I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss

Episode 12

So here we are at the end of I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss—and what a shame it is to see it stumble right at the finish line. If ever there was an episode that should have been spread out across two, it's this one. The lack of runtime robs much of the episode of any kind of dramatic weight—be it in the action climaxes or the personal revelations of the various characters—and there are just so many questions that are either unexplained or underexplained, such as:

• How did Elephas and Aileen escape the dungeon?

• How did they discover the existence of a hot air balloon and steal it?

• Why do either of them know how to fly a hot air balloon?

• What was the terrorist mages' plan exactly?

• Why did the demon incense—which is supposed to turn demons berserk—make Claude go to sleep?

• Why does Selena know all the secrets of the palace?

• How did Lilia get the Holy Sword in the Lester Route?

• How exactly did Almond “play dead”?

• How is the anti-aging machine connected to Claude's memories and powers (especially to the point that putting a mages eye in it will fix everything)?

But what suffers the hardest is the actual ending of the show. In fact, despite watching the episode twice, I'm not entirely clear on what happened. To me, it looks like, in the brief seconds between Claude waking up and him arriving to save Aileen, Claude and Cedric performed a coup d'etat and removed their father and grandmother from the throne—i.e., they committed treason together. Then Cedric and Lilia are either put in prison or placed under permanent house arrest (it's not clear which) while Claude and Aileen get married.

To say this is a lot to be covered in a few dozen seconds of runtime is an understatement. In fact, things move so fast that we skip over what is potentially the most vital aspect of the story—Cedric and Lilia's relationship.

Cedric has started to see that Lilia is not the innocent girl she purports to be. No matter how well she uses her knowledge of the game to manipulate all those around her, the fact that she doesn't see anyone besides Aileen as a real person is something that couldn't be hidden forever—especially since she doesn't try to hide her true feelings near as much once she has “captured” any given “target.”

However, Cedric occasionally turning a blind eye to Aileen's actions due to his doubts about Lilia is a far cry from what we see in this episode when he outright betrays her. Why he chooses to do it, and what exactly changed his mind, is never explored. Worse yet, we don't even get Lilia's thoughts on the whole matter. She is certainly shocked by Cedric's betrayal—we can see that much through visual storytelling. However, the big question remains: have these events shown her that the people in this world are real people—not just fictional characters for her to bend to her will with impunity?

If they have, this is a world-altering moment for Lilia—and arguably a chance at redemption. It would show that the anime is about Aileen saving Lilia from herself as much as it is about Aileen fighting for her happy ending with Claude. On the other hand, if these events haven't changed her worldview, nothing will. Lilia remains a dangerous psychopath and an unrepentant villain—and Cedric's continued love of her despite this would be all the more tragic. However, by not addressing things one way or the other, much of the complexity of the villains is lost, simply abandoned in the midst of the happy ending.

So, when it comes down to it, I liked what happened in this episode—especially the final fight between Aileen and Lilia. However, the issue isn't what was in the episode but rather what wasn't. So much world-building and character development ended up on the cutting room floor that a lot of what has made this series so enjoyable has no meaningful payoff in the end. It's a shame. Aileen and her friends deserved a better send-off than the one we've gotten.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Thanatosis? You have got to be kidding me. Almond literally dissolved into a mass of magic particles. How the hell is that “playing dead”?

• Oh, so the queen dowager was just vain and evil. Cool.

• Why does Selena hate Aileen exactly? All she ever did is embarrass her by proving that Lilia was manipulating her.

• While I don't dislike the Selena/Auguste pairing, I wish we could have seen how and why it came about.

• Once again, Rachael does nothing of consequence. I wonder if she actually had a plotline in the original novels.

• Would a heroine steal her dying lovers' power to win a fight? Nope. Good thing Aileen's a villainess.

• I wish we would have spent some time learning about the original game's romance options—especially Lester, as he's so vital to the climax.

• I understand a stab from the holy sword would allow another holy maiden to steal it but would a normal slice do any real damage to either Aileen or Lilia?

• Thanks for spending the season watching with me. The next season has no less than two villainess-centric stories. Hopefully, I'll see you all at one or more of them in the new year.

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.