Akuyaku Reijou nano de Last Boss wo Kattemimashita engl: Im the Villainess So Im Taming the Final Boss is an Isekai Shoujo series by Maho Film studios. It was directed by Kumiko Habarahttps://anilist.co/staff/148694/KumikoHabara who formerly directed the Isekai 100man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiruhttps://anilist.co/anime/116242/100mannoInochinoUeniOrewaTatteiru/ and was involved with titles like Fruits Baskethttps://anilist.co/anime/120/FruitsBasket/ or Shaman Kinghttps://anilist.co/anime/154/ShamanKing/. The series aired in October 2022 and adapts the first three volumes of the light novel written by Sarasa Nagasehttps://anilist.co/staff/136513/SarasaNagase from May 2017 on. The twelve episodes each 24 minutes long distribute equally among the volumes which each contain a closed story arc. This gives the impression of three seasons with each four episodes. Story Overview As first thing to mention the title really does a great job in telling you everything relevant to the story: the main character is reborn as antagonist of a dating sim this means a game based on building romantic relationships with other characters love interests. She then tries to evade her tragic fate predetermined by the game plot by winning the heart of the end boss. Since each story arc consists of only four episodes both the reincarnated main character Aileen and the audience are thrown into action immediately. In front of all the assembled nobles the crown prince Cedric dumps Aileen and declares his love for Lilia the protagonist of the game. Aileen then decides to win the heart of Claude who is not only Cedrics older brother and the vampirelike goodlooking lord of all demons but also kills Aileen in the original game. While Aileens motives are purely selfish at the start she soon starts to fall in love with her chosen future husband. Therefore not only Cedric and his new fianc Lilia but also Aileens own bashfulness get in the way to Claudes heart. Talking about the heart of the demon king: at least in the game it was Lilias fate to pinch this very heart with the holy sword in order to save humanity. Setting Analysis Humans and Demons As Claude is the demon lord naturally the world is inhabitated by demons as well. In the choice of this setting LastBoss jumps on the demonhypetrain which seems to be immanent in the Isekai genre for example in titles like Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Kenhttps://anilist.co/anime/101280/TenseiShitaraSlimeDattaKen/ Mushoku Tenseihttps://anilist.co/anime/108465/MushokuTenseiIsekaiIttaraHonkiDasu/ Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsuhttps://anilist.co/anime/101004/IsekaiMaoutoShoukanShoujonoDoreiMajutsu/ Kumo desu ga Nani ka?https://anilist.co/anime/103632/KumodesugaNanika/.... In contrast with the mainstream setup the situation between demons and humans in LastBoss is mostly peaceful because there is a nonaggression pact between both races. Yet again discrimination and even secret violence create some tension. Since Aileen chooses the demon lord to be her future fianc the demons are merely displayed as cute animals with special characteristics as for example talking crows. Thus demons appear rather weak which perfectly sets the stage for Aileen helping them out using her bright intellect and outgoing personality. 520https://nntheblog.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/10/finalboss5.jpg Reincarnated as a Villainess If the general setting sounds familiar to you then it is because this series is not really innovative and shares common concepts with other Isekai Shoujos like for example Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimattahttps://anilist.co/anime/104647/OtomeGamenoHametsuFlagshikaNaiAkuyakuReijouniTenseishiteshimatta/ My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom short: Hamefura Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasenhttps://anilist.co/anime/108268/HonzukinoGekokujouShishoniNaruTameniwaShudanwoErandeiraremasen/ Ascendance of a Bookworm short: Bookworm or Otomege Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desuhttps://anilist.co/anime/142074/OtomegeSekaiwaMobniKibishiiSekaidesu/ Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs short: Mobseka. Seriously what happened to nice compact titles like Bleach OnePiece DBZ which can be typed in an instant and without actively learning the title by heart? Just like in Hamefura the anime protagonist Aileen is reincarnated as the antagonist of a dating sim replacing a shifty noble girl with an honesthearted woman. And similarly to Katarina in Hamefura the main motivation after this reincarnation is to evade the events of the game that most certainly lead to her doom. However the characters of Katarina and Aileen could hardly differ more. Whereas Katarina is oblivious to everything around her and simply does the right moves coincidentally Aileen uses her wits and outstanding personality. This is truly necessary as she is thrown directly into the fight without much preparation and has a true antagonist to face. Furthermore both series certainly have a different angle: Whereas Hamefura concentrates on the relationships of the characters with each other and on inscenating Katarina as the queen of involuntary comedy LastBoss provides a much richer story and actual enemies to face. Character Analysis Aileen Lauren Dautriche As described in the last paragraphs Aileen primarily has her intellect and directness working for her. For example she has founded several companies for medicine fabrication. After the breakup with Cedric he steals all these companies abusing loopholes in the contracts. In return Aileen assigns her loyal employees to craft cosmetics for her newly founded company the Isekai goto solution for earning money compare Bookworm or Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life: Isekai ni Tsukurou Drugstorehttps://anilist.co/anime/114302/CheatKusushinoSlowLifeIsekainiTsukurouDrugstore/ Drug Store in Another World The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist. A very nice treat of Aileen is her character being composed of many different sides. In the situations in which she has to fight for Claudes attention and love Aileen is displayed as forceful and direct especially in the very first episode when she utilizes narcotics and a love potion. Yet again she becomes timid around Claude whenever he displays his affection for her. Her crossdressing and duck costumes in the second arc add a very funny side to her as well. Last her natural motivation to fight for demons in a bind and those she loves makes Aileen a truly likable person although she likes to cover this up by playing strong. In total Aileen is a very nicely designed character and a particularly pleasant change to the regularly overpowered isekai protagonists e.g. in Watashi Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo nehttps://anilist.co/anime/101227/WatashiNouryokuwaHeikinchidetteIttayone/ Isekai Cheat Magicianhttps://anilist.co/anime/101547/IsekaiCheatMagician/ Leadale no Daichi nitehttps://anilist.co/anime/130166/LeadalenoDaichinite/.... She brings in the necessary seriousness to face her enemies but also amuses the audience by her bashfulness and weird ideas. 520https://i0.wp.com/news.qooapp.com/en/wpcontent/uploads/sites/3/2022/09/akurasuPV006.jpg?resize=7502C422ssl=1 Claude Jeanne Elmir The demon lord starts off as very mysterious character. He has been banished from the royal castle by his family in young years because of being half demon and his magic powers. A barrier protects his castle from the human world and vice versa holds his demons inside. His all cool appearance changes drastically with Aileen around varying between the extremes embarrassment and sorrow depending on how her words affect him. As a very nice touch by the producers his state of mind is directly reflected on the weather. In this fashion Claude is portrayed as very sensitive and gives rise to several amusing scenes. Although Claudes magical skills seem totally overpowered at first several weaknesses as for example the power of the sword maiden or demonic powder lead to a good balance. The Grey Matter that does not Matter Apart of the two main couples there are several background characters to support the action and acting as living canvas. However due to the high pacing of the series there is practically no time for any background information on them. To be honest out of the five employees of Aileen I can only remember Isaac whereas the others were completely oblivious to me. Similarly I am not able to remember the names of the members of the student council in the second arc. A very welcome exception of this is when Belzebuth asked for some tutoring in etiquette. Art Music and Synchronization Considering that the story does not require high end animations the art in LastBoss is acceptable. It definitely cannot keep up with action Isekais e.g. Seirei Gensoukihttps://anilist.co/anime/126546/SeireiGensouki/ or Sekai Saikou no Ansatsusha Isekai Kizoku ni Tensei suruhttps://anilist.co/anime/129898/SekaiSaikounoAnsatsushaIsekaiKizokuniTenseisuru/ and in my opinion even looses to Hamefura but does not bother the viewer either. https://www..com/watch?v=eWPySWPBOtk I personally found both opening and particularly the ending need getting used to them. The opening song Kyokansarenakutemoiijanai by Rie Takahashihttps://anilist.co/staff/119331/RieTakahashi starts off exaggeratedly happy and with sharp high vocals that made my ears hurt the first times. This gave me the excuse to skip the intro several times which I often prefer anyways to prevent any visual spoilers. Yet again the opening also symbolizes Aileens extroverted and cheerful side. This is particularly well performed by Rie Takahashi as a voice actor during the whole series. She really conveys Aileen personality and helps her carrying the whole series. https://www..com/watch?v=EAC2kBMAhbw The ending Nomick by ACCAMERhttps://anilist.co/staff/209886/ACCAMER purpously features discords that took several rounds for me to grow liking them. The rather dark theme poses a nice contrast to the opening featuring the very different sides in Aileens life: the happy love live with Claude and his demons and the fierce attacks plotted by her enemies. The most impressing detail is that I noticed the background music at some parts mainly during the second arc where it appears in each episode which I normally do never when watching an anime. The musical piece I am referring to has a large resemblence to Hes a pirat by Klaus Badelt from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Considering voice acting Yuuichirou Umeharahttps://anilist.co/staff/118908/YuuichirouUmehara as Claude is worthy being mentioned as well. He does an extraordinary job as well by portraying the bored demon lord who does not care for the world outside his castle at first. When he warms up for Aileen his tone changes slightly to being mysterious and alluring. Conclusion In my eyes LastBoss is best described by the first dish after christmas: when you have lots of different things in your fridge and wildly put them together. As indicated at several points in the analysis this series is composed of several elements that we already know from other Isekai animes and thus cannot claim the adjective innovative for itself. In contrast to discussions I read in some blogs it definitely is not a pure copy of Hamefura which is particularly due to the presence of antagonists and the serious plot. However all of this is not supposed to indicate that this series was no fun to watch au contraire Apart from Claude being a bit overpowered with his magic skills the powers of humans and demons show a nice balance which sets a perfect stage for the exciting plots. Those are definitely the big positive points of LastBoss. In contrast with Katarina from Hamefura Aileen has a much richer personality and does not need to play the same kind of humor over and over again. Still and particularly compared to Hamefura the other characters are much too plain and severely lacking background stories. This is mainly attributable to the constantly high pacing. In case you are not bothered by flat characters and if you are a fan of the Isekai Shoujo genre you will find this show very enjoyable and entertaining even though it might not be innovative or outstanding in any points. If you are looking for a light but likable anime series LastBoss is a decent choice.