JAINITUOS MANGA/LIGHT NOVEL REVIEWS – I AM IN LOVE WITH THE VILLAINESS – MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I am in Love with the Villainess

Genre: Yuri, Isekai, Romantic Comedy

Publisher: GL Bunko

Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry of my blog.

I am taking again this opportunity to write about a small project that really called my attention months ago, and that… after so long reviewing anime, it brings me a new challenge because, just like Hamefura, has an interesting viewpoint regarding the Isekai genre. (I was about to use the word Subvert, but after some bad experience with a… red-haired, arrogant woman from some Netflix I meet in July… You get it.)

Having said that, here it is…

I’m in love with the villainess

But before I start, I need to ask you the two most important questions:

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am very happy. Now, let’s go with Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou.

PREMISE

On this occasion, I am going to focus in both the light novel and the manga, because as of September 23rd, 2021, there is no plan for an anime adaptation. And I will do my best to bring you a solid entry of this story.

I’m in Love With the Villainess, or Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou (私の推しは悪役令嬢) is a series of five Japanese light novels from the isekai genre, written by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata (Remember that light novelists tend to use pseudonyms for the sake of privacy). Rei Oohashi, a typical Japanese worker, dies from overwork, and then she resurrects as Rae Taylor, the main heroine of her favourite visual novel, Revolution. She can become the fiancee of any of the three main heroes. But Rae has no interest in boys, she is a lesbian, which is why she got in love with Claire François, the game’s main antagonist. And she will do anything for fall in love with her.

And yes, I know what are you thinking.

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Akuyakureijou (That’s the name I gave this story) has borrowed elements from both Slime 300, and Hamefura, but saying that it is a copy of both stories would be outrageous, and incorrect.

Inori started publishing Akuyakureijou on the site Shosetsuka ni Naro on January 14, 2018, releasing its final volume on August 26, 2021. Like I said, there is no announcement of any potential anime adaptation of this story, although I will absolutely welcome it. I really enjoyed Bakarina and her adorable adventures, and now it is the turn of Bakae (Sorry for the terrible pun).

However, I want to share with you some beautiful official art pictures of Akuyakureijou. Courtesy of Hanagata.

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At the same time, I want to share this beautiful fan animation of Rae and Claire, the artist’s name is Plang.

Hopefully this won’t be the animated short of Akuyakureijou.

And before I forget, the artist of Akuyakureijou is called Anoshimo.

STORY

Art by Hanagata

At this point, there is not too much I can say about the story, but I already got some of the experience from watching many episodes from Hamefura, so I know what to expect: a typical, reincarnated Japanese worker – Rae Taylor (or corporate slave in the words of Azusa Aizawa), who awakens in a completely different world from her typical Japan, and she discovers that she reincarnated inside Revolution, earning a new opportunity in a new world – Blume Kingdom, and attending the most prestigious school of magic – Royal Academy. Once she realises of what happened to her, Rae meets the spoiled, rich antagonist who will act as a bully for a main protagonist – Claire François. But trying to earn her love is not her only challenge, she must also avoid the group of potential love interests – Rod, Thane and Tud Bauer, the princes of the Blume Kingdom royal family.

So far, I have read the first two chapters, and I am really liking this story; it has very nice characters, especially Rae and her best friend, Misha, who is trying to make sure Rae does not get bullied by Claire, in a fashion of the well-known best friend in the story. And I have to say that some of the art of the manga is pretty neat.

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Honestly, this is the type of art you would expect in a romantic comedy. With big eyes, cute facial expressions, beautiful school uniforms, and some standard humour. Rae is hopelessly in love with Claire, and of course Claire hates Rae, but the latter will tolerate all the abuse if she can win her heart. And throughout the story, especially the light novel, we see glimpses of Rae’s sexuality from the beginning. I mean… even before she got reincarnated. And finally, she got all the optimism about her feelings, stopping at nothing to hear her love.

Meanwhile, Claire is the typical tsundere who is willing to treat Rae like garbage, just to prove her status. Yet, she gets easily frustrated about the «resistance» of Rae, so she is willing to be nastier with her.

And again, Rae doesn’t concede and becomes Claire’s maid. A true force to be reckoned with.

If any studio animates Akuyakureijou, it will probably be pretty similar to Hamefura.

That aside, I find pretty interesting of how the story of Inori takes the same concept of being reincarnated into you favourite visual novel, and keep it unique. I think the reason of that is that Akuyakureijou answered the question:

«What can I do that Hamefura hasn’t?»

And from there, Inori started writing her story.

One element that does not fully convinced me is that the story jumped directly in the present of the story. No time to develop Rae from her childhood, no explanation of how Rei died, and how she got enrolled in the Royal Academy, unlike Hamefura. And yes, later the story develops her more, as well as Claire, but I wish that the manga took some pages to introduce her as the protagonist of Revolution.

But that’s only my own opinion.

Overall, Akuyakureijou has a nice story, and if you are a fan of yuri genre, I deeply recommend it.

CHARACTERS

Honestly I think I already said what I needed to say about the characters. Rae is a really wonderful protagonist, hopelessly in love with the main antagonist, who is trying to follow her heart. And that is why…

«We care about both her heart and whom her heart desires.»

Claire is a loveable character as well. Our sweet tsundere.

I cannot say a lot the rest of the characters, hopefully I will get there eventually, but something tells me that I will enjoy learning about them too.

CONCLUSION

I am In love with the Villainess, (a.k.a. Akuyakureijou) is an excellent must-see for those fans of yuri genre and light novels. I can’t recommend it. And even if you are not a yuri fan, Akuyakureijou is still nice.

So get a copy of Akuyakureijou, either manga or light novel, and read Akuyakureijou, because I love Akuyakureijou. In fact, I should make a Akuyakureijou petition at Change.org to finance a Akuyakureijou anime. I just can’t live without Akuyakureijou. Now… Akuyakoureijou is my life, and soon it will be yours. Join me to the campaign of Akuyakureijou, and let’s make the Akuyakureijou possible…

WOULD YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THAT HORRIBLE NAME?!!!

«Oh. Hi Henrietta!! How are you?»

I TOLD YOU TO START WRITING 86:EIGHTY-SIX FIRST IMPRESSIONS!

«Sorry. Very Busy, But I will do it… eventually. Ok?»

I THINK WE WILL KILL YOU!!

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – TENSEI SLIME – THE SLIME DIARIES – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

That Time I got Reincarnated As a Slime

Genre: Isekai, fantasy, Slice-of-Life

Studio: Eight-Bit.

Hello my friends, welcome to another entry of my blog.

First and foremost, I want to go back to…

Normally I will not do this thing. I usually finish with an anime, or manga, and then I got to the next one. But it is just that, when I was watching the rest of this adaptation, I found this scene from episode 3:

This definitely proves that this story became self-aware, which won’t surprise me, keeping in mind thta Combatants Will be Dispatched is from the creator of Konosuba!!! but that really made me appreciate it even more.

When the time comes, I will use this image of Agent Six more. I promise.

Anyway…

Time to start my purpose.

As many of my beloved readers remember, one year ago, I reviewed Tensei Shitara Suraimu Datta Ken, or That Time I got Reincarnated As a Slime, in which I praised the character of Rimuru Tempest, called him one of the best isekai protagonists. But now, it is time to talk about the spin-off of the series, one I watched months ago.

Behold…

My apologies! I couldn’t find a better picture

But before I start, I want to ask the usual questions:

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy? Staying safe?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy.

Now… on to the review.

PREMISE

The premise is pretty simple.

Based on the light novel written by Fuse, and illustrated by Mitz Vah, The Slime Diaries is a humororus spin-off of That Time I got reincarnated As A Slime, where we are witnesses of the daily life of our favourite reincarnated slime.

No. Not Falfa and Shalsha

I mean Rimuru Tempest. Unlike its sister series, The Slime Diaries does not have too much intense battles, or any heart-wrenching moments, just like both seasons of Tensei Slime, but I will talk about it later. Instead, we got the daily lives of Shion, Shura, Gobta, Benimaru, Ranga, Souen, Gabiru, and how they manage their relationships with Rimuru. Or… Shall I say how Rimuru deals with its delightful group.

The manga of The Slime Diaries was released on March, 2018, and as of July 2021, it has released five volumes. Meanwhile, the anime version has 12 episodes, released from April 8 to June 22… 2021 (obviously). Interestingly enough, The Slime Diaries was supposed to be released on January, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, just like the two season of Tensei Slime, The Slime Diaries was animated by Eight-Bit Studios.

STORY

Well… I don’t think I should go too deep into the story.

Like I said before, The Slime Diaries is a spin-off of Tensei Slime that focuses on the daily lives of Rimuru Tempest and his pack; and despite this anime only has 12 episodes, it has enough moments of each of the characters, mostly for comedic reasons, but the humour is enjoyable enough, and if you have watched the two seasons of Tensei Slime, you will remember that all of them have their quirky, unique personalities along with their great powers. And definitely this spin-off, on the episodes I watched, really took enough advantage of each of the cast. Many will definitely disagree with me, but because Tensei Slime has a lot of characters, and this anime only one cour, we need to be conscious about its running time.

In other words, The Slime Diaries does the job, a feel-good-inc spin-off that you can watch if you are a fan of either Rimuru Tempest or That Time I got reincarnated As a Slime. Even if you are not a fan, you can always watch the series if you want to have a good time, but you will have trouble following the characters.

That is one of the issues of The Slime Diaries, we do not have too much hint of where the characters come from, Rimuru included. At least from my perspective.

On the other hand, there was something that got my attention, even more than anything else. The characters design.

I swear to you, my friends, that I thought a different studio animated this spin-off, just look.

From The Slime Diaries

And this is from the first season of Tensei Slime.

Tell me if this doesn’t look like it comes from a different studio, and I apologise for the image’s poor resolution. But it should be clear enough. Honestly, the animation and the character appearance has nothing to do with the quality of the episodes, but I wanted to point that out.

But no. Both series come from Eight-Bit.

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But nothing can bring down the beauty and charisma of my beautiful Shion.

CHARACTERS

And now, unless you have seen at least one season of That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, you won’t know the characters enough.

And for the others, there is no big change on them, Rimuru being Rimuru, Shura being Shura, Shion being Shion, Gobta being Gobta, Benimaru being Benimaru, Milim being Milim… you get the idea. Nonetheless, in many episodes you feel that you see a new face of them. And if you love them before, you will love them again.

So yeah, just sit back and enjoy… Shion…

Weaklings… WOW!!

CONCLUSION

The Slime Diaries is an enjoyable spin-off that helps you to relax and enjoy a weekend in which you want to have a good time. Yeah! That is the time you meet to catch. I insist that unless you have seen enough episodes of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, you will not know what is going on. Having said that, if you are a fan, don’t miss this.

Otherwise, start with the first season of Tensei Slime.

Wow!!

I am happy that I was able to finish this. It’s been almost two months!!!

But it is time to move on. And for the next days, I will give you 86 reasons for write on this blog.

Sorry. Bad hint.

And no buts, instead bongos…

(sigh)… I have become so pervy.

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – I’ve been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out my Level – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out my level

Genre: Fantasy, isekai, Slice-of Life

Studio: Revoroot

Hello people.

Welcome to another entry of my blog.

I am very happy, because the lockdown in Victoria has been lifted, and some restrictions have been eased. Of course, I need to be extremely careful, but now I can celebrate some good news. And what a better way to do that than writing a new entry of my blog?

With that said, I introduce you…

Again. I want to ask:

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am very happy.

Now, let’s go with Slime Taoshite 300-nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Nattemashita. (This is the longest name for a light novel I have ever met)

PREMISE

Okay. First things first.

Now that I got the mandatory 300 joke about of my way, I can start.

Based on the light novel written by Morita Kisetsu, and illustrated by Benio, I’ve Been Killing Slime for 300 years and Maxed Out my Level (Or Slime 300 as how I will refer it), tells the story of Azusa Aizawa, a very young ambitious officer lady that focused just on her career, unfortunately, she died very young, for excessive work (or karoshi). Regretting dying young and not enjoying life, Azusa is giving a chance of living a second life, which she gladly accepts; so she reincarnates as a young, beautiful, inmortal witch that has everything to live a simple, quiet life. So she only kills slimes, the weakest monster, each day for the next 300 years. By doing this, Azusa reaches max-level, and due to her appearance, and she spending her days making potions, she earns the title of «The Witch of the Highlands».

Sounds like a good life, even Elaina is envidious of Azusa. Right Elaina?

NO F*&^ING WAY!! Did you forget what happens next?

Of course not Elaina.

Unfortunately for Azusa, this fact draws unwanted attention from many adventurers and hunters who want to prove their might with her, including Laika, the dragon; Halkara, the beautiful elf, Beelzebub, a 3,000 year-old demon, and the twins Falfa and Shalsha, reincarnations of all the slimes Azusa slain.

And now, Azusa must live a cour of twelve episodes of very hilarious adventures in which she tries to escape her reputation and avoid any big trouble. Will she succeed?

Slime 300 started its publication in June, 2016, through the user-generated website Shosetsuka ni Naro, and as of June 12, 2021, it has reached 17 volumes, the same as The Journey of Elaina…

Stop harassing me, you stalker!!! I’ll kill you.

Ok! Ok! No more mentions of Elaina until the very end. I know you are saving yourself for Saya…

Anyway!! Slime 300 is animated by Studio Revoroot, whose only known work, at least for me, is FLCL Alternative, and the multi-talented, Aoi Yuki, who voices Azusa, sings that wonderful intro song, «Gudafuwa» Everyday, while Azumi Waki, sings the ending, Viewtiful Days!

But, as always, I will talk about the characts in time.

STORY

I must be honest. Sometimes I find really hard to review comedy series, because I am not precisely an expert in anime humour, and there are so many other elements juxtaposed, from my perspective, that, more than writing a review, I feel like solving a puzzle (Rubix’s Cube).

But here it comes.

When I saw the first two episodes of Slime 300, it reminded me of Tensei Slime: The Slime Diaries, because all the series has the same feel-good vibe that I mentioned before, in which you do not have to jump from the chair, thinking that any character will die, or any tragic event will turn things upside down.

No. Slime 300 is about loveable characters trying to live their lives as nice and peaceful as possible, while they go with a lot of wacky adventures. On the other hand, it is true that isekai genre always offer a lot of possibilities in storytelling that one cannot ever imagine.

And Slime 300, again, is about enjoying life in a new world with great imagination. Also, the story is always having that wonderful moral that I can relate to. And that is…

«Always be kind with yourself.»

There is no tension, no tragedy or dark fantasy tone; just a likeable balance between slice-of-life and isekai that is as simple as it sounds. And I think the cutesy animation is part of that feel-good tone. Just like with Princess Connect: Re:Dive.

That’s right.

Furthermore, I feel that the story of Slime 300 is more focused on the characters, especially when it is about their relationships with Azusa; seriously, Laika, Halkara, Flatorte, Falfa and Shalsha, each of them gets something out of Azusa’s vision of life. Completely the opposite from… Elaina.

Because, after all, which one of us does not relate with trying to live a good life, and being kind with ourselves?

Now, before I shift to a more philosophical viewpoint, I have to say that the story of Slime 300 is decent, but do not expect anything so complex or twisted. Just a good anime to spend a weekend. In fact…

Go binge it right now!

I repeat… Slime 300 is more about the characters living their lives and growing rather than reflections or criticism of our society, similar to Kino’s Journey, and Ela…

SORRY!!! DESCULPE!! S’IL VOUS PLAIT!!

So yeah. Don’t expect anything too big or any elaborate drama. Slime 300 is a comedy story about trying to live life with ease.

Otherwise, you can always go back to the work of Junji Ito.

CHARACTERS

Like I said before, the story of Slime 300 is enjoyable enough due to its characters, as well as how their respective interactions with Azusa help them to grow and being part of her family. And all of them are really likeable and have… sigh… a very cutesy design.

We have Laika, the dragon that becomes the housekeeper of Azusa’s estate (Any similarity with Kobayashi-san’s Dragon Maid is mere coincidence), Falfa and Shalsha, the twins that are a reincarnation of all the slimes Azusa vanquished, Beelzebub, the demon lord that sometimes «visits» Azusa and family, and Halkara, our elf that is beautiful and clumsy, among others. Each of them have amazing design and nice personalities.

One fact that I want to share is that Aoi Yuki, for those who do not know, voiced:

Tanya Von Degurechaff.

Trust me, when you first hear the work of Aoi Yuki with Azusa Aizawa, it could take you a while to believe it.

However, in terms of character design, I got a personal favourite character, and that is…

I think it is because I always had the hot spot for dark-skinned characters in anime, especially because of another demon lord from another 2021 anime that I want to talk about soon.

Heine, from Combatants Will Be Dispatched!!

Also, when I was checking the wiki of Slime 300, of Halkara, I learnt a very interesting word.

«Heteroflexibility»

Seriously. I confess that I had no idea that such a term could exist. If something can help me to understand the difference between heteroflexibility and bisexuality, I will be always thankful.

Short words… Characters of Slime 300 makes the story so damn enjoyable.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Slime 300 is a pretty cute story that is perfect to binge after a really heavy day. And when you do so, you will always enjoy every element, the comedy, the characters, the animations, and the soundtrack, and perhaps… Slime 300 is another proof that, no matter how many years pass, isekai genre will never age bad.

And now… that concludes my «Witch Review Trilogy». Why, Because I consecutively analysed three witch-related anime.

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Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, The Journey of Elaina, and I’ve been Killing slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out my Level.

Can you believe it?

Well… I want to conclude this review with this.

This beautiful illustration from both the artists of Elaina (Azuuru), and Slime 300 (Benio). I do not know what it says, but I find it wonderful.

Enjoy. And for me… time to go back to reality, and remember….