Villainess has been a lot of fun, but I feel like it really grew into its own once it skipped forward in time a bit. It starts out with Alicia so young that setting up a future love interest just feels icky (his behavior is also pretty icky). It’s easier to ignore the age difference when they look closer in age later.
I haven’t seen the original, but remakes are a bit of a touchy subject for people I think. Some work out great. For example, I have seen lots of positive comments about the currently airing Ranma 1/2 remake. Other times, you get a horror story like Berserk 2016. As always, I am hopeful that fans of the original (like you) find something to like in the remake and that it serves as a way to create new fans. Time will tell!
Yes! I loved The Duel so much. The Ninth Jedi was another favorite.
A small conspiracy-minded part of me feels like going on hiatus at this exact point was engineered to allow fan artists to go crazy writing/drawing what happens next.
I hope that the author feels better soon.
The deer cracker hair tie is a nice touch.
The professor cracked me up this chapter. I think this plan doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it at least let us see the professor faceplanting while Mira was on the merry go round.
There was a Volume 2! The main difference is that it featured animation studios from elsewhere around the globe instead of Japan. So, it isn’t included on sites like MAL or AniList. Similar to the first season, it has some episodes that are better than others, but I generally prefer the first season between the two.
This is when you hope that its a bug that caps the display at 365 days or a fun(?) little prank.
Thanks for the translation!
sometimes the cooking parts were a bit too much
Wait, you’re telling me I can have a sweet romance and cooking at the same time? Definitely will have to check it out.
I have mixed feelings about the ending, but I think I have come down on the liking it more than disliking it side of things. In the final chapter discussion thread, I wrote a big post about my thoughts on the ending. Short version of my thoughts behind the spoiler tag:
I think the ending works better from a meta perspective from what it says about the entertainment industry. There is a lot of symmetry between Ai in the beginning of the series and Ruby at the end. I think that you can read into it that despite all the tragedies that the Hoshinos have gone through, nothing about the industry has changed and it is more than willing to chew up and spit out young talent in order to exploit it for money.
As for Aqua’s death, I was frankly expecting Ruby to die as well Romeo/Juliet style. The ending certainly feels rushed and I wish we had more time with the rest of the cast of characters after Aqua’s death. However, Aka already has his new project announced and underway, so I am not sure how much more passion might have been left on his part to expand the ending.
How are the actual mysteries? Something that can ruin stuff like a detective series for me is if the actual crimes/mysteries end up being kind of dumb, even if the rest of the story is engaging.
This looks great. I will definitely be checking this out.
Yeah, that arc was just really dumb. If we are really lucky, we might actually see Kuzuhana in this next arc! If not, then we at least need to see more Itachi.
Haha, yes. I feel like Gill needs to step up his Villainess support game. When Alicia drops a hot line like how freckle-girl had actually judged Alicia by her looks to start with, Gill need to jump in with some supporting applause or shouts. What is a Villainess really, if she doesn’t have a posse to act as a hype crew?
Yeah, I was thinking about that too. If this organization was officially disbanded 16 years ago, Gorilla would have likely needed to have been recruited after the official disbandment. Though, with the autonomy and loyalty to their own ideals of the Shadow Warrior captains, it seems plausible that some of them might have kept up recruitment to keep the ranks full for when they are needed.
I suspect you might be right. Really makes you question where the true loyalty lies. That’s the thing with double agents, always hard to trust them.
Really fun episode this week. That showdown with Liz and LIz’s freckled lackey was so good. I died when Alicia literally pushed the other girl aside so that she could whisper sweet evils into Liz’s ear. It’s like when Alicia dons all black, she finally learned how to be a proper Villainess (the look is great as well).
And, frankly, she was right to tell off Duke. The dude is pervy as hell. You are a villainess now Alicia! Channel your inner mean-spiritedness and embrace it. 'Tis better to die a hated Villainess than to live as a half-hearted one!
I suspect that Alicia was being influenced in some way in that exchange with Duke. I mean, yeah, he was being creepy as hell, but that is pretty normal for him at this point. She seems to have acted against her will. Like you, I think that it is less likely to be Liz consciously influencing things after this episode. Either she is doing it unknowingly, or there is some game force pushing things back to the game’s story line. However, if that was the case, wouldn’t it have influenced Duke and the handful of others that don’t seem affected by it by now?
Really fun episode with Alicia back and I am looking forward to more direct confrontations with Liz and co. going forward.
I really like her all-black look with the eye patch. It’s like battle armor for the tasteful Villainess.
So, this might not be such a peaceful transfer of power. It was a nice bit of lore that the lawn chair originally belonged to Kujaku.