Villainess Level 99

Episode 3

It's practically a trope at this point that the person who is reincarnated into a game setting treats the entire world like it's still a game. That's been used for both good and ill in this particular isekai subgenre, but I don't think I've ever seen it done quite as interestingly as here. Yumiella's disconnect from reality isn't egregious, but it sets her apart as she continues to get stuck on things like “levels” and “game plot,” which we see whenever she thinks about how she experienced the world before. The rest of the cast, meanwhile, is just living their lives, and for the king and queen, that means figuring out how to keep this valuable level 99 dark magic user happy and in their kingdom without allowing their jackass son to screw things up. I don't think either of them expected her to agree to marry Edwin, but that doesn't mean that they could just not ask, even though I can't think of a faster way to ensure that things go downhill quickly.

That said, the king going out of his way to tell all of the influential courtiers and his personal guard that neither black hair nor dark magic is inherently evil is one of the best scenes a story like this could have. Not only is it counter to most genre norms (the king is a good ruler with a brain!), but it also acknowledges the ludicrous nature of people's fears about Yumiella. Sure, her hair color and magic are unusual and her level is ridiculously high, but she's still a fifteen-year-old girl who hasn't done anything but what was asked of her. The royal couple recognizes that it's in their best interests to absolve her of any baseless accusations and ensure that she's happy. Bowing his head to her and remarking that people are afraid of what they don't understand is a quick and easy way to show her importance and neutrality.

Yumiella herself is still spending a lot of time in her head, although she's beginning to interact with some of her schoolmates. It feels like equal parts being unable to fully recognize that she's not in a game anymore and her general disinterest in other people that drives her deadpan narration and expressionless effect, although I could see a reading of her character that views her as neurodivergent. More importantly, the constant narration lets us see that Yumiella's mind is never quiet: she's always observing and analyzing, even if it's just to whip out her brilliant three rules of pointless conversation. The way that she hears twittering birds when Eleonora is waxing eloquently about perfume or whatever is a very clever way to show Yumiella's detachment and a funny gag. By the end of the episode, it's clear that she's winning over everyone except the main quartet from the game, by her jaunt to the palace and the fact that she hasn't done anything overtly scary since the black hole incident. Yumiella's blank expression and deadpan speech patterns allow everyone to see her as harmless, despite her creepy black hair.

So what's Alicia's deal, then? The boys are all humiliated by losing to Yumiella, but Alicia doesn't seem to have any reason to suspect her unless she's the most credulous human around who takes the boys' anger as proof of Yumiella's evil. There's always the possibility that she's also been reincarnated into the game world and knows that Yumiella is the hidden boss, but then why would she ask if she was the demon lord since she'd be aware that Yumiella isn't? It feels more likely that the story is setting heroine and villainess up to swap places, but Alicia doesn't seem motivated enough for that. She's the wild card who needs watching right now, and whatever Yumiella tells her and how she reacts next week could be very telling.

What's that? Tell you more? I'm so glad you asked! So you see, in most villainess stories…

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Villainess Level 99 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.