Review of Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord
With villainess adaptations becoming increasingly common in recent years, they can start feel a bit repetitive at times. Luckily, Akuyaku99 does just enough differently to deliver a fun experience. Featuring one of the best girls of the season as an mc, some well done comedy and an interesting story. If you’re at all a fan of the genre, you’ll find this one entertaining. The biggest thing separating Akuyaku99 stand out from its competitors is the MC, Yumiella. Whereas most protagonists in this genre are based on the main character of a video game, she’s based on a secret boss and wants to stay that way. Shewants nothing to do with the spotlight and just wants to live out her days in peace. Sadly, due to her being extremely OP she’s not really able to. Seeing her try to stay lowkey and not bother anyone, while getting harassed by royalty, nobles and the general populace literally for just existing was definitely an experience. Her deadpan comedy and bland facial expressions make everything 100x funnier too. Imagine the entire world overreacting to the most basic of things while a character is just sitting there with a straight face wondering what’s going on.
It’s so enjoyable seeing Yumiella try to get the spotlight on the actual protagonist of the game. The relationship that develops between the two is quite wholesome and I also liked seeing Yumiella make everyone who assumed she was evil, based on preconceptions of her power level and hair, feel really dumb.
That leads me into my one big issue with this series, the supporting characters can be quite stupid. Everyone besides Patrick and Yumiella are cognitively challenged, I swear. If you know someone is the strongest person on the face of the earth, why are you provoking them, harassing them and just being a general ass to them? Yumiella receives so much hate purely for existing due to the insecurity, jealousy and fear of most of the supporting characters. It was mind boggling at times.
The other issue I have is the animation. The CGI in particular is not great, and it shows. The series can get away with it because it’s not really action oriented, but in scenes with Yumiella’s dragon, it definitely shows. The animation in general is also pretty bad, but the comedy and Yumiella as an MC makes up for it for the most part.
While not Konosuba levels of hilarious, seeing Yumiella deal with all the stupid people around her and just trying to lay low is very funny. If you’re looking for a good laugh and want a villainess show that doesn’t just focus on romance and traditional Shoujosei tropes, this is one for you.
Akuyaku99 gets 8/10