La Biblioteca de Amestris

Full disclaimer. I'm already into this serie. It's just so refreshing to watch an isekai with a female character "trapped" in a Otome game. I'm tired of the overpowered gamer and his harem of tsunderes with big boobs. Accordingly, I'm always complaining that most of the series of this genre are essentially the same (oppais!). Nowadays, it's very easy to sell an isekai anime because the idea of reincarnating in a fantasy World with overpowered-broken abilities is so fucking exciting. I want to be special!! That's why this genre is being over-exploded to sell shitty animes. Is this anime an exception? Let's figure it out.

Great animes are often driven by great conflicts. Here, we follow the life of Karina Claes, daughter of the Duke of a fantasy kingdom. Katarina is selfish and self-centered, yet she is about to become the fiancee of the 3rd-in-line heir of the throne. Apparently a shining future await for Katarina; however, her World  is about to be shaken by the memories of her past life: a Japanese girl who was playing an Otome game ("dating simulator") the day before she died. Katarina finds out that he current life is exactly like the World of Katarina Claes in the dating simulator. In that game, Katarina is a villain that encounters a terrible destiny : either die or being exiled. Katarina hopes that her knowledge of the game may help her to escape her destiny.

As a general impression, I loved the first episode. I even watched it twice to write this review. It was so enjoyable and easy, like a few of my favorites slice of life series. Don't expect a soap opera or big drama. Think about this anime as a slice of life placed in a fantasy World with some intense moments. There is also a remarkable quota of humor which remaindered me about Konosuba (one of my favorite series). I mean that it's the same kind of humor and jokes -of course, Konosuba is funnier than this serie, but I laughed in many scenes. If you agree with me, this is also an anti-otome anime that makes fun of the genre as Konosuba is an anti-isekai anime. Now, going into more details.


The first great thing about this anime is Katarina Claes. She is a very charming character after she recovered her memories. That was actually something that I really enjoyed, for instance, there were several scenes of Katarina behaving like a Japanese girl that made me laugh. This is also very unique about this anime. As I mentioned in the beginning, I'm tired of watching animes with the same kind of character: the overpowered gamer without personality. It's just always the same guy with some minor changes. Katarina may not be a super deep character, but it's unique. While there are strong female side characters, we don't often encounter female protagonists. This is some fresh air.

For example, there were two scenes of Katarina debating a strategy to avoid this awful destiny with herself. It was so cute to see her thinking process being represented in a brainstorming meeting attended by different versions of herself. This worked very well because each version of Katarina makes funny comments or proposals. This made me like Katarina even more. I'm glad of watching this anime because of her. In addition, her voice actress is Maaya Uchida. You will love her. She can make really funny voices and easily change from emotion to emotion in the same scene. I believe that she is the perfect match for this role and Katarina's inner voices.

You may also enjoy the animation. I particularly liked the contrast that they made between the characters and the backgrounds (the backgrounds seems to be directly taken from a fairy tale with blurred details) while the characters are drawn with a very clean-lined style. I find it very alike to the animation technique used in the Professor Layton series. Compare the backgrounds with the characters:


The second part of the episode was extremely cute and well-developed. While the first half was very introductory, the second part was mainly a slice of life with some brushes of the main conflict of the serie: Whether or not Katarina will be able to avoid her destiny. The following episodes seem to follow the same line.

There is some mistery with some characters. I cannot stop thinking that Prince Gerald Stuart is a villain. There were some shots of Gerald hiding his real feelings that made being scared for Katarina. What if the previous Katarina was not a villain and everything was a framed job of Gerald to get rid of her. I want to know the truth. Injecting this quota of doubt was the right amount of tension during the episode. It also introduces the main conflict: What if whatever Katarina does, she will remain as the villain of the serie. I can spot that this will be the main element in every episode.

It was amazing that I began to like many of the characters because of their interactions with Katarina. I believe that having this character showing a weird behavior that throws other people out of their zone of comfort is a wonderful idea for a slice of life and an Isekai. It was interesting to see the parents of Katarina and two of the main side characters interacting with her. For example, the whole proposal episode was really funny to watch. I loved the fact that Katarina really behave like a teenager Japanese girl being forced into a relationship with a eight year old prince. Those scene were like sweet honey.

Then, we got the scenes between Katarina and her adopted brother, Keith Clais. These scenes were so lovely and cute. It also made me so happy to think that in this alternative universe, Katarina and her adopted brother may have a chance to redeem themselves. It seems that the original Katarina in the dating game abused her brother, so this Katarina decided to be the BFF-sister to avoid that bad ending.


The following scenes were so delightful. I was actively cheering for Katarina during the whole episode. It was like watching Boku no Hero Academia in those Deku-moments or the final scenes of Re:Zero. These scenes had the right quota of emotion. I replayed the final scenes of the episode because I really enjoy them. This serie made a fantastic job and now I'm very hype for the next episode.