English Dub Season Review: I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Aileen Lauren d’Autriche’s wedding plans have been suddenly canceled—by her own fiancé! The shock of this jolted her into remembering she’s been reincarnated in an otome game as the villainess. As she recalls, her fate is one of doom, but maybe she can avoid it by marrying the final boss, the Demon King Claude. Her new game plan—seduce the Demon King and live happily ever after.

Our Take:

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss is an anime adaptation of the light novel series written by Sarasa Nagase and illustrated by Mai Murasaki. It is directed by Kumiko Habara, with Kenta Ihara writing the screenplay. The series is produced by Maho Film, the same company behind other shows like I’m Standing on a Million Lives and By the Grace of the Gods. The music is composed by Natsumi Tabuchi, Hanae Nakamura, Miki Sakurai, Sayaka Aoki, and Kanade Sakuma. The opening song is “Kyо̄kan Sarenakute mo Ii Janai” by Rie Takahashi, while the ending theme song is “Nomick” performed by ACCAMER.

Many isekai shows have seen characters transported to another world as fearless heroes, such as warriors, magical sorcerers, or whatever. However, there are also other isekai shows where they get reincarnated into villains striving for world domination. This new series is one of them, but with one small difference. Instead of attempting to defeat the heroes and take over the fantasy world, this villain is going to tame the RPG realm’s other bosses.

The first season consists of three arcs, each lasting four episodes. The first arc sees Aileen Lauren d’Autriche (Alexis Tipton) attempting to prevent her death by marrying Claude Jean Ellmeyer (John Burgmeier), the game’s demon king and the brother of her ex-fiance Prince Cedric (Kyle Igneczi). Then, the second arc has Aileen going undercover at Mische Academy as a boy to search for the demon, Ashtarte, responsible for attacking the village. Finally, the final arc centers on her winning over Claude again after he suffers from memory loss and is reverted to human form.

It has been said multiple times that the isekai genre is one of the popular genres in the anime industry, standing alongside the ones involving action and slice-of-life. So it’s no surprise that we have so many shows from the genre featuring characters being reincarnated as different people, including the ones with RPG elements. While most of these shows have different ideas compared to others, some come up short of reinvigorating the formula regarding their executions despite their entertaining moments. I’m the Villainess attempts to rise to the challenge by having the main character assume the role of her game’s antagonist instead of the hero and tame the final bosses. The result is far from a game-changing experience, but as someone who recently watched many isekai shows, I admired that it held my interest throughout its first season.

One thing I liked about the series is that it doesn’t focus on one entire arc involving Aileen winning over Claude. Instead, it contains three of them in which Aileen tackles a different final boss from her game. Of course, the seasonal plot still involves Aileen winning Claude’s heart and preventing her foretold death. However, the three arcs helped provide some variety in their mini-stories, even though they were formulaic. Besides, having the first season centering only on the first arc would’ve gotten tiring really fast.

If I were to rank the three arcs in the season, I would put the Mische Academy arc as my favorite, followed by the first four episodes. It has the elements of Mulan and She’s the Man, with Aileen disguising herself as a boy, and many other high school-related media, which combine well to provide an enjoyable yet derivative mystery. Additionally, the scenes involving Aileen in the duck costume deliver a delightful balance of charm and humor.  

As for the final four episodes, they each had their moments, but they couldn’t match what the other ones offered regarding the plot. They feature the same scenario as the first arc, which is Aileen making Claude love her. The only difference is that Claude is reverted to human form and suffers from memory loss. Plus, the twist involving the fan disk’s final boss, Elephas Levi, was predictable. However, it was able to compensate for its predictability with the finale’s twist on the fairy tale ending.

The show also did all right with its characters, with enough effort from the voice cast to inject plenty of charm into them. Aileen is described as a girl stuck in the body of a diligent, savvy, and empowering villainess. She uses the game’s knowledge and the villainess’s businesswoman skills to avoid her demise, solve a specific situation, and tame the final bosses, including Claude. But, of course, with the game’s events changing right in front of her, Aileen is forced to think outside the box to save her skin. While she can come off as dense at times, Aileen is an enjoyable main character who’s not afraid to rise to the challenge. Alexis Tipton has successfully brought several anime female characters to life, and her vocal performance as Aileen is no exception. Tipton offers a handful of charisma in Aileen’s heiress personality, but she also never fails to deliver the comedy with the character’s freak-outs.

The rest of the cast also delivered enjoyable performances for their respective characters. John Burgmeier, known for voicing Tien from Dragon Ball, was solid as Claude, who’s seen as a calm, stoic, and caring demon lord striving for peace between humans and demons. Kyle Phillips and Brandon Johnson were also decent in providing some comical moments as Claude’s subjects, Keith Eigrid and Beelzebuth. I would also highlight Hayden Daviau, whose vocal performance effectively reflects Lilia’s benevolent but manipulative personality.

On the technical side, the animation by Maho Film offers a good sense of vibrancy in the backgrounds, even if they don’t stand out from other memorable isekai realms. My only issue with it, though, is the CGI on the horses, as they looked stiff compared to the show’s 2D animation. I also would like to acknowledge the series for its theme songs, which were quite catchy to listen to, mainly the ending theme by ACCAMER.

Overall, I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss may not have tamed most of its genre elements, but it delivered enough interest and charm to provide enjoyment in its concept. The seasonal plot only offers a little to make it stand out from the other iconic isekai shows regarding its formula. Regardless, it’s another watchable addition to the ever-lasting category, thanks to its voice cast, light-hearted charm, and decent animation. I’ll likely forget about the show in a year or two, especially since I’m still knee-deep in isekai anime, but I’m impressed that it kept my attention throughout the season like the other lesser-known ones. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that we’ll return to this world for more adventures with the villainess couple based on the ending. But never say never, as they always say.