What do you feel about the villainess reincarnation portrayal in anime and manga?

[maa]

In the trend of several anime in the past few years, there have been many anime and manga that have something along the lines of "I have been reincarnated as a villainess doomed to die in an otome game".

As an otome game player myself, I have not seen many games that have a villainess, fewer ones where they die. Maybe I just have not encountered that many by chance, but all I know is Rika from Amnesia, Arimura Sakino from Blackish House. Evelina Lynzel from blackish house can be considered a villainess but I do not think even she died. Let me know if there is anyone else I missed.

In my opinion, there is much less game where the heroine was harmed by a female side character than one where she was harmed by a male side character or sometimes the love interests themselves. Most of the time, the female side characters have been so amazing. Sometimes I am more in love with them than the love interests themselves, like Salome from Shuuen no Virche and Maya Kirkland from even if tempest. (Maya is one of my favorite characters of all time in all media.)

It makes me sad to think that people think that otome games have a generic plotline where the villainess fights over the heroine for the love interest, when I, as a player, have been more betrayed by the li himself than any female side character.

What do you think caused these conception in anime and manga, and what do you guys feel about them? Me, personally, am very annoyed when my friends think that otome games are all sunshine and rainbow where the love interest comes to save the heroine form the evil villainess, because they DO!!! NOT!!! KNOW!!! how many buckets of tears I had to cry while playing Shuuen no Virche.

Also please let me know if there where indeed otome games where the villianess dies, because I was very frustrated when it went to a bad ending when I chose revenge in even if tempest.

 

[satory]

It was a parody trope taken from shoujo manga, not otome games. It started from fanfics about otome games on japanese popular site (kind of like AO3 if you know what that is). Then, like isekai novels, publishers saw how many readers those fanfics have, decided it was a great buisiness chance and these amature stories were mass published. And now they are everywhere along with aforementioned isekai stories. They are fanfics, so I don't feel anything about them. If you like them - good for you, if not - also good for you But what sells - sells, and there are always many copies of popular stuff.

I haven't seen games where rivals actually die, but I think there were shoujo manga with such plot (but I'm not sure). Shoujo mangas, particulary old ones, were rather brutal

Also, for some reason Spoiler in your post doesn't seem to work

 

[maa]

It was a parody trope taken from shoujo manga, not otome games. It started from fanfics about otome games on japanese popular site (kind of like AO3 if you know what that is). Then, like isekai novels, publishers saw how many readers those fanfics have, decided it was a great buisiness chance and these amature stories were mass published. And now they are everywhere along with aforementioned isekai stories. They are fanfics, so I don't feel anything about them. If you like them - good for you, if not - also good for you But what sells - sells, and there are always many copies of popular stuff.

I haven't seen games where rivals actually die, but I think there were shoujo manga with such plot (but I'm not sure). Shoujo mangas, particulary old ones, were rather brutal

Also, for some reason Spoiler in your post doesn't seem to work

I am sorry sorry for the spoiler tag. I am not very used to posting here. I think it is fixed now but please let me know if it still is not working.

And thank you very much for your clarification . I was a bit lost as to where the troupe came from because I have not seen much of such games.

I haven't read much of shoujo manga but I get it now .

 

[kazis]

there is much less game where the heroine was harmed by a female side character than one where she was harmed by a male side character or sometimes the love interests themselves.

Exactly my thoughts!!
I also haven't seen a lot... well, I haven't played a lot too, to be fair...

I have two otome visual novels that reminded me of the concept of the "villainess".
The first one is Jooubachi no Oubou.

There're literally two main heroines and one is like your typical "saint", while the second is the "villainess". Although when you start playing, you'll soon realize that not everything is so surface-level.
The second otome I'll put in spoiler juuuuust in case: it's Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk. I won't say why or who, but the overall story reminded me of that.

It was enlightening to learn the true story of the "otome reincarnation" trope from the comments!

Edit:
I also find it interesting how when it's a man's fantasy isekai - the mc often relaxes in another world, but with a woman's isekai, the main trope is revenge haha. Curious.

 

[maa]

Exactly my thoughts!!
I also haven't seen a lot... well, I haven't played a lot too, to be fair...

I have two otome visual novels that reminded me of the concept of the "villainess".
The first one is Jooubachi no Oubou.

There're literally two main heroines and one is like your typical "saint", while the second is the "villainess". Although when you start playing, you'll soon realize that not everything is so surface-level.
The second otome I'll put in spoiler juuuuust in case: it's Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk. I won't say why or who, but the overall story reminded me of that.

It was enlightening to learn the true story of the "otome reincarnation" trope from the comments!

Edit:
I also find it interesting how when it's a man's fantasy isekai - the mc often relaxes in another world, but with a woman's isekai, the main trope is revenge haha. Curious.

Ah, I literally forgot about the second one until you said it. Despite some of her actions, I liked her quite a lot too. It made me want to play the game again.

Also, what you pointed out was quite intriguing. Maybe the difference in isekai troupe stemmed from the original story. I have once read that the origin of fantasy anime genre is from Dragon quest where the hero has to defeat the demon lord. And then the isekai where the male MC is be reincarnated in fantasy anime, is also in similar kind of world building. So, maybe that is the reason why many of them are op.

Also most male MC isekai anime are relaxing but there are also some light novel that quite brutal as well. So, in the end what counts is not the gerne but the specific title that we are watching

 

[kazis]

Despite some of her actions, I liked her quite a lot too. It made me want to play the game again

She definitely is an interesting character! And I feel like she fits a lot to this concept, surprisingly
Sigh such a good game…

Also most male MC isekai anime are relaxing but there are also some light novel that quite brutal as well. So, in the end what counts is not the gerne but the specific title that we are watching

Also true! But I think it's the most popular scenario overall?.. I mean, there could be troubles, adventures and so on, but I see a lot of titles that start with "I got bored", "Peaceful days" and so on. While with female isekai it's mostly "how to escape death"…. well, or "how to tame the northern duke (to escape death)"
Your theory about fantasy games fits so well! I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

 

[nerim-w]

Me, personally, am very annoyed when my friends think that otome games are all sunshine and rainbow where the love interest comes to save the heroine form the evil villainess, because they DO!!! NOT!!! KNOW!!! how many buckets of tears I had to cry while playing Shuuen no Virche.

GIRL YOU AND ME BOTH!! Im genuinely still recovering from that game and im not kidding when I say it changed my perspective on death and just life overall

As for the question, im totally open to it!! Reading villainess manwhas is genuinely my guilty pleasure and I enjoy them so much, even though most of them aren't really that amazingly written.

It's like when I go to a fast food restaurant and order a burger, its not the best burger in the world but i still enjoyed it and I got what I expected!

Every now and then there will be some actual genuinely well written villainess manwhas like Kill the Villainess but those are rare. So while I do like reading villainess manwha or otome, I still much prefer more interesting and original plots as they feel less formulaic and more well thought out :)

 

[maa]

GIRL YOU AND ME BOTH!! Im genuinely still recovering from that game and im not kidding when I say it changed my perspective on death and just life overall

As for the question, im totally open to it!! Reading villainess manwhas is genuinely my guilty pleasure and I enjoy them so much, even though most of them aren't really that amazingly written.

It's like when I go to a fast food restaurant and order a burger, its not the best burger in the world but i still enjoyed it and I got what I expected!

Every now and then there will be some actual genuinely well written villainess manwhas like Kill the Villainess but those are rare. So while I do like reading villainess manwha or otome, I still much prefer more interesting and original plots as they feel less formulaic and more well thought out :)

I do not hate villainess manhwas. But maybe I just want them to say they got reincarnated in a shoujo anime (or an appropriate media) instead of otome games. Because many people who have never played otome games get the wrong idea.TT

 

[O cha]

As you said, otome games that actually feature the kind of stereotypical villainess we see in recent anime are pretty rare.

I've often wondered why that setup became so popular. The villainess characters in those anime usually aren't very nuanced; they're often portrayed as simply mean and foolish. Sometimes it even feels like they're based on the idea that a woman's greatest enemy is another woman who's jealous and unpleasant.

Of course, I'm not saying bad women don't exist, whether in fiction or in real life. But at least in my experience, both in real life and in otome games, I've seen far more female characters who support and encourage the MC than ones who go out of their way to hurt her.

 

[misaklovv23]

It's true, in otome games the love interests really make you suffer, haha, for example in Black Wolves Saga I've actually played so few that I don't know much about the topic, but I have consumed quite a bit of manga and anime with this theme and maybe I'm just spreading misinformation, but the boom in anime was with Bakarina hahaha and since then at least one series of this theme appears every season, although I admit it's my guilty pleasure and I consume everything I can about this genre hahah

 

[maa]

Of course, I'm not saying bad women don't exist, whether in fiction or in real life. But at least in my experience, both in real life and in otome games, I've seen far more female characters who support and encourage the MC than ones who go out of their way to hurt her.

Yes, that is what I wanted to say as well. Most of these female characters are usually girls' girls, who are sometimes kinder and more supportive than even the lis themselves. Especially since the lis frequently betray the heroine in some of the routes. However, I think there have been many villainess characters in the k-dramas and sometimes c-drama as well, so maybe there is a demand for it.

 

[maa]

It's true, in otome games the love interests really make you suffer, haha, for example in Black Wolves Saga I've actually played so few that I don't know much about the topic, but I have consumed quite a bit of manga and anime with this theme and maybe I'm just spreading misinformation, but the boom in anime was with Bakarina hahaha and since then at least one series of this theme appears every season, although I admit it's my guilty pleasure and I consume everything I can about this genre hahah

Yeah, Black wolves saga was brutal. I have only played Mejojo's route (and haven't gone through the famous Auger ed) but even that was enough to traumatize me.
Also, yeah, the popularity when Bakarina started was really overwhelming. It was like SAO for isekai animes.

 

[AkaTe]

I love this kind of story. I can't say exactly why, but I just can't get enough of them. My favorites in this genre are "My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!" (manga, anime, and light novel) and "Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story" (manhwa). There are tons of stories like this, especially in the manhwa scene. Titles like "Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story" or "Villains Are Destined to Die" really show that the narrative doesn't have to be all lighthearted and easy. Some of them feature truly excellent, profound storylines where the villainess—the main character—has to fight her way through various problems and intrigues. And for me, the icing on the cake is seeing a scheming "heroine" get taken down a peg or two in the process.

 

[hashi]

There's quite a difference between actual otome games and the "otome game" theme found in novels and manga, isn't there?
As others have pointed out, I think these works are based more on old-school shōjo manga than on actual otome games.
On novel-sharing sites, otome games have become such a well-worn, standard theme that even people who've never actually played one write novels based purely on their imagination. The "villainess" trope is one such idea that emerged from this trend; stories range from plots where the love interest is put through the wringer to just about every other kind of narrative imaginable. It's frustrating to see expressions that mock otome games based on this version that's so far removed from reality. Still, since it's a genre that's been around for so long, there are some interesting stories out there, so I enjoy reading them.