Synopsis
Upon hitting her head on a rock, a young girl remembers her past life as a schoolgirl from another world. What’s more, she realizes that she has been reborn as Katarina Claes, the eight-year-old daughter of a duke and a character of an otome game that she used to play. The problem, however, is that Katarina is the villain of the story and all of her endings are of her either being exiled or worse, killed. Now with the knowledge of the story and characters, Katarina makes it her mission to avoid all of her disaster flags at all costs.
The Good
Personally, the moment “otome game” and “villainess” was found in the summary, this writer was intrigued. As a long time, shoujo fans with a penchant for reverse harem stories, the formulas of the stories tend to blend together. With this story, there is plenty of hooks to be found. Usually, when a female protagonist ends up in another world, they end up as this revered figure who gains a whole lot of attention. For the protagonist to not only be a supposed villain character but also have a different way of forming her harem is a rather refreshing change of pace.
The way that she over analyzes everything is a rather cute quirk. However, the way she tries to survive only to inadvertently have not only the male targets but also the other female rival and the main girl herself fall in love with her is a fun twist for the story. Character-wise, there was a good amount of focus given to each of them and it was nice that the series didn’t specify a character that she would “fall in love” with. That and the dynamics that they have with one another is a nice touch.
The Bad
While the story and characters take a step out of the box, there are misses to be found with the series. The first is that while Katrina’s overanalysis makes for a good quirk, the repetitiveness and lack of exploration in her character does take away from her development. Other than this, there is a rather obvious plot point going on with the class president. Simply put, it does have some repetitive points and predictable story points.
Conclusion
This a shoujo reverse harem story that takes the isekai genre and takes a step away from the usual. There is a good twist with an interesting but rather predictable plot flow. The characters are the highlight of the series with a solid amount of coverage and fun dynamics. However, Katrina could have gotten a better development; still, the way there is no specific romance partner being spotlighted is rather nice and her quirkiness does have a charm to it.
Rating: 8/10