Warning: SPOILERS for I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final BossThe first two episodes of the Isekai anime I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss are doing an impressive job of avoiding the many stereotypes and formulas that come with being an Isekai reincarnation series.
Innovation isn't something that manga and anime fans expect from Isekai series, especially when reincarnation is involved. In a specific sub-genre, the hero sometimes find themselves reincarnated as a character from a novel or game and uses their knowledge of the story's plot and all the other characters, including themselves, to their advantage. Ironically, there are many "I'm the villainess" Isekai series where a princess or another woman in high standing becomes the antagonist after their fiancé breaks off their engagement, typically in a humiliating public spectacle, leaving her for the new protagonist. Sometimes the villainess faces certain death.
I'm Taming the Final Boss from Crunchyroll is combining both of these popular villainess subplots but giving them an even further twist to make it as innovative as possible. In this case, the reincarnated character was an average woman from Japan named Aileen Lauren d'Autriche who becomes the villainess of an Otome game. From playing the game in her normal life, Aileen knows that various circumstances will eventually force the demon lord Claude Jean Ellmeyer to hate humanity and kill Aileen in an unspectacular fashion. While this compels Aileen to have Claude fall in love with her, which is a fun twist in and of itself, she doesn't actually remember that much from the otome game her new reality is based on.
I'm Taming the Final Boss' Heroine Isn't Omniscient
This is a massive shift from most Isekai reincarnation manga/anime series, especially ones that star a villainess. These series normally delve deep into the thoughts of the villainess whose knowledge of the story leads them to either death or revenge. The villainess uses every conversation and interaction to her advantage, in what normally becomes a highly convoluted game of chess where she must take actual accounts from the regular unaltered story that transpires in the present and future while also accounting for the implications her changes are making to them. But Aileen doesn't seem to have this capability in I'm Taming the Final Boss. Her knowledge of the story and her fate only serves as a means to compel her to try and tame this final boss, Claude.
In the first two episodes, Aileen is unfamiliar with Claude's domain and has trouble remembering the names of his henchmen, for example. And even though she's starting to map out the relationship of certain characters, she uses phrases like "If I remember correctly," positioning her as an unreliable narrator who isn't as all-knowing as most villainesses who were obsessive fans in their former lives.
In truth, I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss feels more like a romcom whose heroine heard a prophecy that she'll die if certain things come to pass and will do anything to ensure it doesn't. Hopefully this dynamic will continue and make the rest of I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss stand out from the sea of Isekai anime reincarnation series that star the villainess from an otome game.