Villainess Level 99

Episode 12

It feels a little off to say that this show, which adapts only the first light novel of the source material, doesn't manage to do its original justice. That, I think, comes down to the fact that it spent a little too much time on earlier parts, leaving the entire climactic battle for one episode. Or maybe I have sour grapes because of a couple of major changes from the novel, namely what happens with Alicia, Will, and Oswald. Does it affect the rest of the story? In anime-only terms, not really; it cleans up the finale for Yumiella quite a bit. It could have repercussions for a second season, but the way they worked the changes into the overarching plot, when you sit back and think about it, is very well done. By opening the series with the game, we're led into the possibility that the game world's mechanics are more important than in 90% of otome game-based anime, and that's carried through into the revelation that the all-powerful Plot is moving Alicia. This allows for the redemption of a few characters who don't get that in the books, and that's not necessarily bad.

It does, unfortunately, undercut the prejudice subplot. Again, if you think about it, the anime has been working towards that almost from the start, implying that part of Alicia's issue with Yumiella was that she could see her dark magic, not that she disliked her for her hair color. But that anti-black hair bias is still significant enough in terms of the overarching plot that I can't help but feel that that's a disservice to the series. We learn that the demon lord was demonized because the first king feared his power, which seems to have led to a widespread campaign to impugn dark-haired people. He wasn't powerful because of his black hair and eyes, but they were unusual enough for the king and the saint to seize on to make people fear him. The prejudice was created by the so-called hero king, who turns out not to have been much of a hero. While Yumiella being an integral part of the force to take out the demon lord still does a lot to combat that prejudice, it still feels underutilized, more of a passing thought than a fully developed plot point – and since Yumiella's entire life was shaped by her hair color, that's not great.

But book-to-show pickiness aside, this episode still has its fair share of good moments. Naturally, Patrick and Yumiella get the dragon's share of them – Patrick asking her to wear the amulet of protection so that he'll feel safer about her facing the demon lord is adorable, and nothing tops that scene at the end where their little family (Yumiella, Patrick, and Ryu) stand above the crowd watching the festivities. It's not only sweet to see the three of them as a unit without Patrick's head in Ryu's mouth, but it also shows that Yumiella will always have someone on her side, which she deserves. She may not always know how to express her emotions (or even what they are), but she and Patrick are a unit now, and that's lovely. More in character, it's also fun to see her casually stomping all over William and Oswald's feelings for Alicia multiple times, culminating in her attempt to get them to clap for true love. Poor guys – they really had it rough throughout the series' entire run. They make great depressed chibis, though.

At the end of the day, this did a good enough job with its source material to make it a fun watch while making changes that allowed it to be its own thing. I am that obnoxious reader who largely prefers faithfulness in my adaptations, but I still very much enjoyed this, and I'm glad that they stuck with just the first novel, which I think is the best of the bunch. This was always entertaining, and since that's the goal of television shows, I'd call this more of a success than not, ugly CG dragons and other visual issues aside. Yumiella, Patrick, and Ryu can now all be happy in their own special ways, which really matters.

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Villainess Level 99 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.