Akuyaku Reijou wa Ringoku no Outaishi ni Dekiai sareru • The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom

Akuyaku Reijou wa Ringoku no Outaishi ni Dekiai sareru • The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom - Episode 2 discussion

*Akuyaku Reijou wa Ringoku no Outaishi ni Dekiai sareru*, episode 2

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**All discussions**

Episode|Link
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1|[Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1qa0v6w)
2|[Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1qga30r)

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AnimeMod2026-01-18 15:33

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szalhi2026-01-18 15:40

[*Hmmmmmmmm.*](https://i.imgur.com/XQUfj6g.jpeg)

PeaceAlien2026-01-18 15:48

The text was weird in that scene, Hartknights reacted to her saying that but seemed to be in her head. Seems Akari is likely isekai'd, except is it becoming a harem for Tiararose?

Akari seems to have lost her harem spell over Hartknights.

Frontier2462026-01-18 16:12

It wasn't enough that Akari stole the Villainess' man and followed the game plot, now she has to try to have every attractive and romanceable guy so the Villainess ends up alone.

flamethrower22026-01-18 16:32

That is the plot of [the name of the work is a spoiler but it's a reincarnated in a game world work] >!The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs!< I read the manga of it recently.

OldInstruction53682026-01-18 17:28

That series is way better than it has any right to be.

It's basically just a shit post parody of these types of shows (Villianess), but it's legit a good story.

First watch of the anime, I found the story arcs a bit repetitive... but gave it a rewatch a couple years later and it holds up. More than holds up, it's fucking great.

And yes, the Queen IS best girl.

justking14142026-01-18 21:01

The fight against the prince and his goons is still one of my favorite anime scenes ever

Oh and if you like that, you should check out the manga: the villager wants to save the villainess.

It genuinely feels like it copied the premise of that series but took things in a very different direction.

harrellj2026-01-18 17:46

> Seems Akari is likely isekai'd

I know people on the first episode reaction thread commented on how you have names like Tiararose, Hartknights, Aquasteed and then the super random Japanese name of Akari.

PeaceAlien2026-01-18 18:06

Well the world is based on a game, the person didn't chose the name

harrellj2026-01-18 18:43

Do we know that the heroine was called Akari in the game?

Meander0612026-01-18 21:39

But that's exactly what would happen if Akari was the player. She'd choose her own name as the character name.

Earlier-Today2026-01-19 01:37

I wonder if Akari is just the default name for the player in a lot of those games.

PeaceAlien2026-01-18 15:45

Aquasteed was basically stalking an engaged woman? If Tiararose wasn't isekai'd she probably wouldn't be accepting this situation.

Frontier2462026-01-18 16:09

Aqua: "I was just watching you in what you thought was a private moment every single day..."

Tiara: "My, how romantic!"

diacewrb2026-01-18 16:21

That old joke about whether behaviour is romantic or stalkerish is depending how attractive you are.

OldInstruction53682026-01-18 17:10

Its.... it's not a joke.

The most charitable take is that "romantic gestures" only work if she's already interested in you. Being attractive *definitely* helps with this, but it's not strictly required: she just needs to already find you charming.

Which was clearly the case with Aquasteed. As a *player,* she thought Aquasteed was her favorite character and is now flattered at his attention.

But being objective about the situation... he's throwing off all sorts of red flags.

Especially since they've never really talked before and don't actually know each other. He just became obsessed with the woman he was stalking, a woman that was spoken for, no less.

Then opportunistically swept in and 'claimed' her during a moment of vulnerability.

Considering how little they know each other, he's being *way* too casual and possessive with her. He just keeps pushing until she caves.

Under normal circumstances, this is where a woman runs or pushes back demanding he take things slow and not overwhelm her...

But she's 1) a player who was already crushing on this 'character' and 2) emotionally vulnerable after being both dumped and publicly humiliated.

The real question is why isn't her father putting the brakes on things. Has he... has her father even *talked* to this man that came out of nowhere to sweep away his little girl? You'd think if a father cared about his daughter, he'd want to *thoroughly* investigate this man AND insist on a 'cooling off' period.

Kids are stupid, after all, emotions tend to run too hot and they make all sorts of mistakes... So you'd think he'd call for a period of 'grace' shall we call it? Multiple dates, multiple rounds of negotiations, and a set time period of a season or something before a final answer is allowed.

All of this is just... no.

Prestigious_Spend_812026-01-18 18:03

The father is the royal advisor, he probably already know or know of the neighboring kingdom's prince, and his daughter was trained to be the next queen since young age maybe becoming the other countries queen don't undermine all the training and she can because a political tool too.

But yeah Blue prince is creepy and blond one is a moron.

OldInstruction53682026-01-18 18:17

Yeah, but even if he knows about this man in a professional capacity, that's wholly different from the guy sniffing around his daughter.

Bare minimum, he'd want a "man to man" talk about this guy who came out of nowhere to 'take his daughter away.'

Especially since nobles don't marry for love: they marry for duty. So what does the marriage of his daughter to a *foreign* crown prince mean for his family and international relations?

So to start with, he'd want to make sure this *man* had good intentions for his daughter, then second he'd want to look at the political angle of his daughter marrying a foreign royal.

That 'foreign' part really does cause complications, and 'foreign royalty' raises those stakes. You'd expect the king of Lapis to weigh in on this proposal on top of the father taking this way more seriously than he is.

Then there is just how *rushed* everything is. Shits happening fast, emotions are burning high, it's exactly where the cooler heads are supposed to step in and make sure no mistakes are made.

Instead, the father just goes "You had an engagement of years broken off in a public humiliation, and days later are smiling at this boy opportunistically taking advantage of your vulnerable emotional state: I see nothing wrong with this! Have a nice life!"

And then there is the diplomatic angle on top of how rushed and... creepy... this all is.

Prestigious_Spend_812026-01-18 18:26

The thing is we don't know how many days or weeks passed on this episode, maybe 3 days between the start of the episode and the date, but after that it could have been weeks, since at the end she's already engaged.

SubstanceRelative6652026-01-18 21:54

No it's not creepy

Galinhooo2026-01-18 20:03

she thought in front of the library's window was private

NanDemoKnaives2026-01-18 16:29

Yeah I felt Aquasteed was overdoing it so I'm a bit apprehensive about this engagement.

OldInstruction53682026-01-18 17:14

Did... did her father ever even talk to Aquasteed about the engagement? This is still a feudal society where "head of family" clearly needs to approve of marriages. Especially since he's not only Prime Minister, the right hand of the king, but this is a *foreign* prince sniffing around his daughter. A foreign *crown* prince at that. Hell, at this point, you'd think even the king would want to weigh in on one of his most prominent vassals marrying into foreign royalty...

Nobles don't marry for love. They marry for duty. They are diplomatic, economic, and military contracts that should be carefully negotiated with cooler heads prevailing. Especially here when the whole thing just reeks of 'diplomatic incident.'

And yet... we've never seen Aquasteed and the Prime Minister so much as exchange a single word nor any indication that Aqua formally requested Tiara's hand from her father.

You'd think a caring father would want to thoroughly vet this guy who came out of nowhere to court his daughter. Especially since she's in an emotionally vulnerable state after being both dumped and publicly humiliated...

You know, look out for the best interests of his little girl and make sure she's not rushing into a mistake...

Like marrying a foreign stalker that spent every day creeping on a woman that was spoken for, then got *really* pushy the literal goddamn second she was dumped.

But she smiled! And that's all the father can ask for...

*sigh*

TechnicalCarpenter252026-01-18 18:05

Right? And then there was that sideways glance Aqua did, which always says sinister to me, when on the balcony, with the Fairy night blah blah. Was Aqua glancing sideways to see if the Fairy blah blah was ready? Since then, I can’t believe the whole romance is legit now.

JamesSomdet2026-01-19 06:59

I’d be flattered just bc he’s hot

ObvsThrowaway51202026-01-18 15:48

Well well well, it looks like Hartknights is regretting choosing that triflin ass Akari over Tiara. Bro realized too late he just made the biggest mistake of his life and let a great woman go.

I’m almost positive now that Akari’s also another isekai’d person. She looks to be trying to build her own harem of princes. It ain’t happening though!

Frontier2462026-01-18 16:11

I'm starting to wonder if Akari had some kind of Heroine charm component that dumbed Hartknights down and made him more susceptible to her to the point where he ignored all the logic telling him not to reject Tiara the way he did.

Or maybe he's just that genuinely stupid and Akari's shallow but overt flirting won him over versus Tiara trying to actually make him take his position seriously.

flamethrower22026-01-18 16:36

It's easy to be sympathetic because Hartknights was mind controlled by the unseen force of the plot, as if he has no agency at all.

IRL, economists are researching whether people have free will. IDK if they will find an answer, but the fact that the question is interesting enough to research says something.

TechnicalCarpenter252026-01-18 18:06

Maybe she’s a great lay?

justking14142026-01-18 21:03

She does knows modern day sex techniques and tricks. That could be enough to break any man

justking14142026-01-18 21:07

I’ve seen series do that before and it can be interesting but here it seems like he’s just an idiot who got caught up in her lies. It also helps that she probably played this game so she knows exactly what to say

In otome games are tough for mobs, the girl seduced a harem of noble men simply by knowing their likes and fears. That’s all it took to make them follow her unconditionally

Magnafeana2026-01-18 15:53

Umehara Day 💃🏾🙌🏾

>The villainess is still involved, even after the story is over?

🤨

It’s always nice when the fuckass crown prince/rejector realizes “Whoa, maybe I shouldn’t’ve jumped to conclusions, this was pretty wild of me to do, fuck”. But I’m glad they don’t get a second chance. Reap what you sow and become a better person 🕊️

**We hope**.

Harknights, this close, mate 🤏🏾 this close

***

It’s nice to see on screen Tiara being treasured ❤️

OldInstruction53682026-01-18 17:23

That was a *very* fast turnaround, though. It's only been, what, a matter of days and the Prince is already like "wait... maybe I shouldn't think with my dick!?"

And yeah, it was definitely 'small peepee' syndrome that caused him to break off his engagement. He couldn't handle his fiancee standing up to him (constructive criticism), so he went and found a vamp willing to flatter his ego.

Basically, someone to play "Baby Doll" to "Mr. Big Shot" as Tiararose made him feel insecure with all her 'nagging.'

So instead of manning up, he just ran away and threw a tantrum with someone that would enable him....

I'm just wondering where the story goes from here because it already looks like the "other woman" has lost her hold on the Douche. It took him all of one episode, really just a half, to realize how much he was being manipulated.

So, seriously, where does the story go from here?

Galinhooo2026-01-18 17:54

In defense of the prince, the OGMC seems aware of the game too, so she would know exactly what to do to win him over

Magnafeana2026-01-18 17:58

I’d rather take a fast turnaround time than the prince being a fuckass for the entire series until the final 15 minutes or he *dies* mad about it 😭

From all my JP OIs, the most visible and observable storylines will bring in the other LIs the OG!FL tries to capture and how these actions conflict with the LIs’ fiancées, lovers, and crushes. And all that’s it’s interspersed with SOL moments from the main couple.

So there’s still lots to do and see if we think about it that way!

justking14142026-01-18 20:50

Definitely seen princes hold strong to their stupidity until well beyond the point of logic, like all their friends are dead and the country is on the verge of collapse but they still believe their new fiancé.

One of my favorites was a prince convinced that his new fiancé could still do all the work of his old fiancé even though she was fully illiterate

Meander0612026-01-18 21:24

What is JP OI and LI? I got OG!FL and SOL! 😆

Magnafeana2026-01-18 21:25

No worries 😌

* JP = Japanese

* OI = otome isekai

* LI = love interest

And for anyone else

* OG!FL = Original Female Lead (the ! is a holdover from fanfiction tagging)

* SOL = Slice of Life

Meander0612026-01-18 21:36

Thanks for that. I'm an Old, but I try to keep up!

justking14142026-01-18 20:52

Well his new fiance did just kinda flirt with another man literal seconds after he announced their engagement

And I’m not even sure if the issue was him feeling emasculated by mc, so much as he felt that she never actually cared for him and was just an overly critical perfectionist. Without realizing that perfection is kinda required of the king

Atharaphelun2026-01-18 23:54

Frakking Akari...***the Liar, the Witch, and the Audacity of this Bitch***...

x3tan2026-01-18 20:18

>Umehara Day 💃🏾🙌🏾

I would be happy just listening to his voice track for the anime. Then again, I already frequently use a night time situation CD by him for going to sleep. Lol.

PeaceAlien2026-01-18 15:58

This is labelled as a Villainess anime, but it feels like Akari is on her way to becoming the villainess instead of Tiara.

Frontier2462026-01-18 16:10

If I had a nickel for every Villainess story where the supposed "Heroine" was more of a Villainess than the actual Villainess, I'd have maybe 2-3 nickels.

powerhcm82026-01-18 17:21

There 2 main options, the Heroine becomes the villainess, or the Heroine becomes super close to the Villainess and both are good.

Maybe one day we will get a reincarnated villainess where both are evil.

metaaltheanimefan2026-01-18 18:23

The anime i can think of in that second catagory is doom flag haha

powerhcm82026-01-18 19:43

There's also "From Bureaucrat to Villainess" the heroine becomes the villainess number one fan, and "I am in love with the Villainess", but it's in a more tsundere way.

metaaltheanimefan2026-01-18 19:48

Id argue that im in love with the villaness fitting in this exact frame work is iffy because the villaness is not the reincarnated one

(Also id think its the secret third one where the villaness and the heroine fall in love)

CoconutCyclone2026-01-19 01:12

> I am in love with the Villainess

Lesbians everywhere desperately wishing they, too, could love bomb their crush out of being straight.

justking14142026-01-18 20:59

Closest I can think of is, With One Day Left I'll Break All the Destruction Flags: "Serves You Right!" RTA 24 Hour Record

Great manga where mc realizes she’s the villainess and that the heroine remembers her past life so she does a lot of evil things to save herself.

Labmit2026-01-19 14:07

There's the Holy Grail of Eris airing right now but the scope their villainy is revealed a bit later.

Prestigious_Spend_812026-01-18 18:09

I can only think of "may I ask a final thing?" What's the 3rd one?

metaaltheanimefan2026-01-18 19:50

Dont remember the exact title of the anime but it was something with taming the final boss. The "herione" in that one also becomes a bit evil

feb9142026-01-18 22:15

There's one where the MC is like 3 years younger than other characters and she's super realistic, while the heroine always talked good ideal things with no sense of reality. And turned out the heroine was agent/influenced by rival kingdom and they used her to weaken the kingdom's military by her peace rhetoric.

CoconutCyclone2026-01-19 01:17

I'll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History?

Djbadj2026-01-18 19:24

Heh it happend in quite a few. And in some the swap was official.

justking14142026-01-18 20:55

You need to read more villainess content then lol. That’s genuinely a pretty common trope with the “heroine” insisting that she’s still the main character so the entire world should love her even when she’s never actually done any of the good things that the heroine was supposed to do

Heck, I’ve seen heroines straight up threaten to murder the royal family to their face and still act shocked when they get arrested

shatteredauthor2026-01-19 19:34

At this point it seems far more rare to get a "heroine" who is actually like... heroic. Only one I can think of is "World of Otome is tough for Mobs"

Z000Burst2026-01-19 01:19

it more like 20 nickel

sadly this is common

these author can't for the life of them create conflict without turning the heroine into gold digging bitches

it actually rare to see OGMC just being normal girl living their life and only got these rich boy after her because they happen to run into each other

Delinard2026-01-19 00:57

I have never seen such a non-villanous villainess, one flashback of her being slightly rude to the heroine and thats it. Loving relationship with family snd servants.

PeaceAlien2026-01-19 01:25

In the original game, Tiara is more villainous. However, this version was all she did was annoy Hartknights. But he realized she did nothing wrong pretty quickly.

Frontier2462026-01-18 16:09

Tiara definitely wasn't expecting this night to end with her engagement ended and a condemnation event...only to get a ride back home in a carriage with another handsome prince. From the Hero of the sequel game, in fact! Heck, it seems like he was Tiara's favorite instead of Hartknights' anyways, so this totally works out!

Tiara might not have thought much of how little she and Aquasteed used to interact, but in fact he was always watching her...as she read, as she displayed all her most adorable emotions. He became truly enamored with her, enough to where Hartknights ending his engagement with her was the luckiest break he could get, so he could swoop in, propose, and begin flirting with her as easily as he breathes. Right down to caressing her hair and kissing her forehead!

I see Tiara's family have now become Hartknights haters and are pro TiaraxAquasteed. Pretty understandable.

Hartknights, for his part, know recognizes how badly he screwed up and Akari, for her involvement in this mess, is now the one being confined like she's the Villainess. I mean, she doesn't even realize the gravity of what happened and acting like this is no big deal. Even though she's still throwing herself at Hartknights while being concerned about keeping Aqua away from Tiara as well. And of course she can't believe the Villainess is still relevant to the story, almost as if she knew how the game was supposed to work.

Tiara can't believe the Villainess might be able to find love, and apparently isn't even sure who the Heroine of the sequel game even was, but then Hartknights shows up for a late night rendezvous so he can gift her a fairy star festival, just like the Heroine of the game is supposed to get. Though she can't tear her eyes away from Aquasteed instead.

Hartknights is recognizing the full weight of his blunder to his father the king (Shinichiro Miki!) and it's only now that he realized all the scolding's Tiara gave him that turned him away from her was her showing her concern and love for him...and he squandered it completely.

You know Tiara is beginning to come around to Aquasteed when she's so focused on having the perfect outfit for their first date. A first date that involves a little picnic amidst the flowers where the two of them can enjoy Tiara's personally baked cookies together, Aquasteed can flirt with Tiara at his leisure (and make it clear how much he wants to kiss her), romantically embrace, and rest his head on her shoulder. Is it any wonder she then immediately tells her father she wants to go through with the engagement?

Of course I don't think she was expecting to see Hartknights the very day she moves in to her new country and castle...or that Hartknights would actually apologize to her. I mean, he was a character and person she was fond of, so on some level she still cares about and is rooting for him. But Hartknights shouldn't take that as a sign that she's open to him being romantic with her...though it's the perfect opportunity for Aqua to grab her away from Hartknights. She's HIS consort now!

LazulineDaydream2026-01-18 16:11

Am I the only one that was creeped out when he casually grabbed her hair and sniffed it in the carriage? Like, that was a total creep move right?

Especially after he told her about how he used to watch her at school....

NanDemoKnaives2026-01-18 16:29

Yeah and he does similar actions multiple times throughout.

TurkeyPhat2026-01-18 16:49

idk about creepy but he's definitely laying it on thick af considering they basically just met

idk if it's my imagination but i kept getting the feeling that he's actually a bad guy. like his pining for her wasn't really pure and he's actually an obsessed stalker type.

Sarellion2026-01-18 17:32

The last scene definitely felt like it. Their whole date felt very sugary.

SubstanceRelative6652026-01-18 21:52

No don't try to touch someone like that you just broke up with

OldInstruction53682026-01-18 17:33

100%

He was voyeuristically peeping on her private moments, day after day, fully knowing she was spoken for.

The literal goddamn second she is dumped, he opportunistically sweeps in and claims her.

Then he proceeds to lay it on thick while she's still in this emotionally vulnerable state, which includes constantly invading her personal space and generally acting *very* possess of her.

FFS, they've barely spoken, and he's already showing up at her bedroom window, unannounced, and putting his hands all over her.

And again, they've barely spoken more than a few words to each other.

If she wasn't a 'player' that already had a crush on this 'character,' she would be the protagonist of a horror story about trying to escape a stalker.

Atharaphelun2026-01-18 23:56

Everything about it is so extremely saccharine that it has crossed the line into being utterly creepy.

quaketoys2026-01-19 01:56

So yeah. Almost she might want to run away from princess lessons???

Between that and the dead fish eyes it’s disturbing….

shatteredauthor2026-01-19 19:44

THANK YOU! I couldn't quite hit why it was giving me bad vibes but it is absolutely because of how one sided his adoration is.

Also: very unimportant side note but that hair ornament she wore for their date is ugly lol. It looks like sea coral just exploded from the back of her head.

Meander0612026-01-18 21:41

Prince Water-Horse (lol!) Is definitely shooting off red flags.

OldInstruction53682026-01-18 17:34

Yes.

Holy Forking Shirtballs, Batman.

Yes.

Our "Prince Charming" is throwing off ALL the red flags here.

crappymanchild2026-01-18 17:53

Yet it's still probably the least creepy thing most male leads in shoujo stories do

x3tan2026-01-18 20:16

That's like, the ultimate obsessive/yandere/etc ML move. A character does that trope and it signals "ohh he's like that" for me LOL. Though my reaction is generally excitement "he did the thing!" Because I'm into that type of character. xD

justking14142026-01-18 21:02

It’s an otome game so the characters follow that logic and common sense. Not saying it’s not creepy but to them, it’s just how things are

LeonKevlar2026-01-18 16:16

So it's confirmed [that Akari is another girl who got isekai'd then.](https://i.imgur.com/9JrCleb.png) It will be interesting to see what happens if she or Tiara learns that they're both fans of the game world they're in.

Good to see that Hartknights isn't a complete asshole [and he realized his mistake](https://i.imgur.com/AVgt5uf.png) after visiting Akari. Unfortunately for him, it's already too late [and Tiara is already having a much better time with Aqua.](https://i.imgur.com/UlcTJPp.png)

Frontier2462026-01-18 19:41

It's an interesting contrast where both Akari and Tiara are former players of the actual Otome game they got reincarnated into, and are both stuck on the plot playing out exactly like it did while being fond of the romanceable "Heroes" in the setting but are reacting very differently.

djthomp2026-01-18 16:19

Hartknights realizing how much he fucked up, but I wonder how much that was his fault since she's immediately questioning why he acted like he did. Oh well, his loss and Aqua's gain.

Akari may not be in for a happy future either since the kingdom doesn't quite seem to be handling her as it would its future queen.

At least things are looking up for Tiara, she seems to like Aqua better anyway and her House is immediately on board with it too.

Frontier2462026-01-18 19:41

>Akari may not be in for a happy future either since the kingdom doesn't quite seem to be handling her as it would its future queen.

She's straight up being confined like a criminal!

NanDemoKnaives2026-01-18 16:27

I don't know what it is but I can't help but feel a bit wary of Aquasteed. I do think his feelings for Tiararose are genuine, but there seems to be some sort of lingering darkness within him, the way he is aggressive in his approach to pursue her.

I understand he's had feelings for her for so long, but being that affectionate/familiar with a woman, let alone one who's engagement was just broken, feels a little too much, like he's desperate or obsessive and it's seeping out. I might be overthinking it.

I do like Hartknights has already realized something is off about Akari and actually took steps to make sense of it in his head by meeting her. I'm glad he's reflecting on his and Tiararose's relationship and I would find it interesting if this series went in the direction of him trying to win her back genuinely. But since this is based on a game, there are other conquerable characters so I doubt he'll get much of a chance.

TechnicalCarpenter252026-01-18 18:06

Lingering darkness- I agree 100%

coffeecakesupernova2026-01-18 19:36

That violent jealous outburst at the end scared me. I thought, oh no girl, run while you're free! It seems a precursor to an abusive relationship.

SubstanceRelative6652026-01-18 21:51

No it wasn't you shouldn't be touching someone like that you broke up with

AvatarTuner2026-01-19 22:36

> I understand he's had feelings for her for so long, but being that affectionate/familiar with a woman, let alone one who's engagement was just broken, feels a little too much, like he's desperate or obsessive and it's seeping out. I might be overthinking it.

I completely agree. I had to skip forward a few times because I couldn't watch it. lol It's too soon and way too much imo. I couldn't even enjoy the sweet moments between them because I found him to be much too forward, demanding and obsessive to the point of being creepy. Hopefully we're wrong and it's just bad writing and no lingering darkness within Aquasteed.

Also, Tiararose just had her lifelong engagement cancelled and with it her future as queen as well. Nobody would just go "welp, then I'll just become queen of another kingdom, I guess ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯". While this could technically be excused with the isekai bit, I still found it a bit strange how she didn't seem to have any feelings left at all for the blonde prince even though he was her favorite in her previous life.

I liked that Hartknight stopped to think about his about actions, realized his mistakes and properly apologized too. Of course this won't excuse his actions or make them undone, but normally these princes lack this kind of self-reflection so this was refreshing to see.

Mer_Sirene2026-01-20 02:17

I'm glad I'm not alone in this. Something about Aquasteed feels kind of unsettling. Its either just awkward writing or he's like a fairy. Possessive of the things he likes.

ElectricStarfuzz2026-01-20 06:15

I’m feeling wary of him myself.

His little comment about almost feeling like he was doing something he shouldn’t combined with that slightly dark smile on his face raised some alarm bells.

They only got louder the more I watched.

Maybe I’m totally off base, but I don’t trust him.

Kaze_no_Senshi2026-01-20 11:46

He feels extremely possessive and kinda straight up creepy tbh (Have been alone with her all of 5 minutes and you are bunching her hair and sniffing it!?). Would actually be cool if he is a little bit too deranged and plot twists a bit more toward a Hartknights arc involves him atoning and rescuing her, but after the betrayal (at least he is competent enough to realise) there is no going back to how it was

Shmappii2026-01-18 16:49

"You know how every day, you would retreat the A/V room and watch anime? I spent a year savoring your reactions as you cried, got all giddy, and laughed until you were out of breath. I consider myself lucky that I got a chance to propose, please continue enjoying your hobby alone as I stare at you from the distance."

What a weird self-insert fantasy. I've never considered that someone might be falling in love with me while I react to media and eat cookies.

LapinMignon2026-01-18 17:00

Ok so is it just me or is this writing almost completely incomprehensible? The internal logic of the world and of the characters just don't hold up together, things are happening because the writer said so, not because of any underlying drive from the character, world or events.

That scene where Prince Harknight meets up with Akari is *especially* bad. She just flip-flopped between "Oh, Tiararose? Well I sort of kind of remember she saying a mean thing about me I guess" and "no Tiararose is bad news she's evil and tricking Aquasteed!" and like... can't she be a \*little\* more competent with her gaslighting of the prince please? Dude was ready to get his former fiancé exiled based on *vibes* and not even a single anecdotal case? Like come on.

Shmappii2026-01-18 17:09

I'm with you, this show is dripping with "teenage fanfiction" energy where the main couple are just firing off flirting formulas with zero identity and the antagonist is described as competent while never displaying it.

chowriit2026-01-18 18:21

*He princed princily over to her and ran his princely hands through her hair...*

Atharaphelun2026-01-18 23:58

Basically a worse Twilight.

Delinard2026-01-18 23:12

I have no idea where this is going, either aqua is being setuped as some creep or he is actually perfect in every way and everything he did in this ep was not overly agressive at all.
And of course the prince instantly folds to fullfill the power fantasy of the villianess.
We need the Heroine player to cause some chaos to this blissful paradise.

goddessofthewinds2026-01-19 03:03

This is what I'm getting from this show as well. It's ruining the whole thing. Honestly, I had to skip quite a bit of the episode because I felt like things were happening in a way that didn't make sense and were just thrown together without any regards to how it ties together. The show is also not really well animated. The other thing is that the MC is the "villainess" but there is NOTHING about her that's villainess, not even a "I reincarnated into the evil 16 years old body of a villainess" or something like that, she's just NOT evil and the "story" she grew up with is simply irrevelant.

I always give 3-4 episodes, but I'm really close to putting this one in the trash bin... I might watch episode 3, but I feel like it would be a waste of time.

mekerpan2026-01-19 03:55

Not dropped yet, but the plotting and dialog both strike me as sub-standard.

[deleted]2026-01-19 06:58

[removed]

Kinak2026-01-20 02:15

Yeah, I love even trashy villainess anime, but this just isn't doing it for me. Everyone just seems... vaguely limp and confused.

ActualRound76992026-01-18 17:38

Ahh so, I can see the season is going to tackle how much of a lying, conniving bitch Akari is. Can’t wait to see her downfall.

dakkumauji2026-01-18 17:47

This episode literally felt like a date scene from an otome game right down to the sappiness, the doki dokis, the he actually noticed me before? and all the other perfect lines Aqua was saying, I kept expecting the other shoe to drop and for something terrible to happen, it felt kinda unnerving going through it. And, I kinda liked it?

Zeroruno2026-01-18 18:16

I love villainess trope, but this ain't giving it to me. It should be just a regular otome/shoujo anime. Tiara has no ounce of being a villainess, both consciously and subconsciously. Yes, she is a nagger to her ex-fiance, but ehh, certainly not enough. I hope the story will be more interesting in the coming episodes.

Striking_Chard24202026-01-19 06:18

Right even the people around her seems like nice people including her family and friends. I guess the original "game" just wanted a villainous for the sake of having one.

chowriit2026-01-18 18:18

I gotta be honest, I'm struggling with this one...

Tiararose is a total wet blanket of a character, she seems to have no agency herself and lets things just happen to her. She doesn't feel like a character who's reincarnated from our modern world.

In fact, the whole isekai/villainess element seems to have been half forgotten already. We'll have to see if they do more with it later, the hint that Akari is also reincarnated at least gives me some hope, but right now the entire story could be told without the isekai backstory with no significant changes...

Aquasteed seems a bit weird and creepy. He has basically not talked to Tiara at all and yet is madly in love with her, pawing all over etc. It definitely doesn't feel earned and that's really sapping most of the romance out of it.

Hartknights (why is that name plural? it just sounds weird) seems to have a change of heart, which is nice in principal but seems very sudden and again unearned. I struggle to imagine someone acting the way he did in episode 1 turning around and completely admitting his own failings in such a short amount of time, it doesn't feel very real.

Overall it feels like the writer knows what he/she wants to happen, but is putting no effort into how you get from A to B. Good romance isn't about certain set pieces and scenes, and getting to the next one as fast as possible, it's about watching two people grow closer over time. Sometimes it can be quicker, sometimes it can be slower, but there needs to be a process. I hope the show will give the characters and their relationship more time to breathe in future episodes, give us a reason for the characters to like each other beyond physical attraction and "he's a prince"...

dekkaineko2026-01-18 18:41

so far this anime is awful to the point where I wonder why they bothered to animate it, there are hundreds of villainess anime but they each have a unique twist, this one is giving basic villainess trope with absolutely nothing new to add, but worse of all it lacks logic. the prince suddenly gained a conscience after treating her childhood friend like human garbage?!?? the other prince had been peeping at her daily life and is touching her as he pleases, and she's blushing ?!? you don't even know the dude it is all so cringe and disgusting I cannot watch anymore

BiggerG72026-01-18 18:48

Well damn don’t tell me this is gonna be a love triangle with the 2 princes’ now. Think that’s a new one for these villainess shows where the scummy prince wants her back.

coffeecakesupernova2026-01-18 19:26

Don't lie to him, Tiara! I recognize those cookies. You just ripped open some Pepperidge Farm packages!

Sheesh, even the cookies in this are cliches.

Olivitess2026-01-18 19:26

Ooooh a Prince that realises he has be used! And its interesting that he may now try and protect Tiara from Akari in some, maybe diplomatic capacity.

Or maybe protect her from the obsessed Aqua.

Influxm2026-01-18 20:17

I think it’s crazy to constantly refer yourself as the villainess when the character never really did anything crazy. Just reminding the “heroine” that’s she’s being to friendly with her fiancée. I think the fictional game it was based on was just poorly written if this is what constitutes a villainess…

Andreiyutzzzz2026-01-18 20:21

Huh didn't expect Hartknights to have a wake up call so soon. and we are directly told Akari is also reincarnated without much surprise after how she acted in episode 1, also because she calls Aquasteed by "Prince Aqua"

henluwu2026-01-18 20:36

not many things can make me physically cringe but those interactions in the carriage scene at the beginning were something else..

Individual_Pickle_192026-01-18 21:45

I still kinda like the show but tell me why the Prince was giving me the ick the whole time 😭

Shimmering-Sky2026-01-18 22:12

- [Of course…](https://i.imgur.com/0eMjaFz.png)

- [Oh, a forehead kiss already!](https://i.imgur.com/8vNBone.png) [](#uwaa)

- [Akari knows…](https://i.imgur.com/MAlARHB.png) [](#popcorn2)

- [Seems like the order of events is *very* different compared to the game she knows?](https://i.imgur.com/4u7JoZ0.png) [](#rengethink)

- [That is one *lovely* shimmering sky!](https://i.imgur.com/TGSQhvB.png) [](#awe)

- [That’s… wow.](https://i.imgur.com/5J88cBy.png) [](#blankblink)

- [Looks like it.](https://i.imgur.com/QxyXMh9.png) [](#kotohoops)

- [Ah, going to](https://i.imgur.com/6R04NI2.png) a [nickname basis already.](https://i.imgur.com/t92jrAG.png) [](#kannathumbs)

- [Nice nice, Tiara’s dad is a good dude.](https://i.imgur.com/qWapyPX.png) [](#ginapproves)

microferret2026-01-18 22:53

God I love me some cringy OI fluff.

SYZekrom2026-01-19 00:59

Ok so the game protag was also a reincarnator. And it wasn't some scheme the prince and the game protag plotted together, Hartknights just took her word on everything she had done and evidently even from last episode didn't do any real diligence at digging into specifics as to how exactly the villainess was actually being mean before doing all that shit. Cool.

Ah there it is. Cool.

Earlier-Today2026-01-19 01:46

You know, I think I figured out what was bugging me so much about this show.

So, some girl was isekai'd into Tiararose and is now playing her part in the story.

What's the girl's personality? What's her background?

Because, she has only acted as Tiararose except for comments on the story. There's no personality at all for the original person, just a bit of commentary and then everything else is her behaving like she's been Tiararose her entire life, including in her internal monologues.

It's just really bad writing to keep claiming she's a different person on the inside, but this other person isn't fleshed out at all - just nothing beyond her knowing the story of the first game and knowing that there was a sequel.

These are people she's actually known for just a few days, and yet she's 100% on board with getting married to one of them purely because Tiararose knew *of* him.

machopsychologist2026-01-19 02:46

Aquasteed is shady and sus as fuck bruh

I'm really hoping for some kind of twist

filthster2026-01-19 04:16

Every single name in this show is so stupid. I enjoy some trash, but come on...Aquasteed? Tiararose? Hartknights? I'm worried I'm going to hurt myself from rolling my eyes too aggressively every time someone's name gets mentioned.

fraid_so2026-01-19 04:29

These sorts of names are particularly common in a lot of the Korean webtoons I read as well. I'm convinced there's some sort of name generator site they use hahaa

Remarkable-Solid55822026-01-19 04:27

I've enjoyed every villainess show I've watched and there's been like 10, but this is just terrible so far. The writing is all over the place, quite cringe and the pacing is super weird. This is like one of the dumb stories I wrote when I was 11. Not sure if I should bother with the next episode or just go ahead and drop it.

FinancialYear4752026-01-19 04:28

Even ignoring how boring the plot kinda is and the fact that the Aqua prince is a creep, I'm having a real hard time watching everything because I am so distracted by the art style, the eyes on every character just feel so lifeless because their pupil is just part of the shadow and small.

Tiara just accepting the things happening around her and not doing anything on her own doesn't help it, she just feels like a doll or something for me

[deleted]2026-01-19 06:47

[removed]

JamesSomdet2026-01-19 06:58

I’m honestly just on the side of Prince Blue because he’s more attractive than Prince Blondie to me. GO BLUE! MC just needs to forget about the blondie

1032patrick2026-01-19 08:54

Ok this is something new. The prince realized his mistake and apologized.

shatteredauthor2026-01-19 19:39

Man... I can't be the only one who is getting really creepy red flags from the ML right? Whats worse is I have no idea if I'm supposed to or not. Like I assume not since he's the ML and the title definetly implies that he is just genuinely in love with her, but his behavior is going WAY past love bombing. If the other prince was actually awful and unrepentant then maybe you could say that he is just making sure she knows his love for her is real, but the other prince basically just took one day to learn that he was wrong and is now apologizing and admitting to his mistakes?!

What's worse is normally I would celebrate the idiot prince recognizing he's wrong and trying to make things better, but i'm just left not really knowing who we are supposed to be rooting for and instead hating all the adults who were very aware of the problems and apparently NEVER even considered intervening despite how severely this would fuck their nations internal politics.

AvatarTuner2026-01-19 23:03

I'm usually all in for these type of series but so far I'm just not feeling it unfortunately. The MC is utterly boring, seems to not have any agency of her own and her being reincarnated feels completely pointless so far. I'd even go as far to say that og!Tiararose was a more interesting character. Aquasteed is just plain creepy with his pushy behaviour and very direct advances that I find it difficult to root for them or enjoy the seemingly sweet moments.

The incredibly bad animation and wonky art doesn't help either. The characters looked different in every scene. lol

I did like how Hartknights reflected on his actions and even apologized already, normally those princes are irredeemable asses.
Many here already assumed last week that Akari was reincarnated as well and seems like she confirmed it this week. I wonder how or if she's trying to approach Aquasteed or if she settles down with Hartknights. Does he even still want her, haha?!

I'll give it one or two more episodes to see if it can still hook me but there are so many series that vaguely interest me this season that I might have to pass on some.

One-Requirement-98772026-01-21 15:03

what the hell, Aqua is a total creep, they barely know each other and he immediately went to sniff her hair, like excuse you, have some decorum!