I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History

This otome game isekai romance genre is somehow really niche in premise and yet seems to be abundant in titles. This time our MC is someone who loved the villainess in their previous life and is reborn as them, deciding that they will be the best version, one who goes down in history (this will be said multiple times in the show). Now I’ve enjoyed the other shows I’ve watched that fall into this category, though both of those certainly had a comedic take for the most part. This one leans perhaps more into political intrigue and a more serious plotline, which is refreshing.

As the villainess, Alicia uses her knowledge from her prior life to train up, quickly matching and surpassing her older brothers in both swordsmanship and magic ability. She teams up with several people to advance her goals. Now all of this does raise some concern among the nobility as they learn what she is capable of, which makes the decisions she makes and interactions she has all the more interesting as she becomes an important figure not just at school but in the country.

Speaking of school, while she very much looks to fulfill the role of the villainess and challenge the heroine, she stumbles sometimes as she deals with her crush on the prince. This provides a nice balance compared to the usual image she projects. I will say the romance starts early, and honestly the ages are a little confusing as it feels like most of the characters should be finishing school by the time she arrives. This age gap also makes the romance a little awkward in my opinion, but honestly given I ended up watching this more for the mystery in the plot I’ll forgive it. I hope this one continues, as they leave things in a place that resolves what feels like only the first part of a much larger story.