Who would have thought that, given enough time, there would be enough anime series that follow the villainess of an otome game as a main character trying to escape her game fate that it could populate a list of satisfying length?
However, that’s the thing. When people like a set up, the anime industry tends to sort of focus on what sells. Right now, I guess people are really enjoying watching villainess of an otome game be sweet girls rather than “evil for the sake of being evil” antagonists.
If you are looking for anime where the main character is the villainess of an otome game trying to not get that bad end (for her), then give these anime recommendations a try.
Villainess Anime
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom
My Next Life as a Villainess is really the villainess anime that started it all.
This series follows a girl who was isekai’d into the world of the otome game she enjoyed as the young villainess. Determined not to just die, she starts to better herself and forms positive relationships with not just the love interests, but the heroine characters as well.
While My Next Life as a Villainess is quite wholesome, it doesn’t really progress one relationship over another. This means that, after a certain point, the series really is just the most wholesome and pleasant bisexual harem of all time since many of the female characters admire her as well as the male love interests from the game.
The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior
Not unlike My Next Life as a Villainess, The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen starts off with a girl ending up as a younger version of the villainess in an otome game. She also immediately takes steps to better her relationship with other characters so she doesn’t get killed.
The big difference between The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen and My Next Life as a Villainess is that The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen doesn’t take as much of a wholesome approach. She was a mean character, and makes sure that the love interests that she saves from their in-game suffering know that they should kill her if she starts to hurt people.
Of course, she is so nice and caring to everyone that her words seem so shocking to them and inspire even more loyalty. Unlike other villainess anime, this particular series tends to focus more on the intrigue, events, and politics of the world. She is trying to make a great country for her people as well as make sure that the characters from the game don’t suffer as they would if she were a villainess.
I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss
This is a series where the title says the entire plot. A girl was isekai’d into an otome game, realizes she is a villainess, and decides to romance the final boss that offhandedly kills her in the game so he doesn’t transform and kill her.
What is particularly nice about this series compared to its peers is that it is a direct and focused romance that actually has progression. Villainess anime, like otome game anime adaptations, likes leaving romantic relationships a little more open-ended so fans of every boy can imagine their own pairings.
In I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, even though there is a bit where it seemed like it would develop into a reverse harem, the main character romances the brooding demon lord, and loves only him throughout. As such, it develops their relationship while still injecting those otome game tropes that you enjoy.
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieslotte
Villainess anime almost lives and dies in the isekai genre, so it is actually refreshing to see a new spin in Endo and Kobayashi Live.
This series follows two close friends that decide to play an otome game, only to find out that they can talk to the prince character of that world. They then explain to him the concept of a tsundere and help him see how the clear tsundere actions of the villainess are cute rather than malicious like he ends up believing in the game.
The players essentially spend the series pairing characters up and making sure the ones they really enjoy don’t meet bad endings like they might in the game.
Game World Reincarnation
Game World Reincarnation is definitely a more obscure villainess anime, and that’s because it wasn’t released on the usual platforms due to its content.
To be blunt, Game World Reincarnation is a hentai with the same isekai villainess theme like many of the other series on here.
So this is definitely a series for those that wish villainess anime were more explicit. However, it does actually differ from many of the other villainess anime in that the heroine accepts her fate and marches towards her own bad end, and it is actually the characters around her that start to change.
Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs
Unlike the other villainess anime, Trapped in a Dating Sim isn’t actually following a villainess as a main character. Instead, it is following a guy who got isekai’d into the otome game he was forced to play before his death. He tries to be a background character for awhile, but after watching the villainess of the game struggle and show her true, kind colors, he ends up taking her side.
From there, the plot of the otome game continues to get shaken up as the main character becomes the love interest for the villainess while the both of them befriend the actual main character of the otome game.
I’m In Love With The Villainess
While not following the villainess herself as the main character, I’m In Love With The Villainess makes her the primary target of voracious yuri affection from the isekai’d office lady who was transported into her favorite otome game.
None of her ojou tsundere villainess tactics will work against the power of pure love – or against a woman that knows literally everything about her favorite character. It is fun to watch her gradually wither down from villainess into love interest.
Tearmoon Empire
Unlike every other entry on this list, Tearmoon Empire differs by not actually being about a villainess. Yes, the main character was a bad noble who met a grisly end, but Tearmoon Empire takes place in a fictional kingdom, not an otome game.
That said, Tearmoon Empire lives in exactly the same space as every other villainess anime. It follows a Marie Antoinette-style noble girl who gets executed in a Marie Antoinette-style way via the guillotine. She is sent back in time as her younger self, and begins to make moves to prevent her death by… Being nice and making sure her country doesn’t fall to government mismanagement.
7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!
Like Tearmoon Empire, 7th Time Loop offers another regressor story set in an original non-otome game world, but with still all that same otome game flavor that fans of villainess anime have come to love.
In 7th Time Loop, the main character has been broken up with by the prince of her country – not once – but seven times across seven lifetimes. Each time, she is able to start to life anew and enjoy different lifestyles. Across her life, she engaged in many different careers and honed many skills, but each time she is killed in a war brought about by the new young emperor five years later.
On her newest time loop, she decides that she just wants to kick back and live as long as possible. This leads her to crossing paths with the young-emperor-to-be whose war would always kill her, and him asking her to be his bride.
Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord
You will find that a lot of villainesses in in these anime series don’t actually act much like villainesses so much as they act like the nicest people on the planet. However, Villainess Level 99 does at least get a little closer to an actually villainous villainess.
This series follows a woman isekai’d as the villainess and hidden boss in an otome game she enjoyed. As such, she endeavors to not get killed and not be the hidden boss by leveling up a lot before school. Of course, her high level puts her at odds with the main characters, and immediately throws off the trajectory of the game.
Do you know more anime following the villainess of an otome game? Let fans know in the comments section below.
