English Dub Review: My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X Episodes 7 & 8

Overview

“My Wish Was Granted…”

Raphael Wolt, an employee at the Department of Magic, welcomes Catarina and her friends for a tour of the facility. Lana leads them in an experiment on a magic tool she recently acquired from an antiquarian: a so-called “wish-granting dollhouse.” The moment she sees the old, run-down dollhouse, Catarina can’t help opening the tightly shut front door…


“I Had an Arranged Marriage Meeting…”

Nicol makes the decision to go through with an arranged marriage. Although he meets many prospective partners, all he can think about while talking to them is Catarina, so none of them get past the first meeting. Then, one day, his sister Sophia recommends that he read some romance novels for a change of pace…



Our Take

For episode 7, the proceedings feel like an amusing re-tread of familiar territory with the reverse-gender of the characters and seem like the continuation of season 1’s episode 8 where they all get sucked into the magic book, with the same objective to fulfill their desires as means to get out of a magical book world. Though this time around it’s a weird-ass magical Dollhouse with a similar concept, same objectives but a different setting.

As for episode 8, it was refreshing seeing Nicol be the focus of this episode as well as interacting with characters we’ve never seen before rather than the same old people the audience is used to since new, unbiased perspectives like Frey’s really could help motivate him to go for Catarina more proactively without many barriers unlike someone in the main clique, who’s already into Catarina in the first place.


Overall, both episodes were entertaining in different ways, I think one of the standout moments of episode 7 being Raphael’s desire being a possible subtle satirical jab at Japanese work culture but I’m could possibly be reading too much into it. Other than that, It still remained an ok episode where we get to know the characters in unique ways that make each of them more than just a bland stereotype lusting after Catarina while showing what every character desires if given the chance to relive their lives. While episode 8, was refreshing because Nicol’s dilemma was different but pretty interesting and gives him more depth in regards to his mindset and heart were explored by doing the mature things most Harem anime often consistently fail to do. Have one of them not actually pursue the dense protagonist (Catarina) and move on by doing their own thing. I also never expected him to care so much about it and decided to arrange it with many proposals from every woman possible until he met Frey and had a heart-to-heart talk about the most important things to do which show potential chemistry between the two. Yet given how cliche, forced, and repetitive these unrequited and unreciprocated romances often drag in Anime, that remains to be seen…