Well, today is Monday, and that means today is also the day for an episode review.

Well, I was confused about what I should watch or write about.

Why? Because writing an episode review is harder than writing a review about a full anime. Or maybe it’s just because I haven’t done that many episode reviews before, so that’s why it feels harder for me to write one.

I decided what I was going to review, and I decided to go with THOUGH I AM AN INEPT VILLAINESS.

Well, not going to lie, I thought it would be the same kind of story as The Apothecary Diaries, mainly because of the art style, obviously, or at least the world concept. I thought it would be something similar. But yeah, I made the same mistake that I always tell others not to make: don’t judge a book by its cover. 😅

Warning: The next part contains spoilers for Episode 1, so I suggest not reading further if you haven’t seen the episode yet or are planning to watch the anime.

A Villainess Who Doesn’t Even Know She’s the Villainess?

Well… this is definitely not the usual villainess story.

The story started with our MC, Kou Reirin—her name, or at least that’s what we know at that time. I will tell you why I’m saying this later. Kou Reirin is an Imperial Consort, and the very first thing the show makes clear is that her health isn’t that good. That’s how the story starts.

We also see Shu Keigetsu, who is basically introduced as the villainess in the story. I mean, not exactly in those words, but the word “villainess” is thrown around like it’s just a normal word for them. 😅

Well, Lady Shu Keigetsu was shown as someone who was chosen by Noble Consort Shu Gabi, the second highest-ranked consort after Empress Kou Kenshuu, while the servants also said that she wasn’t fashionable and wasn’t malicious.

Well, just tell me, guys, what standards do they have for beauty? I mean, if she’s not pretty, then I will consider myself not even human. 😅😅😅

Well, that aside, back to the story.

Well, the start of the story makes it clear that there are many consorts who want to become the future Empress. Well, I mean, the Crown Prince’s wife. Not gonna lie, though, that guy is lucky.

Well, wait, I got out of topic again. Is it? Sorry. 😅

So, where were we? The lucky guy, I mean the Crown Prince, needs to choose one of them to become his wife and future Empress.

And it looks like the Crown Prince was interested in Kou Reirin. Why? Because, bro, the Crown Prince literally called her “my butterfly” in the very first episode. 😭

But that wasn’t the entire story of what we saw in Episode 1, because that was just the starting part that we saw from the very first second. But as the story continued in Episode 1, as time started moving, the episode was getting more interesting.

And yeah… this is where things get interesting.

The episode wastes very little time introducing the central mystery. Reirin position, the people around her, and especially what happens to her make it pretty clear that there is much more going on than what we see on the surface.

The Body-Swap Twist

The biggest thing about Episode 1 is obviously the twist

During the Double Sevens Festival, Shu Keigetsu just pushed Kou Reirin from the balcony. Yep, she really did. And I know, the same thought came to my mind too. I don’t think she is that much evil, but she was. 😅

Well, at the same time, the body swap really happened. Well, yep.

Now Shu Keigetsu became Kou Reirin, and Kou Reirin became Shu Keigetsu.

Well, from now on, if I say Shu Keigetsu, then I am talking about Kou Reirin, and if I say Kou Reirin, then I am talking about Shu Keigetsu.

I know it’s confusing, but bear with me, okay? 😂😅 Because I am also confused writing this myself.

After the Swap

Well, just after the swap, our Kou Reirin, who is now Shu Keigetsu, fell unconscious, while Shu Keigetsu, who is now Kou Reirin, fell from the balcony. When she opened her eyes, she was in prison, and she found out that they had now swapped bodies.

Well, in between, we also find out that she—that is, Shu, who is now Kou—can use sorcery, as Kou had put a curse on her so she couldn’t speak about the body swap.

Well, she was going to stand trial. Why? Because no one actually saw her push Kou Reirin. According to the beliefs of that world, she would be put in front of a lion as part of the trial. If she was innocent, the lion wouldn’t harm her. But if she wasn’t innocent, the lion would kill her. And when Shin-u mentioned it, it was basically like an indirect execution. And inside my head, I was like, “Yep, if the lion is hungry, what is it going to do? Isn’t it obviously going to eat her?” 😂

The interesting part was that even her own [Kou] Head Court Lady, Kou Tousetsu, was sent to meet Shu in the prison. She was sent by Kou with poison pills to end her suffering. We also find out how Shu—I mean, now Kou—felt about her. She was jealous of Kou all the time because Kou was admired by others.

On the other hand, she wasn’t treated well, even though she was chosen by Noble Consort Shu Gabi, the second highest-ranked consort after Empress Kou Kenshuu. She didn’t have any power of her own, and even her own servants didn’t treat her well. And that’s why she did it.

Well, then the trial happened. But before the trial, there was this time where I was seeing the rats and cockroaches, where Reirin was so happy about seeing them, literally. And her silliness in between all of that was very good. I’m not going to lie, I was laughing the whole time. 😂

And in the trial, the lion wasn’t able to kill her. Why? Because the rat, by mistake, ate the poison pill that was given by Tousetsu, which was sent by Shu. Well, the rat ate that poison pill, and She took the rat and put it inside her sleeves, thinking that she would bury the rat later. But that wasn’t what happened. Instead, the lion ate that rat, and that’s how the trial judgment ended.

And the episode ended as well, where Shin-u said at the end that, “You weren’t acting like yourself.”

Well, she was trying to say that her body had changed, but she wasn’t able to say it because of the curse. So, in the end, she just said, “I am changed.” And that’s how the episode ended.

My Thoughts

Well, not gonna lie, I enjoyed watching Episode 1, and I’m going to continue the series.

Okay, that was literally kind of very good. The story and everything were written very well. It is not a normal villainess-type of story that we normally see. It wasn’t like that, I’m not gonna lie.

I really wanted to see more of the story because I sensed a lot of things that maybe are going to be shown in the future. Like, I have a feeling that there is going to be a political side as well, and there will be more things going on as well.

And by the look of the first episode, it feels like our main character has a lot of interest in medication and stuff. So, it might feel like The Apothecary Diaries. But still, I feel like it is going to have its own uniqueness.

And I’m not gonna lie, I love the story, and it’s kind of funny as well in the meantime. So, I am definitely interested in this story.

So, that is my final thought.

Rating

Well, rating time. 😅 Before giving a rating to this episode, as always, we give a rating to every episode which we review, okay?

So yeah, but before giving the rating, I just wanted to say that this is my personal rating. It doesn’t have to be the same as what the public thinks about it. It’s what I think about it. So please don’t be discouraged if I rate it low or higher.

It’s what you think about it. You can give your own rating in the comment box. So yeah, the rating from my side is 8.3 out of 10.

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Well, first of all, I’m trying a different style with this episode review today. Let me know in the comments if you like it or not. 😅

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This EP Review Write By : Prince Sanatan Kumar
(Yuu-kun)