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

Episode 11

I'll admit, I got really excited when “The Moment of My Doom Arrived… Part 2” started up, because we were suddenly back in the “real” world! And Real!Catarina has eyes! And a family! I've made it no secret that one of by biggest gripes concerning modern isekai stories is how little emphasis is put on the world our hero has left behind, and I was really looking forward to exploring more of Real!Catarina's memories and feelings here. It's never very clear how much she still remembers of her old life, or how much those memories affect her new life outside of trying to out-play the plot of Fortune Hunter, so there is a lot of potential in forcing Catarina to confront the world she's lost now that mean old Sirius Dieke has put her in a magic coma.

So, naturally, the show ignores most of that possibility to give us yet another montage that reviews why each of the characters loves Catarina. This might not have stung so bad if we didn't have such a similar breakdown back in Anne's episode a couple of weeks ago, but when you combine that with all of the flashback footage the episode relies on…look, we get it. Catarina's really great, she's improved the lives of literally everyone she's come into contact with, and all of her friends will be devoted to her forever. It's literally the only thing My Next Life as a Villainess ever focuses on, so while I'm not decrying the show for giving its audience what it ostensibly wants, did it have to be so darned repetitive with it? I liked the crescendo of everyone in the Harem deciding to buck up and be strong for Catarina, but all of their resolutions just lead to them deciding to stay by her bedside until she wakes up.

That's it? Geordo was already doing that, and while it's a nice gesture, it isn't exactly what I would call the stuff of romantic legends. I wouldn't have even minded so much if the show at least tried to made a joke or something out of everyone stealing a kiss from Catarina, like Geordo did; non-consensual kisses aren't good, but this particular “sleeping beauty” version of the trope is at least something you can kind of skate by with in a fantasy romance, and it would have been funny and sweet for each of the main characters to literally try the same exact thing, one after the other. Alas, they all just kind of gather around her bed and wait for the plot to resolve itself.

It does, too, with the spirit of Acchan meeting up with Catarina to give her a pep talk and basically kick her back into the world of Fortune Lover. This is a very well animated and performed scene, and it gives me exactly what I wanted more of in this episode, with Catarina having to reckon with the fact that she'll never see this version of her life or family again, and taking one last opportunity to say goodbye to her best friend. That said, the way the show has handled Acchan's presence as Sophia has been a little confusing to me: Is she also a dead, reincarnated spirit, and if so, can she never remember her friendship with Catarina again? If Acchan's present-day ghost is in Catarina's coma dream, helping her out, then what does that make of the Acchan that is also there inside of Sophia while Catarina sleeps? Is Acchan truly living in Sophia's body, or is she more like a passive passenger?

It's kind of confusing, and it muddles the emotions of Acchan and Catarina's otherwise heartbreaking goodbye, but the end result is what we would have predicted either way: Catarina gets some closure regarding her past life, and then returns to consciousness as the idiot heiress we all know and love. Her chat with Acchan also helped her remember some details regarding Sirius' hidden route, which allows her to find the secret chamber where Maria is being hidden. Just because the good Lady Maria has been saved, though, doesn't mean that Catarina's work is done. Sirius Dieke is still acting all cuckoo-bananas, hellbent on revenge for his mother or something, so our heroine and her harem will need to pull together one last time to prevent the ultimate doom from befalling them all.

Rating:

Odds and Ends

• Shipping Wars: It really seems like the show is making a push for Geordo as the main squeeze loverboy, which I guess makes sense when you look at it from the perspective of otome game clichés, but I'm not crazy when I say the guy has barely done anything all series, right? I mean, literally, he's mostly been a background presence, and all of his character development prior to the last episode or two has been purely exposition. I'd argue that literally any of the romantic interests, save maybe for Nicol, have more chemistry going on with Catarina.

• Is the increased emphasis on the connection between past and future lives a more common thread in these “Reborn into an otome game world” type of stories? Because I really do think that 95% of isekai light novel adaptations would be better with more emphasis on that aspect of the genre.

• Man, I had a whole host of silly puns to make based on Sirius Dieke's ridiculous name, but he's just been such a nothing presence that I haven't had any good chances to use them. I never expected the more serious parts of the plot to be My Next Life as a Villainess' strong suit, but I've been pretty disappointed in how anti-climactic this final arc has felt.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.