Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: Watashi wa Ura-Boss desu ga Maou dewa Arimasen

Now this is unexpected.

Unexpected in how good this story actually is. As we've seen a number of shows, where they try to escape the red flags of doom, or don't care and flaunt and flash their OPness to the world. Or even those that seem real generic, that you just roll your eyes and look away. Sure, the context of story might be decent, but you've seen it a number of times before, and each time it gets less and less interesting. This on the other hand, adds an interesting twist to the product, which makes it far more enjoyable as a product, then it ... would have, if it just followed the sual.

Story and characters: 8
What I really love with this, is that it doesn't just jump right into the meat and potatoes. If anything, it's like as if they gave a tutorial of the product first, and showcased what it's all about, before diving into the true main talking point of the show itself. As if it's a long cutscene, before we get you, and you get to create your character kind of vibe. A well done twist of the usual being moved into another world/game.

But what stands out to me, is the writing of this. It's not like the usual, and really stands out more. On one hand, it'll give you good characters that mesh well together, even if it can be a tiny bit pushy in some areas, but it's more understandable given the nature of the built up world. But imagine instead of a usual over the top full on she's front and center cause she's the popular one, here it's more the opposite, something which our main character is really trying her hardest to avoid. It's like you've been given the main character role, but instead of going with the main story path, you go and do the side missions first, and try your best to avoid any connection to the actual main story that is presented here. That touch alone for me, adds so much interest and value, that after watching the third episode, I'm left wanting to jump to Manga or such to read more. Props to the anime.

Art and sound: 8
Quality all round. The animation is solid, and there is real attention to detail to make things really stand out and presented well. Combine that with great voice acting, and a quality sound team. Meshed all together to make a great blendf for the product. The colours used for the magic attacks really left me impress for an example of all this. Just shows the attention to detail that has been laid out for this anime.

I'm really impressed by this show, and if the first three episodes give me that much hope, and wanting more, then it's going to be a great show to continue watching, so you should watch it too.

"Villainess Level 99" should've been a masterpiece, but it turned out to be good instead.

Honestly, this series was really disappointing, and not in the way that it is overall bad, but it just felt like it had much more potential than what it concluded with...

What I mean is: Characters don't really have very much characterization, and the plot feels a bit skewed.

1. Characters don't really have very much characterization:
The entire plot tries to focus around the next hero's party, which makes sense why they would work towards that because the plot proclaims that the demon king will attack. The problem with this isn't the ... fact that the characters do stupid nonsensical stuff, the issue is that the story doesn't actually focus around the main character "Yumiella Dolkness" for a decent portion of the series, especially after episode 6.
This is a problem since most of the "hero's party" are somewhat useless characters that don't make a difference to the plot. The only characters that actually somewhat matter to the story are; Yumiella, Alicia, and maybe Edwin. The other hero party members, William and Oswald, are basically all meant to draw a fake romantic conflict between Alicia and Edwin. That being said, there simply isn't enough time for you to get enough development to like these side characters to actually get to really liking them, plus it actively destroys the MC's own character development and likability since there is less development and screen time actually showing these characters gain traits.

2. The plot feels a bit skewed:
This almost entirely only comes into effect at the end of the season, the finale with the demon king was very uneventful for an ending, and didn't come across as all of what it should've been. The last episode felt rushed, while the rest of the series felt very slow, possibly due to the amount of time the anime focused onto side characters, as I said in #1, but it also doesn't help that the characters were pushed out to fight a character that the viewer has no knowledge of, and the anime didn't make a good impression with the demon king.

This isn't to say that this show was any bit unwatchable, it's actually pretty good. The lack of distinct focus on the plot and narrative really just hits this show right in the guts, making it feel much less worthwhile than contemporaries.

Overall, this is a good anime though, it just has some issues, and had a lot of potential.

🗿 7.5/10 🗿

Villainess Level 99 - The smarts of a villainess, played like an actual Otome Game character who's nonchalant about its routes and goes on her own tune: I don't care (but deeply care), my way IS the correct way. *Pikachu face*

"Reinventing the wheel". This has been a phrase ongoing and about for just about any kind of source work needed to inject a fresh look into genres that with so many potential formulas, has become pretty much copy-and-paste ideas, which give a sour taste at the afterthought. This is pretty much true in all sorts of media, even the AniManga industry, and especially when new ... genres take flight and the potential is there, no matter how good or bad it is. For the Isekai genre, that is the Otome Game/Villainess theme, which has seen its share of highs and lows. This season, the Villainess theme is on a high, thanks to novelists Touko Amekawa's Loop 7-kaime a.k.a 7th Time Loop and this show: Satori Tanabata's only work that is Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: Watashi wa Ura-Boss desu ga Maou dewa Arimasen a.k.a Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord.

"Acting like an Otome Game, but also breaking its fundamentals". I love how Villainess Level 99 just wants to make its viewers think they're on a traditional route, only to give a middle finger and subvert expectations soon thereafter. This is quite the common theme going into this show, which features its titular MC of Yumiella Dolkness who does the whole boring Isekai reincarnation shtick but remembers her roots of playing an Otome RPG, only that she's not the specified demon lord, but only a hidden boss that still stands in the way of its titular hero and her companions on the tried-and-true "We must defeat the Demon Lord" objective/goal. The thing is, her mindset of being dived into the game and living a peaceful life away from trouble, that is a problem on so many levels: her dark hair and dark magic which are considered vile by the kingdom and its inhabitants, and literally everyone will stand at least 10 feet away from her, even if she doesn't have any evil intentions. So then, she decides to level-grind for her entire childhood, only to realize that she's quite literally maxed out her character status at Level 99 once she reaches into school, breaking the expectations of her entire magic academy (since Level 10 is the highest expected). With the consequences laid out, Yumiella must now find her place within this "new" Otome Game plot, prepare everyone for the forthcoming of the Demon Lord and negate the preconceptions of her dark hair and magic. What a wrench into the "quiet and peaceful" life, for Yumiella has duties to do, all while trying to get along with the people around her.

"The gamer soul is fueled not for the main story, but on side quests". This is pretty much Yumiella's MO workaround when it comes to the traditional Otome Game story of "Light Magic and the Hero", where she has to now satisfy a lot of requirements to get back to her pre-programmed route, while hastening the background routes in the process.

Let's start with the assumed hero and her companions: Alicia Ehnleit is the Hero of the game, and obviously the anti-thesis of Yumiella due to her light magic. However, like the rest of the student body, she is assumed to be a max of Level 10 at best given her rare light magic, something which Yumiella finds concerning because of her fate to face the Demon Lord much later in the game. At first, both the hero and the villainess do not get along (which SHOULD be obvious) due to their disparities of light and darkness, and Alicia is left with the capture targets, the original love interests of the game, which now programmed with the fact that Yumiella has to basically rewind herself back to where she was within the game, it really is a distaste of proportions leaving her even more vulnerable to face the Demon Lord in the future.

Interestingly enough, where the capture targets are supposed to assist in the original game, the new timeline basically took them for scraps and made them very ignorant and selfish, separating both Alicia and Yumiella in their hopeful collaboration and constantly harassing the latter about faking her true level while smoothing relations with the former, which is the total opposite of what the usual Otome Game RPG will be like. Starting with Edwin Valschein, he's the second prince of the kingdom, and a magic swordsman with the affinity of all classical elements: fire, wind, earth and water. His two attendants are the magic prodigy of Oswald Grimsarde, which can handle all elements better than Edwin, as well as William Ares, a master swordsman. It's easy to refer to these 3 young upstanding but self-centered nobles as The Three Stooges, because they do have their reputation behind their names, though this is nothing but one word for Yumiella: catastrophe. Edwin is the least of faults since he only abuses Yumiella verbally, unlike both Oswald and William, where they strike at Yumiella physically, giving her a taste of their superiority complex. Of course, Yumiella doesn't mind, since all she has is her Level 99 skills and dark magic to speak for itself, which as the story progresses, made her more a viable target, but also a valuable comrade who is the only magic user who can face demons her size.

They say, "revenge is sweet", and this is none further placed than through Eleonora Hillrose, the daughter of her father Duke Hillrose, the leader of the noble faction. Everyone in the magic academy has a side they stand on, but this does not apply to Yumiella as the neutral party, and this causes said girl to pick on her to try her best to recruit Yumiella into her faction. Conversely, she is into Prince Edwin by the lovestruck and naivety of feels, but as is with the Three Stooges, she also has her clique to go by. Though this would turn out to be a false facade as they are also jealous of her upbringing and are willing to do anything to lose her standing with Edwin, which Yumiella has to come to her rescue due to the common interest and love for dragons, citing that she is far better than the "clique" she has, thereby earning her as a best friend.

"Dragons chomp people's heads for a greeting, as well as a romance subtext plotline between the unlikeliest of characters." Speaking of dragons and best friend, this subversion might just be the highlight of Villainess Level 99 as a whole. We all know Yumiella as the Hidden Boss but not a Demon Lord, and she has a loyal follower: Patrick Ashbatten. The son of a lord who's good at wind magic, he's the only one who didn't coward himself out of the fear of Yumiella's true Level 99 status. As the story progresses, Patrick trying to understand Yumiella's unusual and peculiar method of doing things that could result in the death of her and/or others, he just couldn't crack her head and thought process of everything she does, even becoming her caretaker in the process. Despite that, where the female Hero typically has her love interests, this time, EVEN the villainess ALSO has her love interest, though an obvious one-sided affair but with potential. The aloof Yumiella, who is intensely dedicated to her leveling-up craft, and yet have the Kuudere trouble of the terms of expression despite meaning well with her kind-heartedness, the one who holds no loyalty to kingdom politics nor family (who basically shunned her), as well as the confident Patrick, they're the rarest of couples, yet their banter makes the relationship work against all odds. Also, Ryu may be a dragon that Alicia is supposed to find during a game event, but Yumiella by hook or by crook, hacked that event and made it hers, nurturing it with dark magic, leading to its dark appearance just like her master. And like Yumiella, it too is regarded as a source of calamity, but it takes after her and is properly tamed and affectionate to everyone. But it's greeting of nonchalantly chomping heads can be seen as one of the many out-of-pocket gag comedy things in the show that is hilarious and trust me, it never gets old.

I've expected of this when it came to the production: studio Jumondou may be a fairly old studio being established right at the tail end of December 2009, and has recently started working primarily as a studio since Spring 2022's Kono Healer, Mendokusai a.k.a Don't Hurt Me, My Healer!. 2 years on, and I've come to accept that like last season's Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu! a.k.a I Shall Survive Using Potions!, the studio has not one single prowess other than it being just like many B or C-tier studios out there. Regardless of past works, Villainess Level 99 being its 3rd main show, and I can finally say that Jumondou has hit its stride in adaptation quality. Yes, the usage of CGI is still terrible, however, with that said, this is easily the best effort that the studio has put out thus far. So, great job to director Minoru Yamaoka and the staff team for putting their best forth into this adaptation, especially to legendary series composer Fumihiko Shimo.

The one thing lacking about Villainess Level 99 is in the sound department. Granted, there isn't much, but what is here, still is decent to good in acceptability. The former singer of Myth & Roid, Mayu Maeshima, she may have her strengths for Re:Zero theme songs, and this show...is no different at all. Outside of Re:Zero, "Love or Hate?" is easily one of the best OP songs of the season with its dark-sounding blitz and power, and I love it to pieces. Yet another out-of-pocket moment, comes with the ED song with the pairing of Yumiella and Eleonora boasting about the love of their lives, I for sure as hell, did not expect the level of tenacity when it comes to professing romance, even going as far as to make it a song. Simply ingenious (though the song is rather meh).

"Expect the unexpected". That's all I'll say about Villainess Level 99, and it's such a while that I haven't been able to be entertained this much, let alone a sub-genre that in my opinion, has been mindlessly jacked up like its Isekai/fantasy genre counterpart. I'm truly impressed of what this anime brings to the table: unexpected things that work so beautifully with one another, yet is kept consistent, and definitely an Otome Game-based show that's worth endless recommendations.

If you want to be surprised, watch Villainess Level 99, I can guarantee confirm plus chop on it.

Don't be fooled by the beginning. The anime starts overflowing with clichés in every direction, but it's intentional and strategic, in line with the work's synopsis. I had never heard anything about it, but it seems to have a lot of potential. If you read the synopsis and started watching the episode, you might have had the same reaction as me... "the synopsis is from another anime"... like... "where's that Yumiella person?"... but when it hits the 14-minute mark, you understand everything; that's when the anime truly begins.

Regarding the production, it seems like we're going to have a very well-made anime. The art is beautiful ... and fluid, while the pacing is very good. We had some clichés, like being killed by a truck or trying to live a quiet life without attracting attention in another world, but in the end, it never works out. Despite that, I dare say we'll have a pretty cool isekai, with a slightly different twist from the usual.

In summary, the beginning is indeed extremely cliché, but it turns out to be a very enjoyable anime to follow. The premise is genuinely promising. I had fun in almost all the episodes released so far and see a lot of potential, so I highly recommend it.

Don't expect something epic or to die laughing with this isekai, it's not something that you haven't seen yet, probably. You can expect to have a good time though if you are not supercritical and very picky. The way the mc tries to fit in this new world is pretty fun, she is spontaneous and her reactions are pretty natural and honest to her personality. The voice acting is good and I think whoever did it had a good fun doing so, the voice fits the characters and their personalities. The story is fun, it's well written for an Isekai. The animation is ok, I ... just think the cgs could look better. The music is also good, I never skip the opening.

I have seen a bunch of comedy and parody isekai before, and I can say I'm having a good time watching this. If by the end of episode 3 you felt like it's not worth your time and you found it pretty dull, just go ahead and skip it, I can't imagine you having a good time if you didn't like the characters or the humorous aspect of the show by then.

story:
The anime has a good and interesting story that focuses on an overpowered female protagonist who tries to live a peaceful life, which is different from other Isekai female protagonists who mainly focus on escaping the red flags of doom. We had around 10 similar stories. I have already read both the LN and manga, so I have to say the story in the Akuyaku Reijou Level 99 is not rushed and includes many important points, not like in other Isekai anime, for example: I will survive using Potion, which I'm a huge fan of both light novels and manga, but for me, ... it was a huge disappointment. Both the graphics and the story were rushed, and the art design was so bad that I would prefer watching 1999 cartoon.

The anime starts strong but quickly fizzles into a forgettable addition to the season. The main protagonist's journey, which is central to the source material, takes a backseat to showcasing the jealousy of other characters. This detracts from the main plot and introduces a cast of annoying personalities that could have been streamlined.

The protagonist herself comes across as lacking in social graces, despite not being portrayed as anti-social or introverted. This disconnect between her personality and actions creates a frustrating viewing experience. Overall, Akuyaku Reijo feels like a missed opportunity. With a tighter narrative and a focus on the main character's growth, this could have ... been a standout series. Unfortunately, it falls short and becomes another forgettable entry in the season's lineup.

I haven't read the LN as of writing this, so I'm not sure whether this is a failed adaptation or not. overall I would say giving this anime above 6 would've been a waste, of course, it's just my opinion based on what I've watched so far. I might change my review soon or in the worst-case scenario, I don't.

Maybe this show is not worth my 8 generally speaking, but I wish to give it at least for the pure reason of celebrating the first otome villainess show which I genuinely liked. This one is indeed special and so far unique (correct me if I'm wrong) as finally we get an isekai female protagonist who doesn't make romantic relationships her main goal in life. In fact, it's pretty funny watching her dodging even her supposedly future love interest, let's not even mention her relationships with those generic otome satellite boys.

However cringe it may sound Yumiella is the definition of a strong and independent ... woman. Perhaps to the extend making this show an isekai parody much alike eminence in shadow,though unfortunately 99 level villainess still has a long way to go to reach its level.

And yeah, the otome game protagonist girl and her boys are stupid and unbearable but i think that's just the satire that we needed. Maybe its the right time to finally realize that female isekai is not necessarily supposed to be about winning out some guy (or a girl)? Maybe some girls also want to be self-sufficient and powerful enough? And yeah, Yumiella doesn't try to maintain good relationship with everyone, and its not because she's stupid and supposed to get you annoyed and angry (as stated in some reviews) but because some people just don't think spending time and resources on people they don't like is reasonable if they have power and possibility not to do so.

Otherwise, I reckon animation and music were ok, on a level expected of such a show I would say. Except for those hideous 3D dragons in the latest episodes of course. I also liked how there were no typical shojo romance male characters designs.

To sum up, this show doesn't possess any exceptional graphics, designs or soundtrack. Even the plot sometimes is quite generic. However, I believe it's quite entertaining and funny to watch, especially when you just need something light to relax. It's unusual and it really adds to shows value. I really hope we'll see a continuation and some similar series in the future.

This show exemplifies a lot of things that have just been annoying me about anime, especially modern anime. First thing that is pretty inconsequential but actually pisses me off is the long and overly specific titles. It is a title, not a premise. Why couldn’t this just be called Villainess Level 99? That’s all we need. It tells us the main character and the premise of them being OP. If we want to know more we could read the synopsis or, I don’t know, watch the fucking show. This next complaint might just be a cultural difference but it is the utter unoriginality in anime. ... And what I mean by this is that there is an entire genre to “getting trapped in a otome video game as the villainess”. This is such an oddly specific concept and yet for some reason, there are countless anime and manga on it, each with just a tiny little caveat that makes it ‘unique’. That’s the extent of the creativity that goes into these shows. It’s the same thing except ‘she’s op in this one’ or, ‘she’s in love with the hero’. It’s the same damn thing. I have watched the first episode of every anime that came out this season and 90% of them were isekai or some fantasy world setting. I only finished 3 of those shows. Everything is just a tweaked version of the other. But the unoriginality doesn’t stop there. Because every anime is an adaptation of a manga. It’s a teaser saying to read the manga or for people who are just too lazy to read them. It’s a waste of an entire medium. Saying the show is unoriginal is not fair because actually, it’s the manga that’s unoriginal. On top of that, the premise of entering an otome game is unoriginal. It truly is just a self-insert. It’s looking at another person's work and saying “I would have done this if I was the character.” Every person thinks that and if you really want to see shit like that play out for whatever reason, go to Wattpad. Why are these actual studio productions? I feel like most manga now are just fanfictions. That’s why they are all power fantasies. It’s unoriginal and hinges on validating and playing out fantasies instead of actual compelling storytelling. This show is nothing. Every character is bland, it’s inoffensive, it’s predictable (it ended exactly as they said it would 3 episodes prior), it gave you the mindless rush of “yeah, show the people who doubt you!”, the cgi sucks dick and I’ll probably forget it exists by tomorrow. The only reason it’s so high is because it’s just inoffensive. I don’t hate it, I enjoyed parts of it. I don’t need to talk about specifics because of how unoriginal it is.

It’s a fairly generic isekai story that’s actually well written and interesting to watch. An intelligent person wrote the script. The main character has thought processes that make sense and are well-thought out.

Don’t let the first 5 minutes fool you. Make sure to stick around for the whole first episode before judging it.

The animation is good. The story is good (but similar to many other isekai anime). The writing is good. The music is good.

It’s a solid 8/10 anime. Expect a powerful main character trying to fit in with the world. There are many isekai anime with the same general story, but unlike other anime, ... this one has an interesting main character with interesting choices.

Don’t expect a “wow” factor from this anime. It is good, but still generic enough that it doesn’t live up to other epic anime.

This review was written after watching the 6th episode. There was only one noticeable filler scene in the first 6 episodes.

“This looks like an Otome game ; Oh right, it's one” -Yumiella Dolkness

In a world where the Isekai genre is dissimilar to the Otome game/Villainess genre, you get a lot of anime which are very basic and don't reinvent the wheel. From the few Otome game anime that I've watched, it never clicked right. It was always a bit too girlish and unoriginal. But then, out of the blue, a new fighter joined the arena, it's called... *clears throat* Villainess Level 99 : I May Be The Hidden Boss But I'm Not The Demon Lord ! (At this point in this current day and age, ... it's not that much of a long name isn't it ?). After watching this anime for the whole winter 2024 season, I came to the conclusion that this anime was quite enjoyable, I even learned what 99 is in japanese with the amount of times it's said in the anime, “Kyu.ju.Kyu”

To start with, instead of doing things cringy, it understands what it is and makes meta jokes about the average Otome game story, how it's generally pretty shit and easy to foresee what's gonna happens next, added to the base fact that those anime are generally girls getting truck-kun'ed into their favourite Otome game that they played on the switch the night before. For somes anime, it's just one minute at the start and then becomes irrelevant into the main story, making it kinda just like a fantasy ? Well, this anime clearly isn't just all that, Yumiella keeps refering to her massive knowledge of having finished the game and 100% it to make everything goes as smooth as she wants, but then.. you get to see that the events gets changed with her actions, how will she adapt to this !? You'll need to watch this anime to find out. But for real, the comedy is on point and is generally nicely sprinkled sometimes in the anime, Yumiella is also a badass character, since she's level 99 (the max), it's basically impossible to stop her, her darkness magic is unrivalled and makes up for a lot of events unfolding in the story, like imagine that : in the beginning, we get told that the most op character so far is level 60 only, and it's exponentially way more powerful the higher the level is. Of course, fucking op characters was a novelty in the Isekai genre in 2016, but the mix of people scared, people who wish to get her powers, friends made along the way, the fact that she wants to stay lowkey all makes up for something nice. There's always fucking epic magic fights every few episodes, all in the goal to kill the demon-lord (how original indeed). To somewhat wrap up what makes the story not bad in my opinion is also the other side characters, they are all quite different with each their goal, and somes character development is made throuhough all of the 12 episodes which wraps up nicely two whole years of high school.

To continue, all of the parts around the meat, the ones that support the story, the visuals and sounds, they aren't revolutionary, but they are fine. Of course, considering that this anime is made by Jumondo, who made one of the worst visually appealing anime of 2022, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, we wouldn't expect something made by the best of the best, which is also explained by the 3D monsters (shocking I know from a somewhat shitty anime, but as us shitty anime watchers, we can go through this and find the small fun parts of it) used in the anime. The other visuals are honestly fine, it keeps a consistent visual (which is always great to have, I'm looking at you COTE) which is quite polished, you could argue that the emotions aren't well represented on the faces, but it's hard to do that when the premise is that the MC is as apathetic as possible, which also makes up for somes interesting moment xD, but that's the initial goal. It also kinda uses chibi a little too much which may be a way to cut corners, but if it's to keep the rest decent, I'm all in. On the other side, I wanna mention how both the OP and ED are fucking bangers and are somes of the best this season imo. OP sang by Mayu Maeshima, who was in Myth & Roid before, who did a few Re:Zero song and even did the last OP of it by herself, so it was a certified banger. The ending is more special, a girl singing suki and dancing is an easy recipe for greatness, or should I say Dolkness ?

To conclude, this anime isn't boring, and that's the good part ! I had a fun blast watching it, it gave me hope and made me interested again in the Villainess genre, with it's somewhat basic everything, but good execution overall. It might not be the shiny stone or unbeknownst to everyone the best anime this season (when you see Frieren having 0,3 score higher than FMAB, it's hard to beat hihi). But as something pretty chill to watch and simple, it worked well and I'd recommend you to watch it as a good introduction to this genre or perhaps if like me you had lost hope long ago and cameback to the original 50 words long isekai name reincarnation into another world with the most overpowered powers in this another world for christ sake.

I was hooked. This anime was well-executed in my opinion.

Unsure why there are so many complaints as it was an enjoyable anime. There were parts where I actually giggled, it was well done despite being a little predictable.

Would have loved to see more romance in it but obviously the MC will always be the oblivious one who is a little different to everyone else and sees things differently.

The ending felt a little bit rushed though.

Overall an enjoyable anime, if you want to see a deep plot then you might want to look somewhere else. I would still recommend this if you enjoy isekai ... anime.

This isn't really a 'villianess' show in the strictest sense, it's a slice of life comedy about being overpowered and fitting in when you have little to no social skills even before your power difference. I highly recommend it, it's genuinely funny with great characters and many heartwarming moments.

Let's keep things simple, because the show does. If you want deep worldbuilding, clever subtext and an action packed plot this isn't for you. If you want a slice of life comedy with a fantastic protagonist whose wonderfully clueless this is absolutely for you. I enjoyed this as a great counterweight to the also-brilliant, but deeper, ... 7th Time Loop (also from this season, fyi).

This is a good anime, I’m surprised I enjoyed this! The best way I can describe the main character is if you got Sawako from Kimi Ni Todoke and made her overpowered/strong with powers, then that’s the premise of the show 😆

I would say this anime is more like a comfort anime, not something to take too seriously. It’s like a slice of life with the backstory of Yumiella trying to blend in the background and not attract too much attention in order to let the otome game’s protagonist continue as normal. It’s quite a funny show that has similar humor from Sawako ... in Kimi Ni Todoke, so if you enjoyed that show you might enjoy this one.

The show had more depth than I expected. I found myself sympathizing much for Yumiella and her daily encounters of bullying and discrimination, to slowly being able to make 1-2 friends by the end of the show.

The love interest minor sub plot was well worth it, I really admired seeing a different kind of storyline where the guy is working hard to level up and be almost on par with her (driving him to improve himself), and also him being a big supportive friend throughout the series. So yes, the romance sub plot was well deserved and I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that I’m happy with the outcome and that we didn't have to wait in til the last episode (hate this cliche lol).

Yumiella is quite the nice/kind strong (but dense) gal, and I hope people give this show a chance at being a comfort/laidback anime.

Long paragraph incoming (sorry, not sorry):

One of the worst letdowns that I had in a while, which made me surprised how fast I could switch from kinda liking the vibe of the anime and the story, to instantly realise that this was trash, the worst kind. I like some good thrash, but not when they are thrashing the source material's story in such an obvious way that even if I didn't read the source material or know anything about it, I understood instantly that something is wrong. It was pretty good the first half of the season, basic story, not that deep, pretty chill, kinda ... slice of life... then the animation kinda took a down turn that was off putting me pretty hard with the CGI... but it's not the first time I'm seeing stuff like that, so I can get over it... then, at the end... one of the most rushed episodes that I've seen in a while... Literally felt like I was watching someone making a summary of what happened in the source material. Again, okay, I've seen stuff like this done, while I do consider it a big problem that offputs me, I could still say that it's okay, cuz y'know, anime is sometimes, if not most of the time, an ad for the source material... but then I was starting to realise, for such a plot that was previous, this stuff just doesn't line up. I couldn't believe my eyes what I was seeing. Besides the fact that everything was rushed and there was almost nothing to justify anything the characters did, they introduced some stuff that I would never see it coming from an author that was able to write the story of the past episodes...

What did they introduce? Power of love. Power of friendship. Characters doing actions just because the original game had a certain story, so there is litearlly a "plot" controlling characters. Some improtant plot moves that I wanted to see and was waiting for to happen coming out of nowhere... And to remind you... all in a really rushed way, mach speed type of rushing, so the experience was made worse 10x. But I guess you're thinking now: "hey, that is acceptable, there are animes out there that do that". Oh no, my sweet child, my problem was the part where I heard what happens in the source material (light novel), and feeling like I had a really cool experience stolen just because. Now that's what made it 100x worse for me, to the point where it left a disgusting taste in my mouth. Why did they have to ruin everything like this? Literally just adapt the damn source material and don't just go off on a tangent so different that it changes everything, especially one so damn f bad... but hey, I guess they won, they made me get interested in the light novel... especially cuz from what I read, they adapted only the first volume of the light novel in this anime.


Story: 5

The story was an 8 originally, but then the last 3 episodes happened and everything changed... Thanks for the forced happy ending I guess, surely hope this was worth just not following the light novel at the end... Hey, at least the first part of the anime is pretty good. I like the comedy as well.

Art: 6

Okayish animated, but the CGI, especialyl cuz there were quite a few scenes of it, even the first damn scene in the anime was CGI, put me into a meh mood.

Music: 8

Probably the only redeeming thing was the OP cuz it sounded cool. That's it. ED? Meh...

Characters: 7

Again, originally and 8 or maybe even a 9 if I felt better, but no. They ruined it. Still like the FMC, but they just ruined my image of everything in the anime.

Enjoyment: 5

Ugly taste in my mouth at the end... wish it wasn't like this, I was really enjoying the anime, quite a bit, especially the comedic parts...

Overall: 5

Right now it has 7.15 from 47.765 votes Ranked #3522 Popularity #1900 Members 112,449 as of 02/04/2024. Overall 5. Ye, doesn't add up, but so does the mark of the anime, it for sure is not a 7+ anime, but it seems a lot of animes have high marks this season. It should be more around 6.3 imo, around there. Would have given it a 4, but I still enjoyed some of it, at least until around ep 8. But then, nose dive. Anyway, I cannot really recommend it to anyone, only if you want to see it for yourselfes. Better read the manga or light novel.

This would have been a solid 8/10 until episode 10 or 11. It's a shame they decided to rush through the ending and make this a one-off season, because this had really good potential for most of the show.

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Episodes 1-10
8/10

Episodes 11-12
5/10

Overall: 7

Ok don't go into this anime hoping for a story with a lot of depth and fleshed out characters and flawless animation. However, it's still a very fun and enjoyable show. Normally I need an anime to have those elements, but this show was the exception. The main character is hilarious, the main ship is super sweet, and the show overall is quite funny. I have not read the light novels but from what I understand it has a bit of a different tone and the anime differed on some parts. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing though, the anime ending was still ... enjoyable for me, although it did seem a bit rushed.

The show also has awful cgi, which normally is a deal breaker for me, but it fit the vibe of the show it just made me laugh harder. If you go into it expecting a just a fun show, you'll enjoy it.

IF YOU HAVE LIMITED TIME TO WATCH ALL THE AWESOME ANIME YOU DESIRE, SKIP THIS ONE.

Fair anime to spend time in. However, I found the ending too hurried. It's like having the first episodes too slow and realizing the need to catch up on the plot by the end.

Watching this on a weekly basis was fun and I was always looking forward to it every Tuesday. However, if I'd be critical, I guess this anime is standard OP trope but with an oblivious girl protagonist in a little romance/adventure story. Animation was not it's strong suit, and I think if it were to have ... better action scenes, this anime would've been famous.

The story is straightforward, and almost had no twists in the plot. Although this is the case, I guess I kind of enjoyed it only because it was fun having something to look forward to every week. The premise of having dark hair and dark magic and knowing what is to happen just only gets this show so far.

With villainess adaptations becoming increasingly common in recent years, they can start feel a bit repetitive at times. Luckily, Akuyaku99 does just enough differently to deliver a fun experience. Featuring one of the best girls of the season as an mc, some well done comedy and an interesting story. If you’re at all a fan of the genre, you’ll find this one entertaining.

The biggest thing separating Akuyaku99 stand out from its competitors is the MC, Yumiella. Whereas most protagonists in this genre are based on the main character of a video game, she’s based on a secret boss and wants to stay that way. She ... wants nothing to do with the spotlight and just wants to live out her days in peace. Sadly, due to her being extremely OP she’s not really able to. Seeing her try to stay lowkey and not bother anyone, while getting harassed by royalty, nobles and the general populace literally for just existing was definitely an experience. Her deadpan comedy and bland facial expressions make everything 100x funnier too. Imagine the entire world overreacting to the most basic of things while a character is just sitting there with a straight face wondering what’s going on.

It’s so enjoyable seeing Yumiella try to get the spotlight on the actual protagonist of the game. The relationship that develops between the two is quite wholesome and I also liked seeing Yumiella make everyone who assumed she was evil, based on preconceptions of her power level and hair, feel really dumb.

That leads me into my one big issue with this series, the supporting characters can be quite stupid. Everyone besides Patrick and Yumiella are cognitively challenged, I swear. If you know someone is the strongest person on the face of the earth, why are you provoking them, harassing them and just being a general ass to them? Yumiella receives so much hate purely for existing due to the insecurity, jealousy and fear of most of the supporting characters. It was mind boggling at times.

The other issue I have is the animation. The CGI in particular is not great, and it shows. The series can get away with it because it’s not really action oriented, but in scenes with Yumiella’s dragon, it definitely shows. The animation in general is also pretty bad, but the comedy and Yumiella as an MC makes up for it for the most part.

While not Konosuba levels of hilarious, seeing Yumiella deal with all the stupid people around her and just trying to lay low is very funny. If you’re looking for a good laugh and want a villainess show that doesn’t just focus on romance and traditional Shoujosei tropes, this is one for you.

Akuyaku99 gets 8/10

Very good anime that is suitable for anyone 13+ both male and female audiences. For male you can enjoy cute beautiful Yumiella Dorkness and for female you can enjoy lots of handsome guys that are typically found in Shoujo Manga. The main impression of this anime is that it is quite funny. The number one reason is this MC Yumiella Dorkness that is already OP when starting the school. But she is humble, kind of kuudere type. In addition to make things funnier, Yumiella has "broken common sense" and so she often does something that makes everyone else panicked with her OP skill although she ... does not have intention to boast or to show how OP she is. She is well... a bit of crazy and twisted (but in fun way).

This is also considered anime that has reverse harem genre but (fortunately for male audience) the males are not going for (crazy, twisted) MC. Instead male audience should not be uncomfortable for this, similar to Otomege Sekai anime where the MC is trapped into otome world with reverse harem, but the males go for other character instead of MC.

Overall this is a recommended anime for everyone that loves slice of life, isekai with lots of jokes.