I'm in Love with the Villainess
A lesbian office worker reincarnates to win the villainess's heart.
I'm in Love with the Villainess is a Japanese light novel series by Inori, serialized online from January 2018 to February 2021 on Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later published digitally by Ainaka Publishing under their GL Bunko imprint, and adapted into a manga in Comic Yuri Hime and an anime television series by Platinum Vision that aired from October to December 2023. The series is notable for its yuri romance and its focus on a lesbian protagonist who reincarnates into an otome game and pursues the game's villainess.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Isekai
- Yuri
- Romantic comedy
Facts from the source article.
Characters
Rei Ohashi, an office worker who died from overwork, reincarnates as Rae Taylor, the heroine of her favorite otome game Revolution. As a lesbian, Rae ignores the male capture targets and instead pursues Claire François, the game's villainess. Using her knowledge of the game's plot, Rae aims to secure Claire a happy ending, though her cheerful exterior hides trauma from past romantic failures in her previous life. Claire is a noble who believes in the aristocratic system and often looks down on commoners, especially Rae, but becomes flustered by Rae's persistent affection; over time she begins to appreciate Rae's efforts, often responding with slapstick punishment that Rae accepts willingly. The three princes of the Bauer Kingdom are the original romance options: the eldest heir, energetic and popular, becomes fascinated by Rae's abilities; the second heir, stoic and suffering from an inferiority complex, is the least popular target and the object of Claire's long-standing crush; the third heir, who appears as a charismatic prince, is later revealed to be afflicted with the Crosswire Curse, which inverts genders—she is actually a girl, cursed by her mother to be eligible for the throne. Only her childhood friend Misha knew her secret until Rae learns of it and offers a cure, leading the third prince to break the curse and live as her true gender.
Production
After falling ill, she did not begin writing I'm in Love with the Villainess until after graduating from university. Inori noted that her work naturally leaned toward yuri relationships, as heterosexual stories did not feel right to her, and she cited light novel writer Shinobu Saeki as a major influence. She based protagonist Rae Taylor on her partner Aki, exaggerating Aki's humorous traits, and drew many of Rae's conflicts from her own life experiences. Claire was modeled on the villainess archetype popular on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, though Inori had no special attachment to that genre. Inori serialized the work irregularly from January 2018 to February 2021, sometimes taking one week to three months per chapter, and once wrote about 40,000 characters in a single day. She felt it important to address societal issues as a member of a minority group, and struggled to balance entertainment with serious themes, but was pleased with the series overall. After learning that GL Bunko was seeking yuri stories, Inori submitted the manuscript, forgot about it for six months, and then received a publication offer; the story was published as an ebook in Japan.
Media
The original light novel series was serialized online from January 14, 2018, to February 21, 2021, on Shōsetsuka ni Narō. Five volumes were published digitally as Amazon Kindle exclusives by Ainaka Publishing under GL Bunko from February 26, 2019, to August 26, 2021, with cover art and illustrations by Hanagata. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the light novel for North America in April 2020, and in March 2021 issued a new version of the first volume after omitting several paragraphs in the original localization. Ichijinsha began publishing expanded paperback Revolution editions in Japan from December 18, 2021, under their Ichijinsha Novels imprint, featuring refined editing, additional illustrations, and bonus stories; as of November 2023, three Revolution editions had been released, covering the mainline content of the first two original novels. A spin-off retelling from Claire's perspective, I'm in Love with the Villainess: She's so Cheeky for a Commoner, began online serialization on May 25, 2021, and was published digitally by Ainaka on February 28, 2022; Seven Seas Entertainment licensed it for English release at Anime Expo 2022. In February 2026, Seven Seas announced a license for another spin-off, I'm in Love with the Villainess: Come on and Notice Me Already, focusing on the daughters of the protagonists, with volume one scheduled for January 2027.
Reception
In March 2021, the series placed fifth in AnimeJapan's annual Manga We Want to See Animated Ranking. It was nominated for the Best Printed Manga category in the Next Manga Awards in 2021, placing seventeenth out of fifty nominees, and again in 2022, placing eighth. It placed ninth in the 2022 Tsutaya Comic Awards. I'm in Love with the Villainess won Best Light Novel at the 2022 Manga Barcelona Awards, and in 2023 it won both Best Light Novel and Best Yuri categories. The series ranked twentieth in the tankōbon section of the 2023 Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! guidebook. The anime adaptation placed fifth at the 2024 Tokyo Anime Awards. Erica Friedman of Okazu gave the first light novel a score of nine out of ten, praising its narrative voice, worldbuilding, and character writing, and calling it the series to beat for 2020. Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave a generally positive review, noting that the female leads become easier to root for as they develop, and commended the same-sex representation. Kevin Cormack of Anime News Network praised the audiobook for restoring missing segments and highlighted the social commentary and complex characters. The anime received mixed-to-positive reviews: James Beckett found the plot repetitive and visuals unenthusing, Rebecca Silverman disliked Rae's interactions with Claire, while Richard Eisenbeis praised the premise's originality and Nicholas Dupree called the series hilarious and infinitely funny.
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