Villainess Adored by the Neighbor Prince Anime Sets January

Kadokawa gave fans a first taste of another villainess romance on Wednesday, streaming the teaser promotional video for the television anime of Punichan’s light novel series The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom, or Akuyaku Reijō wa Ringoku no Ōtaishi ni Dekiai Sareru in Japanese.

The anime is set to premiere in January, and the cast will reprise their roles from the series’ otome game adaptation, so the voices should already feel familiar to longtime readers.

Behind the scenes, Takayuki Hamana, who directed Ace of Diamond and The Prince of Tennis, is helming the project at Studio DEEN. Yoshimi Narita is handling the series scripts, and Majiro, known for Barakamon and Macross Delta, is designing the characters.

The story follows a young woman reincarnated as Tiararose, the villainess of her favorite otome game. She quietly resigns herself to the doom the game has in store, but the moment her fiancé breaks off their engagement, something unscripted happens: a marriage proposal from Aquasteed, the crown prince of the neighboring kingdom, an event that never existed in the original game.

Punichan first began posting the tale on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō service in 2016. It has since grown into a 14 volume light novel run illustrated by Akeno Naruse with more than 5.6 million copies in circulation, a manga adaptation by Hoshina now at its 16th volume, assorted spinoffs, and even a real otome game released by OperaHouse on Nintendo Switch in 2024 that is playable in English on Steam.

My take: The villainess genre is crowded these days, but a heroine bracing for ruin only to be swept up by an unexpected prince is exactly the warm, wish fulfilling comfort that keeps me coming back.