Saturday, December 21, 2019

My Next Life as a Villainess, All Routes to Doom volume 2 (read for fun)

I've been waiting for this to come out, specifically the manga version because I like the cute art. This one focuses on Katarina meeting the heroine of the game's setting, Maria Campbell.

This volume has five chapters and four of them focus on the newest character, Maria Campbell. In "Fortune's Lover", Maria was the player's character and the one everyone fell in love with.  Naturally, this is different due to Katarina's presence but Katarina herself doesn't realize this, and that is where this volume's humor comes from.

Our self-identified "villainess" has become wrong-genre-savvy, and the dissonance between what she thinks is going on and the reality that is apparent to others is as funny to the reader as it is baffling to her friends. One moment in particular has her thinking that Mary is tsundere to Alan when this could not be farther from the truth. It is a skillful use of Dramatic Irony. The running gag that is Katarina's farming hobby returns and is also good for laughs.
However, not all is humor.

Just because the villainess of "Fortune's Lover" wants to be Maria's friend that doesn't mean Maria isn't subject to bullying. Also, her home-life is implied to be rocky. Being the most special girl in this country has its drawbacks.
The student council president has a scene and a follow-up event which just screams "something wicked this way comes".

The other characters are a bit Out Of Focus due to Maria's introduction but I feel that is only for the introduction and things will even out later. The fifth chapter mitigates this by showing what Katarina does with each of them during summer break.

The art continues to be cute and funny.

Overall, it is a great follow-up to the first volume but it feels a little lesser in content. Everything basically boils down to "Katarina and Maria become friends" instead of the more expansive plot line of the previous.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "My Next Life as a Villainess, All Routes to Doom volume 2" a B+

Click here for my next book review (for fun): Volo's Guide to Monsters

Click here for my previous book review (a request - maybe): The Princess and the Pea - a retelling

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

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