I have no idea why this series is rated “Teen”; ok, there’s a little violence (mostly suggested) but still, especially given how it all works out, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Vol. 4 isn’t much less dark than The Babysitter’s Club, although this one is definitely less realistic.
This is definitely one of those series you can turn to when you want something light; the general premise is that after dying is a car accident while in high school, Katarina is reborn into the world of her favorite romance video game. She remembers all of this, and uses her memories of her previous life and the game to try and avoid the Doom endings since she’s been reincarnated as the villainess in one of the game threads. Basically, her tactic seems to have been just be really nice to everyone, especially the girl who is supposed to be the heroine. What she doesn’t realize is that basically she is becoming the heroine herself; this isn’t spoilers since other characters suggest it, the narration says it at one point in a previous volume, and the first bit of this one is all the characters thinking about how they really feel about Katarina, not that we the readers don’t already know exactly what they’re thinking. This volume is basically meant to solve two cliffhangers: first, Katarina is stuck in her dreams when the volume opens, and the volume ends with the graduation party during which, in the game, it’s revealed who the heroine will end up with (and thus what happens to her nemesis Katarina).
This is not especially tense or suspenseful, since given the type of story, you can basically predict how it’s going to end, but there’s some entertainment in getting there. While Katarina seem to have cleared one hurdle, the final two panels suggest there’s more challenges to come, and this time she may not have her foreknowledge to help her out. What she might have though is one of her friends may have done the same thing she did, reincarnate as a character in the game, because one of the other characters in her current world seems to be regaining some memories as Katarina’s best friend in their previous life.
So all the romance stuff might be a little over the head of younger children, but the major focus on friendship and being nice and helping everyone is something that most older children and tweens would be fine with. Thus, I’m not totally sure about the Teen rating. Sure there’s talk of a murder and revenge, but it’s brief and not much on-page. In any case, it’s a fun story if a bit predictable, but that’s kind of part of the fun too.
Leave a Reply