I'm in Love with the Villainess

Episode 5

Considering how tuned out I was during last week's magic lesson, I dreaded this week's Royal Knight exam. The main takeaway from the previous episode was that the magic of this world is dull, while the production values can barely deliver very simple and uninteresting action. A whole episode of those two elements sounds like a recipe for a miserable episode. So I am very grateful this episode turns out pretty solid, largely by actively addressing those weaknesses and packaging them in along with the series' charms.

Take, for instance, the princes. Until now, they've just been jokes, a source of comedic tension for Rae, who could not care less about getting their attention despite the universe being bent in that exact direction. However, it seems they will be sticking around as supporting cast now, so it's nice to give them a bit of screen time to establish their personalities. I like that Thane and Yu have a teasing rivalry expressed through their banter, which is an interesting contrast to Thane's already-established inferiority complex. Yu is established as conniving but shows obvious concern for Misha after her fight. Thane, in general, is my favorite of the boys, for how his stone-faced, angsty appearance bounces so hard off of the chaos Rae brings along – plus, his fighting style is pretty cool. Rod...well, I find him about as appealing as Rae does. He's a magical frat boy with douchey earrings to match, but his fight with Misha does provide some more complex magical mechanics than just firing off fire and wind blasts until somebody falls over. Plus, he and Yu seem to have tuned into Rae's wavelength, which makes for some good gags.

Then there's Rae and Claire's match, which is surprisingly well-realized. The fight isn't exactly impressive, but given the show's previous attempts at action, it does an admirable job crafting a funny and creative skirmish. The production values are still lackluster, but there's some playful and energetic storyboarding during the battle that keeps it easy enough on the eyes. It's great to see Claire in her element, raining down fire and trying to dominate Rae through sheer force. Rae, naturally, is always one step ahead of her, yet there's a lot of fun to be had in watching Wile E. Coyote get juuuuuuust in reach of the Roadrunner before stumbling. It's equally fun to see the Roadrunner admire the Coyote's cool mid-air flips like a thirsty little gay flower, though I don't know if Chuck Jones would have agreed with me on that one. Claire busting out a stone-melting laser as her trump card rules, and the fight has just enough comedic back-and-forth to work as a setpiece.

That being said, it does leave this episode feeling a bit slight. It's certainly an improvement over the slow, exposition-heavy material from last week, but there's not much to grab onto outside of the characters' continued antics. There's very little done to advance or change the central relationship from last week. Even Ralaire doesn't feature much outside of some cute sight gags. We conclude with Rae once more asking Claire never to give up, which has to be foreshadowing something, but that's not enough to make this episode feel wholly satisfying. It's solid, reliably fun, but not as compelling as we know this series can be.

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I'm in Love with the Villainess is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.