Be it manga, manwha or manhua, what are some good villainess stories.
Im specifically looking for things that try to innovate in some aspect or that has a quirk that really makes it stand out to you, those that aren’t your run of the mill “revenge, gets the prince, uses knowledge to humiliate everyone” kind of cliche story.
But that doesn’t really matter, just recommend whatever story you have enjoyed in the genre if you like, even share your opinions on the genre.
Let’s talk about villainesses!
I’ll use spoiler tags so people don’t need to scroll down the summaries, but keep in mind that there are no actual spoilers in them, OK?
Series in no specific order.
Villager A wants to Save the Villainess No Matter What! / Chounin A wa Akuyaku Reijou wo Doushitemo Sukuitai
MC reincarnates as Allen, a poor boy in a crappy otome game that he was forced to play by his sister. He’s just a mob character, not anyone important; but he couldn’t help but notice that the only decent person in the bloody game was the villainess Anastasia, everyone else was blergh. And due to the game knowledge he knows that the city will get razed in a war, probably killing him and his mother (he’s genuinely fond of his new mum). So Allen decides to foil the heroine’s plans, and save the villainess.
Even if the premise is somewhat similar to The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs, they play out really different; this is by far one of the series in the sub-genre I like the most (mostly due to the WN, as the manga lags behind quite a bit).
Observation Record of my Fiancée / Jishou Akuyaku Reijou na Konyakusha no Kansatsu Kiroku
What if Bakarina was even more baka? That’s Bertia, the MC. She’s dumb as a brick but good-natured and lovable. The story is told from the genius prince Cecil’s PoV; Cecil is one of the capture targets, engaged to Bertia, and he’s actually smart enough to capitalise on her game knowledge (unlike Bertia herself). It’s a fluffy romance full of heartwarming moments and no harem, just you screaming at Bertia and Cecil “GET A ROOM, YOU TWO!”.
The One Within The Villainess / Akuyaku Reijou no Naka no Hito
MC (let’s call her “Emi”) reincarnates in the body of the villainess Remilia, and tries her hardest to make everyone happy and avoid the bad end, creating a good world for Remilia because she genuinely likes the villainess. It fails because the heroine is also reincarnated and a shithead, oopsie. Emi goes into a tilt, and now the body is again under control of Remilia, the original villainess, who has been watching from the inside Emi trying her hardest. Remilia decides to actually work towards the world that Emi wanted to see, out of respect for Emi… and to get revenge against the ones who hurt Emi.
I'm in Love with the Villainess / Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou
MC reincarnates as Rei, the heroine of an otome game. But instead of trying to romance the capture targets, she wants the villainess Claire instead. Yuri romance, often heartwarming, often slapstick comedy between the teasing Rei and the tsundere Claire, often serious; it talks a bit about taboo and prejudice but it don’t expect serious preaching.
The Villainess' Butler / Akuyaku Reijou no Shitsuji-sama
MC reincarnates as Cyril, the villainess Sophia’s butler. And he genuinely wants to save the villainess whom he serves, from falling into darkness, so he tutors her and educates her (even if they’re roughly the same age), so hopefully she can avoid the bad end and genuinely get the prince’s love. Except that… well let’s say that the villainess decided her own route.
Middle-Aged Man's Noble Daughter Reincarnation / Akuyaku Reijou Tensei Oji-san
A 52yo civil servant man reincarnates as the villainess. Odd premise and rather funny IMO.
This is a really solid list! The One Within the Villainess is the one I came here to recommend. I love villainess stories and this one really feels the most unique to me, though I’d say at least half of your recommendations are some of my favorites and the rest are ones I’ve been thinking of picking up, and now probably will.
Frankly I also love The One Within the Villainess. It does feel different, as you said - perhaps because it’s the actual villainess doing stuff, not some cheerful Earthling in her body. Plus it’s unusual to see in manga people doing the right thing not due to moral standards, but because it’s also the smart thing to do.
Still, my fav gotta be Chounin A / Villager A. It’s even a bit of a tearjerker.
I wanted to reply before but vlemmy died so I had to make a new account :(
Good list, havent read villainess butler and Villager A yet, definitely will look them up! Thanks
Wait, what? How?
On-topic: both are amazing reads IMO, well worth it. However be warned that the Villager A manga is only around ch17, while the WN is complete, so you’ll probably need to rely on the later to progress with the story past a certain point.
No one knows much at the moment regretably, not that it matters much but its kind of a pain to look for all the communities again.
As for the web novel thing, for me a manga or manwha has to be really good to make me jump into it, so will see if this one is worth that, but will take your advice into consideration.