Akuyaku Reijou Level 99 ~Watashi wa UraBoss desu ga Maou de wa Arimasen~ - Ch. 21.3

[StormSen]

There's an ongoing disagreement about Alicia in the LN vs Alicia in the anime (and manga, seemingly). My opinion on it...

Spoiler: Major Spoiler: Alicia in the LN

First, Alicia in the LN sees herself as the heroine destined to fight and defeat a bad, dark villain (and villainess). As with most people, she picked up this idea in her childhood, based on a fairy tale that she read, and again like most people, she never questioned it, instead it's just a fundamental part of her common sense. And she lives in a country where people with black hair are seen as inherently bad, so her view is indeed "common sense". And keep in mind that Yumiella is asocial and dangerous as hell. Combine that fact with the idiots surrounding Alicia "protecting her from evil Yumiella", and you understand why Alicia thinks the way she does.

Second, Alicia in the LN is a morally average person. I.e. she's not malevolent, but if push comes to shove, she'll put herself first, rather than sacrifice herself. This is what most people would do, and it's not bad, but it's also not heroic.

What makes Alicia in the LN an interesting character in that she's not caricaturized. You'll meet plenty of people like this in life. Not malevolent, but not heroically self-sacrificing either. Combine that with her view on her and Yumiella's places in the world, and what happens makes sense... And is more interesting than what happens in the anime.

The author's afterward in vol 4... The author pretty much states that they wish that they had gone with a more caricaturized route. Which is a shame. In this case, the author's hindsight is wrong IMO.

 

[Nemo2342]

It's nice to see updates being posted here again!

 

[Wizardrone]

thanks? for chapter

 

[Yuyu_yusha]

I hope you enjoyed the chapter🙇‍♂️

Holy Guacamole, dude! You take a lot these days now. With your messed up sleep schedule, let's pray you a hearty night sleep.

 

[KaisarX]

Yeah, most likely going the same route as the anime where:

Alicia is cursed/controlled/compelled by the story to attack Yumiella.

In the LN:

Alicia and the prince's three hangers-on deliberately attack Yumiella, deciding that she is, in fact, the hidden boss


The difference technically causes issues down the line in like LN.. 4? 5? where:

Alicia is under guard for her acts, however is secretly being trained as a last-ditch option against Yumiella rebelling, if ever needed. Alicia gets kidnapped by another nation and used as an anti-Yumiella weapon. This (almost) brings about the end of the world.

But let's be honest: Neither the manga or anime are going to get that far.

As for differences in relations, I do remember that LN Alicia was more curt and didn't get involved with Yumiella much - not so much animosity (at least not openly) as simply not interacting, and I don't think the black mist visualisation was in the LN either.

yeah i prefer manga/anime characterize more, it really lay in on Alicia is a good girl kind heart heroine, the hero of OG plot, and not a bum heroin that just went bad, OG plot be dam.

 

[KaisarX]

There's an ongoing disagreement about Alicia in the LN vs Alicia in the anime (and manga, seemingly). My opinion on it...

Spoiler: Major Spoiler: Alicia in the LN

First, Alicia in the LN sees herself as the heroine destined to fight and defeat a bad, dark villain (and villainess). As with most people, she picked up this idea in her childhood, based on a fairy tale that she read, and again like most people, she never questioned it, instead it's just a fundamental part of her common sense. And she lives in a country where people with black hair are seen as inherently bad, so her view is indeed "common sense". And keep in mind that Yumiella is asocial and dangerous as hell. Combine that fact with the idiots surrounding Alicia "protecting her from evil Yumiella", and you understand why Alicia thinks the way she does.

Second, Alicia in the LN is a morally average person. I.e. she's not malevolent, but if push comes to shove, she'll put herself first, rather than sacrifice herself. This is what most people would do, and it's not bad, but it's also not heroic.

What makes Alicia in the LN an interesting character in that she's not caricaturized. You'll meet plenty of people like this in life. Not malevolent, but not heroically self-sacrificing either. Combine that with her view on her and Yumiella's places in the world, and what happens makes sense... And is more interesting than what happens in the anime.

The author's afterward in vol 4... The author pretty much states that they wish that they had gone with a more caricaturized route. Which is a shame. In this case, the author's hindsight is wrong IMO.

that just you bruh, this isn't a song of ice and fire, where human heart must fight itself. This is a villianese slop, my brother in isekai jebus.
Took a caricaturized route fit more, and hell consider the Game setting, make more sense. just have the Super duper heroine be a dump moron that attack MC and fail just add nothing to a story. from what i hear, it result in her entire character being, attack MC and fail, go into jail/or die" and that it.
people come here to read a fun story, not a story about some normal selfish girl just fail at life.

Hell becasue of caricaturized, it help make the fake opening in anime hit harder.
Alicia suppose to be innocent heroine of a fantasy game. have her be normal selfish girl that fail in her mission and you might as well throw entire premise of video game setting and villianese setting away.
just have story be "dark mage lv99" instead.
i didn't read the LN purely because of "realistic character" that you just describe.
you decide to write a fantasy where MC is sucidal level up freak, and you decide the OG HERO OF THE VIDEO GAME, is where thing get realistic?

personally at least, i found it boring cause many villianse story just have OG MC be so asshole and weak selfish wimp, that you start to wonder what kind of HERO OG plot even going for?
i didn't say that "akuyaku lv99" did something unique, but there is so so few plot of vilianse story where OG MC wasn't a cunt. even so few, have a good reason/plot for them to become friend.

still i think, manga/anime took this route mainly cause they didn't have time or resource to make a story of Yumelia for 5 light novel volume. It easier to distribute the plot to alicia a bit.

 

[JamesMoriarty]

Yeah, most likely going the same route as the anime where:

Alicia is cursed/controlled/compelled by the story to attack Yumiella.

In the LN:

Alicia and the prince's three hangers-on deliberately attack Yumiella, deciding that she is, in fact, the hidden boss


The difference technically causes issues down the line in like LN.. 4? 5? where:

Alicia is under guard for her acts, however is secretly being trained as a last-ditch option against Yumiella rebelling, if ever needed. Alicia gets kidnapped by another nation and used as an anti-Yumiella weapon. This (almost) brings about the end of the world.

But let's be honest: Neither the manga or anime are going to get that far.

As for differences in relations, I do remember that LN Alicia was more curt and didn't get involved with Yumiella much - not so much animosity (at least not openly) as simply not interacting, and I don't think the black mist visualisation was in the LN either.

If they still wanted to use that plot point, they could make an evil mastermind who takes control of Alicia, but doesn't reveal themselves. The attack against Yumiella fails because she had the revive pendant equipment or whatever, but Alicia is put in confinement while what happened is being investigated. The mastermind also does some subtle mind manipulation so that the prince and his friends think Yumiella is responsible somehow, and they go as far as break out Alicia, but this is what the Mastermind wanted, because they then kidnap her and take her to the other country. That way, they have a saintess for themselves, and the only person who might be able to defeat Yumiella, so they demand a lot from their country, basically becoming fully subservients to them. Yumiella, her bf, and the prince and his friends (who now are free from the suggestions of the mastermind) go to rescue her, but it seems like Alicia is fully controlled by them. At the end, it is the power of yuri who releases her, happy ending.

 

[DavidAre]

All Yumielas are valid

Spoiler: Spoiler webnovel

In the webnovel she confronts the original Yumiela from a world where she won against Alicia so no more humans. So every adaptation would be an alternate timeline,of course Yumiela helped restore her world after defeating the dark god from that timeline and afterward the original Yumiela founded the Holy Dolkeness Empire

 

[comwes907]

finally more dorkness

https://imgur.com/8YUwxEv

 

[StormSen]

that just you bruh, this isn't a song of ice and fire, where human heart must fight itself. This is a villianese slop, my brother in isekai jebus.
Took a caricaturized route fit more, and hell consider the Game setting, make more sense. just have the Super duper heroine be a dump moron that attack MC and fail just add nothing to a story. from what i hear, it result in her entire character being, attack MC and fail, go into jail/or die" and that it.
people come here to read a fun story, not a story about some normal selfish girl just fail at life.

Hell becasue of caricaturized, it help make the fake opening in anime hit harder.
Alicia suppose to be innocent heroine of a fantasy game. have her be normal selfish girl that fail in her mission and you might as well throw entire premise of video game setting and villianese setting away.
just have story be "dark mage lv99" instead.
i didn't read the LN purely because of "realistic character" that you just describe.
you decide to write a fantasy where MC is sucidal level up freak, and you decide the OG HERO OF THE VIDEO GAME, is where thing get realistic?

personally at least, i found it boring cause many villianse story just have OG MC be so asshole and weak selfish wimp, that you start to wonder what kind of HERO OG plot even going for?
i didn't say that "akuyaku lv99" did something unique, but there is so so few plot of vilianse story where OG MC wasn't a cunt. even so few, have a good reason/plot for them to become friend.

still i think, manga/anime took this route mainly cause they didn't have time or resource to make a story of Yumelia for 5 light novel volume. It easier to distribute the plot to alicia a bit.

I feel like responding to that would be like trying to respond to graffitti. So I won't.

Except for one point. I'm a moderate fan of villainness stories, and I've got to say that just about everything has been done. E.g. as far as "Villainess and Heroine become friends," there's a number that do that... ("The World of Otome Games is Tough for...", "My Next Life as a Villainness", ... I could go on for a while, but that's already spoilery enough.)

 

[Viper4lyfe]

If they still wanted to use that plot point, they could make an evil mastermind who takes control of Alicia, but doesn't reveal themselves. The attack against Yumiella fails because she had the revive pendant equipment or whatever, but Alicia is put in confinement while what happened is being investigated. The mastermind also does some subtle mind manipulation so that the prince and his friends think Yumiella is responsible somehow, and they go as far as break out Alicia, but this is what the Mastermind wanted, because they then kidnap her and take her to the other country. That way, they have a saintess for themselves, and the only person who might be able to defeat Yumiella, so they demand a lot from their country, basically becoming fully subservients to them. Yumiella, her bf, and the prince and his friends (who now are free from the suggestions of the mastermind) go to rescue her, but it seems like Alicia is fully controlled by them. At the end, it is the power of yuri who releases her, happy ending.

They will do something to the anime, similar at this point every adaption is merely different timeline where similar events played out a different way.

 

[KaisarX]

"The World of Otome Games is Tough for..."

That is stright up reincarnation isekai harem story. if we consider that a villianese story then. game of thrones is one too, cause there is one evil girl and one innocent girl. IT not the core of story you know?
what i mean is story that focus on villianese.
bakarina is the only other story i know of. And that story is go full caricaturized and successful, so your point is?

If you gonna dumb down my point to graffitti then here mine
"don't want to argue with some party pooper wall text"

the author's hindsight is wrong IMO.

i legit wouldn't read this manga or anime if they go the way you want. So NO.

Spoiler: Rant

I don't really know why people keep pushing for "deep" or "interesting" character
Sure if want that for a MC, i understand. infact if any seriously story at all, they should have it.
but want that in side character,for a slop story where "MC strong just because" So author can waste time try to build up character that is going to get one-shot or fail in the end.
WHY? As you ,point out. Author have alicia being surround by idoit, that were suppose to be gentleman, and have alicia a suppose kind-heart heroine, being racist. and that suppose to make her some kind of deep relateable charcter? just so she can fill the role of witch trial era villager?
If anything, a kind alicia that realize she is wrong to assume someone is evil just because of their apperance.
In this case being a shadow of dread.
Go and apologize to yumelia and despite still seeing her as terror incarnated. still try her best to befriend yumelia.
that kindness that win over the 3 strooge, is show here being reward as she admire yumelia true form.
As she naratively try to learn about yumelia, and success in term of narative in which she actually she Yumelia true form
This Is actually(at least) more complex than "MC is evil, here justification, i am right and i will try to kill MC" bad guy

She sucker punch yumelia ffs, isn't that kind of worrying?

 

[Highorse]

Oh she's nice! I remember someone said that in the novels she stabbed Yumelia in the back basically and met pretty gruesome ends (?). Surely we're not going the same route here then?

 

[Rafalga]

Only thing to remember is that author liked anime version of Alicia (which is what manga appears to be going for as well) infinitely better to the point of regret so there is probably no way for the manga to go LN route or make Alicia an actual antagonist in the long run.

And for those who prefer a cardboard cut out racist Alicia,

lol, lmao even.

 

[KaisarX]

(which is what manga appears to be going for as well)

manga come out long before anime so it more like anime been going for manga if anything.
but consider time limit anime usaully have, i wouldn't be surprise if we got more content on manga.

 

[EmeraldineSoul]

Huh, I swear I remember other chapters being posted here and now they're gone. Will you be doing the gao chapters or just moving forward with the TL?

 

[Arkuses]

Oh no

 

[Lolilith]

Thank you for the translation!

 

[DexTimeLord]

Yurification!