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REVIEW: Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie Novel 1




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andramus



Joined: 19 Apr 2020
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2022 7:30 pm Reply with quote
I'm enjoying this so far.

I've read/watched a handful of reincarnated as the villain type stories, My Next Life as the Villainess, Beware the Villainess, Piggy Duke, Villainess Reloaded etc.

I don't know if I would call it a flaw of the genre but one sticking point I've run into is that the plot points of the original game/novel that the reincarnated protagonist remembers are only revealed as they become relevant. I've gotten to the point where it has started to feel like a cheat. The original narrative that the protagonist remembers is a prison of sorts they are trying to escape from but we - the readers/viewers - aren't being shown the bars or dimensions of that prison. The "prison" changes on the fly and we just have to go along with it. To fully define and describe the "prison" in advance would place constraints on where the story could go and limit the author's creative options.

I've started to wonder what it would be like if the very first light novel/volume/episode in one of these "reincarnated as a villain" series was a just a straight play-through of the original narrative and only at the end does it jump back to the start for the reincarnated protagonists story to kick off. It would place readers in the the position of being just as well-informed as the protagonist when the story begins.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2657
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 6:28 am Reply with quote
andramus wrote:

I've started to wonder what it would be like if the very first light novel/volume/episode in one of these "reincarnated as a villain" series was a just a straight play-through of the original narrative and only at the end does it jump back to the start for the reincarnated protagonists story to kick off. It would place readers in the the position of being just as well-informed as the protagonist when the story begins.


The only novel I've seen do this is I'm Not the Final Boss' Lover by Ken; it's a Korean light novel being translated by WordExcerpt. It's not quite a full play-through opening, but we get much more information about the original game the heroine has been reincarnated into right off the bat. It's also interesting that in that one, she's neither heroine nor villainess, but a doomed side character fighting her way out of the bad end.
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 2064
Location: australia
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 6:10 pm Reply with quote
Thank you for the review!
I enjoyed the manga so when I saw the LN was getting released I was keen to buy it (but had a look at some reviews and refreshed my memory of the manga first).
It's such a silly, fun series and all the characters are so lovable.

Reading this review I'm extra glad I did buy the book.

I'm a big fan of villainess stories so I don't mind that they're so similar to each other (though sometimes I get tired of the sheer obliviousness of the MC).
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R. Kasahara



Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 711
PostPosted: Mon Mar 07, 2022 9:18 pm Reply with quote
I can't be the only one wondering if the names Gilbert and Oscar are deliberate homages to certain 70s-era shoujo manga characters, am I?

Anyway, sounds like a decent series. Thanks for the review ^^
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xxmsxx



Joined: 06 Sep 2017
Posts: 601
PostPosted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 3:03 pm Reply with quote
R. Kasahara wrote:
I can't be the only one wondering if the names Gilbert and Oscar are deliberate homages to certain 70s-era shoujo manga characters, am I?


My thoughts exactly.

Thanks for the review! You have piqued my interest. I will give it a try.
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