私の推しは悪役令嬢。 5 [Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou. 5]

I'm in Love with the Villainess Manga #5

by Aonoshimo (Illustrator), Inori (Original Creator), Hanagata (Character Design)

乙女ゲーム『Revolution』の世界に、
ヒロインのレイ＝テイラーとして転生した社畜OL・大橋零。
そんな彼女の推しは攻略対象の王子たち…ではなく、
悪役令嬢・クレア＝フランソワだった！

平民運動への関与からレーネが追放されて以降、
ふさぎ込みがちなクレアと、どうにか元気づけたいレイ。
そんなある日、クレアが「お姉様」と呼び慕う
隣国の王女・マナリア＝スースが王立学院に転校してくる。
最大のライバルの出現に、レイがとった行動とは…。

推し一筋のラブコメ・ファンタジー、第5巻！

Genres: Manga, Romance, Fantasy, Yuri, LGBT, Comics, Comedy

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2022

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Claire’s childhood friend (and princess) Manaria arrives in exile, Claire is thrilled to have her around. Less so, Rae, who simply can’t compete with a rival who outclasses her at every turn and is turning Claire’s head in a way that Rae only wishes she could…

This volume does a great job at exceeding its source material, as I absolutely cannot stand Manaria as a character, but at least now I can’t stand her and I have some great art to look at.

Genuinely, I do think this makes a way better way to digest this particular story arc, from its beginning to its terribly sweet ending. It engages in some tactics I’m not exactly thrilled with, but the end result is solid.

It certainly makes for a unique change of pace to have Rae constantly on the back foot, as Manaria’s entire purpose in the otome game was to be an ally who kept Claire off the player’s back.

Except Rae wants to be up in Claire’s business constantly as a general rule, so Manaria’s interference does nothing but tick her off. Up to the point where Manaria provokes her into an ill-advised duel over Claire, a nice change from the invincible isekai protagonist. Rae’s expressions this volume are golden.

What I do like is that this exposes Rae’s statements that she’s happy as long as Claire is happy, whoever she’s with, as a lie and an excuse Rae uses to keep herself from having to truly make a move on somebody who has thus far been staunchly hetero.

But then Manaria reveals the cracks in Claire’s gender identity and gets farther than Rae could ever hope and Rae… just gives up. It’s a pretty shocking moment, even knowing it’s coming.

The spiral of Rae’s depression is well done to the point where it’s kind of uncomfortable seeing her sink so low. She fights with Claire, stops eating, and she’s not the only one affected by the distance between them.

It would be an even better story arc if, again, I didn’t want to throw Manaria out a window. I think making your character’s somewhat dicey behaviour look better by introducing an even worse character is always an iffy proposition and Manaria’s a great example of why.

If Rae’s behaviour has been a little pushy, well, stand back because Manaria’s such a predator she could take on Arnold Schwarzenegger in the jungles of South America. She starts off as a rival, but gets worse and worse and worse.

For a story that’s been all about its representation, I guess it at least acknowledges that there are some crappy people out there, regardless of sexual orientation. I just wish it wasn’t a retread of such a worn-out trope though.

Naturally this is Manaria trying to push Rae into being honest about her intentions with Claire and Rae risks everything to finally show Claire how honest she’s been this entire time. And Claire also gets to change a little bit too, implying that maybe Rae’s doting isn’t so bad after all.

This is the story equivalent of all the makings of a gourmet meal being assembled by the burger line at McDonald’s. It has all the pieces, but it’s not brought together in a way that’s worthy of what it has to work with.

I suppose I can’t say much because a good foil for your protagonist should make you want to scream loudly, so mission accomplished there. It still doesn’t sit well with me though and it’s emblematic of what I find wrong with this series (I’m too busy to redo my earlier reviews, but they would not be anywhere near as glowing as they once were). It frequently doesn’t know how far too far is.

It wants to bring a big old ‘love is love’ message and it seems hell bent on making that a big tent that some stuff shouldn’t necessarily be under. Like, say, predators and incestuous siblings. The story basically pushes trying to lift all boats without acknowledging that some of them should probably be left on the ocean floor.

But, damn, what a gorgeous wrapper on this awkward moment in the story. Seriously, the art is pure perfection for the story and that’s what makes this one to down better than it did in the light novel.

This has great moments throughout, I won’t deny it - I think if it had stayed focused entirely on the relationships it does right, mostly Claire and Rae, it would still have the same affection for me it did originally. But the more times I dip back into this story, the more I see the really not okay stuff it’s trying to excuse as well.

3.5 stars - Claire and Rae save the day, but it’s a real struggle to not notice some of the worst aspects of the story when they’re front and centre like this. Your call on whether the art alone is able to hold that up, but I did find it made it much easier to take, at the very least.

[Ayxan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, uh, Claire's supposed to be straight, but her first true love was a girl? Mhm...

Didn't like this volume. I hate the love rival trope so much, especially when the "bottom" just sits there, does nothing, and even likes being fought for.

Would give it 1 star just for that.

However, the twist at the end was so unexpected and awesome, that it gets a better rating.
Still, though, my least favorite volume so far.

On the other hand, the brothers grew on me even more. They're becoming quite the comedy quartet, and I'm all here for it.

-27.10.23

[Pimplop · Rating 3 out of 5]

nopos esto ya lo vi en sekaiichi😎

[Alexis Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm In Love With The Villainess continues to be one of the most fun and exciting series around. The romance and action both are elevated going into volume 5 with a big slice of drama as the stunning princess Marnaria comes into town. This butch woman was Clair's first crush and Rae is hella jealous about it.

The action is really amazingly depicted in this volume, I think the fights were really fun and they weren't over used. The drama was well executed and while I knew what Marnaia's true intentions were the whole time and never doubted my read I still found the way she got to Rae to be very compelling. Aonoshimo's art continues to be a total banger with stunning work on all the characters and amazing use of expressions, action, backgrounds and space to depict the depth of the emotions at play.

This volume touches on queerness again in brief and the moments here are pretty good. I do wish that Rae and Manaria could have had more time to talk about being lesbians and that the word Lesbian saw any use at all here instead of the words queer and straight exclusively but it was for sure more than we get from many manga.

Manaria is my favorite character in the series so far, she is utterly charming and very OP in a way that I just adore. I hope she gets a happy life and a happy ending of her own. Overall, a great climax that I think will be a great ending point for the anime.

[Francisco De La Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Con la llegada de Manaria, la antigua amiga de Claire, Rei se ve desplazada de su lado, rindiendose ante otra chica que aparentemente quiere quitarle a Claire. Es Manaria la que la hace darse cuenta que no debe rendirse, que aunque el camino sea difícil debe seguir intentando ganar el corazon de Claire, no rendirse ante ella o Thane fácilmente. Nos dejan ver los verdaderos sentimientos de Rei, el cómo no quiere terminar como Manaria, otra chica lesbiana reprimida por el lugar donde nació, tratando de llenar el vacío con cualquier chica. Por su parte, Claire, empieza a demostrar esos mismos sentimientos por Rei, deprimiendose durante su separación, evitando que Manaria bese a Rei al reclamarla como suya y al fin llamándola por su nombre mientras toma su mano. De fondo, el conflicto entre reinos sigue presente...el Imperio Nur representa una amenaza para los protagonistas.

[Nami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anfikghjoidfkhdfgl no se vale, me pasé todo el tomo queriendo darle un golpe a la piba pero ESE FINALLLLLL me dejó el corazón calentito, así no se puede. Me encantó todo lo referente al torneo y la poesía. Manaria me resultó un poco chocante el 80% del tomo (que imagino que es lo que se busca con ella). Entiendo cuál es su rol en la historia y sé que no es mala en verdad, pero igual me resultó un poco irritante; aunque tampoco es que me gusten mucho los personajes que de golpe todos empiezan a idolatrar como si fueran dioses por el mero hecho de existir. Por otro ladooooo, al final parece que resultó ser verdad que Thane se liberó con el corte de pelo, porque está mucho más presente en el manga desde que eso pasó (algo que AMO porque es mi príncipe favorito, definitivamente seguiría su ruta).

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the anime and wanted to continue the story, and this is the first manga volume I picked up to make sure I didn't miss anything. Honestly, the manga does not pull it off nearly as well as the anime. The pacing is way to fast and doesn't allow emotional beats to actually hit. When Rae quit as Claire's maid in the anime, it hurt. Here, it was given 1 page of emotion and then we emotionally moved on. This feels like an adaptation. That is not a compliment.

I guess I'll have to give the light novels a try

[liberty · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5
I love the whole world of this manga, so I loved the addition of Lady Manaria as a rival for Rei and to help elaborate on the politics of the world. Lady Manaria is so toxic but I loved everything about her character, especially after getting her backstory.
Since this is as far as the anime went, I’m excited to read the next volume to get more content!

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most suprising elements of this volume is how Rae comes across an obstacle she is not ready for. Rae who is knowledgeable about the world she inhabits due to her previous life comes up against something she is not ready for. It also shows to expect some elements to get shaken up when new characters arrive.

[Hannah Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

You get to see a lot of jealousy,pinning, and determination in this one. Claire’s true feelings are beginning to show more as well! The ending was super cute. Now I have to wait forever (2 days) for vol 6-7 to arrive *dramatic sigh*

I ✨hate✨ “sister” I don’t remember her name lmao

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate Manaria, but I like where the story’s going.

[Blue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chapters 21-25

[fentasies · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Cynthia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess we're going for all the high school manga tropes. I couldn't care less about this love rival focus.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rival shows up. A new magic set. Good duels.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Rae. All she wants is Claire.

[bambie · Rating 4 out of 5]

just pretend there’s no incest ❤️

[NaTimm Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

The amour ceremony is in this one which is one of my favorite parts of the series

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hated manaria in the anime and I still hate manaria in the manga. The only good thing about her is that it made Claire sort of acknowledge her love for Rae more. So yeah, minus a star for manaria….

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love triangle and character development — a mix I always love. It was pretty good.

[Tachan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un des passages préférés des lecteurs du roman et on comprend pourquoi. Drôle, frais, piquant, cette rencontre avec THE rivale de Rae a tenu toutes ses promesses.

Isekai fort divertissant, I’m in love with the villainess, n’en finit pas de m’amuser à chacun de ses tomes. Les autrices se renouvellent à merveille et savent inclure une grande variété de personnages qui, s’ils ne brillent pas par leur originalité, on le mérite de remuer l’histoire à chaque fois.

Dans ce tome, c’est le premier amour x voisine x amie d’enfance de Claire qui débarque : Manaria, la princesse déchue d’un royaume voisin. Archétype de la »garçonne », celui-ci continue de séduire Claire, ce qui agace Manaria au plus haut point et amuse follement les lecteurs. J’ai adoré la voir titiller notre héroïne tout au long de ce tome pour la provoquer et la pousser dans ses retranchements. Ce mode » je t’aime, je te taquine » est un classique toujours efficace pour moi.

Ainsi ce fut une lecture amusante, pétillante, où on a enchaîné les quiproquos et bouderies entre les héroïnes, mais aussi les jolis combats de magie toujours aussi vifs et visuels. Il n’y a rien eu de révolutionnaire du point de vue des relation. Ce fut même parfois un peu glissant, pour ne pas dire savonneux, quand les héroïnes parlent les unes des autres comme des objets. Mais je ne sais pas, cela dégage quand même un air frais par sa drôlerie et sa légèreté frivole.

Revisite comique des codes de l’académie de magie x pensionnat de filles riches avec ses amourettes entre servantes et maîtresses, je m’amuse toujours autant à chaque nouvelle improvisation des autrices. Ici, l’intervention du premier amour de Claire a fait ruer dans les brancards et les héroïnes se sont enfin un peu plus ouvertes. On peut espérer des tomes toujours aussi pétillants et dynamiques.

Article complet : https://lesblablasdetachan.wordpress....

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great art. I look forward to this series