Recap / Im In Love With The Villainess Ch 1 Transmigration To Dating Sim

Arc: Enrollment
Web Novel: #1-18
Manga: #1-9
Anime: TBA

---

Plot Summary

Rae quickly acclimates to her maid duties.

After dying from overwork, Rei Ohashi finds herself in a classroom desk beside an indignant yet familiar face—her favorite character and the story's titular villainess, Claire François. Upon hearing the villainess call her Rae Taylor and delivering the first of many love confessions to come, Rae realizes she' been reincarnated as The Heroine of Revolution, her favorite otome game.

Resolving to get closer with Claire, Misha Jur offers advice which inadvertently spurs much of the antics she and Claire alike would grow to detest, whilst Rae offers an explanation of Bauer's background: a Victorian-Era inspired kingdom rife with corruption whose king enacts the 'meritocratic policy', opening the Royal Academy to talented commoners in a last-ditch effort ensure the country doesn't fall to nepotism.

Fed up with the heroine's cheekiness, Claire decides to settle their strife with a wager. Should the villainess outperform in the upcoming exam, Rae must leave the academy; should Claire fail to do so, Rae is entitled to one request. Divvied into three sections:

1. Culture: written history & literature prompts regarding the Bauer Kingdom. Rae narrowly beats Claire here (98-95) owing to her prior knowledge, though struggling as the multiple-choice test of Revolution became written essay questions.
2. Etiquette: practically tested during a formal meal. Claire's strong aristocratic background crushes the commoner (97-75), leaving the final portion as a tie breaker.
3. Magic: aptitude and magic bullet distance measuring. A Foregone Conclusion as being Revolution's heroine entails dual-casting Earth and Water with "ultra-high" aptitude, an affinity so novel it renders the proctors unable to measure Rae's immense magical power.

To Claire's chagrin, her failure to beat Rae's "Immeasurable" score entitles the commoner to a single demand: a promise to never abandon hope and keep going until the end. Though Rae alludes to an ulterior motive, Claire quickly affirms it out of surprise and relief at such a trivial request. Later, Rod approaches the commoner after her scores pique the capture target's interest, prompting Rae to explain her plan to follow Thane's route to maximize time with Claire—a ploy made harder as performing well dissuades the gloomy prince.

At the François manor, Rae finds herself applying to become an apprehensive Claire's maid as senior maid Lene Aurousseau insists she'd be a perfect fit. Just as the villainess' father, Minister of Finance Dole François begins siding with his daughter, the heroine resorts to namedropping "Irvine Manuel" and "March 3rd, 500,000 gold", details important enough for Dole to order Claire and Lene away for an apparently tense off-screen discussion before the finance minister capitulates and grants Rae the position.

Unamused by her father's decision yet willing to accept Rae under the guise of 'learning to reign in troublesome subordinates', Claire questions why the commoner is so smitten with her. Though refusing to accept the possibility of anyone being interested in her personality, the noble's parting words imply an openness to the idea.

From here the events of Revolution play out uniformly—at least, until her plans to throw a chess match against Rod backfires when the military genius notices her Deliberate Underperformance. Yu, the youngest capture target, interrupts Rae's following match against Claire with an invitation to a round of poker. Contrary to the unlucky heroine, Claire seems set to win with a full house before Yu manages a four of a kind, his "luck" proving strong enough to pull the same ace of spades Rae had in her deck.

Declining another round, Rae leads Claire and Lene to a spot they'll happen upon Thane's harp practice in, jumpstarting a ploy to play wingman between Claire and the gloomy prince she's long been enamored with. The commoner elects to lift Thane's spirits with a king's game that escalates to ordering Thane to kiss Claire. Upon his refusal, she unveils the game being a Secret Test of Character to demonstrate the prince does have qualities befitting a king, despite his self-deprecation.

Misha surprises Rae at lunch by asking about her homosexuality, the heroine explaining her lack of attraction to boys as Claire recoils in fear, which to Rae's further surprise (and appreciation), earns a lecture from Misha as she likens the discriminatory behavior to a man presuming her desperate by demanding Claire not make advances on him. Clearing up a misconception from Lene, Rae distinguishes her sexuality from bisexuals and those attracted to particular people rather than gender.

She further reflects on the discrimination faced by queer people in Revolution and controversial entertainers playing into stereotypes to make light of their struggles, something she attributes her own antics to whilst lamenting her poor history with romance and alluding to Lene being similarly unlucky.

The preceding magic lesson expounds Revolution's magic system and the background of Rae and Claire's teacher, Mr. Torrid—the world's sole tri-caster and a brilliant researcher whose findings govern the kingdom's application of magic, its stones and tools procured by the familial Aurousseau Company. Per Torrid's explanation, magic is comprised of four classical elements with varying niches:

• Earth: Defensive, weak to Fire.
• Fire: Offensive, weak to Earth.
• Water: Recovery, weak to Wind.
• Wind: Support, weak to Earth.

Sent to train against monsters the students' practice is interrupted by an adult, house-sized slime. Contrary to their reputation as tiny and adorable, its massive stature and durability creates a formidable foe to the inexperienced mages, who are forcibly cowed by a monster ability, Hateful Cry. Originally an opportunity to bond with a chosen capture target, the event fixes itself (literally, in the manga's depiction), allowing a trapped Rae to call out to Claire and, with Thane's help, slaying the monster—the villainess earning a headpat from the prince.

In the aftermath, Rae finds the monster's tiny daughter quivering in fear, and upon realizing its mother became hostile only because the baby was hit with a stray fire arrow, adopts the child and names her Relaire. After Claire spots the slime, she's persuaded to not have them disposed of provided the heroine trains it properly, ending the chapter with yet another Boke and Tsukkomi Routine as Claire learns the baby, like all monsters, cannot be renamed.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Claire is explicit in her disdain for Rae's flirting and bombastic love confessions, her admonishments evolving into comedic gags.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the manga, Lene Aurousseau appears in single page cameos before her proper introduction when Rae applies to become Rae's maid.
• Always Someone Better: The source of Thane's animosity towards his siblings, who excel in stratagem, political acumen, magic, and other qualities required of a king.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: The official translation trims most duplicate consonants borne from special characters' romanization.
  • Pipi (ピピ) Barlier, a member of Claire's entourage, became "Pepi".
  • Dor (ドル) is now "Dole", a more faithful change to the Japanese ("Dolu") pronunciation.
  • Rodd (ロッド) became "Rod".
  • Yuu (ユー) was changed to "Yu".
  • Subverted with Rei Taylor (レイ・テイラー), whose name was changed to "Rae" while referring to her previous self as "Rei", a nomenclature likely meant to contrast the Japanese and European settings.
• Beneath the Mask: While reflecting on her sexuality, Rae reveals a more depressed and cynical side to her usually energetic, Claire-obsessed nature.
• Big Man on Campus: Rod and Yu alike are beloved by the student body and often accompanied by a crowd of admirers.
• Blackmail: Heavily implied to be how Rae convinced Dole to employ her as Claire's maid.
  Rae: And that was how I landed the job of Claire’s maid. Just don’t expect me to tell you what I said to Dole—that stays secret.
• Blob Monster: The students are attacked by Relaire's mother after the baby is hit with a stray fire bullet.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Many of Rae and Claire's interactions are comedic gags where the latter retaliates after taking offense to the commoner's antics.
• Cunning People Play Poker: Yu's sly nature is demonstrated while beating the table with an ill-gotten four of a kind.
• Depraved Homosexual: Invoked as Claire recoils upon Rae confirming she's a lesbian to Misha, who chides her behavior as discriminatory.
  Misha: “How would you feel if a boy told you, ‘Don’t hit on me’?”
  Claire: “How dare he think me so desperate!”
  Misha: “Exactly. But that’s exactly how you’re treating Rae.”
  Claire: “Oh…”
• Dub Name Change: The official translation replaces the romanized-Japanese names with their European origins.
  • Sein (セイン) became "Thane".
  • Lene's last name, and the company itself, was changed from Orso (オルソ) to "Aurousseau".
• Elemental Powers: Magic in Revolution is comprised of four classical elements: Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind.

• Get Back in the Closet: Publisher Seven Seas Entertainment censored much of Rae's Gayngst and social commentary in the Light Novel translation, reversing their edits after considerable public outcry.
  • While lampshading her antics being a coping mechanism:

    Claire: It’s because you’re always saying those sorts of things that I worry!”  
    Rae: Perhaps that was true, and if I was overstepping boundaries, then that was my bad. But then again... “I just can’t live without poking fun at you,” I said, laughing. But I was laughing alone." 

    Claire: It’s because you’re always saying those sorts of things that I worry!”  
    Rae: Perhaps that was true, and if I was overstepping boundaries, then that was my bad. But the fact of the matter was, Japanese entertainers in my past life had often used their sexuality as part of their brand despite the discrimination they faced. That was probably why I acted this way.'' “I just can’t live without poking fun at you,” I said, laughing. But I was laughing alone." 

  • In the same scene, her commentary on controversial queer comedians' Played for Laughs sexuality was removed entirely.

    Rae: Things were back to normal. Normal. And like always, I felt a bit...sad.  
    Rae: "Miss Claire?"  
    Claire: "What is it?" 

    Rae: Things were back to normal. Normal. And like always, I felt a tiny, little bit…bitter about it.  
    
    In my past life, there were a number of LGBTQ activists who had criticized the entertainers using their flamboyant sexuality as a selling point on TV. I think their criticism was likely on point. But here’s what else I think: Without going so far as to say it’s the right or wrong thing to do, some people out there can’t live their lives without making light of their problems.  
    
    Of course these entertainers were contributing to homophobic stereotypes. And of course I’d prefer it if we could eliminate homophobia altogether. But some queer people living in the real world will also, inevitably, act in ways that highlight the prejudices they experience. Maybe they’ll have other reasons for acting the way they do, but I think that need to lampshade their problems is one of them.  
    
    Some people can’t live with their burdens without cracking wise about them.  
    
    When you’re queer and you fall in love with someone who can never respond to your feelings in kind, they often still behave more intimately with you than they would with someone of the opposite sex. But after the moment you realize you’re in love with them, that just makes them feel even further away. If you run into this problem again and again, before you realize it, you might become the kind of person who can only helplessly laugh the whole thing off. Not everyone ends up like that, of course. It just so happened that I had.  
    Rae: "Miss Claire."  
    Claire: "What is it?" 

• Girl Posse: Claire's friends, Pepi Barlier and Loretta Kugret form a coterie with Claire, briefly acting as a gatekeeper to the villainess.
• Hopeless Suitor: Rae's considerable gap in status and Incompatible Orientation with Claire do little to dissuade the commoner's pursuit.
• Pastimes Prove Personality: Shown with each capture target.
  • Rod's prowess in chess is indicative of the prince's strong, militaristic nature.
  • Yu demonstrates cunning while pulling the wool over all but Rae in their poker game, and his talent at chess, Rae noting the "Hidden Yu" difficulty was so skilled it's hard to imagine being from a dating sim.
  • Thane's penchant for the harp is indicative of a gentle personality beneath his cold exterior.
• Office Lady: Rei Ohashi was employed by a small, unnamed business prior to reincarnating.
• Our Mages Are Different: Being this world's equivalent to the 'modern IT sector and appliances', mages in this story assume various forms:
  • Gadget Users: As most spells require the use of wands and other magic tools, virtually all mages qualify.
  • Lottery Winners: Attributes and aptitudes alike are inborn yet vary so widely even royal siblings Rod, Yu, and Thane have no similarities, while commoner-born Rae and Torrid are powerful dual and tri-casters.
  • Scholars: All mages require Training the Gift of Magic, which the cast undergoes at the Royal Academy.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Despite being an excellent student, his scores are much lower than his near-perfect siblings', even losing to Rae and Claire in some areas.
• Prince Charming Wannabe: Rae describes Rod as a self-absorbed and egotistical prince, doing her best to ensure the capture target loses interest in her.
• Red Mage: Rae and Mr. Torrid have access to spells from other areas of magic as dual and tri-casters.
• Sad Clown: Rae lampshades her Depraved Homosexual act being a coping mechanism while discussing what being a lesbian means with Misha, Claire, and Lene.
  Claire: “It’s because you’re always saying those sorts of things that I worry!”
  Rae: Perhaps that was true, and if I was overstepping boundaries, then that was my bad. But the fact of the matter was, Japanese entertainers in my past life had often used their sexuality as part of their brand despite the discrimination they faced. That was probably why I acted this way.
  Rae: “I just can’t live without poking fun at you,” I said, laughing. But I was laughing alone.
• Smart People Play Chess: Rod and Yu are highly intelligent princes with chess as a favorite pasttime.
• Successful Sibling Syndrome: As middle child of the royal family, Thane is well-above average yet overshadowed by the even more spectacular Rod and Yu Bauer.
• The Conspiracy: Desperate to become Claire's maid, Rae is implied to blackmail Dole by namedropping "Irvine Manuel" and "March 3rd, 500,000 gold", tidbits important enough for the finance minister to clear the room for a one-on-one discussion before capitulating.
• The Promise: Claire is forced to make one after losing a wager with Rae.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: The king's game Thane plays with Rae, Claire, and Lene is a Secret Test of Character from the heroine meant to demonstrate his kingly qualities.