MichaelAtlas basically hit the nail on the head with the comedy being great but working against the story when it tries to be serious.

I normally would rate this an 8/10 if this was only a comedy, but it's not, and the protagonist being so dimwitted, combined with the insistence on stagnating literally everyone's relationships (with the main character and each other) in order to keep up the gag, drops this to no higher than a 6. I'd argue a 5.

Not to mention how ridiculous so many of the conclusions to the various plot sections are:

Guy killed someone in a ritual that gives him access to dark magic, has done so many other crimes he can't be anything but guilty to the point it would give him at least a life sentence, and he can control minds...

Yeah, make him one of the potential love interests and promise to with the third prince's fiancée, and then be working under the first prince . Because that makes sense, right? Right?

I'm sorry, but in any realistic scenario, that's a death sentence. Either because the first prince is out of character if the criminal isn't executed, the third prince is out of character if the criminal isn't executed, or because the author is insane and thinks that any professional espionage force would bring the person who almost the main character/third prince's fiancée into contact with the main character/third prince's fiancée.

I'm sorry, but the author's morals are messed up. Worse yet, I get the same feeling of Ouran Host Club, where the main male lead is the butt of every "but we can't let you be with her" moment... even though he's literally the one who has the most business being with her.

I get the feeling part of the reason the entire cast is naive only when it comes to sex is because the author just doesn't know better... and wow I did not intend for that to become a "virgin" insult (I am one), it's just most of the core cast treat sex like they're little kids.

They don't feel human in any way (insert Miyazaki was right statement: manga and anime are created by people who dislike normal social contact and don't know what real people are like).

The series is funny, and for that alone it's worth checking out, but it makes the mistake of asking its audience to take it seriously when the very elements that make the comedy work also undermine the ability to see this as a proper drama.

In fact, most of the comments I've read are more interested in the memes of the airhead accidentally creating a reverse harem, not in the actual story.

... Last updated on January 5th, 2024, 9:17am

During the comedy-focused chapters this is a great comedy, would be at least 8/10 or something unfortunately the non-comedy chapters drag it down a lot.

The central trope of this manga is having a spectacularly dumb protagonist that constantly gets lucky and ends up on top with everyone thinking she's a lot more amazing than she actually is. I love this trope in comedy especially with films like "Naked Gun" and the comedic moments are greatly enhanced by the main characters stupidity.

Unfortunately whenever the story demands I take it seriously the "luck" elements get in the way, like it's not narratively satisfying for the protagonist to win just cause she randomly bought an OP artifact at a random stall cause it looked cool and that the fact that the protagonist is as intelligent as a sack of rocks gets in the way really really bad too. It also makes all of her relationships with everyone the same: romantic love on one side and obliviousness on the other.

The protagonist also seduces almost every named character in the story but every single relationship stagnates in that spot because she cannot notice their affection. Generally this is funny but during the more serious chapters it gets awkward as hell.

Generally it deals with themes of redemption which suit the "villainess" trope perfectly and are explored through a lot of characters.

Honestly, this is junk food, if you're in the mood for some tropey "villainess" with a harem that would put shounen isekai protagonists to shame and some decent comedy from time to time that you can just relax with after a stressful day this'll be right up your alley. But if you're looking for something deep or well though out this ain't it.

... Last updated on October 27th, 2023, 6:34am

I love how both male and female characters fell in love with the airhead Bakarina, and her being the airhead who does as she pleases is what makes her so lovable.

lighthearted romp through trope subversion, don't take it too seriously

The characters are interesting and the MC has a great attitude. This is now one of my favorite series.

... Last updated on November 16th, 2021, 1:33am

Yes, this story is cute and I laughed a few times...However, this series turns into The MC Fan Club halfway through, and all the characters end up as comedic reverse harem tropes rather than actual people with thoughtfully developed personalities. Well, they didn't exactly have developed personality traits to begin with.... but even the little bit they were introduced with became lost. It just started feeling like a typical harem anime, except the protagonist is female. I can barely see the aristocratic / magic setting because it just starts acting like a modern day shounen highschool harem comedy. ...How disappointing.

Art: 6/10
Story: 3/10
Humor: 8/10
Characters: 5/10

... Last updated on July 24th, 2020, 7:26pm

A light hearted comedy but as JapanRocks says, it goes nowhere and all characters are two dimensional caricatures, worse of all, being the MC over 30 years and behaving as a small kid and being completely obtuse is irritating. There a few cliches that I really don't like in mangas, among them are, an MC that goes into lala land all the time, using this "vivid imagination" as an excuse for ridiculous development and an excessively clueless MC (in romance). This three are used extensively in this manga, I can laugh at it if it happens once in a while but too much and I find them annoying.
So yeah, makes me smile or smirk once every few chapters but that's about it. Probably a teenager or someone with less amount of manga read (and thus hasn't been exposed as much to the same cliche story tools over and over) can enjoy it more.

... Last updated on June 11th, 2020, 5:08am

This is such a funny and heartwarming series. Yes some of the storylines are cliche



BUT the story is still very enjoyable and the cliches don't even feel like cliches because the story itself is so humorous and refreshing. The main character can be dense, but she really is a fun character to root for.

... Last updated on May 18th, 2020, 10:08am

Don’t take anything too seriously and just stay for the gags. If you’re looking for something feel good with decent art then you’re in for a treat but if you’re looking for an intricate storyline with characters that you will cry with then you won’t find them here though Katarina is very lovable but as dense as mofo 9 year old shounen protagonist, it’s literally so hard not to like her. I saw a trailer for the anime in youtube and i just cant wait cause that otome isekai just hooked me in being somewhat of an otome addict myself haha

The MC doesn't grow up. You see the personality she has when she's an 8 year old? Yeah, she keeps that. 16 and she still acts like an 8 old. It's even more painful when you realize that she's mentally 32. The "I'm not saving/seducing anyone, I'm just trying to make friends. Opps another harem member, teehee!" Shtick gets stale after a while. Every time she does that "Huh? Why does everyone say my name when I ask who they're in love with? I don't understand since I have the maturity of a child." monologue, I can't help rolling my eyes.

Speaking of harem members, their personalities are as flat as, well, otome game characters lol There's no reason to focus on a character outside their route. So after Katarina's obsession with them ends they get relegated to half panels. It was a good reminder for why I usually tick off the harem tag when searching. Layered development of 1 love interest > little side-plots with multiple.

TL;DR, It's a cute time waster. But that's what it'll ever be. If you can stand reading about an MC that stays the same from chapter 1, and side-characters/love interests that stay the same after their 1 chapter redemption arcs, then give it a go.