posted on by Anita Tai
Romantic comedy light novel series inspired spinoff, manga, anime
Seven Seas Entertainment announced the adaptation of Inori and Hanagata‘s I’m in Love with the Villainess (Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijō) light novel series into English audiobooks on Friday. Voice actress Courtney Shaw will narrate the audiobooks, through Seven Seas‘ Siren audiobook imprint. I’m in Love with the Villainess (Audiobook) volume 1 comes out on November 16, while volume 2 is scheduled for release on December 7.
Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the light novels, and it released the fifth novel in July 2022 digitally. The company describes the story:
Ordinary office worker Oohashi Rei wakes up in the body of the protagonist of her favorite otome game, Revolution. To her delight, the first person to greet her is also her favorite character, Claire Francois–the main antagonist of the story! Now, Rei is determined to romance Claire instead of the game’s male leads. But how will her villainous lady love react to this new courtship?!
Inori launched the series on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in January 2018. GL Bunko began publishing the story digitally, with the first volume released in February 2019, and the fifth and final volume released in August 2021. Hanagata drew the illustrations for the novels.
AONOSHIMO launched a manga adaptation of the novel series in Ichijinsha‘s Comic Yuri Hime magazine in June 2020. Ichijinsha published the manga’s sixth compiled book volume on May 17. Seven Seas Entertainment is also publishing the manga in English. Volume 4 released in January, and volume 5 will release on October 12 digitally.
The series is inspiring an anime adaptation that premieres on October 2. Hideaki Oba (Love of Kill) is directing the anime at Platinum Vision. Ayumu Hisao (Love of Kill, Devils’ Line) is both writing and overseeing the series scripts. Youko Satou (7SEEDS, Saiyuki Reload Blast) is adapting AONOSHIMO and Hanagata‘s character designs for animation.
Inori launched a spinoff story titled Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina! on Shōsetsuka ni Narō in May 2021, and ended it in October 2021. GL Bunko released the story digitally, shipping volume 2 in December 2022. Seven Seas Entertainment also licensed the novel spinoff, and released volume 1 in January 2023 with the title I’m in Love with the Villainess Spin-Off: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner. Volume 2 releases on April 9.
Sources: Press release, Seven Seas Entertainment‘s official site
