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My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (Manga) Vol. 1

(My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Manga #1)

Satoru Yamaguchi,

Nami Hidaka (Illustrations)

4.44 · Rating details · 594 ratings · 72 reviews

When a woman is reborn into an otome video game as the villainess, how can she play to win? Based on the hit light novels--and now an anime!

A high school girl is stunned to find herself reincarnated as the conniving villainess from her favorite dating sim game, Fortune Lover. Now, as Catarina Claes, the impossibly rich and spoiled daughter of a Duke, her new life seems to ...more

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Paperback, 230 pages

Published August 6th 2019 by Seven Seas

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Nov 01, 2019 Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019, manga-stars-5, read-manga, reviewed, rp-edelweiss, manga-volume-1, review-wrote-add-later, rp-seven-seas

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Reading for the Game Player

As the older sister to three brothers I’ve watched them for hours play countless video games and actually have even loaded up a character or two. So when I saw the humorous premise of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vol 1 I knew I had to check it out just for old times sake.

Did My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! satisfy this Fangirl’s nostalgia?
While I know about games it’ My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Reading for the Game Player

As the older sister to three brothers I’ve watched them for hours play countless video games and actually have even loaded up a character or two. So when I saw the humorous premise of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vol 1 I knew I had to check it out just for old times sake.

Did My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! satisfy this Fangirl’s nostalgia?
While I know about games it’s more as a novice than a gamer. And I didn’t know what an otome was, turns out it’s a romance focus (who knew?!) A teen girl wakes up in her otome video game… as the villainess rich and spoiled daughter of a duke. Only, since she’s already beaten this game, she knows how it ends and it’s not good for her. With a premise like this I was absolutely taking a gamble reading this… but it was so fun and unexpected and just what I needed in the middle of a reading slump.

You can’t help rooting for Catarina.
Catarina has this dastardly look about her. I think it’s her eyes… in any case she’s really this sweet girl who woke up in this little girl’s body. When she realizes her situation she determines to do something about it…. ASAP.

And she’s surrounded by love hungry men… and women.
If you thought this would be about love triangles galore… then you’d have made the same mistake I did. I don’t really see a love interest for Catarina as yet. She’s more concerned about friendship. And uses her knowledge of the characters to get close to them… then whammies them with her genuine affection. It’s quite intoxicating and is really funny.

It’s delightfully twisted even as it laughs at the romance genre.
As we meet the different love targets and her rivals for each one I noticed different types of love interests being drafted into the story. It’s quite obvious that the mangaka isn’t a romance fan… seeing the game of love more like a pit of vipers out to use their venom. It’s perfect for game players who already see life as a game to be won.

The real villain is the sadistic prince who gets engaged with her.
We only get a glimpse of the prince who starts all of Catarina’s problems but with his power he has the potential of making her struggle worse. He’s just one example of romantic tropes being turned on their head and making us laugh while doing it.

I’m excited for how smart and kind Catarina is turning out to be.
The villainess in any story tends to be outsmarted by how moral the heroine is toward their peers. Catarina is smart, genuine and truly kind… she just looks villainess. I love that she works out how best to approach her next target and her nature is what makes her succeed. Now that she’s grown, I look forward to who she wins over at school and if she can avoid her fate!

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vol 1 was unexpectedly fun and outrageous. I adored Catarina and how sweet she was and how earnestly she fought against her unfortunate situation. If you need humor in your life you need this villainess looking girl. ...more

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Sep 19, 2019 Natalie panda eyes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Reincarnation as an otome game villainess. I love the art style and the story. The characters are sweet and it’s a little funny. Katarina is trying everything to save herself from death or exile, she’s oblivious to what’s actually going on and how many hearts she’s capturing. Favourite character is Nicole, although I do like Gerald’s attempts to be subtle.

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Aug 04, 2019 LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: format-print, acquired-bought-new, manga, romance, 5-star, read-2019

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! stars Katarina Claes, the rich and spoiled daughter of Duke Claes. Or at least we're told she was spoiled - at the start of the volume, Katarina is 8 years old and has just hit her head, prompting her to remember her past life as a 17-year-old otome game fan from our world. She was somehow reincarnated as the daughter of a duke in a world where magic exists.

As the story progresses, she gradually remembers other important details...like the ...more

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Nov 21, 2020 Beth rated it really liked it

Shelves: manga

This is the third version of My Next Life as a Villainess that I've experienced; I've also read the first light novel, and watched the anime. It's hands-down my favorite isekai (portal fantasy) to date. Sadly, because of its translation, the original work is my least favorite. This one is right in the middle.

Nami Hidaka is the illustrator for the novels, and takes a turn at manga here. It's pretty good! The panels that are like character illustrations or group shots are the best part, as might ...more

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Dec 04, 2019 Ruthsic rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, arcs, romance, manga-graphicnovel, young-adult, comedy

A teen girl gets reincarnated into a new life, which is when she finds out, at the age of 8 in the new body, that it resembles the otome game she was playing before she died in that previous life. As the game and her new life match up detail for detail, she realises that she is in the life of the main villain in the series, and if everything went as in the game, the only two fates for her are exile or death. So begins her campaign to revamp the path of Katerina Klaes, so that she either escapes ...more

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Sep 23, 2020 Karina rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, favorites, young-adult, recommendations, diversity-in-lit, manga, july-2019, shojo, read-in-2020

Rating: 4 Stars ★★★★
My Next Life As A Villainess is an utterly brilliant manga series that follows Katarina whose reborn into the villain of an otome game! Now, she's trying to avoid her doom at all costs. There's a page-turning story, comedy all wrapped up in a refreshing plot that really focuses on friendship!

Honestly what first drew me to this series was the concept!! A Villainess trying to evade doom? Little did I know it would end up being an isekai (the character getting transported to Rating: 4 Stars ★★★★
My Next Life As A Villainess is an utterly brilliant manga series that follows Katarina whose reborn into the villain of an otome game! Now, she's trying to avoid her doom at all costs. There's a page-turning story, comedy all wrapped up in a refreshing plot that really focuses on friendship!

Honestly what first drew me to this series was the concept!! A Villainess trying to evade doom? Little did I know it would end up being an isekai (the character getting transported to another world/universe). I recently saw the anime and absolutely loved it (its phenomenal), so I just had to check out the manga.

Katarina Claes from page 1 has realized she had a past life as a 17-year old and has now been transported to an otome game called 'Fortune Hunter' where she's the villain of the series, at 8-years old. When she regains her memory, she remembers everything she can to avoid her execution or exile!

There's dukes, princes, royalty of all kinds and as Katarina continues with her day-to-day, she comes up with a plan to befriend her future enemies and change her fate! It wasn't until I revisited the story as a manga that I realized, one of my favorite parts of 'Villainess' is how Katarina is helping all of the royals around her and in her efforts to befriend them, helps them overcome their insecurities!

There's a funny subversion of the royal trope where Katarina is basically just acting like herself from her past life and it makes for a lot of really funny moments.

She meets her adopted brother Keith, Mary (a shy girl whose ignored by her older sisters), prince Alan and Jeord (whose to be her fiance), Sophia and Nicol (children of the prime minister), and not only befriends them all, but also starts mysteriously taking over romance lines/moments from them before the main game has even begun!

Friendship is such an important and underlying driving force of this series and its just refreshing to see this as a main focus (mixed with comedy) in a YA Fantasy setting! Katarina builds such deep bonds with the royals she meets, despite the hilarious situations and although she knows she's now the villain, she does as much as she can to evade it and just life a comfortable life! (She not only tries to learn sword fighting, but takes up gardening to improve her magic).

Its just as a fun as the anime, but I think a story like this really shines when its animated. Revisiting it help me remember some plot points I may have forgotten, but in my opinion I think the anime is just a bit more fast-paced and offers more layers of intrigue to the story. Also, the anime is just fantastic, I'm obsessed now!

The art style from Hidaka makes each character stand out and there were some wonderful pages with details to the background, setting, character designs and food that make the world come to life! The magic is a common elemental-based system, but the inclusion of a dirt doll and showing how weak her power is early on gives it unique and comedic twist!

Overall though, I'm so invested to see where the story is headed (in the anime already in Vol. 2's story). Katarina is such a funny, sometimes a bit dense, but amazing protagonist and I can't wait to see what happens with her new friends, and Maria (the game's heroine).

My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Lead To Doom Vol. 1 is such a great introduction to a unique story in the isekai genre that introduces such a dynamic cast of characters, powerful theme of friendship, some intrigue, and a comedic story you won't be able to put down! This is an absolutely genius series and I highly recommend it! ...more

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Jan 07, 2020 Kate (Looking Glass Reads) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, manga, review-copy

Isekai and otome combine in 2019’s manga My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Vol 1 written by Satoru Yamaguchi and illustrated by Nami Hidaka. This is the manga adapatation of a light novel of the same title, publishing by J-Novel Club, and is set for an anime adaptation during the Spring 2020 season.

A high school girl winds up being reincarnated, not as a hero in some other world, but as the villainess from her favorite otome visual novel. Catarina Claes is the daughter of a Isekai and otome combine in 2019’s manga My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Vol 1 written by Satoru Yamaguchi and illustrated by Nami Hidaka. This is the manga adapatation of a light novel of the same title, publishing by J-Novel Club, and is set for an anime adaptation during the Spring 2020 season.

A high school girl winds up being reincarnated, not as a hero in some other world, but as the villainess from her favorite otome visual novel. Catarina Claes is the daughter of a duke, a noblewoman who wants for nothing, is spoiled by her parents, and gets whatever she wants. Things might be fun and games now, but the Catarina knows her fate. It’s either death or exile waiting at the end, and she doesn’t want either. There’s only one thing to do—change fate!

There are a great many isekai, and a growing number of them focus on the protagonist being a bit more of a villain than one of the good guys. In many ways, My Next Life as a Villainess tries to buck the known tropes of the genre. Catarina is the villain, or she’s supposed to be. The story is told from her viewpoint beginning when she remembers her old life in our modern world.

The world Catarina now lives in is one filled with magic. She can control earth, but not to a very great extent and quickly tries to learn more. Instead of the medieval themed isekai landscape, however, readers are treated to a world much more Victorian in nature. Houses are large and ornate, modern conveniences are still unheard of, and fluffy, frilly dresses abound.

Here is Catarina’s problem. The more Catarina changes her actions, the more the world changes around her. The stories she’s known from different game routes slowly being to change, perhaps disappearing entirely. Changing how she behaves or befriending new people have unforeseen consequences. Due to either fear, nerves, age, or personality, Catarina can’t always see how her actions have changed people and scenarios. There’s a lot of worry and tension, some of which can be boiled down to Catarina’s own anxiety rather than the actions of those around her.

Those who’ve played otome games, or even visual novels in general, will get the most out of this series. While humorous in its own right, certain sections will be funnier to those with more experience playing these games. Reader’s expectations are played with throughout the manga.

A truly entertaining read, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Vol. 1 by Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka is certainly a series I will be continuing reading. Fans of otome are sure to love this series and the isekai fandom at large will have plenty to enjoy as well.

I received this manga from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review originally found on Looking Glass Reads. ...more

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Oct 22, 2020 Mary Catelli rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-portal, graphic-novels

As an aesthetic experiment, I was reading and comparing the light novel and the manga. Both, of course, in translation. The central idea here is the Japanese heroine was reborn in a dating game. As the villainess. Apparently a rather popular subgenre.

Set in a high fantasy world containing elements of medieval Europe, the 19th century, Japanese culture, and classic high fantasy tropes, but mixed together fairly smoothly.

Absolutely no explanation how the reborn effect came about

She's eight years o As an aesthetic experiment, I was reading and comparing the light novel and the manga. Both, of course, in translation. The central idea here is the Japanese heroine was reborn in a dating game. As the villainess. Apparently a rather popular subgenre.

Set in a high fantasy world containing elements of medieval Europe, the 19th century, Japanese culture, and classic high fantasy tropes, but mixed together fairly smoothly.

Absolutely no explanation how the reborn effect came about

She's eight years old when she remembers -- about to become engaged to a prince who will kill or exile her in one path -- and, panicking, tries to figure out ways to survive, even though in the game, she will, in seven years, go to magical school and torment the heroine. Not just the path with the prince, but other "capture targets" for the heroine: the distant cousin that her father adopts because she will marry the prince; the twin of the first cousin, the son of the royal chancellor.

Sweet and dramatic moments. But while she tends to be passionately focused on single ideas and often doesn't realize what other consequences will be -- it produces many of the best moments -- she never notices much of the effects she has because she is certain that she's the villainess, despite the things she does, and the years she has to notice. Sometimes it's comic. Apparently other readers find more of it comic than I do. (Also, it doesn't seem consistent all the time, and I find it hard that years of doing such things don't have more effect on her character development.)

Manga vs. light novel -- well, the light novel moved along at good speed, which I have been unlucky about in my first samples. It also gave some sharp motivations and personality, which were intriguing, that the manga couldn't manage, and the manga adapted or omitted scenes, once or twice for the worse. But the light novel had the stupid failure to notice things more clearly. Also, there were a couple of moment when she was the point of view character but the text commented on her failure to notice things. ...more

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Aug 31, 2019 Brian Wilkerson rated it it was amazing

This is a series that I discovered on Tvtropes. I find a lot of fun stuff over there. We tropers like documenting things and this one is new (to me at least). I will examine Plot, Character, and Polish before assigning a grade. Also, I should mention that this review is specifically for the manga adaptation of the light novel.

PLOT

While the premise is simple enough, someone from contemporary real-life Japan inhabiting a role in another world, it becomes more complicated. Several twists are qui ...more

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Jan 06, 2020 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it really liked it

Shelves: egalley

Apparently this manga is based on a romance game. I'm not familiar with that at all, but I do love reverse harems, and this definitely delivers. It's one hundred percent over-the-top ridiculousness, and I'm here for it.

At first, I was really thrown. In the opening scene, the main character, a 17-year-old, dies, only to awaken in the body of the villain of the game she'd been playing, only at 8 before the game begins. She immediately begins plotting how to survive being the villain, which mostly ...more

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Jul 11, 2020 Lou (Lou and Life) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary, fantasy, manga, read-2020, romance, josei, favourites-2020

This manga had become one of my favourite manga reads of 2020, and may have even go onto my favourite list of all time! Reading the rest of the series will determine if it makes that list.

I picked up this manga because it was the July pick of the manga book club that I am a part of, with Rachel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChf3...) and Lois (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGfu...). They are both great, and I would recommend that you guys go and check out their booktube channels!

I am so th ...more

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Apr 25, 2020 Emmanuel Nevers rated it it was amazing

This was super fun and enjoyable all around!

My next life as a Villainess is an interesting take on the Isekai (another world) genre in which this girl dies and is reincarnated into the world of her favorite dating sim game. She is, however, the villain! And has no chance of a happy ending. The fascinating part of all of this is how she goes about changing her fate through the interactions of all the characters in the game.

I can't wait to see where this goes... ...more

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May 19, 2020 Rachel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: woman-protagonist, poc-protagonist, manga, fantasy, fave-manga, i-recommend, woman-author, poc-author, funny, wholesome

Oh my God, I'm having SO MUCH FUN with this series! This filled my whole heart up! 😊 This was far more wholesome and cute than I thought it would be. The art style is beautiful and cutesy while still providing the mood shifts for jokes and concern. One of my favorite things is subverting tropes, which is at the heart of this series. I'm cheering for Katarina's success! ❤😊 ...more

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Nov 22, 2020 Fny rated it really liked it

Shelves: comics, graphic-novels, manga, romance, ya, young-adult, comedy, humor, 2020

Why on earth I waited so long before picking up this series I’ll never know.... This first volumes was hilarious! It’s actually quite funny that I just two weeks ago started to play a game on my phone with the almost the same plot of someone ending up in a book/game as the villain. But I really liked this one. And I’m looking forward to read more volumes.🥰🙌

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Aug 19, 2019 Teeny rated it really liked it

Shelves: manga

This was cute and I can't wait to see the anime of this! ...more

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Sep 04, 2019 Rebecca rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, manga, humor, romance

Not as good as the novels, mostly because we don't get anyone but Katarina's thoughts, but still a whole lot of fun.

Full Review Eventually Appearing on ANN. ...more

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Jan 16, 2020 Violet rated it really liked it

Shelves: manga, queer, fantasy, romance, isekai

Looking forward to seeing where this goes

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Sep 04, 2020 Grace rated it really liked it

To everyone who recommended this manga to me - I love you. You're the best, thank you! ...more

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Mar 30, 2020 Iris Nevers rated it it was amazing

Oh man. I didnt think I would enjoy this a much as I did

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Aug 08, 2019 Jenny rated it really liked it

Shelves: manga

I was waffling a bit as I read this volume, but I have to say the positives definitely outweighed the negatives. This was a fun, adorable isekai with a lovable, enthusiastic leading lady and her adorable friends and the "capture targets". I understand this doesn't say much, so let me break down the positives and negatives to explain my thoughts.

The Positives:

1. Katarina is an absolute delight! She may not be the most deep/interesting female lead, but as I said before, she's lovable, enthusiastic I was waffling a bit as I read this volume, but I have to say the positives definitely outweighed the negatives. This was a fun, adorable isekai with a lovable, enthusiastic leading lady and her adorable friends and the "capture targets". I understand this doesn't say much, so let me break down the positives and negatives to explain my thoughts.

The Positives:

1. Katarina is an absolute delight! She may not be the most deep/interesting female lead, but as I said before, she's lovable, enthusiastic, and determined to change her fate without being fake. What I mean is while she is behaving and treating certain people differently then she might have naturally, she's not being manipulative. It's clear that, while she's doing this ultimately for her own benefit, she does genuinely care about each person she befriends (Jeord being the exception) and does enjoy their company. I fucking LOVE how she learns to farm to increase her magic, but when it turns out it won't work, she continues farming anyway and is super passionate about it. Her poor servant, Anne, she must have had years shaved off her life taking care of her.

2. I ADORE Katarina's friends, Mary and Sophia! They are so damn sweet and fun and I feel like the three of them are genuine friends.

3. The character designs, while not original, are really nice, especially the three ladies. The boys are okay, but I feel like the three ladies outshine them in the design department.

4. The artwork is adorable and works with the tone of the story.

5. I actually really like the premise and am curious to see where the creators go with it. I think there's a lot of potential in this story and am invested in it so far (also, dare I say, it may become a reverse harem? Could we be so lucky?!).

The Negatives:

1. The biggest issue I had with this was the pages of exposition dumped in the beginning of the story. While it wasn't dumped at once, when there was an exposition dump, it literally lasted for PAGES. I completely understand that there's a lot of information the reader needs to know, but the exposition dumps KILLED the pacing of the story and made me question whether I would bother rereading this volume if I had to slog through it. Thankfully this became less prominent as the volume went along, but it was pretty brutal for the first half.

2. As much as I liked the artwork/art style, the expressions were not as strong as I felt they could be and sometimes characters wore the same expression for several panels. While not a deal breaker, it wasn't as engaging as I felt it could be.

That's really all I have to say. Obviously, the positives overshadowed the negatives and I am definitely willing to read volume 2. I won't say this is the greatest or most original isekai, but I did really enjoy it and am curious to see where the story goes. ...more

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Apr 10, 2020 Viki rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, young-adult, romance, comedy, manga-shoujo, magical-world

The premise of this manga was just too fun not to pick up. After the convenient knock on the head, a modern day teen finds herself reincarnated inside the body of an 8-year-old character from the dating sim video game she was playing, but unfortunately for her she is the villain character and all paths leads to doom for her character! Since she is stuck living in this world she is determined to avoid exile or death and proceeds to try and avoid all the paths to her doom.

This manga (there is also The premise of this manga was just too fun not to pick up. After the convenient knock on the head, a modern day teen finds herself reincarnated inside the body of an 8-year-old character from the dating sim video game she was playing, but unfortunately for her she is the villain character and all paths leads to doom for her character! Since she is stuck living in this world she is determined to avoid exile or death and proceeds to try and avoid all the paths to her doom.

This manga (there is also a light novel My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 1 that I also plan to read, as this was just so much fun!) was pure fun as Duke's daughter, Katarina goes to great strides to avoids becoming the evil rival of the game's protagonist. Since she enters the magical world in the body of an 8-year-old, she has time to piece together all the information she can remember from the game and start to setup counter measures to avoid the worst case scenario. In the process she starts to befriend and 'seduce' all the characters of the game into inadvertently falling in love with her (reverse harem) - she is of course clueless as she is only thinking of ways to avoid the path to her exile or death. I found this particularly funny, as the paths the game used to have the characters 'fall in love' are used by Katarina as she inadvertently usurps their moments and they fall for her instead. She basically 'fixes' their problems so that they are no longer the same characters with lonely-heart problems - ie. everything she is expecting will happen probably won't, lol.

This volume is basically Katarina meeting all the main characters of the game/story before the real game begins, when she turns 15-year-old and starts to attend magic school. She meets the love targets: Prince Jeord and his twin brother Alan, her adoptive brother Keith, and the son of the prime minister Nicol. She is the love rival in two story lines, her fiancee, Prince Jeord and Keith. She also meets the other love rivals Mary (Alan) and Sophia (Nicol), but unlike her they are not mean rivals like her character, but nice girls with sympathetic backstories. She proceeds to befriend everyone while planning for contingency plans to hopefully survive the love battle ahead.

This is a lighthearted fun comedy, if the premise sounds interesting to you, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

**** Recommended
Well written, interesting plot and/or characters. A stand-out book in its genre. Recommend to anyone who loves the genre or are interested in trying the genre. ...more

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Jun 05, 2020 Leigh Kimmel rated it really liked it

In her former life, the protagonist was an avid player of "Fortune Lover," an otomi, a dating sim game aimed at younger players. That means it's sweet, all about young love rather than some of the darker themes that show up in the ones aimed at adults. But then she was killed in an accident -- and reincarnated as Lady Katarina, the villainess in "Fortune Lover."

When she is eight years old, she is hit on the head, and all the memories of her past life as a gamer come back -- and she realizes that In her former life, the protagonist was an avid player of "Fortune Lover," an otomi, a dating sim game aimed at younger players. That means it's sweet, all about young love rather than some of the darker themes that show up in the ones aimed at adults. But then she was killed in an accident -- and reincarnated as Lady Katarina, the villainess in "Fortune Lover."

When she is eight years old, she is hit on the head, and all the memories of her past life as a gamer come back -- and she realizes that she is in the game-world, and that all four of the possible paths for her end badly, either in death or in exile. She immediately sets forth to avoid all the dooms she knows from having played the game a zillion times.

Because this is a manga aimed primarily at tweens and young teens, there's a lot of humorous stuff, including "Katarina TV," a zoom into her head in which we see the various parts of her mind as versions of herself sitting around a conference table, planning and debating how to avoid the dooms at the end of the four routes the game can take.

It's amusing to see the protagonist, who is a much better person than the character in whose body she's become lodged (her primary flaw being obsessive gaming) plotting and scheming to avoid all the things that led the character to her doom in the game. Instead of forming rivalries, she ends up befriending all the major characters the game's protagonist will be facing. And all the time, just in case she does end up exiled, she's learning how to be an expert farmer so that she'll have a skill that will be worth something in a distant land.

In addition to the manga, there's a brief and rather humorous prose short story at the end of the book, in which the protagonist is somehow outside the character watching. There's also a brief note from the mangaka -- apparently this manga is an adaptation of a very popular light novel.

Overall, it's fun reading, occasionally silly and often romantic, appropriate for younger readers who have gotten to the age they're beginning to get interested in boys, but are not ready for anything heavy. ...more

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Nov 25, 2019 Lynn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned, young-adult, manga, humor, shojo, fantasy

Today's post is on My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 1 by Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. It is 230 pages long and is published by Seven Seas. The cover the main female character Katarina and the two princes on it. The intended reader is someone who likes shojo manga, comedy and isekai manga. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of Katarina. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- A hi ...more

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Feb 29, 2020 Jewels rated it really liked it

I had a lot riding on the novel translation to arrive soon, however, I think I fell in love more with the manga version.
The art is cute and gorgeous at the same time, and the story itself is like a breath of fresh air for me. I'm aware of the isekai genre, and yet I'm starting to notice a shift. While many stories feature the MC reincarnated in an RPG (more open than not) related world, this one is a dating sim. There are a handful of other titles like this that do something similar, but to end ...more

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Dec 01, 2020 Melinda rated it really liked it

Shelves: comics-graphic-novels, young-adult

I'm still quite the newbie when it comes to manga, but this series opener is DELIGHTFUL.

Katarina is the young daughter of a duke who suddenly recovers memories of her past life as a video game-loving teen. With these memories comes the realization that she is now living in the world of an otome game (genre of story-based video games targeted towards girls & women, can include dating sims) that she played just before her death. And not only that, she, now Katarina, is the villain of that game! Al ...more

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Nov 12, 2019 Selena rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, my-must-reads, first-in-series-manga, humor, japan-stuff, manga-manwha, magic

I think I have fallen for the main character the way everyone else in this series has, and she's supposed to be the "villain!"

Katerina hits her head and remembers her past life as a Japanese high school student who had an obsession with otome games, specifically the one she's just been reincarnated into. That would be great except for the fact she's reincarnated as the villain who suffers terribly later on in life either by death or exile. And so, Katerina begins a plan to disrupt everyone's bac ...more

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May 09, 2020 Bentgaidin rated it it was amazing

'My Next Life as a Villainess' is a show I've been really enjoying the anime of, so I wanted to pick up the manga as well, and that's been great fun too. It's basically the same story, of a girl who finds herself the doomed villain of an otome game and is trying to escape her fate. Luckily for her, it turns out being friendly and encouraging is enough to change the lives of those around her - now if only she could figure out who's going to end up falling in love with the heroine and get out of t ...more

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Aug 31, 2020 Michelle Cristiani rated it liked it

Shelves: manga-shojo

Love this premise: reborn as a video game villainess, where the protagonist has to rearrange fate to avoid her own doom. The characters are strong. Interesting that though she has the brain of a teen, the story begins with her at a young age, growing into the moment where the game begins (at the end of this volume). I love when she has a conference with all her selves; and I love that she's messy and doesn't really know how to be proper nobility.

My only complaint is that it's hard to tell who i ...more

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Nov 18, 2020 Hayden rated it it was amazing

This Volume Is Much Thicker Than The Other Two I Currently Have, Which I Really Like, Mainly Because Its Full Of All The Background & Set Up For The Main Crux Of The Story, Its All Built Really Nicely!
There Is So Much To Like About This Series & Volume, The Slow Introduction Of The Characters That Will Be The Main Core Of The Seires Was Great & Showing How They Will Interact With Katarina Perfect!
The Characters Are All Great & Add Something To The Series In There Own Right, Katarina Is Amazing S ...more

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Dec 12, 2020 Jerawan Meesangnilverakul rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cartoons, fantasy, manga, comedy

Oh my god! Absolutely love this manga! It's so fun reading this.
Katarina Claes was a villainess in the otome game. But everything has changed since a teenager girl reincarnated into a villianess's body in the game she played before she died.

She has tried hard to prevent destruction ends. Soon she has changed the villainess into someone whom everybody comes to love and adore.

How the protagonist desparately wants to avoid bad endings is absolutely funny.
If you are into a character reincarnated in ...more

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