English Dub Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X “I Had a Summer Adventure…”

Overview

Catarina is overwhelmed by Geordo’s suddenly passionate advances. Since she had no romantic experience in her previous life, either, she has no idea what to do. When she receives an invitation to stay at the royal palace villa, she’s still unable to sort out her feelings, and upon arriving there, she learns that the nearby forest is rumored to be haunted by a ghost…


Our Take

Predictably, of course, they’d drag this shit out even further. But at least I give Geordo points for even taking the initiative and doing what the others couldn’t do, even after the rest of his attempt to further convey his feeling came to an abrupt halt by their friend’s entrance. I can see why some might be frustrated with this season since nothing much really happens. Apart from feeling like it wants to be Black Clover mixed with an Isekai double-reverse harem anime, it just seems like fillers & no/slow plot progression unlike season 1 where she actively had to avoid her doom flags.

Usually, in anime, there’s a jumping-on point when the plot begins to pick up after so much filler. But is every filler story from now on going to consistently be just about Catarina being an irresistible but clueless dolt of desire?? If this had any sort of substance, I think the season will focus on who Catarina wants to become in the next few years. Will she accept the fate and become a queen, or will she join the department of mages perhaps? At some point, this show needs to tie up loose ends and resolve things with everyone if they expect any sort of proper ending…

Overall, this episode didn’t really go anywhere but fits perfectly with the stagnancy that’s been plagued this season. At the very least it wasn’t necessarily a bad watch either. Even in the world, Catarina is supposedly stuck in, she still must face the obligatory summer tropes you’d come to expect from a “Summer Special” in most anime shows that often feel like they’re made just to show the female leads in bikinis or summer clothing with very little character growth or progression.