 10 minutes in. There are so many Isekais were being Isekaied eventually gets in the way of the story wheras being "otomed" IS the main drive of the story.
Yeah, can relate. My current reading material is a pretty balanced mix of isekai and villainess, with some extra bangers mixed in. In isekai, I tend to gravitate towards the more grounded ones, as they often either have interesting behaviour and interactions or the impact of reincarnation is kept in some shape or form. A strong one (that is in hiatus rn :( ) is Highserk. Such gritty vibes. Similarly, I also adore darker villainess works. I just recently read the fiancé in love with younger sister and WOW where has that one been all this time!!! Genuinely made my heart ache. Fundamentally I just love seeing emotions and characteristics that most people choose not to dwell on too much. Existential crises, profound depressions, psychopathy/sociopathy, autistic, etc. It can be really fascinating to see how the writer understands these and how they choose to depict it. It’s what makes The One within the Villainess so glorious. She’s a broken girl deep down, and seeing a healthy relationship and empathy pointed in her direction changes her so profoundly, yet she still has her same quirks of behaviour.
"...and that's why if you think Yona of Dawn counts as a villainess story, you probably think a hot dog qualifies as a sandwich." lmao well played, Replay Value. Damn, ok, you sold me on a "trend" I thought was not my thing, this kinda sounds gas. Thanks for the recommendations
The light novel is pure gold (to the point I've not only read it, but bought it as a gift for my best friend), but after this video has convinced me that I need to read the manga as well, as Scarlett's face-game in Constance's body is Grade S. As it should be.
"The One Within the Villainess" is the one that really got me serious about this genre. Remilia actually feels like a proper villainess. The "what happened with the previous owner of this body" and how it was used to shape the villainess and provide motivation and justification for her actions is great. Not to mention it actually gave me the feels. The soul-crushing (literally) condemnation event of Emi was heartbreaking and got me 100% invested in the story of Remi's revenge. It's safe to say I'm now totally obsessed with this series. And I'm definitely checking out your recommendations.
@@awaisdawood2213 It is still ongoing. Chapter 19 is the latest one on official pixiv account. Latest paper release in Japan is Volume 4 which ends at chapter 18. No idea what the release schedule in Japan is like, but looks like scanlations are up to date with Japanese pixiv releases (with a week or two delay it seems). So we can only wait. (And yeah, I'm also dying to read more)
That adaptation though, bleh. Although I think I may be just turning against any and all adaptations that don't go all out, or are at least heavily stylized.
Irene is a strong, fun AF protag, while Lilia is still - after reading probably like 50 villainess mangas - the OG heroine turned villainous rival that feels like the biggest threat, despite having little to no powers of her own. Truely, a showdown of some of the baddest bitches in history (also that one time they're forced to worked together their comedic synergy absolutely fucking SHINES)
My favorite one and the one I highly recommend is Observation Log of My Fiance the Self-Proclaimed Villainess, where the main character is actually the man she's engaged to rather than the girl reincarnated. Frankly, I love it not only because it puts a fun twist on the story format, not only because it's funny as all get out, not only because Bertia is the most precious of cinnamon rolls, but also because it has a genuine meta commentary about how people interact with media woven in. Bertia is reincarnated as the villainess, but it's clear from the original heroine's intro she's is also reincarnated, and what they do with their knowledge are night and day. Another one is Villainess for the Tyrant, where the main girl gets married to the vicious king, but he falls for her on sight, so she starts trying to act like a villain so no one gets to him through her, though I'll admit that sort of falls away as the story goes on and the story expands. Oh, and the reincarnated person is actually the author who wrote the story, but she got put into the body of a character she never really thought about instead of the Heroine, so she's trying to work out how to get to the perfect man she wrote and replace our protagonist. It's pretty good.
There's also a sequel manga to this that immediately goes over what happens after everything in Observation Log, but before it's final pages. It continues to be a treat!
This is always my go to rec. I've never seen it even mentioned by anyone else until now. What makes it special to me is that it has the strengths of the bakalina style villainess character without being in the perspective of bakalina herself, which is a con because she's is the stupidest character in all of fiction. I get that it's kinda the point and it is used effectively for gags, but I it forces the narrative to take her thoughts and supposed conflicts seriously. Observation log proves that you can get the pros of that type of character without the cons
Dude have you been reading in batoto? Cause those two manga have been one of the first ones I see whenever I search for completed mangas. ALSO YESSSS BERTIA IS SO PRECIOUS
"Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion" goes hard. Finished too, so it's a good villainess manhwa to read that has an anime adaptation with 1 season.
I think that one technically doesn’t qualify as a villainess story because while Raeliana was supposed to die she was never the villainess in the original book or the story itself.
I include Raeliana whenever I consider villainess stories. I know it’s not by strict definition, but her disadvantage state of “doomed mob” gets played in the same structure as a “doomed villainess,” just with a twist. Her struggle against fate and her skewed status among other characters is very similar to how many villainess stories play out, but with a degree of ambiguity added because she isn’t in a such a defined villainess role.
You can kinda consider it a villainess story but in the perspective of the "supposed-to-be" main character of the book 'Raeliana' is in, became the actual villainess of the story itself.
@@someoneyoudonthavetoworryabt nope, original Raeliana was not a villain and the body the MC transmigrates into is not that of a Villain, original Raeliana was scaping death and that position can put most people in a desesperante state and make them do things they would not do any other way, she learned that she was gonna die and her fate was sealed, that Beatrice was not going to die and her death would become just a setting for the start of her relationship and she did what she could to get what she needed to survive, including getting Noah, of course it would not have been easy leaving her life behind but shedecided she was gonna live no matter what and died trying. Also if she found out her life was a nivel that would surely sendero anyone into an existencial crisis if that is their first live.
As you listed the different flavors of villainess stories I was surprised you didn't bring up "person isekai'd as a villainess character and decides to act out their role, only they themselves are not as wicked". I've seen a couple stories with this framework, but my favorite is An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess. Sometimes it nice to see a story where the struggle isn't getting people to like you, but instead in trying to get people to hate you and being TOO LIKEABLE.
Observation Log was such a great take on the genre and unique from having it be from his point of view. Bertie is just adorable and I think I need to reread it the series
I like the opposite of this too. "Night of Love With You" is a Chinese drama that hilariously captures the c-drama cliches after a villainess accidentally ends up having to play a hero character.
Since you're such a villainess fan you may enjoy the Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess! Its a really fun parody on the genre that still plays it pretty straight. Also it just got an anime announcement too.
@@ReplayValue i think you have the wrong one. this one doesn't have an anime adaptation confirmed. you're thinking of "ill be the villainess that goes down in history" THAT one had an anime adaptation coming soon😁
10:49 slight correction: villainess stories come from classical shoujo just like earlier games marketed towards girls (see princess angelique) but never had any correlation to otome games. And fun fact, with villainess stories being adapted into animes there are some becoming games and influencing the market as well but that's the inverse influence
@@-ponysparkle3-480 very early otome games were like this based on shojo but quickly stopped the villainess trope because they didn’t want to have it be girl versus girl so they quickly abandoned the trope.
@@Sally-zb4rs Yeahh 😅 It would just be nice to see otome games actually portrayed like current otome games in situations like this because they still end up misunderstood regarding the origins and what they're most of the time actually like now.
I'm so addicted to villainess stories that I recognize every single one you mention, I highly recommend you looking into Chinese villainess stories too. Chinese Manhua has so many awesome villainess stories where the setting is the popular Wuxia or cultivation story. I've noticed that Manga villainesses reincarnate into Otome games or games in general, Manhwa villainesses reincarnate into novels or manhwas, and Manhua villainesses reincarnate into cultivation stories. Similar to the villainess genre, there's the Chinese retribution system genre where those who were wronged initially become the villainess and get their revenge. I literally be eating these stories up.
I really love wuxia and xianxia stories so if you have any recommendations for villainess stories that also fall in those categories I would love to hear them! Not a villainess technically, but I've already read Scum Villain and loved it! So if you know any more like that (that's also available to read in English) I'm all ears!!
Ehhh. There are a few good ones but I find them to be full of themes that I do not personally find enjoyable. More than a few have a “slavery is okay”, colorism, racism, and misogyny themes that are a little too blatant for my eyes. And the ones that don’t have those tend to drag… but I am curious if there’s any good ones I missed you can recommend 👀 (EDIT: EXCEPT CHEATING MEN MUST DIE!!!! THATS A MUST READ!!! BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST OTOMEISEKAI STORIES (unbiased)(no I’m not, this is very biased))
I’m a 16 year old straight male who plays on the varsity football team, but I honestly cannot get enough of these stories. I used to have a big range of animes/mangas/manhuas/etc that I would watch/read but now I only read these (I’ve read them since I got into everything, but now they’re all I read). There’s just so many! I know I’m kinda out of place liking stuff like this and my friends definitely think I’m weird for it, but that doesn’t stop me from reading. Thanks for this video because your description of what makes them good despite being repetitive fully encapsulated my thoughts on the genre. My favorites are definitely “Beware the villainess”, “Not sew wicked stepmom”, and “Who made me a princess?” (Idk if the last one counts). But yeah, thanks again for this video, I’m gonna send this to my friend to try to get him on our side 😂
My personal favorites are “ I Thought It Was a Common Isekai Story” “The Way to Protect the Female Lead's Older Brother” and “It Looks Like I’ve Fallen into the World of a Reverse Harem Game” that’s for Korean comics for Japanese it’s “Middle-Aged Man's Noble Daughter Reincarnation” “Higeki no Genkyou tonaru Saikyou Gedou Rasubosu Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu”. “The Reincarnated Villainess' Dark History”. “Villainess Level 99 ~I may be the Hidden Boss but I'm not the Demon Lord~” “the one within the villainess” and the classic “my next life as a villainess” honestly to be fair I other favorites for Korean and Japanese.
Honestly, my favorite part of Villainess stories is usually the best friend relationships. Like with some other "mid-boss" villainess, or maybe the princess who also hates the prince who was the former love interest, etc. But either way, it usually ends up with the girls just really looking out for each other and often protecting each other from the toxic male love interests, which is always great to see as so often women in media are shown to be rivals and toxic, and it's always wonderful to see them uplifting each other like is often the case in this genre. My absolute favorites are those like "Beware the Villainess" where the "Heroine" becomes the bestie of the villainess, and one or the other is making it their mission to protect the other from the often vile or at least himbo stupid male harem members.
No one’s mentioned Concubine Walkthrough yet? It’s honestly SO GOOD. So much mystery mixed with such layered plots and dynamic characters. It’s one of the few manhwa I’ve read that really plays into the video game setting. It’s also based in fictional Ancient China, so there’s political intrigue abound. It’s honestly just such good writing that not only is it one of my favorite manhwa, it’s one of my favorite pieces of storytelling. Full stop.
OH MY GODDDD CONCUBINE WALKTHROUGHHH ❤❤❤❤ I think it had some bad luck to not appear in top rankings when it was ongoing 😢 now it's completed but most villainess readers don't stumble on it
booooy, i was watching this video and see your talking about concubine walkthrought and i start to read, i spen all my night reading and i finish it now, i dont have words to explain how terrible i am now, i couldn't belive the ending and im neffndvbjhfknd i dont find the right word!!!! i so saaad, but thank you, ngl this is not my favorite but its was really good! i understand why you like it soo much!
Although it's not a villainess story, "My Inlaws are Obsessed with me" is the best one I've read so far. Matty Bites does a really great job in her video explaining it, but I love it because a lot of the artwork shows what's happening. Another one I kinda like, is "All Cheating Men Must Die" the FL has to live through various characters, avenging them from a terrible fate. Either through books, games, fantasy, etc.
A really good one set in a more real world setting is Surviving Romance. Another one that might not end up on most lists due to have a main male character but fitting the formula really well imo is Trash of the Count’s Family
The “save the villainess” sub genre scratches an itch I didn’t know I had, and I’m glad it’s a thing. Good shout on Holy Grail of Eris. It is fantastic and the way secondary characters evolve into being so rich and deep is masterful. “How Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion” isn’t technically a villainess story, but it shares a very similar structure and is probably my favourite if we include it in the genre.
Yes! There's so many stories of villainess chars thriving by flipping the narrative but not enough of these modern characters just wanting to go back to their life. It has girls looking out for each other, an unexpectedly adorable ML and is short. It did what it had to, and left with a bang.
I'm so glad that villainess stories are finally picking up and I see more and more people talk about them. Similarly, they are my comfort content to read, although I read almost exclusively manhwas (prob to me being older and relating to those stories more). I hope we get to see more adaptations of those, there are so many varied stories. I think you might like "Secret Lady" if you haven't seen it already, if you like mystery and political intrigue stories! Some other favourites of mine are: My in-laws are obsessed with me - found family, slow burn with some mystery elements The Fantasie of a Stepmother - another found family heavily political intrigue based one The Lady and the Beast - focuses heavily on the consequences of rebirth and seeing people from your past in ones you meet in the present Author of my own Destiny - the author gets reincarnated into her own book and it explored her struggling with the decisions she made while writing it, but also wanting to change her own fate I hope you make more videos on the subject!
Fantasie of a stepmother is my G.O.A.T, each single panel is wallpaper material and the plot goes hard I would also recommend "I'll Raise You Well in This Life, Your Majesty!" if you liked it
A Stepmother's Märchen is seriously, unironically, peak fiction. Found family with genuine tension, their relationship(s) feel so real and the characters are so well written. One of the few "stepmother/pseudo-mother story" to not lose focus on the family and childcare aspect, while delving into the political intrigue and mystery at the same time; whereas other stories usually pivots and deviate almost exclusively to the romance or mystery, the family or child became afterthought as soon as their purpose as the story's catalyst is served. Really love My In-laws Are Obsessed With Me as well, it's good for the same reasons I think. I will try Author one you mentioned, thanks for the recommendation!
OMG, Stepmother's Marchen was mentioned! Yo, of all the different rebirth type manhwa's who's titles I've forgotten, that story sticks to my mind the most because of how gorgeous the art is. I loved how the art style isn't the usual efficient looking style (where understandably some artists use pre-made assets on as much things as possible to focus on characters and update schedule) too but more like illustrations you'd see on those old fairy tale books. I often find myself staring at some panels to observe how they did the lighting and such as some kind of art study. It's definitely one manhwa where I wouldn't mind buying a physical copy if it's possible.
What the heck, are you me? I’ve been obsessed with villainess manga for a while and haven’t been able to encapsulate all the reasons why. Thank you for this.
try "your majesty, please spare me this time"! it's a pretty serious series that if you loved "from a knight to a lady" i think you'd definitely like it. it's kind of a bait and switch as well with an unreliable narrator, just a great series overall. i love this subgenre and am so glad that it's so popular nowadays
I dabbled in the villainess subgenre of Manwha but i got consumed by in during one exam phase. I didn't want to study so I just read like there was no tomorrow. Exams came and went but my love for these stories stayed
I will always have a soft spot in my heart for "All Routes Lead to Doom" since it introduced me to the genre, but tbh my favorite so far has to be "Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Liesolotte." I loved every single character, the theme of Liesolotte, with the love and support of her friends, finally learning to love herself and fight against an unfair, preordained fate that she would fall to evil, and the ending of Endo and Kobayashi being able to attend Liesolotte and Sieg's wedding (as gamers, we all know this feeling after a really good video game, of wanting to be a part of the lives of those characters).
A cool premise ruined by ... its premise. The actual characters and story in the villainess story are great, but the live commentators are irritating at their best.
There's a Brazilian telenovela Mulheres de Areia (1973) (with a 1993 remake) where there's identical twin sisters, a good one and an evil one. The Good Twin is in love with a Hot Guy but the Evil Twin seduces him and steals him because she wants his money, then they get married and the Good Twin must suffer. But then the twins get into an accident where the Evil one dies and the Good one survives. But the only person who can tell them apart lies and convinces everyone that the survivor is the Evil one. So now she gets to be together with the Hot Guy she loves but it's also a life of lies. imo this counts as a Villainess Isekai
Knowing what's to come in the future AND being able to prove people wrong with their preconceived notions about me?? Yeah this genre is PEAK speak your truth 🙏
Yesss I'm eating good tonight. I love the "evil stepmother but not really" archetype since it's usually combined with my other favorite sub subgenre, childcare slice of life. PS: Eris no Seihai definitely one of my top villainess story 100% agree with you. Please make a follow up video!!
If you enjoy Bakarina, I highly recommend Tearmoon Empire Story. Basically if Overlord and Bakarina had a baby. A lot of these otome stories have said villainess's personality get a complete 180 from their cruel original self either by possession or time regression. What if they were just misunderstood? Mia from Tearmoon is exactly that. Mia maintains a similar selfish attitude pre and post time regression. The difference is that Mia knew that her selfish and ignorant nature led to her death so she tries to do her best to help others. Along the way she picks up followers that misunderstood her as some great sage that's playing chess when in reality she's just playing tic tac toe. The story is pretty well written. One moment you are laughing at the hilarious misunderstanding. The next you are tearing up. Great read.
It’s a funny one indeed. I thought it’d get old down the line but they ended up creating more unique relationships than simple ‘she is amazing, I want to follow her’. She also never gets to enjoy the misunderstandings. That’s what keeps it interesting for me.
I've read, finished and dropped so much Villainess manga and manhwa it's insane. The revenge stories, the romance stories, there's even fucking nation building?! I also relate with the juxtaposition between media taste and personal ethics, the guilty pleasure of reading the villainess enacting retributive justice as I smile disapprovingly, is just so enjoyable.
HOLY BASED. Truly cultured Shoujo Fan x Isekai Trash taste. Also, that Holy Grail of Eris recommendation felt like a gut punch, because I kept guessing which villainess stories you'd recommend, and kept guessing wrong (not having heard of most of the ones you recommended, so thanks for the reading list additions 👍) that I was very surprised to hear your highest recommendation being one that I also love. Also, as for my own Villainess recommendation, I've got three, two of which kinda fall on the very outskirts of the "villainess genre": The first one is a true-blooded "Villainess" yuri story with some very interesting features named "Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!" (which I sometimes get confused with "I Favor the Villainess") that... I wouldn't say is one of the best-written stories I've ever read, but was definitely a good read. Also, one of the few Chinese "villainess" stories I know about. The second one is *definitely* _not_ a Villainess story, mainly, but has a great arc dedicated to the genre (starting at chapter 83/84 of the manhwa adaptation): SSS-class Suicide Hunter. It's a power fantasy time loop "dungeon tower" story like many other Korean stories, but it's definitely an outstanding gem among the series, some creme of the crop. The first chapter is almost unreadably cringe, but it became one of my top 50 favorite stories of all time by chapter 30-something, and grew even better over time until chapter 83, where it does a One Piece/Mushoku Tensei-style genre shift & suddenly becomes a tropey villainess story for an arc, which is PEAK. Don't go skipping ahead to chapter 83, though. There is a lot of _much_ needed context in the earlier arcs, and the whole series is peak fiction. The third one is not really about a "villainess" but otherwise fits the genre to a T, and that is 남주의 엄마가 되어버렸다 or "namjuui eommaga doeeobeolyeossda" which has the multiple roughly-translated English titles of "I Became the Male Lead's Mom" or "I Married the Male Lead's Dad", but there are like 20 other similar series with almost the exact same title (especially in English translations). Anyways, the series is a great one full of some of my most favorite plot twists ever, along with your usual villainess tropes. I'd say the writing is above "Please Bully Me" but below "Suicide Hunter", or around the same level as "I Favor the Villainess"
Hahaha YES SSS Suicide Hunter’s most recent arc went absolutely insane. One has to appreciate how well it immerses itself into the genres that it tries to replicate, just as the main character does.
I would recommend Villians are Destined to Die, Penelope is probably my favorite villianess, she is just a perfect balance of actual real fear on being in a new world, being a good person but not a saint! With a nice fantasy/magic in the middle of everything, the male characters are interesting as well. Master Villianess the Invencible is a funny soft hearted one that I just started, very funny and full of action as well
I think my obsession with these kinds of stories stems from my love for fairytales. Heroines, Villains, Happy endings; those were my comfort reads. But there were times where I'd imagine, "What if the stepmother in Cinderella was actually a good person?" "How would that story play out?" From Revolutionary Girl Utena to Revue Starlight to these Villainess stories, I enjoy seeing the protagonist take control of their own story against all odds.
If you're curious of another version of Cinderella, you should check out the anime Cinderella Monogatari/The Story of Cinderella. It does show Step-Mommy in a different light at a certain point in the story, at least as I remember.
as a fellow villainess enjoyer of the post-bakarina world, i'm mainly here for the rec list in the description, but this video truly captures why villainess stories are so fantastic. Also big W for Beware the Villainess mention, that's definitely the one that got me hooked on the genre.
I am obsessed with this genre, thank you for the new food My current favourites are 'Villains Are Destined to Die' and 'The Perks of Being a Villainess' (really hoping it comes out of hiatus soon 😭)
I'm glad more people are in love with the villainess stories, Reincarnated as a Villainess was also my introduction to the genre and I'm glad I gave it a chance. There's a lot of really good ones that have become one of my favorite stories.
I stumbled on The one within the Villainess while on mangadex, it's the only from the genre I've ever liked, but it's one of the few manga I follow regurlarly. Good stuff, the slow burn revenge and the power fantasy is great
6:26 this reminds me of why I like fanfiction. At the base it’s the same character and/or world. But still there are so many possibilities. And even while there are a lot of bland fanfics, there are so many absolutely gut punching stories that I know by heart and would recommend to anyone if I wasn’t afraid to be judged for reading fanfiction in the first place. When I love a series, genre or premise I can read thousands of stories even if they seem similar and still not get bored
In japan, the 5 was published in february ! I think it will coming at the end of the year ! ( The novel had a break around 2022, that's maybe why the manga had a break too !) The rest of the story is really good ( based on the light novel)
You’re me 😩 I love these villainess and reincarnation stories. Some a bit cliche but others, despite coming from the same starting point they can expand their world and trama in such a beautiful and crazy way it’s always exiting and intriguing wondering what kind of thing it’s hiding under its sleeve.
I've come back to this video like three times already, every time I want to read some good villainess I look up your recommendations but I also end up repeating the whole video to look for them
If you want to go deeper to read fanfics. My first exposure to Hamefura was with “Maria Campbell of the Astral Clocktower”, which is a Hamefura x Bloodborne crossover. Maria the DLC boss dealing with Bakarina and her harem is more canon to me than the original manga/anime/game; it’s that good.
I never assumed I would be interested in these Villainess stories when the first came to popularity. But when I came across With One Day Left - I was intrigued enough with the speedrunner's gimmick that I was willing to give it a chance as a crash course sort of deal into the genre, and it was a heck of a fun ride. Since then however, I haven't gotten into any other Villainess stories, still seeing the genre as a whole as something well outside my interests. Cut to this popping up in my recommended, click on it SOLELY to see if With One Day Left would be mentioned, and coming out of it with two recommendations I'm planning to check out The One Within, and The Holy Grail. I doubt I'll ever truly be a fan of the genre in general, but let's see about dipping more than a toe in this time.
Am I basic for absolutely adoring Endo and Kobayashi's Live Commentary on the Villainess? The character are so earnest, while the worldbuilding provides some interesting secrets. And of course I stan our autistic level 99 hidden boss. The duchess of oraoraoraora could have been all punching all the time and no one would have been disappointed but it's so much better than that. I think my tastes run in the opposite direction to this video, so it's great that the genre has room for all of us.
Otome Isekai Villainess stories has strong grip on me, despite its often repetitive flavor has a genre for everyone, I hope this genre continue to grow. Great video and I need that villainess alignment chart video now
13:00 The fast and greatly concise recommendation descriptions is the best part of this video for me frfr EDIT: Also i thought your fav was gonna be "My Throne" but just noticed it ain't a Villainess manhwa but just has a badass villainess
I think it counts. It’s just crazy subversive. Rarely is the male lead a total freaking monster in these, and it’s quite remarkable how threatening that dude from your throne is. It dares ask the question: How tf do you actually strike back against a prince if there are real consequences? And the answer is a massive web of lies and manipulation.
Absolutely loved this video! As someone who is equally obsessed with Villainess stories, I enjoyed your perspective a lot! There was a lot of ones you mentioned that I havent read yet that I definitely need to check out! My introduction into the "Villainess" genre started with a Chinese book called Scum Villain. Not really a Villainess since the reincarnated lead is a man. But the trope is still there regardless. And I loved that book series so much I wanted to see more stories with that same villain premise that I watched My Next Life As A Villainess. And then I've just kinda spiraled from there. I just love all the different aspects of them. From the struggle of trying to lay low (and failing) or actively trying to become friends with everyone, or even just outright embracing the villain role and getting revenge. All of it is always so fun to read/watch. Especially when the characters still think they're on the path of the original ending even though they have long since prevented that ending from even being a thought in anyone else's mind. You should release the Alignment Chart rant, I very much would love to hear it. Also if anyone has additional recommendations please feel free to share! The genre is so huge at this point that sometimes its hard to find all the stories that classify. Especially since some stories I think technically aren't Villainess stories (because the lead was never actually a villain), but people seem to still count them as such. (7th Time Loop, Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion, etc.)
I love love love villainess stories and I think you explained them perfectly as to why they are just so much fun. And yet I still haven’t read your favorite one or a few of the ones you’ve mentioned. Definitely coming back to this video later as I read through these.
While I'm simply Bakarina brained (and have only really watched a few of these works), I do think that the point about the possibilities and how it can be adapted in so much ways makes the villainess sub-genre really interesting. Bakarina, is vastly different then 7th Timeloop which is different from Magirevo, and that's awesome, I would want, even the works in my favorite genre, to be easily identifiable and have stark contrasts where I don't feel like I'm experiencing the same thing over and over
As a fellow connoisseur of the villainess subgenre it is a pleasure to see some of my favorites recognized and new recommendations to add to my ever growing list. Thank you!!
this is the only genre i could read thousands of works with the same plot progression and still wouldn't get enough of whoever first came up with this cooked😭 you have elite taste btw i've never seen someone mention holy grail of eris ever
Ngl, I only have Tapas because of these types of stories. I shall now list all the ones I'm reading: - Villains Are Destined to Die - The Villainess Turns the Hourglass - Baked by the Baroness (I specially recommended this one) - Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom - I Fell into a Reverse Harem Game - Solitary Lady - Villainesses Have More Fun - The Perks of Being a Villainess So, yeah, for some reason they just appeal to me a lot.
Let's not forgot the subgenre of this subgenre with the in novel universe side characters reacting to the villainess main characters n events. best recommendation on the top of my heads are "An Observation Log of My Wife - A Self-Proclaimed Villainess" & "My Mom Entered a Contract Marriage" These stories are best for veterans of these villainess stories
YES!!! YESSSS!!! >w< )❤ I absolutely love these two series just cuz we're seeing the narrative from another individual rather than the supposed villainess itself; a third person perspective. And seeing them react to the unusual actions of the villainess, whether they think they should acknowledge it or not, definitely caught my attention.
@@sweetmeloday5935 🎉 yeah a fellow reader of these series. It also helps that my mom entered a contract marriage has breathtaking art too, like omg ❤
@@sweetmeloday5935 yussssss. The best part that stand out about these 2 is that the side character MC perspective gives them a unique plot line compare to If Yr following the usual villainess character. Some stories just slowly move the narrative to make these characters similar to the villainess characters experience, but that defeats the purpose of the premise. Im glad these 2 are different from one another 2 since 1 is the perspective of a male love interest n the other is from a mind of a child and the story does so accordingly
Awesome video! Thanks for talking about the Villainess genre, it's seriously underappreciated and I'd love to see more videos like this one. Here are some of my favorite series I'm reading! (most are villainess or revenge stories): - Roxana (The way to save the female leads older brother) - Your Throne - The Remarried Empress - Regina Rena: To the Unforgiven - Cheating Men Mus Die/Phoenix Rising Above Evil - Behold the True Villainess - I Am The Real One - With Vengence, Sincerely, Your Broken Saintess - The Real Daughter is Back - Surviving as a Maid - Beware the Villainess - The Villainess Turns the Hourglass - Please Don't Come To The Villainess' Stationery Store
Why did this video come across as holy gospel to me? oh wait, villainess stories is basically all I read. Keep preaching! edit: was hoping for a recommendation with your favorite, but I just read Holy Grail of Eris. I read everything mentioned in this video. Dang it. I always need more material. I read through an entire series in a day, staying up all night to get it done if needed. It's a serious problem... that I don't have enough material, obviously. Screw sleeping who needs it. If I had to pick a favorite myself though I couldn't tell you... I love them all so much. I love the comical ones where the main character is a sweet dunce constantly afraid of a bad ending that obviously wont happen as the entire cast is in love with them. I love the drama packed ones with revenge plots and intense scenes. I love the ones with great character growth such as a tyrant going back in time and learning to be a better person her second time around. I love the family oriented ones where a mother raises a children who become the villains, or marries the villain, or falls in love with a secondary character and they MC acts to try to prevent their families tragic fates. I don't usually prattle on this much but dang it this video is so targeted towards me I can't help it.
You’re exactly like me ngl also The Daughter of the Albert House Wishes for Ruin is a funny one if you’ve haven’t read that. Middle-Aged Man's Noble Daughter Reincarnation is funny too as well as wholesome The Reincarnated Villainess' Dark History is also funny but sad. I Thought It Was a Common Isekai Story. It’s both cute and sad as well as nail biting has a TW too Honestly I’ve been obsessed with Isekai idols/actors if you want to try them and haven’t. Debut or Die. It’s one of my favorites. Has a TW I think? Be the actor. This one is also a favorite of mine I love it. Superstar From Age 0. Honestly the MC is so OP but just ahhh it’s so cute too. Holy Idol. It’s really funny Monochrome Rumor. Pretty interesting and sad. Also has a TW The Maknae Has to Be an Idol. Interesting so far Meteor Orbit. This one scares me. Saving the Doomed Idols With My Touch. I’ll just leave that name here. The Genius Idol’s Strategy to Stardom. Idk yet but the MC sure has confidence which is funny. The Second Life of an All-Rounder Idol. Honestly only read a little so idk. My Second Life as an Idol. Also read a little. And lastly. I Became The Youngest Member Of Top Idol.
I'm absolutely obsessed with villianess anime, manhwa, and manga (especially 7th Time Loop - it's so freaking amazing) and this video gave me life. Thanks so much for the recommendations and your commentary
This seems like the perfect chance to shill The Fed up Office Lady Wants to Serve the Villainess! Yuri with villainess being actually evil! Go give it a try!
I'd also recommend that one, I'm enjoying it a lot. It's really interesting because the MC is neither the villainess nor the heroine, she's just herself. And both the villainess and the heroine seem interested in her, and possibly even each other, so it may even end up being not just regular yuri, but poly yuri!
The One Within the Villainess is so good it is one of the few series that got me to speed past the manga and get the full story in the LN. can’t wait to see the manga to completion!
I really need to up my villainness game. Sure, most of these series are still ongoing and I don't start ongoing series anymore, but still I am really lacking in my villainness literacy. Kinda frustrating hearing how the dialogue is interesting because it has multiple layers (17:07) since I'd need to read the translation. Obligatory list of my personal favourites (all in my top 10% of manga I've scored): 1. Nokori Ichinichi 2. Isn't the Villainess' Punishment to Enter Into a Political Marriage With an Autocrat Too Lenient (A chuunibyou villainness and chuunibyou tyrant get married) 3. Slow Prison Life (Now this is a true villainness, diagnosed as a literal psychopath and everyone's except the prince is just fine with that) 4. Villains Are Destined to Die (Explain this for me, I'm not good with words) 5. Naturally, I Demand Restitution (Chapter 17 was so good, series overall is probably not technically good) 6. This Girl is a Little Wild (They fit together so well)
Great video. My wife and I both really enjoy Villaness anime. We've watched all of them. Will definently read some of your recommendations. Thanks for all of the titles and links in the description.
There is now the 7th loop, or as I'd like to call it; V7, Villaness 99, or V99. But where is my V8?! Where is the Valkyrie, all shiny and chromed, that brings me to the gates of Valhalla?! By my deeds, I honour her. V8!
We could also have a proper V7. A villaness is banished or sent to die along with 6 knights to make sure she is properly judged and is repentful before death but ends up in an adventure that makes the villaness have a profound value of life, or something like that.
Look it's always been simple: I just like capable woman. Even the villainess stories that start out with incapable fools are about the growth which is super satisfying. My only gripe I'd say is that, often, the villainess stories don't show the full context of the plan so it becomes hard to deduce beforehand how the plan will work out. Do you have any recommendations that allow you to think along the mc's to figure out the best course of action? I read Dear Nemesis recently (it's not complete yet) and enjoy the romance in it but I'm really missing the "makes me feel smart" part of the scheming!
Honestly, villainess stories probably just aren't for me, but I would like to recommend Tearmoon Empire. Despite my usual avoidance of villainess anime, I genuinely enjoyed Tearmoon Empire because the protagonist, Mia, is incredibly flawed (kind of like Marie Antoinette) but throughout the anime you can see that she is willing to redeem herself and fix her mistakes. While Mia's main motivation may be to save herself, I can still see moments where she does good things out of genuine kindness. All of the side characters are at least lovable, and Mia's relationship with her love interest is genuinely kind of cute. The animation may not be the best, but I still looked forward to watching it as it updated. I think my main reason for loving Tearmoon Empire so much is just because I find Mia to be a great example of a flawed, lovable character that I haven't seen much of nowadays. Her doom was mainly the result of her flaws and her mistakes, which I personally prefer more than her doom being caused by external forces. She isn't the underdog, nor is a she a brilliant tactician, and that's what I love about her. Admittedly, Tearmoon Empire is the only villainess (sort of) anime that I watched, so I'm not even sure if it qualifies as "villainess". And I've only watched the anime, not the light novels. It may never get a season 2, but I still love it as it is.
I classify it as a villainess story, especially with later volumes. No spoilers, but it genuinely does get better. I’d invite you to read the light novels if you can, the author has genuinely smart writing that the anime doesn’t cover. In addition, there are a few chapters that explore the ramifications of the old timeline, and the outcomes the different characters (Anne, Sion, Tiona, etc.) suffered through. It provides such an amazing juxtaposition to the current timeline, and shows how despite everything, Mia’s actions have been changing things to the better (even if she doesn’t fully recognize it) I just love this light novel so much fr
@@halleyscomet0867 Oh, sorry I didn't see your comment earlier. I'm really bad at replying to stuff. I am interested in reading the light novels, but I'd probably have to dig online for a translation first, and I've never had much luck finding good light novel translations. Thanks for replying. I'm definitely interested in what Tearmoon Empire has to offer.
i’m so glad so many people love this genre and have gotten so many recommendations out of this video!! my introduction was Villains Are Destined to Die, and it’s my all time favourite. the deep emotions, the continuous risk of death, the relationships (the ml and Penelope are my favourite couple of all time!), it’s just phenomenal. Also, adore Roxana, though kinda deviates because the heroine has a shitty story too but still rlly good. it’s just so good watching the struggle of living in the messed up household that mc lives in and seeing her be like them even though she was isekaied. her emotional struggle too and desire to save the hero just so she won’t die is so great. it’s on hold and has been for a while tho since the artist had some rlly bad working conditions that lead to her miscarriage, which is so messed up and i really hope she’s doing alright. another favourite is The Perks of Being a Villainess (ongoing). It’s less serious and more of a fun story of an isekaied girl trying to not be a doormat like she was in her previous life, and trying to embody the personality of the villainess, while also trying to f everyone who messes with her over by being super successful. I also have to mention Your Throne, which starts as a villainess story and deviates, but it’s so good. The story is heavy and I genuinely had to mentally recover from what I had read but it’s seriously so good and ongoing so i’m waiting for more. More recs: The Villainess is a Marionette - bit weird with the obsessive brother who’s not her brother but the art is gorgeous and mc becomes such a good schemer (which she seems to learn from nowhere but oh well), mc protecting her people, and the romance make it so good. I’ll Raise You Well In This Life, Your Majesty - not proper Villainess story, more regret and reincarnation, but adore the motherly love especially after so much regret, it’s adorable seeing her interactions with her family, the story does spend so long in some arcs though making you really just miss and wait for familial interactions again. More of my favourites were mentioned in the video, so I just know I’m getting great recs.
villainess stories are often fast food to me. easy, where everything tends to work out for the protag. heavily seasoned with msg or sugar, as in the villains are cartoonishly evil and the situations tend to disadvantage the protag so much that her rise to power and revenge taste so satisfyingly strong. not overly complicated in with ambiguous morality or whatnot, who are you supposed to root for is clear whether theyre good to begin with or redeemable later. easy to get, easy to digest, popular with many options to choose from. reliable in its predictability, you know what will you get in term of touchstone tropes whether they will follow or directly defy it. feels unhealthy in contrast to deep, complex narratives 'foods' that are less easy to digest with more (well, sometimes) payoff that overindulging makes me feel bloated, but harmless as a treat every now and then lol. its just fun! they're comforting, as you say! they're my go to media when I want to turn my brain off. im writing every recs down! thank you! EDIT YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOUR RECS ARE ELITE???? THESE ARE SO GOOD........... the one within the villainess and holy grail of eris especially, they completely break my preconception of shallow villainess stories. thank you so much!!!!!
lol But yeah, there’s a lot of low hanging fruit, but those who put in the effort get something really impressive. Same with anything really, there’s plenty of cheap bargain bin isekai, but some of them out there go above and beyond and it’s always so nice to see.
My favourite ones are these two. "The Villainess slow prison life" It has short manga, but novel is completed. Main character is VERY villainious, but she as prince fiance she kept herself from doing anything bad, but after she got imprisoned (which she predicted and prepared for) she let loose and wreck complete chaos from comfort of her cell. "I Reincarnated as a Noble Girl Villainess But Why Did It Turn Out This Way?" Is only novel, but it's one of my most favourite story period. MC is noble daughter of family of psychos and if she didn't get memories from her earth life she would end same, so instead she poison whole her family and ends as sole heir of her house.Funilly enough before "otome" academy life start she already went through war and became basically this world Vlad Tapes. It's gritty story, but it has really nice action and it's kinda amusing that reincarnated individual like Elise ends being more hardline old school noble than majority of character that are naturaly part of this world.
Knew you had good taste. The second half of the 7th Time Loop anime covers vol 2 and, having just finished vol 5, I would say it the weakest part. I'm glad you're giving it more attention because I would love to see the next 3 get adapted
My favorite in the genre is "The Villainess Turns the Hourglass". In the last couple of years this genre completely hooked me. Great video. I will look into some of the stories you mentioned.
Hey folks, I've gone through and sourced every story I used in this project, so if you're struggling to figure out exactly which story is on screen at any given time, please check the closed captions / subtitle track "English (Canada)" which will have the corresponding title for whatever is on screen.
legend
Tearmoon Empire and 7th Timeloop are my favorites.
I still want to witness a villainess who gets called out on her wrong doings but instead of backing off or it turns into some fluffing Saintess instead not only calls out persecutors' bs, owns up to her own sh-t but makes certain she gets revenge by BEING The True Evil "Villainess" they made her out to be. A you Created Your Own Worst Enemy Situation. OR a Noble Heroine who is Framed as a Villainess, before "'dying" but Returns as Thee Overlord like Villainess who became the very Monster they framed and tried to murder prior. Call it Saintess OR Villainess, Why Not Both? OR The Betrayed Heroine Seeks Retribution by Becoming the Ultimate Villainess?
love you replay .srry dont know ur name .great work and one of my favs
hihihih plspls do recommend more if u can these r so good and ive been binging them day by day
The best are the non-isekai variants where the villainess genuinely regrets their actions in their previous life and struggles to be a good person when doing it over again.
In that case, you’d love The Villainess Lives Again.
It deals exactly with that issue where the villainess grapples with what she’s done in the original timeline and agonies over whether she deserves any happiness in the new timeline.
Like The Tyrant wants to be good!
I like a lot “The Villainess turns the hourglass”, was my first villainess story.❤️
Tearmoon empire?
Absolutely! Esp when the author generally forgets about the main character being isekai’d. It’s so weird how so many doesn’t really utilize that practically op trait and is used just for a memory and personality wipe
I am actually distraught about not being able to see the villainess alignment chart. I was genuinely looking forward to it. 😭
Yeah, I was sad when we didn’t actually look at this. 😢
Better make another video dedicated solely to the chart
Me too tbh
give us the chart!! i need the 3 hour info dump NOW!!!!!!!! (no but like,,, pls 😭)
I agree I need that in the chart and examples. It better be like a three or four hour video breakdown.
Villianus stories also opens up revenge stories. And a lot of us love seeing evil people get karma.
Ok not necessarily following the Villainess trope but kinda in the mood to rewatch Gankutsuou and by extension reading good ol Count of Monte Cristo or y’know the movie too who have some slightly different endings
Except that one where she still accepts the guy who raped her in her past life because in this new one he was "kind" to her.
Like Jesus fuck he made you get an abortion because of physical abuse wtf is wrong with you-
That’s so true
And a happy ending, which shook me as someone, who was indoctrinated into xtianity as a child. It's quite liberating to see them not forgiving and not forgetting but striking back at their abusers!
Sometimes you just want a nice revenge fantasy!!!!! Sometimes u want a lil evil in ur mc!!!!!! Sometimes u want some morally gray revenge!!!! 😂 SOMETIMES U JUST WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN---
You know you’re in deep when you’ve already read all the stories he’s shown
Yeah
Real🔥🗣️🗣️
Fr 😅
most of them were familiar to me lmfao
I'm shamed
The One Within the Villainess is GENUINELY ONE OF THE MOST WELL WRITTEN STORIES PERIOD
It's pretty good, but i'd say its too early to tell. Other villainess stories with over 100 chapters like your throne or solitary lady, which starts off really strong, falls off at around the 100 chapters mark. But for classic villainess stories "I am the real one" is over 100 chapters, has all the classic tropes, and is just done so well. "The villainess lives again", and "what's wrong with being the villainess" are also goated.
The best "non classic" villainess story for me might have to be "roxana", absolute psycho mad mc who you can somehow relate to. I love it.
The best completed one for me is hour glass, super well known and actually deserves it.
@@Bt-cq6te thanks for the recommendations
@@Bt-cq6teAgreed on all aspects. I hate that the “guy in an Otome” doesn’t hit the same bars as the female ones. There is this power fantasy element to the guys in the story who are suddenly loved. Similar to how Bakarina gets everything by being nice. There isn’t exactly intrigue.
One story I loved at the time was “The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion”, but since got bored of that sort of romance only genre to ones like “If Only I Was You, Just For A Day”/“Your Throne”.
Political intrigue and fights are the best.
@@Bt-cq6te I wouldn't say it's necessarily "too early to tell" because it does seem to be nearing its conclusion? it's definitely not going for the hundreds of chapters manwha tend to do lol
Omg yes i started reading it a little while back and omg it's soo good
I'm just impressed so many authors decided to do this very specific setup often enough that it effectively became it's own genre.
I know what you mean
its probably a pushback to the isekai genre not having enough female protagonists, and then deciding to make it extra hell for them by dealing them a bad hand
@@tumbke yes to that, but also, the OP power fantasy stories don't really appeal to most women. They seem to have much more fun with watching the underdog triumph.
A few OP power fantasies exist with female MC's, like "Saving up 80k gold for my retirement" or even level 99 villainess which he mentioned in this video.
@@GetsLonely I mean underdog and op power fantasy can go together. Getting better over time, until you have complete power.
How to Survive as a Maid in a Horror Game is a delightful dark twist in this genre. As the title suggests, reincarnator becomes a maid in a horror game. There’s genuinely quite tense moments but balanced with lightheartedness.
I love that one
its funny seeing the genre change so quickly with the fonts and vibe changing as the chapter goes on
If you enjoyed that, I suggest Sell the main character's stocks!
I love this one a lot it's really unique and the ml is *actually* terrifying for once.
So many stories seem to have "handsome that will kill you" as a trope but Adrian is the only one that's actually intimidating (probably bc of that blue eyed stare.)
I did here from novel readers that some info was cut out tho so that sucks.
It's awesome art is good
Preach it brother. Villainess stories have replaced Isekai as my junk food media. I think what I like about them the most is how in villainess stories the MC is often a well fleshed out character, that already has an established background and relationships and a reason to be in the position they are in whereas in Isekai the fact that the MC was isekaid gets irrelevant 10 minutes in. There are so many Isekais were being Isekaied eventually gets in the way of the story wheras being "otomed" IS the main drive of the story.
Yeah, can relate. My current reading material is a pretty balanced mix of isekai and villainess, with some extra bangers mixed in.
In isekai, I tend to gravitate towards the more grounded ones, as they often either have interesting behaviour and interactions or the impact of reincarnation is kept in some shape or form.
A strong one (that is in hiatus rn :( ) is Highserk. Such gritty vibes.
Similarly, I also adore darker villainess works. I just recently read the fiancé in love with younger sister and WOW where has that one been all this time!!! Genuinely made my heart ache.
Fundamentally I just love seeing emotions and characteristics that most people choose not to dwell on too much. Existential crises, profound depressions, psychopathy/sociopathy, autistic, etc. It can be really fascinating to see how the writer understands these and how they choose to depict it.
It’s what makes The One within the Villainess so glorious. She’s a broken girl deep down, and seeing a healthy relationship and empathy pointed in her direction changes her so profoundly, yet she still has her same quirks of behaviour.
Im still gorging myself on both😂. And when they overlap i go ravenous.
"...and that's why if you think Yona of Dawn counts as a villainess story, you probably think a hot dog qualifies as a sandwich." lmao well played, Replay Value.
Damn, ok, you sold me on a "trend" I thought was not my thing, this kinda sounds gas. Thanks for the recommendations
Actual Villainess > main characters being reincarnated as Villainess
What is the name of the manga in the intro
@@EmmaLee-fc3lgThough I May Be a Villainess, I’ll Show You I Can Obtain Happiness! (Specifically volume 1 chapter 2.)
@@LTMStarlight thanks ꉂ(ˊᗜˋ*)♡
VILLAINS ARE DESTINED TO DIE MENTIONED?!? AND BEWARE THE VILLAINESS TOO!? These two are my gateway to this rabbit hole of villainess genre 😭
Understandable. That's one of my favorites.
Those are my favorites as well!😭
ERIS MENTIONED HOLY FUCKING BASED?????
EXACTLYYYY I FELT SO VALIDATED
The light novel is pure gold (to the point I've not only read it, but bought it as a gift for my best friend), but after this video has convinced me that I need to read the manga as well, as Scarlett's face-game in Constance's body is Grade S. As it should be.
I had the same reaction OMG 😭😭❤️
I once described it as "Yu Gi Oh Season 0 but Shoujo." I think it still fits.
Yassss
Wait! NO!!!! I wanted to hear that 20 minute villainess alignment chart and compare it to my own!!! PLEASE.
"The One Within the Villainess" is the one that really got me serious about this genre. Remilia actually feels like a proper villainess. The "what happened with the previous owner of this body" and how it was used to shape the villainess and provide motivation and justification for her actions is great. Not to mention it actually gave me the feels. The soul-crushing (literally) condemnation event of Emi was heartbreaking and got me 100% invested in the story of Remi's revenge. It's safe to say I'm now totally obsessed with this series.
And I'm definitely checking out your recommendations.
How many chapter does the one within the villainess have since I can only find 19 and I am dying to read more
@@awaisdawood2213 It is still ongoing. Chapter 19 is the latest one on official pixiv account. Latest paper release in Japan is Volume 4 which ends at chapter 18. No idea what the release schedule in Japan is like, but looks like scanlations are up to date with Japanese pixiv releases (with a week or two delay it seems).
So we can only wait. (And yeah, I'm also dying to read more)
It’s short, but so much quality is packed in those pages. It’s also incredibly fast-paced, as Remilia does NOT fuck around.
The Otome Heroine's Fight for Survival, it's the opposite of villainess but it's also good.
Or Gyaru Maid, still 3 chapters but it looks very fun!
"I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss" was a fun story. Almond = Best Bird.
That adaptation though, bleh. Although I think I may be just turning against any and all adaptations that don't go all out, or are at least heavily stylized.
Irene is a strong, fun AF protag, while Lilia is still - after reading probably like 50 villainess mangas - the OG heroine turned villainous rival that feels like the biggest threat, despite having little to no powers of her own. Truely, a showdown of some of the baddest bitches in history (also that one time they're forced to worked together their comedic synergy absolutely fucking SHINES)
Yasss
i loveit! but Lilia is god damn confusing
My favorite one and the one I highly recommend is Observation Log of My Fiance the Self-Proclaimed Villainess, where the main character is actually the man she's engaged to rather than the girl reincarnated. Frankly, I love it not only because it puts a fun twist on the story format, not only because it's funny as all get out, not only because Bertia is the most precious of cinnamon rolls, but also because it has a genuine meta commentary about how people interact with media woven in. Bertia is reincarnated as the villainess, but it's clear from the original heroine's intro she's is also reincarnated, and what they do with their knowledge are night and day.
Another one is Villainess for the Tyrant, where the main girl gets married to the vicious king, but he falls for her on sight, so she starts trying to act like a villain so no one gets to him through her, though I'll admit that sort of falls away as the story goes on and the story expands. Oh, and the reincarnated person is actually the author who wrote the story, but she got put into the body of a character she never really thought about instead of the Heroine, so she's trying to work out how to get to the perfect man she wrote and replace our protagonist. It's pretty good.
There's also a sequel manga to this that immediately goes over what happens after everything in Observation Log, but before it's final pages. It continues to be a treat!
My favourite too .
This is always my go to rec. I've never seen it even mentioned by anyone else until now. What makes it special to me is that it has the strengths of the bakalina style villainess character without being in the perspective of bakalina herself, which is a con because she's is the stupidest character in all of fiction. I get that it's kinda the point and it is used effectively for gags, but I it forces the narrative to take her thoughts and supposed conflicts seriously. Observation log proves that you can get the pros of that type of character without the cons
Dude have you been reading in batoto? Cause those two manga have been one of the first ones I see whenever I search for completed mangas. ALSO YESSSS BERTIA IS SO PRECIOUS
Those are both some of my immediate recommendations! They are so hilarious I love them
"Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion" goes hard. Finished too, so it's a good villainess manhwa to read that has an anime adaptation with 1 season.
I think that one technically doesn’t qualify as a villainess story because while Raeliana was supposed to die she was never the villainess in the original book or the story itself.
I include Raeliana whenever I consider villainess stories. I know it’s not by strict definition, but her disadvantage state of “doomed mob” gets played in the same structure as a “doomed villainess,” just with a twist. Her struggle against fate and her skewed status among other characters is very similar to how many villainess stories play out, but with a degree of ambiguity added because she isn’t in a such a defined villainess role.
You can kinda consider it a villainess story but in the perspective of the "supposed-to-be" main character of the book 'Raeliana' is in, became the actual villainess of the story itself.
i mean the og raeliana was indeed a villian so it counts
@@someoneyoudonthavetoworryabt nope, original Raeliana was not a villain and the body the MC transmigrates into is not that of a Villain, original Raeliana was scaping death and that position can put most people in a desesperante state and make them do things they would not do any other way, she learned that she was gonna die and her fate was sealed, that Beatrice was not going to die and her death would become just a setting for the start of her relationship and she did what she could to get what she needed to survive, including getting Noah, of course it would not have been easy leaving her life behind but shedecided she was gonna live no matter what and died trying.
Also if she found out her life was a nivel that would surely sendero anyone into an existencial crisis if that is their first live.
As you listed the different flavors of villainess stories I was surprised you didn't bring up "person isekai'd as a villainess character and decides to act out their role, only they themselves are not as wicked". I've seen a couple stories with this framework, but my favorite is An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess. Sometimes it nice to see a story where the struggle isn't getting people to like you, but instead in trying to get people to hate you and being TOO LIKEABLE.
"I'll become a villainess that'll go down in history" is like this too, but I liked observation log more
Observation Log was such a great take on the genre and unique from having it be from his point of view. Bertie is just adorable and I think I need to reread it the series
it is so good I FINISHED READING IN A FEW DAYS
I like the opposite of this too. "Night of Love With You" is a Chinese drama that hilariously captures the c-drama cliches after a villainess accidentally ends up having to play a hero character.
I do love "May I Ask for One Final Thing?" for it's main characters ability so solve almost all her problems by applying fist into face.
The MC is great, but man her love interest is absolute shit. He has no flaw whatsoever because he basically a perfect prince.
I love Scarlet because I'm envious of her ability to do just that.
Since you're such a villainess fan you may enjoy the Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess! Its a really fun parody on the genre that still plays it pretty straight. Also it just got an anime announcement too.
Saw the announcement a few months back and am really excited to check it out when it airs!
_Dark History_ is getting an anime? Nice; I missed that announcement!
ITS YOU‼️‼️‼️ YIPPPEEE
@@ReplayValue i think you have the wrong one. this one doesn't have an anime adaptation confirmed. you're thinking of "ill be the villainess that goes down in history" THAT one had an anime adaptation coming soon😁
@magsthesimp twitter.com/tenkuro_PR/status/1758657765751529929
10:49 slight correction: villainess stories come from classical shoujo just like earlier games marketed towards girls (see princess angelique) but never had any correlation to otome games. And fun fact, with villainess stories being adapted into animes there are some becoming games and influencing the market as well but that's the inverse influence
Yess thank you!!! It's always a bit funny to see these series showcasing otome except most actual otome games are nothing like this.
@@-ponysparkle3-480 very early otome games were like this based on shojo but quickly stopped the villainess trope because they didn’t want to have it be girl versus girl so they quickly abandoned the trope.
@@Sally-zb4rs Yeahh 😅 It would just be nice to see otome games actually portrayed like current otome games in situations like this because they still end up misunderstood regarding the origins and what they're most of the time actually like now.
I'm so addicted to villainess stories that I recognize every single one you mention, I highly recommend you looking into Chinese villainess stories too. Chinese Manhua has so many awesome villainess stories where the setting is the popular Wuxia or cultivation story. I've noticed that Manga villainesses reincarnate into Otome games or games in general, Manhwa villainesses reincarnate into novels or manhwas, and Manhua villainesses reincarnate into cultivation stories. Similar to the villainess genre, there's the Chinese retribution system genre where those who were wronged initially become the villainess and get their revenge. I literally be eating these stories up.
I really love wuxia and xianxia stories so if you have any recommendations for villainess stories that also fall in those categories I would love to hear them! Not a villainess technically, but I've already read Scum Villain and loved it! So if you know any more like that (that's also available to read in English) I'm all ears!!
I also would love any recommendations of Chinese manhua stories!
I'd also love some recommendations! I've exclusively read manhwas so far so I'd love to read some villainess manhuas
Ehhh. There are a few good ones but I find them to be full of themes that I do not personally find enjoyable. More than a few have a “slavery is okay”, colorism, racism, and misogyny themes that are a little too blatant for my eyes. And the ones that don’t have those tend to drag… but I am curious if there’s any good ones I missed you can recommend 👀
(EDIT: EXCEPT CHEATING MEN MUST DIE!!!! THATS A MUST READ!!! BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST OTOMEISEKAI STORIES (unbiased)(no I’m not, this is very biased))
does anyone have recs of these kinds? i want to read some but i can never find good ones 😭
I’m a 16 year old straight male who plays on the varsity football team, but I honestly cannot get enough of these stories. I used to have a big range of animes/mangas/manhuas/etc that I would watch/read but now I only read these (I’ve read them since I got into everything, but now they’re all I read). There’s just so many! I know I’m kinda out of place liking stuff like this and my friends definitely think I’m weird for it, but that doesn’t stop me from reading. Thanks for this video because your description of what makes them good despite being repetitive fully encapsulated my thoughts on the genre. My favorites are definitely “Beware the villainess”, “Not sew wicked stepmom”, and “Who made me a princess?” (Idk if the last one counts).
But yeah, thanks again for this video, I’m gonna send this to my friend to try to get him on our side 😂
you have good taste! 'who made me a princess' carried me through quarantine lol and the others are also really good. gl converting ur friends 🫡
My personal favorites are “ I Thought It Was a Common Isekai Story” “The Way to Protect the Female Lead's Older Brother” and “It Looks Like I’ve Fallen into the World of a Reverse Harem Game” that’s for Korean comics for Japanese it’s “Middle-Aged Man's Noble Daughter Reincarnation” “Higeki no Genkyou tonaru Saikyou Gedou Rasubosu Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu”. “The Reincarnated Villainess' Dark History”. “Villainess Level 99 ~I may be the Hidden Boss but I'm not the Demon Lord~” “the one within the villainess” and the classic “my next life as a villainess” honestly to be fair I other favorites for Korean and Japanese.
check out r/otomeisekai for more community. Beware the Villainess is a favorite of mine.
Men who read shoujo are such green flags omg
Honestly, my favorite part of Villainess stories is usually the best friend relationships. Like with some other "mid-boss" villainess, or maybe the princess who also hates the prince who was the former love interest, etc. But either way, it usually ends up with the girls just really looking out for each other and often protecting each other from the toxic male love interests, which is always great to see as so often women in media are shown to be rivals and toxic, and it's always wonderful to see them uplifting each other like is often the case in this genre.
My absolute favorites are those like "Beware the Villainess" where the "Heroine" becomes the bestie of the villainess, and one or the other is making it their mission to protect the other from the often vile or at least himbo stupid male harem members.
you will love endo and kobayashi commentary on the villainess
Omg I LOVE BEWARE THE VILLAINESS!!!! Melissa ❤ nine
No one’s mentioned Concubine Walkthrough yet? It’s honestly SO GOOD. So much mystery mixed with such layered plots and dynamic characters.
It’s one of the few manhwa I’ve read that really plays into the video game setting. It’s also based in fictional Ancient China, so there’s political intrigue abound. It’s honestly just such good writing that not only is it one of my favorite manhwa, it’s one of my favorite pieces of storytelling. Full stop.
FELLOW “CONCUBINE WALKTHROUGH” LOVER🤧❤️❤️
OH MY GODDDD CONCUBINE WALKTHROUGHHH ❤❤❤❤ I think it had some bad luck to not appear in top rankings when it was ongoing 😢 now it's completed but most villainess readers don't stumble on it
booooy, i was watching this video and see your talking about concubine walkthrought and i start to read, i spen all my night reading and i finish it now, i dont have words to explain how terrible i am now, i couldn't belive the ending and im neffndvbjhfknd i dont find the right word!!!! i so saaad, but thank you, ngl this is not my favorite but its was really good! i understand why you like it soo much!
Although it's not a villainess story, "My Inlaws are Obsessed with me" is the best one I've read so far. Matty Bites does a really great job in her video explaining it, but I love it because a lot of the artwork shows what's happening. Another one I kinda like, is "All Cheating Men Must Die" the FL has to live through various characters, avenging them from a terrible fate. Either through books, games, fantasy, etc.
A really good one set in a more real world setting is Surviving Romance. Another one that might not end up on most lists due to have a main male character but fitting the formula really well imo is Trash of the Count’s Family
I LOVE SURVIVING ROMANCE!! its so good!! it really plays with its meta-ness in such clever ways!
Surviving Romance is genuinely one of the best stories I have ever experienced. It's insane.
The “save the villainess” sub genre scratches an itch I didn’t know I had, and I’m glad it’s a thing.
Good shout on Holy Grail of Eris. It is fantastic and the way secondary characters evolve into being so rich and deep is masterful.
“How Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion” isn’t technically a villainess story, but it shares a very similar structure and is probably my favourite if we include it in the genre.
Kill the Villainess is one story i will sacrifice hundreds of people just for an anime adaptation
Yes! There's so many stories of villainess chars thriving by flipping the narrative but not enough of these modern characters just wanting to go back to their life. It has girls looking out for each other, an unexpectedly adorable ML and is short. It did what it had to, and left with a bang.
YES!! I loved this story. And I won’t lie, it made me cry like a baby 😅
Totally agree!!
YES OMG 😭
I WAS WAITING FOR THIS
I'm so glad that villainess stories are finally picking up and I see more and more people talk about them. Similarly, they are my comfort content to read, although I read almost exclusively manhwas (prob to me being older and relating to those stories more). I hope we get to see more adaptations of those, there are so many varied stories. I think you might like "Secret Lady" if you haven't seen it already, if you like mystery and political intrigue stories! Some other favourites of mine are:
My in-laws are obsessed with me - found family, slow burn with some mystery elements
The Fantasie of a Stepmother - another found family heavily political intrigue based one
The Lady and the Beast - focuses heavily on the consequences of rebirth and seeing people from your past in ones you meet in the present
Author of my own Destiny - the author gets reincarnated into her own book and it explored her struggling with the decisions she made while writing it, but also wanting to change her own fate
I hope you make more videos on the subject!
Fantasie of a stepmother is my G.O.A.T, each single panel is wallpaper material and the plot goes hard
I would also recommend "I'll Raise You Well in This Life, Your Majesty!" if you liked it
A Stepmother's Märchen is seriously, unironically, peak fiction. Found family with genuine tension, their relationship(s) feel so real and the characters are so well written. One of the few "stepmother/pseudo-mother story" to not lose focus on the family and childcare aspect, while delving into the political intrigue and mystery at the same time; whereas other stories usually pivots and deviate almost exclusively to the romance or mystery, the family or child became afterthought as soon as their purpose as the story's catalyst is served.
Really love My In-laws Are Obsessed With Me as well, it's good for the same reasons I think.
I will try Author one you mentioned, thanks for the recommendation!
OMG, Stepmother's Marchen was mentioned! Yo, of all the different rebirth type manhwa's who's titles I've forgotten, that story sticks to my mind the most because of how gorgeous the art is. I loved how the art style isn't the usual efficient looking style (where understandably some artists use pre-made assets on as much things as possible to focus on characters and update schedule) too but more like illustrations you'd see on those old fairy tale books. I often find myself staring at some panels to observe how they did the lighting and such as some kind of art study. It's definitely one manhwa where I wouldn't mind buying a physical copy if it's possible.
“I’m in love with the villainess” was such a god show it got me way into this ganra
try endo and kobayashi commentary of the villainess
What the heck, are you me? I’ve been obsessed with villainess manga for a while and haven’t been able to encapsulate all the reasons why. Thank you for this.
try "your majesty, please spare me this time"! it's a pretty serious series that if you loved "from a knight to a lady" i think you'd definitely like it. it's kind of a bait and switch as well with an unreliable narrator, just a great series overall. i love this subgenre and am so glad that it's so popular nowadays
Yesss! I loved that series when I first found out about it~
I dabbled in the villainess subgenre of Manwha but i got consumed by in during one exam phase. I didn't want to study so I just read like there was no tomorrow. Exams came and went but my love for these stories stayed
I can understand that
I will always have a soft spot in my heart for "All Routes Lead to Doom" since it introduced me to the genre, but tbh my favorite so far has to be "Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Liesolotte." I loved every single character, the theme of Liesolotte, with the love and support of her friends, finally learning to love herself and fight against an unfair, preordained fate that she would fall to evil, and the ending of Endo and Kobayashi being able to attend Liesolotte and Sieg's wedding (as gamers, we all know this feeling after a really good video game, of wanting to be a part of the lives of those characters).
A cool premise ruined by ... its premise. The actual characters and story in the villainess story are great, but the live commentators are irritating at their best.
From a Knight to a Lady is SO amazing. The twists so far have BLOWN my mind!
I know what you mean
K BUT.. SPOILERS!!!
SHE FLRGIVES THAT WHITE GUY 💀💀 I WISH SHE ACTUALLY GOT REVENGE TBH
There's a Brazilian telenovela Mulheres de Areia (1973) (with a 1993 remake) where there's identical twin sisters, a good one and an evil one. The Good Twin is in love with a Hot Guy but the Evil Twin seduces him and steals him because she wants his money, then they get married and the Good Twin must suffer. But then the twins get into an accident where the Evil one dies and the Good one survives. But the only person who can tell them apart lies and convinces everyone that the survivor is the Evil one. So now she gets to be together with the Hot Guy she loves but it's also a life of lies.
imo this counts as a Villainess Isekai
Absolutely losing my mind over this! I cannot watch telenovelas for the life of me but by God this is so good tho.
Knowing what's to come in the future AND being able to prove people wrong with their preconceived notions about me?? Yeah this genre is PEAK speak your truth 🙏
Yesss I'm eating good tonight. I love the "evil stepmother but not really" archetype since it's usually combined with my other favorite sub subgenre, childcare slice of life.
PS: Eris no Seihai definitely one of my top villainess story 100% agree with you. Please make a follow up video!!
The summoning salt music during the One Day Left section absolument got me going balistic
I came here to find/make this comment.
I had no idea what the story was about or even called so when he dropped the title and the text box "and suddenly the music makes sense" I cackled
If you enjoy Bakarina, I highly recommend Tearmoon Empire Story. Basically if Overlord and Bakarina had a baby.
A lot of these otome stories have said villainess's personality get a complete 180 from their cruel original self either by possession or time regression. What if they were just misunderstood? Mia from Tearmoon is exactly that. Mia maintains a similar selfish attitude pre and post time regression. The difference is that Mia knew that her selfish and ignorant nature led to her death so she tries to do her best to help others. Along the way she picks up followers that misunderstood her as some great sage that's playing chess when in reality she's just playing tic tac toe.
The story is pretty well written. One moment you are laughing at the hilarious misunderstanding. The next you are tearing up. Great read.
It’s a funny one indeed. I thought it’d get old down the line but they ended up creating more unique relationships than simple ‘she is amazing, I want to follow her’.
She also never gets to enjoy the misunderstandings. That’s what keeps it interesting for me.
I've read, finished and dropped so much Villainess manga and manhwa it's insane. The revenge stories, the romance stories, there's even fucking nation building?! I also relate with the juxtaposition between media taste and personal ethics, the guilty pleasure of reading the villainess enacting retributive justice as I smile disapprovingly, is just so enjoyable.
I'm just waiting for Bertia AND Iris to have her their own anime, then my Villianess victory lap will be complete.
HOLY BASED. Truly cultured Shoujo Fan x Isekai Trash taste.
Also, that Holy Grail of Eris recommendation felt like a gut punch, because I kept guessing which villainess stories you'd recommend, and kept guessing wrong (not having heard of most of the ones you recommended, so thanks for the reading list additions 👍) that I was very surprised to hear your highest recommendation being one that I also love.
Also, as for my own Villainess recommendation, I've got three, two of which kinda fall on the very outskirts of the "villainess genre":
The first one is a true-blooded "Villainess" yuri story with some very interesting features named "Please Bully Me, Miss Villainess!" (which I sometimes get confused with "I Favor the Villainess") that... I wouldn't say is one of the best-written stories I've ever read, but was definitely a good read. Also, one of the few Chinese "villainess" stories I know about.
The second one is *definitely* _not_ a Villainess story, mainly, but has a great arc dedicated to the genre (starting at chapter 83/84 of the manhwa adaptation): SSS-class Suicide Hunter.
It's a power fantasy time loop "dungeon tower" story like many other Korean stories, but it's definitely an outstanding gem among the series, some creme of the crop. The first chapter is almost unreadably cringe, but it became one of my top 50 favorite stories of all time by chapter 30-something, and grew even better over time until chapter 83, where it does a One Piece/Mushoku Tensei-style genre shift & suddenly becomes a tropey villainess story for an arc, which is PEAK.
Don't go skipping ahead to chapter 83, though. There is a lot of _much_ needed context in the earlier arcs, and the whole series is peak fiction.
The third one is not really about a "villainess" but otherwise fits the genre to a T, and that is 남주의 엄마가 되어버렸다 or "namjuui eommaga doeeobeolyeossda" which has the multiple roughly-translated English titles of "I Became the Male Lead's Mom" or "I Married the Male Lead's Dad", but there are like 20 other similar series with almost the exact same title (especially in English translations).
Anyways, the series is a great one full of some of my most favorite plot twists ever, along with your usual villainess tropes. I'd say the writing is above "Please Bully Me" but below "Suicide Hunter", or around the same level as "I Favor the Villainess"
Hahaha YES SSS Suicide Hunter’s most recent arc went absolutely insane. One has to appreciate how well it immerses itself into the genres that it tries to replicate, just as the main character does.
I would recommend Villians are Destined to Die, Penelope is probably my favorite villianess, she is just a perfect balance of actual real fear on being in a new world, being a good person but not a saint! With a nice fantasy/magic in the middle of everything, the male characters are interesting as well.
Master Villianess the Invencible is a funny soft hearted one that I just started, very funny and full of action as well
I love that one
Guys, hot dogs aren't sandwiches.
They are soup.
Don't you even dare.
A hot dog is a taco as per the cube rule of food 😊
No the ocean is soup
I think my obsession with these kinds of stories stems from my love for fairytales. Heroines, Villains, Happy endings; those were my comfort reads.
But there were times where I'd imagine, "What if the stepmother in Cinderella was actually a good person?" "How would that story play out?"
From Revolutionary Girl Utena to Revue Starlight to these Villainess stories, I enjoy seeing the protagonist take control of their own story against all odds.
That Cinderella thought reminds me of a story called “I raised Cinderella Preciously”
If you're curious of another version of Cinderella, you should check out the anime Cinderella Monogatari/The Story of Cinderella. It does show Step-Mommy in a different light at a certain point in the story, at least as I remember.
@@shakirashipslied9721 Nice! I'll check it out.
as a fellow villainess enjoyer of the post-bakarina world, i'm mainly here for the rec list in the description, but this video truly captures why villainess stories are so fantastic. Also big W for Beware the Villainess mention, that's definitely the one that got me hooked on the genre.
I am obsessed with this genre, thank you for the new food
My current favourites are 'Villains Are Destined to Die' and 'The Perks of Being a Villainess' (really hoping it comes out of hiatus soon 😭)
I'm glad more people are in love with the villainess stories, Reincarnated as a Villainess was also my introduction to the genre and I'm glad I gave it a chance. There's a lot of really good ones that have become one of my favorite stories.
I stumbled on The one within the Villainess while on mangadex, it's the only from the genre I've ever liked, but it's one of the few manga I follow regurlarly. Good stuff, the slow burn revenge and the power fantasy is great
Knowledge of the future is a form of time travel, and time travel makes most stories fun. Ergo, this genre easily entertains.
Yup definitely
Very fond of this genre and I got at least one recommendation out of this video, I'd love to see more about villainesses.
6:26 this reminds me of why I like fanfiction. At the base it’s the same character and/or world. But still there are so many possibilities. And even while there are a lot of bland fanfics, there are so many absolutely gut punching stories that I know by heart and would recommend to anyone if I wasn’t afraid to be judged for reading fanfiction in the first place.
When I love a series, genre or premise I can read thousands of stories even if they seem similar and still not get bored
My favorite Villainess Light Novel is "I swear I won't bother you again"
It's so good, I am often on the verge of crying, I want Violette to be happy❤
manga got axed though, I am crying because it has not updated since I am on my first year and now I already graduated from college still no update
In japan, the 5 was published in february ! I think it will coming at the end of the year !
( The novel had a break around 2022, that's maybe why the manga had a break too !)
The rest of the story is really good ( based on the light novel)
You’re me 😩 I love these villainess and reincarnation stories. Some a bit cliche but others, despite coming from the same starting point they can expand their world and trama in such a beautiful and crazy way it’s always exiting and intriguing wondering what kind of thing it’s hiding under its sleeve.
It's okay to admit you are obsessed, welcome to the crew!
Yassss
I've come back to this video like three times already, every time I want to read some good villainess I look up your recommendations but I also end up repeating the whole video to look for them
i've been obcessed with villainess stories for almost four years now and im so happy to see other people loving them as well
If you want to go deeper to read fanfics. My first exposure to Hamefura was with “Maria Campbell of the Astral Clocktower”, which is a Hamefura x Bloodborne crossover. Maria the DLC boss dealing with Bakarina and her harem is more canon to me than the original manga/anime/game; it’s that good.
I never assumed I would be interested in these Villainess stories when the first came to popularity. But when I came across With One Day Left - I was intrigued enough with the speedrunner's gimmick that I was willing to give it a chance as a crash course sort of deal into the genre, and it was a heck of a fun ride.
Since then however, I haven't gotten into any other Villainess stories, still seeing the genre as a whole as something well outside my interests. Cut to this popping up in my recommended, click on it SOLELY to see if With One Day Left would be mentioned, and coming out of it with two recommendations I'm planning to check out The One Within, and The Holy Grail.
I doubt I'll ever truly be a fan of the genre in general, but let's see about dipping more than a toe in this time.
I too am addicted to these stories and I eat every single one up. I even bonded with a new friend over our love for villainess stories.
Am I basic for absolutely adoring Endo and Kobayashi's Live Commentary on the Villainess? The character are so earnest, while the worldbuilding provides some interesting secrets.
And of course I stan our autistic level 99 hidden boss.
The duchess of oraoraoraora could have been all punching all the time and no one would have been disappointed but it's so much better than that.
I think my tastes run in the opposite direction to this video, so it's great that the genre has room for all of us.
Otome Isekai Villainess stories has strong grip on me, despite its often repetitive flavor has a genre for everyone, I hope this genre continue to grow. Great video and I need that villainess alignment chart video now
13:00 The fast and greatly concise recommendation descriptions is the best part of this video for me frfr
EDIT: Also i thought your fav was gonna be "My Throne" but just noticed it ain't a Villainess manhwa but just has a badass villainess
I think it counts. It’s just crazy subversive. Rarely is the male lead a total freaking monster in these, and it’s quite remarkable how threatening that dude from your throne is.
It dares ask the question: How tf do you actually strike back against a prince if there are real consequences? And the answer is a massive web of lies and manipulation.
Absolutely loved this video! As someone who is equally obsessed with Villainess stories, I enjoyed your perspective a lot! There was a lot of ones you mentioned that I havent read yet that I definitely need to check out!
My introduction into the "Villainess" genre started with a Chinese book called Scum Villain. Not really a Villainess since the reincarnated lead is a man. But the trope is still there regardless. And I loved that book series so much I wanted to see more stories with that same villain premise that I watched My Next Life As A Villainess. And then I've just kinda spiraled from there. I just love all the different aspects of them. From the struggle of trying to lay low (and failing) or actively trying to become friends with everyone, or even just outright embracing the villain role and getting revenge. All of it is always so fun to read/watch. Especially when the characters still think they're on the path of the original ending even though they have long since prevented that ending from even being a thought in anyone else's mind.
You should release the Alignment Chart rant, I very much would love to hear it.
Also if anyone has additional recommendations please feel free to share! The genre is so huge at this point that sometimes its hard to find all the stories that classify. Especially since some stories I think technically aren't Villainess stories (because the lead was never actually a villain), but people seem to still count them as such. (7th Time Loop, Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion, etc.)
Listening to you explaining why you like villainess stories, I keep thinking, “omg, he’s just like me frfr”
And as you kept naming more, I just kept thinking “yup, that one’s also great”
I wanted to say, Your Throne was a very great story that I feel deserves a mention
I love love love villainess stories and I think you explained them perfectly as to why they are just so much fun. And yet I still haven’t read your favorite one or a few of the ones you’ve mentioned. Definitely coming back to this video later as I read through these.
While I'm simply Bakarina brained (and have only really watched a few of these works), I do think that the point about the possibilities and how it can be adapted in so much ways makes the villainess sub-genre really interesting. Bakarina, is vastly different then 7th Timeloop which is different from Magirevo, and that's awesome, I would want, even the works in my favorite genre, to be easily identifiable and have stark contrasts where I don't feel like I'm experiencing the same thing over and over
As a fellow connoisseur of the villainess subgenre it is a pleasure to see some of my favorites recognized and new recommendations to add to my ever growing list. Thank you!!
im an isekai/isekai-adjacent dumpster diver and this genre fits right in.
this is the only genre i could read thousands of works with the same plot progression and still wouldn't get enough of whoever first came up with this cooked😭 you have elite taste btw i've never seen someone mention holy grail of eris ever
Ngl, I only have Tapas because of these types of stories.
I shall now list all the ones I'm reading:
- Villains Are Destined to Die
- The Villainess Turns the Hourglass
- Baked by the Baroness (I specially recommended this one)
- Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom
- I Fell into a Reverse Harem Game
- Solitary Lady
- Villainesses Have More Fun
- The Perks of Being a Villainess
So, yeah, for some reason they just appeal to me a lot.
Owe I love I fell into a Reverse harem game!
have you read kill the villainess???
WHY ARE YOU GIVING THIS GOOD OF RECOMMENDATIONS A DAY BEFORE MY EXAM, THE ANTICIPATION WILL BE KILLING ME!!!! T-T
Let's not forgot the subgenre of this subgenre with the in novel universe side characters reacting to the villainess main characters n events.
best recommendation on the top of my heads are
"An Observation Log of My Wife - A Self-Proclaimed Villainess"
&
"My Mom Entered a Contract Marriage"
These stories are best for veterans of these villainess stories
YES!!! YESSSS!!! >w< )❤ I absolutely love these two series just cuz we're seeing the narrative from another individual rather than the supposed villainess itself; a third person perspective. And seeing them react to the unusual actions of the villainess, whether they think they should acknowledge it or not, definitely caught my attention.
@@sweetmeloday5935 🎉 yeah a fellow reader of these series. It also helps that my mom entered a contract marriage has breathtaking art too, like omg ❤
@@sweetmeloday5935 yussssss. The best part that stand out about these 2 is that the side character MC perspective gives them a unique plot line compare to If Yr following the usual villainess character. Some stories just slowly move the narrative to make these characters similar to the villainess characters experience, but that defeats the purpose of the premise. Im glad these 2 are different from one another 2 since 1 is the perspective of a male love interest n the other is from a mind of a child and the story does so accordingly
Awesome video! Thanks for talking about the Villainess genre, it's seriously underappreciated and I'd love to see more videos like this one. Here are some of my favorite series I'm reading! (most are villainess or revenge stories):
- Roxana (The way to save the female leads older brother)
- Your Throne
- The Remarried Empress
- Regina Rena: To the Unforgiven
- Cheating Men Mus Die/Phoenix Rising Above Evil
- Behold the True Villainess
- I Am The Real One
- With Vengence, Sincerely, Your Broken Saintess
- The Real Daughter is Back
- Surviving as a Maid
- Beware the Villainess
- The Villainess Turns the Hourglass
- Please Don't Come To The Villainess' Stationery Store
Why did this video come across as holy gospel to me? oh wait, villainess stories is basically all I read. Keep preaching!
edit: was hoping for a recommendation with your favorite, but I just read Holy Grail of Eris. I read everything mentioned in this video. Dang it. I always need more material. I read through an entire series in a day, staying up all night to get it done if needed. It's a serious problem... that I don't have enough material, obviously. Screw sleeping who needs it.
If I had to pick a favorite myself though I couldn't tell you... I love them all so much. I love the comical ones where the main character is a sweet dunce constantly afraid of a bad ending that obviously wont happen as the entire cast is in love with them. I love the drama packed ones with revenge plots and intense scenes. I love the ones with great character growth such as a tyrant going back in time and learning to be a better person her second time around. I love the family oriented ones where a mother raises a children who become the villains, or marries the villain, or falls in love with a secondary character and they MC acts to try to prevent their families tragic fates. I don't usually prattle on this much but dang it this video is so targeted towards me I can't help it.
If you need recomendations, look in the comments section of this video. Many are placing recomendations in the comments.
You’re exactly like me ngl also
The Daughter of the Albert House Wishes for Ruin is a funny one if you’ve haven’t read that.
Middle-Aged Man's Noble Daughter Reincarnation is funny too as well as wholesome
The Reincarnated Villainess' Dark History is also funny but sad.
I Thought It Was a Common Isekai Story. It’s both cute and sad as well as nail biting has a TW too
Honestly I’ve been obsessed with Isekai idols/actors if you want to try them and haven’t.
Debut or Die. It’s one of my favorites. Has a TW I think?
Be the actor. This one is also a favorite of mine I love it.
Superstar From Age 0. Honestly the MC is so OP but just ahhh it’s so cute too.
Holy Idol. It’s really funny
Monochrome Rumor. Pretty interesting and sad. Also has a TW
The Maknae Has to Be an Idol. Interesting so far
Meteor Orbit. This one scares me.
Saving the Doomed Idols With My Touch. I’ll just leave that name here.
The Genius Idol’s Strategy to Stardom. Idk yet but the MC sure has confidence which is funny.
The Second Life of an All-Rounder Idol. Honestly only read a little so idk.
My Second Life as an Idol. Also read a little.
And lastly. I Became The Youngest Member Of Top Idol.
@@bituinl Thank you! really sweet comment. I haven't gone too much into idol stuff but I have liked some idol anime so maybe I'll give those a try.
@@ellaceleste2929 omg yess! I swear they will change your life forever 🤯 they literally are so goooood.
I'm absolutely obsessed with villianess anime, manhwa, and manga (especially 7th Time Loop - it's so freaking amazing) and this video gave me life. Thanks so much for the recommendations and your commentary
My recommendation is "Deathbound Duke's Daughter and the Seven Nobles"
I see the Rosemyne pfp and I see you are a cultured individual, ty for the rec
Decided to check out _the Holy Grail of Eris_ and ended up catching up to the English translations in a day. Thanks for recommending this gem.
This seems like the perfect chance to shill The Fed up Office Lady Wants to Serve the Villainess!
Yuri with villainess being actually evil! Go give it a try!
cultured
I'd also recommend that one, I'm enjoying it a lot. It's really interesting because the MC is neither the villainess nor the heroine, she's just herself. And both the villainess and the heroine seem interested in her, and possibly even each other, so it may even end up being not just regular yuri, but poly yuri!
I like the concept but the fact that the main character is 25 and the love interest is 16 means that it's a bit much for me
The One Within the Villainess is so good it is one of the few series that got me to speed past the manga and get the full story in the LN. can’t wait to see the manga to completion!
I really need to up my villainness game. Sure, most of these series are still ongoing and I don't start ongoing series anymore, but still I am really lacking in my villainness literacy.
Kinda frustrating hearing how the dialogue is interesting because it has multiple layers (17:07) since I'd need to read the translation.
Obligatory list of my personal favourites (all in my top 10% of manga I've scored):
1. Nokori Ichinichi
2. Isn't the Villainess' Punishment to Enter Into a Political Marriage With an Autocrat Too Lenient (A chuunibyou villainness and chuunibyou tyrant get married)
3. Slow Prison Life (Now this is a true villainness, diagnosed as a literal psychopath and everyone's except the prince is just fine with that)
4. Villains Are Destined to Die (Explain this for me, I'm not good with words)
5. Naturally, I Demand Restitution (Chapter 17 was so good, series overall is probably not technically good)
6. This Girl is a Little Wild (They fit together so well)
Great video. My wife and I both really enjoy Villaness anime. We've watched all of them. Will definently read some of your recommendations. Thanks for all of the titles and links in the description.
There is now the 7th loop, or as I'd like to call it; V7, Villaness 99, or V99.
But where is my V8?! Where is the Valkyrie, all shiny and chromed, that brings me to the gates of Valhalla?! By my deeds, I honour her. V8!
We could also have a proper V7. A villaness is banished or sent to die along with 6 knights to make sure she is properly judged and is repentful before death but ends up in an adventure that makes the villaness have a profound value of life, or something like that.
Girl Math is being obsessed but the completely normal kind, slayed this so hard tysm! 🙌
Look it's always been simple: I just like capable woman. Even the villainess stories that start out with incapable fools are about the growth which is super satisfying. My only gripe I'd say is that, often, the villainess stories don't show the full context of the plan so it becomes hard to deduce beforehand how the plan will work out. Do you have any recommendations that allow you to think along the mc's to figure out the best course of action? I read Dear Nemesis recently (it's not complete yet) and enjoy the romance in it but I'm really missing the "makes me feel smart" part of the scheming!
Ahhh good ole TH-cam calling me out on my (completely normal) obsession with villainess mangas. I def need to check out Holy Grail of Eris now!
Honestly, villainess stories probably just aren't for me, but I would like to recommend Tearmoon Empire. Despite my usual avoidance of villainess anime, I genuinely enjoyed Tearmoon Empire because the protagonist, Mia, is incredibly flawed (kind of like Marie Antoinette) but throughout the anime you can see that she is willing to redeem herself and fix her mistakes. While Mia's main motivation may be to save herself, I can still see moments where she does good things out of genuine kindness.
All of the side characters are at least lovable, and Mia's relationship with her love interest is genuinely kind of cute. The animation may not be the best, but I still looked forward to watching it as it updated. I think my main reason for loving Tearmoon Empire so much is just because I find Mia to be a great example of a flawed, lovable character that I haven't seen much of nowadays. Her doom was mainly the result of her flaws and her mistakes, which I personally prefer more than her doom being caused by external forces. She isn't the underdog, nor is a she a brilliant tactician, and that's what I love about her.
Admittedly, Tearmoon Empire is the only villainess (sort of) anime that I watched, so I'm not even sure if it qualifies as "villainess". And I've only watched the anime, not the light novels. It may never get a season 2, but I still love it as it is.
I classify it as a villainess story, especially with later volumes. No spoilers, but it genuinely does get better. I’d invite you to read the light novels if you can, the author has genuinely smart writing that the anime doesn’t cover. In addition, there are a few chapters that explore the ramifications of the old timeline, and the outcomes the different characters (Anne, Sion, Tiona, etc.) suffered through. It provides such an amazing juxtaposition to the current timeline, and shows how despite everything, Mia’s actions have been changing things to the better (even if she doesn’t fully recognize it)
I just love this light novel so much fr
@@halleyscomet0867 Oh, sorry I didn't see your comment earlier. I'm really bad at replying to stuff. I am interested in reading the light novels, but I'd probably have to dig online for a translation first, and I've never had much luck finding good light novel translations. Thanks for replying. I'm definitely interested in what Tearmoon Empire has to offer.
i’m so glad so many people love this genre and have gotten so many recommendations out of this video!!
my introduction was Villains Are Destined to Die, and it’s my all time favourite. the deep emotions, the continuous risk of death, the relationships (the ml and Penelope are my favourite couple of all time!), it’s just phenomenal.
Also, adore Roxana, though kinda deviates because the heroine has a shitty story too but still rlly good. it’s just so good watching the struggle of living in the messed up household that mc lives in and seeing her be like them even though she was isekaied. her emotional struggle too and desire to save the hero just so she won’t die is so great. it’s on hold and has been for a while tho since the artist had some rlly bad working conditions that lead to her miscarriage, which is so messed up and i really hope she’s doing alright.
another favourite is The Perks of Being a Villainess (ongoing). It’s less serious and more of a fun story of an isekaied girl trying to not be a doormat like she was in her previous life, and trying to embody the personality of the villainess, while also trying to f everyone who messes with her over by being super successful.
I also have to mention Your Throne, which starts as a villainess story and deviates, but it’s so good. The story is heavy and I genuinely had to mentally recover from what I had read but it’s seriously so good and ongoing so i’m waiting for more.
More recs:
The Villainess is a Marionette - bit weird with the obsessive brother who’s not her brother but the art is gorgeous and mc becomes such a good schemer (which she seems to learn from nowhere but oh well), mc protecting her people, and the romance make it so good.
I’ll Raise You Well In This Life, Your Majesty - not proper Villainess story, more regret and reincarnation, but adore the motherly love especially after so much regret, it’s adorable seeing her interactions with her family, the story does spend so long in some arcs though making you really just miss and wait for familial interactions again.
More of my favourites were mentioned in the video, so I just know I’m getting great recs.
villainess stories are often fast food to me.
easy, where everything tends to work out for the protag.
heavily seasoned with msg or sugar, as in the villains are cartoonishly evil and the situations tend to disadvantage the protag so much that her rise to power and revenge taste so satisfyingly strong.
not overly complicated in with ambiguous morality or whatnot, who are you supposed to root for is clear whether theyre good to begin with or redeemable later.
easy to get, easy to digest, popular with many options to choose from.
reliable in its predictability, you know what will you get in term of touchstone tropes whether they will follow or directly defy it.
feels unhealthy in contrast to deep, complex narratives 'foods' that are less easy to digest with more (well, sometimes) payoff that overindulging makes me feel bloated, but harmless as a treat every now and then lol.
its just fun! they're comforting, as you say! they're my go to media when I want to turn my brain off.
im writing every recs down! thank you!
EDIT YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOUR RECS ARE ELITE???? THESE ARE SO GOOD........... the one within the villainess and holy grail of eris especially, they completely break my preconception of shallow villainess stories. thank you so much!!!!!
lol
But yeah, there’s a lot of low hanging fruit, but those who put in the effort get something really impressive. Same with anything really, there’s plenty of cheap bargain bin isekai, but some of them out there go above and beyond and it’s always so nice to see.
My favourite ones are these two.
"The Villainess slow prison life" It has short manga, but novel is completed. Main character is VERY villainious, but she as prince fiance she kept herself from doing anything bad, but after she got imprisoned (which she predicted and prepared for) she let loose and wreck complete chaos from comfort of her cell.
"I Reincarnated as a Noble Girl Villainess But Why Did It Turn Out This Way?" Is only novel, but it's one of my most favourite story period. MC is noble daughter of family of psychos and if she didn't get memories from her earth life she would end same, so instead she poison whole her family and ends as sole heir of her house.Funilly enough before "otome" academy life start she already went through war and became basically this world Vlad Tapes. It's gritty story, but it has really nice action and it's kinda amusing that reincarnated individual like Elise ends being more hardline old school noble than majority of character that are naturaly part of this world.
💯
OMG THE INTRO IS MY FAV VILLAINESS STORY AAAAA
Give us the alignment chart!
Hear! Hear! I'm just the audience for a 20 min rant about villainess alignment.
Knew you had good taste. The second half of the 7th Time Loop anime covers vol 2 and, having just finished vol 5, I would say it the weakest part. I'm glad you're giving it more attention because I would love to see the next 3 get adapted
Ah yes, i too have a completely normal obsession with villainess stories and possibly even characters
My favorite in the genre is "The Villainess Turns the Hourglass". In the last couple of years this genre completely hooked me. Great video. I will look into some of the stories you mentioned.
My favorite is the Mob character villianess story. Its hilarious to see all the pretty dudes at a loss.
You mean The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs?
@@zUJ7EjVD Yeah, I never saw the English title. Only the Japanese version.
It's such a wonderful feeling to see your literary obsessions validated by someone with equal passion. Think I've found a new favorite creator
bruh I'm addicted to villainess manhwa
Same
Same same I hope they make more bc there are so many novels.