There’s been a lot of variations on the Villainess trope, and If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love is the latest such series released from Yen Press. Read on for my review of Volume 1.
Back Cover Blurb
The awkward yet heartwarming love story of a scorned, incompetent villainess and an unapproachable, genius villain. Eleven years ago, Brigitte, the heiress of the Meidell earldom, formed a contract with the weakest type of spirit. Since then, she’s been looked down on by all the other nobles, and her fiancé, the prince, even made a public spectacle of ending their engagement. The duke of the Water Clan’s son, Yuri, is the only classmate she has who seems unaffected by these rumors. Yuri is feared for his incredible abilities and icy personality, but with him on her side, Brigitte’s fortunes just might change…
The Review
You’ve seen the otome game trope. Aristocratic students at a magical academy. Accusations of the prince’s villainous fiancée bullying an innocent girl of lower standing. And the prince standing up for the victim by publicly breaking his engagement to the villainess. There have been numerous variations on this theme, and this one tells it from the POV of the villainess.
Only she’s not really a villainess. She’s not reincarnated either, as this isn’t an isekai (at least so far as we can tell). Rather Brigette Meidell is simply an aristocratic inhabitant of a world where magic is commonplace. A person’s magic capacity depends on the ranking of the spirit he/she contracts with, and unfortunately, hers is a no-name spirit. That means that even though she loves spirits and has studied all there is to know about the subject, she can barely wield any magic. Thus her proud and powerful noble family has rejected her. Aside from her devoted servant Sienna, her one hope for friendship and affection was her fiancé, Prince Joseph. To please him, she made herself into his ideal type (i.e., dumb and gaudy). That only further alienated her from everyone except Joseph – that is, until he publicly dumps her for Lisa, the girl accusing Brigette of bullying.
Thus, this title looks like it’ll partly be an underdog story. Brigette isn’t actually interested in getting her fiancé back. Though stung by humiliation, she quickly realizes she’s better off without him and resolves to rededicate herself to her childhood dream of becoming a magic academic. That doesn’t mean Prince Joseph and Lisa are through with her. Brigette’s resilience displeases them, thus inciting them to undermine her efforts. Though their terrible personalities are somewhat one-dimensional, they do their job as antagonists.
The other direction this manga is headed is “enemies to lovers.” The title infers that Yuri Aurealis is the “villain,” but he is more unpopular than villainous. The top student of the Academy of Magic, he’s contracted to not one, but two first-class spirits. He is also blunt, doesn’t care what his classmates think of him, and has the social sensitivities of a rock. For him, the world is very black and white, so when he pronounces Brigette dumb because of her school record, he is genuinely intrigued to discover she has the wherewithal to keep up with him intellectually. Brigette and Yuri’s bickering is entertaining, and Yuri makes just enough of the correct remarks and actions for romance to progress yet maintain a cool exterior. He is a fine partner for Brigette as she struggles to redeem her academic reputation, and the story hints that there’s something about her “no-name spirit” that’ll drastically change her fortunes.
The quality of the artwork is excellent from spirits to magical effects to human characters to backgrounds. The world-building and magical system are easy to follow. Extras include the first two pages printed in color, bonus text story, and afterword.
In Summary
Despite the title and the otome game setup, this is not an isekai, and Brigette is more of an underdog than a villainess. She’s certainly easy to root for as she resolves to re-create herself after being dumped by her royal jerk of a fiancé. The interplay between her and the arrogant genius Yuri is entertaining as well. If you like Enemies to Lovers at a Magical Academy with Just Deserts, this title is worth looking at.
First published at the Fandom Post.
Keeping It In Canon ...mostly 