So awhile back I did a review of a show that was recommended to me by a friend of mine. Well he actually has his own list of shows and so I decided to check it out and find a show he rated about as well and see what that was like. I’m The Villainess So I’m Taming The Final Boss is a romance isekai where the main character plays the villainess of her otome/romance game. Her memories of her previous life playing the game were awakened when she reaches the scene where her fiancé cancels their wedding and leaves her for the heroine. Realizing she’s in the game she recalls an upcoming part of the story where the final boss gets enraged, turns into a monster which will ultimately result in her death. Not wanting that to happen our protagonist Aileen Lauren d’Autriche decides to win the heart of the final boss so he never gets enrages and prevent her own death.

So first I want to bring up the characters because I was very surprised by how attached I got to the main characters. Aileen is a very witty, assertive and also very charismatic person so it’s very easy to get captivated by her story and her antics, which are much more random than I thought. For example one of her elaborate plans involved the use of a series of duck costumes color coordinated in a way that reminded me of Power Rangers. No I won’t elaborate further on that as it’s a spoiler, but know that the randomness and humor behind an idea like that is not unique to one moment as all of Aileen’s antics have that level of hilarity and creativity.

It’s not just Aileen that caught my attention but the final boss, the demon lord Claude, as well.

Claude has the ability to change the weather based on how he’s feeling which made for a great plot element to further the romantic angle between the two because it was a quick but effective way to tell both Aileen and the audience where his mindset was during Aileen’s advances. Claude himself, once he warms up to everyone, is a surprisingly smooth and charismatic character to the point where I may need to take notes from him in sweeping my wife off her feet. I also really liked his backstory where he was a loner by force due to being the demon lord and is the brother of the fiancée that rejected Aileen. So once their relationship progressed from Aileen trying to save her life to the two of them having genuine feelings for each other and as they became a source of healing for each other’s misfortune it was just incredible to watch. I normally don’t get emotionally involved when I watch romance stories but this was a couple I was rooting for.

The show also features a wide variety of side characters and to my surprise they were all well used here. Everyone played a vital role in the story and moving the plot forward. I often find these stories, especially when they continuously introduce new characters like we have here, tend to not know what to do with characters once the story is all about the protagonists but we really don’t see that here. Everyone from the time they are introduced to the end of the season continuously has an important part to play often in Aileen’s antics to not trigger a part of the game that causes her character to die.

What is equally surprising is how the story is just as endearing as the characters. As I stated earlier the romance angle is just wonderful and captivating, but the stories around them are interesting and full of surprises. For example, I thought it would take the entire season to set up the romantic bond between Aileen and Claude but really that was done in about four episodes. The story was well paced for it to be told so quickly but it left me wondering why is all of this happening so soon. Then I got to episode five and we really get to see just how expansive this game is. Another spoiler I won’t go into, but once we get to episode eight I was convinced I had a feel for how this plot will progress but it again manages to drop another revelation that I didn’t expect, this time about the isekai element of the story. Also spoilers which really makes this story so hard to talk about. These are incredibly interesting twists but they are plot elements that really shape the last two arcs of the three arc season and does so wonderfully.

Each arc introduces new challenges, new characters, and new stories that Aileen has to overcome in order to not trigger the monstrous form of the final boss and be subsequently killed. While the overall goal is the same each arc they all felt entirely different from one another.

So overall this was a romance story that simply excelled in every element of the storytelling process. The romance angle was paced well, involved charismatic characters that are very easy to get attached to and love story they tell is one full of humor, randomness and surprises. As far as romance stories are concerned I’d even say this is my favorite to date.