Higeki no Genkyou to Naru Saikyou Gedou Last Boss Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu.

Eight-year-old Pride Royal Ivy suddenly recalls her former life as a fan of the otome game Our Ray of Light. While on her way to replay it, she tragically died, reincarnating as the game's final boss and firstborn princess of Freesia. Her knowledge of the game's events leads everyone to believe she has the power of precognition. But unlike the game's original princess, this new Pride does not wish to torment those around her, such as her younger sister and adopted brother.

Haunted by nightmares of her other self's atrocities, Pride resolves to protect her family and country while progressing the story. As the world around her changes, she prepares for the day she will have to die at the hands of the game's main characters. Nevertheless, before that happens, Pride will either transform her kingdom for the better or fall under the weight of her possible crimes.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Royal Ivy, Pride Main

Fairouz Ai Japanese

Royal Ivy, Stale Main

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Royal Ivy, Tiara Main

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Beresford, Arthur Main

Enoki, Junya Japanese

Val Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Darwin, Clark Supporting

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Edwards, Marianne Supporting

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Bordeaux, Calum Supporting

Ono, Daisuke Japanese

Butler, Gilbert Supporting

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Bernards, Alan Supporting

Shimono, Hiro Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Aoi, Hiroyuki Producer

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Maeda, Yoshiteru Producer

Reviews

Sep 21, 2023

Marinate1016

Recommended

I’ve spoken at length about how much I love this trend of Otome/villainess style anime we’re getting lately and I really think Lastame is one of the best of the bunch. If you’ve ever watched fantasy shows and cringed at how stupid the main character acts or the usual anime shenanigans like not being able to communicate properly which would solve 90 percent of issues, good news for you. This series actually addresses those things. In fact, that’s the bulk of the show. The characters communicate and talk through their issues like normal people. It was such a breath of fresh air and I will ... miss it greatly. If you’re a fan of good worldbuilding, fantasy, shoujo, otome or just cute anime girls, this is a great watch that you won’t regret.

I’ve always felt that the best fantasy shows are the ones that you forget are fantastical. Instead of focusing on magic and action, they focus on interpersonal relationships and character growth. Lastame is exactly that. There’s several episodes that largely consist of just the main cast talking and working their way through ideological issues, but they’re set up in such a way that you become captivated and lose track of time. Pride as a MC just finds a way to compromise and achieve results no matter what. The thing is, it never feels like an asspull. The show walks you through the perspectives of everyone involved and by the time a solution is found it feels natural. This is the biggest selling point of the show for me. Yea, Pride is cute, but she’s not just a pretty face. She’s aware of the things that she’s done in the past and truly wants to make amends, while promoting equality for her kingdom. She doesn’t just want to change her future, she wants to change the systems and traditions that made that future possible in the first place.

You’ve probably gathered already, but Lastame is a slow-burn character driven story that focuses on Pride and her relationships with the side characters. All of the side characters are dealing with some trauma that Pride helps them through. They all feel developed, meaningful and their emotional story beats land very well. There’s a couple scenes throughout the show that truly got me emotional. It’s always good to see smaller casts in these fantasy shows as they really make it easier to flesh them out and become attached. There’s no harem or fanservice antics either in here. There’s a little bit of romance hinted at, but it’s very much on the backburner other than a blush every now and again, so if you’re someone who likes good writing that doesn’t rely on anime booba or wish fulfillment, you’ve got one here.

Lastame takes its time getting into the meat of the story. It’s not until the last 3 episodes that we even get hints as to the big bad(s) of the story. Up until then it’s mainly worldbuilding and conflict resolution. That’s not a knock on it though. In an era where every fantasy show has 3 episodes before a 5 year time skip where the MC is already OP, I will always appreciate shows like this that take their time. There’s two minor time skips, but for the bulk of the show Pride is still a little kid/pre-teen. Albeit a very smart one. I think if you enjoyed Honzuki, Niehime or other slower paced stories you’ll see similarities both in the maturity of all 3 MCs as well as the vibe of the story.

Really the only flaw I could point out with Lastame is that the animation is a little meh. The studio aren’t exactly known for groundbreaking stuff, so it is what it is. The story also doesn’t have too much action, but when it happens, it’s noticeably low grade. A few of the fights use that generic white line going towards the character to indicate motion gimmick. If you’ve watched enough anime you know what I mean. But, since it is overwhelmingly dialogue based it did not affect my enjoyment too much.

In closing, I think we’re in a weird limbo of sorts with anime. People claim they’re tired of the same old same old, but then they get shows that actually focus on characters and establishing a world, and they don’t check them out. This show is quite simply put criminally underrated and deserves more love and attention. One episode is all it took for me to know it would be in my top 4 of the season and to go out and buy all the books. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and am very much looking for a possible second season. Here’s to hoping it’s soon.

Lastame gets 9 out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 21, 2023

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

You know that very new MAL feature that allows you to see your own statistics in a fun way? There is this section called "MAL Score vs Anime Score", and to me, this show in a nutshell belongs to the criteria of "They loved it, I didn't". Now you know, thanks.

We've had like the Isekai villainess/Otome game sub-genre for like what, 3 years now? HameFura was a lot of fun (and still is to this day); AkuLas was kinda OK in spots; TsunLise was really fun mashing both real life and virtual reality at the same time; and the most recent of all, Kanojo ga ... Koushaku-tei ni Itta Riyuu a.k.a Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion easily takes the cake for being one of the best Shoujo Isekai reincarnation stories of recent times. Yeap, you might ask why I put Raeliana on there, knowing full well that it's not related to the villainess sub-genre at all. This brings me to novelist Tenichi's Higeki no Genkyou to Naru Saikyou Gedou Last Boss Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu. a.k.a The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior (abbreviated by its short name LastAme), yet another work that lends itself to the sub-genre and its defining tropey features. But however, like a tick-tock cycle of "good, then mediocre/decent" show count, LastAme was kinda lackluster to be very frank.

Let's tick all the boxes that LastAme has to offer:
- A villainess that gets reincarnated as the villainess who has to avoid bringing her own doom through her own in-game scripted harbingers and change history forever? Check, same with HameFura and (technically) Raeliana.
- A harem that seeks to please both the MC and her surrounding people of influence, be it family members, friends or even royalty? Check, all of the above has at least a single armchair of influential people that is willing to see her through, turning past misadventures into opportunity to change for the better.
- Has countless enemies that seek to execute the misdirection and bring the MC to doom, as well as both intended and unintended people to love her one and the same? Check, same as above.

Literally the only thing that LastAme stands out in the villainess regard is in its title: From Villainess to Savior. This is the story of the once dominant Heretical Boss Queen Pride Royal Ivy who is nothing but a terrible queen to all of her subjects, where the rightful queen and dear sister Tiara would end her life to stop all of the misogyny that surrounds the four walls of the kingdom. And seemingly, her reincarnation has a second chance to basically renege all of the wrongdoings of the original timeline, which alters history and the original queen's devilish evil side to earn the usual reputation of the good and nurtured queen in her growing-up years. The sole objective of Pride Royal Ivy: from hate to love, that's her name of the game.

The thing is, all of her subjects who come into contact with her, supposedly when reset back to the very first time that Pride wasn't building her infamous and nasty reputation, they did not know all of these and assume that things should go the same way as how it's done. But that's what the reincarnation phase is for, to give a second chance at redeeming what is otherwise the usual fiery and nonchalant personality of Pride herself. As mentioned, Pride has only one goal, which is to fix her mishaps and lead her people into victory and reconciliation, that her position of being the First Queen is a testament to that regard, from her own younger sister of Tiara and the adopted brother of Stale, to people like Arthur Beresford (the son of the Knight Captain Roderick), showing their unwavering loyalty towards her to build constitution and stability in the kingdom, amidst the usual enemies whom for better or for worse, had their lives changed by Pride in one way or another through heretical, but justified means. And that same mentality also earns her a harem of sorts, though that part is weighed down against achieving her goal, which is a good differentiator from the rest of the pack.

The problem is, this formula seems to be so repetitive in fact, that it feels predictable as heck. For example, the original Pride Royal Ivy treated Stale like hell, forcing him to obey her through a magical contract that ends up with him being ordered to kill his biological mother. And when the new reincarnated Pride comes along, she senses these pre-meditated events through dreams of visions that haunt her memories and makes a decision to save those whom she will oppress later on. And when all is said and done, earns the loyalty of the oppressed and becomes a fighting force alongside her in the process. While this is good and all, down the line, with Tiara, Arthur, and even some of the key supporting character cast, the formula is one and the same with no varieties of the sort, and this is where LastAme really falls short of the typical villainess story beats, though I'll admire Pride being a centrifugal force of the story's plot, being actually involved when the need calls for it. As it goes on and on, Pride gains the respect of more and more people (which is a good thing in fact), but at the cost of repetitiveness, it just seems that the author had hit a brick wall with his/her creativity, drawing the plagarism line on trying not to be too similar to premises like HameFura, which had preceded the original source material by some years.

OLM is a rather large and renowned studio for many works and all, but like Sunrise, having to be split into production teams for the sizable workforce. And in recent years, the Team Yoshioka division has been rather forthcoming with some of their most notable works like Spring 2021's Odd Taxi and Winter 2022's Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to a.k.a Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout (a.k.a FabiNiku). The closest resemblance to production values like the latter, it's decent and doesn't offer any in the way of much action, but it just honestly speaks being servicable at the very least.

For the OST, I'm still not convinced that rock band Tsukuyomi has ever graced a song that feels like it's overcomplicated for its own good. And being the likelihood that their first outing being Birdie Wing's 1st ED song and then Iseleve's OP song, if you need a song that speaks the edgy side of things, then Tsukuyomi is a rather good fit, just as is with this show's OP here. Though I will say that I found a surprise with ChoQMay's ED, serving as their debut Anisong with both a comfy and upbeat song, which I really like.

I really wanted to like LastAme, I really do, deep down from my heart of always giving underrated shows a second chance at redemption. But it turns out that all that the show has going for it is a mocked strategy of plot repetition and intensity (which is par for the course for villainess works), and other than the usual "I love the MC, then MC blushes" trope, there is nothing significant about LastAme. Not even its dark undertones, which ironically, Raeliana did it better in almost every other way, and there's just no safe haven of distinction that I can say about this show and the original source material.

Try if you feel like wasting some good time on a show like this, but as engaging as it tries to be with all its (really) good foreshadowing, it really doesn't stand out a lot and feels mundane. Such a waste.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 22, 2023

red-artist

Not Recommended

Its a simple show. At around age 6, MC gets her memories from past life and realizes that she is a villain princess who will bring this country to ruin (does lots of evil stuff in the process). And she wants to somehow try to save her kingdom from herself.

It does resemble bakarina in regards to villainess + harem + not realizing that everyone loves her + saving the love interests etc.. But this show is much darker with basically no comedy/romance.

Right now, we are still in the harem gathering phase. It basically loops through a plot that roughly goes --> "introduce sad ... boi, MC does something nice for him and saves him, sad boi become happy and join her fan club". MC saves 4 bois by the end of the season.

1. In the supposed game, the villainess was really fucked up and felt like a truly evil person. not like the usual stuck up ego princess bullshit, but someone who truly enjoys the misery of others.
2. MC is (sort of) realistic and actually understands her situation. She also has no problem with killing people or making people into slaves as long as it is in the best interests of her subjects/country. She is also a little suicidal (self-sacrificing?) when trying to save others.
3. She uses her brain, which is a rare trait among anime leads. And She has something called the "last boss buff" which allows her to be OP. This makes her really strong and we can always appreciate a strong badass female lead.
4. The harem members. instead of infighting, they actually work together hard to be of better service to our future Queen (MC). Lots of bromance moments.

On the negative side though,
1. the original villain character was so unhinged, that i am starting to wonder if she had brain damage. why so dark :(. I am here for otome harem gimmicks, not to be repulsed by tragedy/torture.
2. The show milks that "tragic" heroine sentiment really hard. our MC is continuously worried (whining) about how she may become a cruel person eventually. It gets annoying after a point and doesn't need to be forced into every episode. It definitely needs a Drama tag.
3. zero creativity. The story is very predictable (especially the plain dialogues). Every scene feels like you have already watched it a hundred times in the past.

Overall, this is a mediocre show just like most isekai/otome productions. But within the otome genre, this may be a decent watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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