The Fall Anime 2025 Preview Guide – The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess

What is this?

Konoha Satō has a dark history, written throughout middle school—a fantasy adventure of love and magic about the Count’s daughter, Konoha Magnolia, and the knights who love her. But when it looks like that dark history is going to be uncovered by her mother, Konoha panics and dies in a traffic accident. Opening her eyes, she finds that she’s been reincarnated into the world of her own dark history as Iana Magnolia, the worst villainess of her own creation.

The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess is based on the manga series by Akiharu Tōka. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays.

How was the first episode?

Caitlin Moore
Rating:

Oh, this is one I’ve been excited for. I actually first encountered The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess as a manga review copy early in my tenure here at Anime News Network. I was charmed not by its art, which was generic and bordering on amateurish; not by its story, which is a variation on the oversaturated theme of villainess reincarnation stories; not by its characters, who are largely cardboard cutouts; but for its metanarrative, driven by sharp observations about teen girls’ isekai fantasy stories as psychosexual manifestations of their adolescent preoccupations.

The Dark History of the Reincarnated originated as a manga, traditionally published in LaLa magazine, rather than starting out as a web publication. While we can debate the advantages and disadvantages of having editors shape a story, it tends to result in a more polished and clearer narrative with a greater sense of purpose. In middle and high school, Konoha Satou imagined herself as the heroine of a great fantasy epic, but when she grew up, she put all her sketches and story outlines in a box and moved on. That is, until she met Truck-kun. Meanwhile, in the fantasy world she created, fantasy-Konoha’s little sister Iana opens a book that is supposed to cause the identity of whoever reads it to collapse, both creating an opening for reality-Konoha’s mind to take hold and creating a nifty little explanation for just what happens to the body’s original owner after the new personality overtakes it.

After the first episode, I’m not sure how well that element will come through for two reasons. One is that the rapid-fire plotting doesn’t allow for the narrative to take a break and explain teenage Konoha’s subliminal thought processes behind why she made melodramatic story choices, such as, say, fantasy-Konoha’s uncle plotting to rape her. The other issue is that, although Crunchyroll may have adjusted its subtitles to resemble the old style more, large swathes of on-screen text remain untranslated, leaving a significant portion of the story inaccessible to viewers who aren’t literate in Japanese.

And that’s a shame, because this is a fun adaptation with a lot of surprises. Was I expecting a hip-hop opening? Not even a little bit! The director, Hiroaki Sakurai, has been in the industry for decades and has helmed some of the best-loved anime comedies of all time, including Cromartie High School, Di Gi Charat, and, most importantly, Kodocha. His wild sense of humor almost makes Dark History feel like a throwback in the best way possible, full of the kind of silly sight gags and energy that shoujo adaptations almost never get these days.

I’m not sure if Dark History will retain the things I love best about the manga. Hopefully, having someone with a strong creative voice and a longtime love and understanding of shoujo manga will make sure the anime has its own appeal.

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