I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss was a delightful, if conventional, otome isekai adventure of the Fall 2022 anime season. Its star, the villainess turned hero Aileen Lauren d’Autriche, became the next Katarina Claes when she got reborn in an otome game world and rewrote the script to avoid her own doom.
However, this was no My Next Life as a Villainess knockoff. The basic premise was the same, but I’m the Villainess had the benefit of a stronger, more cohesive plot that aggressively went in bold directions to challenge the strength of Aileen’s love time and again against a variety of cunning foes. The plot twists came hard and fast, and a few of them really stood out as otome game-changers in Aileen’s bizarre love story.
When Claude Defeated Prince Cedric to Become the Next Crown Prince
From the anime’s trailers, I’m the Villainess fans knew ahead of time that Aileen would cozy up to the kuudere demon king Claude, but they didn’t know what would come next for these two misunderstood villains. Soon enough, the Villaines anime concluded its first arc with a bang, pitting Claude against his scheming half-brother, Prince Cedric, and his fiancée, Lilia Rainworth. Aileen had done well up to that point, but when Cedric and Lilia captured her, Claude swooped in to save the day with an impressive show of force, and Cedric and Lilia were defeated. In exchange for Claude keeping all this secret, Cedric agreed to let his half-brother Claude become next in line to the throne, which restored Claude’s legitimacy as a royal prince. This also benefited Claude’s fiancée Aileen, who could walk freely in the empire not as an abandoned villainess but as a proper princess at last.
When Aileen Decided to Tame James Charles/Ashtarte, the Half-Demon Student
Aileen’s second adventure brought her to the chauvinistic Mirchetta region, where she posed as a boy named Ailey Calois and enrolled at the elite Mische Academy. The original otome game’s sequel took place here, and Aileen knew that the student council president, James Charles, had a sinister secret. Like Claude, he is a half-demon who can potentially Hulk out in his demon form if provoked, so Aileen sought to tame him just the way she tamed Claude. All this proved that demons and half-demons are more widespread than one might think and that these people are badly misunderstood and mistreated. Aileen exercised all her detective skills to uncover Selena Gilbert’s and the Church’s plot to avoid catastrophe at the school festival, and the day was saved once again. James Charles and his student council fellows became Aileen’s loyal allies not long after that.
When Lilia Rainworth Revealed Her Role as a Meta-Manipulator
The dust barely settled on the Mische Academy school festival battle when Aileen’s true enemy stepped forth. Selena Gilbert had merely been a pawn in Lilia Rainworth’s manipulative games, and Lilia explained herself fully to Aileen right there in the garden. Lilia, like Aileen, is a real-life girl who got reborn in this otome game world, and she can use her meta-knowledge and strong charisma to toy with every game character as she sees fit. In Lilia’s eyes, the likes of Claude, Selena and James Charles are just game characters, not real people, so there’s no harm in manipulating them for fun. Aileen strongly objected, but there was little she could do except prepare for Lilia’s next trick. This offered a whole new perspective on video game isekai anime — who is a real person when Japanese people meet their favorite game’s characters face to face, with one having the human spirit and the other reading off a game’s script and coding?
When Lilia Wiped Claude’s Memories to Turn Him Against Aileen
Lilia’s third and final scheme pitted Aileen against Claude himself, and she did it by wiping all of Claude’s Aileen-related memories. Now forgetting his life as a demon king and Aileen’s lover, Claude began identifying only with his human half and wanted nothing to do with Aileen or demons. Aileen had to fight not for her survival but for true love, meaning the stakes were more personal than ever in this final arc. Aileen and her many allies put up a great fight even when they were branded enemies of the Empire, and finally, Aileen battled Lilia directly as fellow sword maidens. Aileen won, Claude regained his memories, and Aileen and Claude later married while Lilia and Cedric ended up in a dungeon together. This twist proved that even when Aileen had her much-needed plot armor and had secured her own safety, true love was still worth fighting for, and she wasn’t just a selfish villainess looking out for herself. That’s what made her a true isekai hero.
