Alternative title(s): Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta… X
Light Novel Adaptation by Silver Link
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Years after being reincarnated in an otome game, Catarina Claes has successfully navigated the best plot route for her and her friends. But with no further game knowledge to guide her, how will she handle her uncertain future?

Jel’s verdict: You Either Die a Hero, or…

Season 1 of My Next Life as a Villainess was a nice show about nice people being nice to each other. Having the main character trapped in an otome game added just enough comedy and tension to keep you interested. It also conveniently distracted you from the fact that this a bare bones harem anime featuring an extremely dense protagonist. It was a solid premise, but even by the end of the season it was starting to wear thin.

Needless to say, season 2 feels completely unnecessary. Catarina accomplished all her goals, removing the main hook of the series. Now we’re just left with that bare bones harem anime featuring an extremely dense protagonist. Neither Catarina or any of the other cast members show signs of developing further as characters, and we seem doomed to keep recycling the same events over and over as the show attempts to keep making our hearts go doki doki. I get that this is only one episode and they wanted to reintroduce all the characters, but do you honestly think any of this will change by the end of the series? I highly doubt it.

I don’t want to be too hard on My Next Life as a Villainess as it is pleasant, harmless fun. I’m glad this type of isekai can be just as successful as its trashy power fantasy cousins, and if you’re still enjoying it, more power to you. For me personally though, I don’t think I have the patience to sit through another full season. I’ll leave you with this: Catarina x Maria is still the best ship in the series FIGHT ME.

Peter’s verdict: Shoehorn or requirement? Tricky to tell…

As Jel rightly points out, season 1 of All Routes Lead to Doom finishes with Catarina avoiding all death flags and calls for banishment, and ending it right there would make the most sense. Then we get a season 2 and it’s not clear from the outset what the plan is. Is it just spending more time and having fun with these characters? Will the introduction of these new characters bring new death flags?

It’s worth remembering that this is still the world of a game, but after the game would have ended, which means unlike season 1, Catarina doesn’t know what’s going to happen next. This could actually give this season 2 a boost of life as Catarina actually has to think for herself about what she wants to do, not what she has to do to survive. Certainly a discussion on her joining the Department of Magic alongside Maria happens in episode 1, and of course the various new characters introduced at the end of the episode will throw a variety of spanners in the works. I think they could have done with either a different title entirely or a better subtitle than “X” due to the lack of “death flags” (to quote the Japanese title) but it’s here, and I’m sure we’ll see how it goes.

I hope Catarina doesn’t go to the Department of Magic and Maria leaves, so then Catarina and Sophia can get together (sorry Jel).