Katarina is on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrum
- Even ignoring her obliviousness, Katarina never expresses any real desire to pursue any of her friends in a romantic or sexual way.
- She is described as "immune" to the charms of her various suitors, like Nicol's smile, while others are usually affected.
- Her fantasies about growing old don't involve a significant other or anything, just a cat on her lap.
- Despite acknowledging and appreciating the attractiveness of her friends, the closest she gets to showing actual desire is with wanting to touch Sophia's hair, being in awe of Nicol's smile at first, and swooning over Maria, none of which bar her from being ace or aro or somewhere on either spectrum.
- Jossed. In all mediums, Katarina specifically states that she doesn't see any of the characters romantically because she was mentally 17 years old when they were kids (with the exception of Maria), so she sees them as cute little kids instead. Furthermore, later in the series, she falls in love with Geordo.
- No, she doesn't in regards to the spoiler, she is both conscious of and aware of both Geordo's and Keith's feelings, and the guys themselves. She says she will take both her and their feelings in her hands, after she solves a certain crisis. So nobody is endgame yet. At least as far as the end of volume 11 of the LN.
- Jossed. In all mediums, Katarina specifically states that she doesn't see any of the characters romantically because she was mentally 17 years old when they were kids (with the exception of Maria), so she sees them as cute little kids instead. Furthermore, later in the series, she falls in love with Geordo.
Katarina's misconception about communing with the earth will give her plant magic.
- Jossed. Katarina does get a secondary magic attribute that gets more focus, but it's dark magic.
Katarina isn't mentally older than her physical body like her inner dialogue often asserts.
- She is mentally 15 even with her past memories. Her assertions are just purely down to seeing herself as more mature than she really is, as is often the case with teenagers. If she were mentally 17 or 32, she would have desired friends who had reached adulthood, but she only ever forms close friendships with those in her physical age group. She never complains about the maturity of her teenage friends, nor does she seem to long for adult contact.
- This is very plausible. She has an extra 17 years of memories, but mental maturity is based on more than just the amount of time a person has experienced. It's also based on biology. Her brain chemistry is still that of a child before the timeskip and a teenager after it. The human brain usually doesn't reach full biological maturity until around 25 years.
- Related: that time she meet Prince Alan reminded herself she was an adult( or close enough) and not an 8-year-old so she couldn't get mad at him because he's a child and she's really an adult, and then immediately gets mad at him. Really sells the idea that she was less a 17 year old in an 8 year old body and more an 8 year old with the memories of a 17 year old.
Katarina's journal will be discovered and read
- Since she recorded everything in there, that makes it a Chekhov's Gun just waiting for one of Catarina's love interests to get their hands on it.
- Even if it doesn't happen, the journal being discovered is Fanfic Fuel.
Katarina gets her destruction flag eventually
- Since she is in the villain role, she has to either face death (already confronted) or exile.
- If she does get exile, then she is able to set up a farm somewhere safe away from her troubles... but all her love interests follow her there anyway, willing to live as farmers alongside her.
Katarina's other friends are in the game with her too.
- Sophia can't be the only one, right?
- From what we are shown, Acchan was her only friend though.
We are seeing a secret DLC route of the game.
- In-Universe, Catarina ended up being so much of a Ensemble Dark Horse Draco in Leather Pants the developers eventually decided to create a new route where you can redeem her, either by playing as her or romancing her with Maria
Maria's father is the demon king.
- Catarina is, after all, an Isekai protagonist, so there has to be one kicking around somewhere she has to defeat.
Keith is Catarina's paternal half-brother.
- Bluntly, why else would a Duke adopt some random kid?
- It's pretty clearly stated that his parents were a distant relative and a prostitute (or mistress if you watch the anime) He was adopted because they needed a new heir after Catarina becoming engaged to someone of a higher station rendered her ineligible for the position and his powerful magic (plus the fact that his biological family wanted nothing to do with him) would make him ideal for the role.
- If he were Catarina's paternal half-brother, that would never fly with the Duke's wife, Miri. The reason why she was cold to Keith in the original timeline was because she assumed that Keith was his son and it damaged their marriage. Catarina had to prove that he wasn't in order to save her parents' relationship.
- We're even shown/told that Katarina's mom was about to storm out of the Claes manor thinking Keith was a secret love child (with Katarina in tow) before the misunderstanding was cleared up.
- Remember this is written by Japanese, and Creator's Culture Carryover sets in. In Japan, adopting for the sole purpose of heirs
is such a standard practice that the Imperial Household Law specifically bans it within the imperial family.
Keith is also a half-fiend.
- Maria is his maternal cross-cousin.
Catarina gets killed by one her harem.
- Having never seen or forgotten the Mother's Basement PS As, her bumbling turns one or more of them into a Yandere and they kill her in a murder-suicide to "be together for ever" or in a jealous rage.
Keith and Maria are half-siblings.
- The incubus-succubus that spawned them is perfectly able to switch sex at will.
There will be a Video Game adaption of My Next Life as a Villianess
- Set after the anime, it will continue the story of Katarina and her lovestruck harem and will have multiple endings where players can choose to have Katarina fall in love with one of her love interests like Katarina hooking up with her adoptive brother Keith or marrying Maria. It will also include threesome endings like Alan marrying both Katarina and Mary in a three way marriage or Katarina hooking up with both Geordo and Alan. Or even better, a Marry Them All ending where Katarina marries all of her female harem or all of her harem! Plus there might be extra love interests for Katarina to hook up with like Sirius, her maid Anne and Sienna Nelson from the Verge of Destruction manga. And as an extra bonus, you can also play the actual Fortune Lover game with a special route for Yuri fans where Maria can hook up with the others girls in the game including Villianess Katarina herself!
- Sorta Confirmed: a Demo of Fortune Lover was included in volume 1 of the Blu Ray release.
- And My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! The Pirate Known as "Trouble" exists for the Nintendo Switch.
In the Fortune Lover Route Caterina was being manipulated by Rafael Walt
- Just like those girls in the Anime adaptation.
Maria's father didn't leave because he suspected infidelity when she showed light magic.
- He didn't leave because of her magic, he left because of her *light* magic, since he is a dark mage.
Maria's father is the main antagonist of Fortune Lover 2:the Actionized Sequel
- Since in some routes for Fortune Lover Catarina is just a minor side character, and the other potential main antagonist is neutralized by Maria's charms in his route.
- This follows on from her father leaving because he is a Dark mage.
Catarina will get the Marry Them All ending
- This ending is first hinted at when Catarina reveals that a reverse-harem ending does exist in Fortune Lover where Maria ends up with all 4 of her capture targets. If Maria can end up with all of her possible love interests, it makes sense that Catarina could do the same, especially since their suitors are the mostly made up of the same people. Plus all of Catarina's possible suitors do love each other to varying degrees, mostly in the platonic sense. The Ascart siblings in particular plan to "share" Catarina should either one of them win her over. Mother's Basement gives a compelling argument of why this ending could work.
Catarina will be exiled as part of a major story arc
- In a future story arc, Catarina will be framed for a crime and then punished, or tricked into believing that she committed a crime resulting in a self-imposed exile. Catarina would spend the arc using the skills she developed to survive, while her harem spends a good chunk of the arc clearing her name and/or tracking her down. Funny enough, when they do find Catarina, some of them would actually try to live with her in exile. The arc would ultimately be resolves once Catarina's name is cleared or the same advent that allowed Catarina to return in Fortune Lover 2 occurs.
Verge of Destruction is the New Game+ of Otome Game no Hametsu Flag
- Some games have an option of playing through the game again after beating it, but with a harder difficulty and changes to the gameplay. After the Catarina of the original world dies (somehow), the Monkey Girl is dumped into the Verge of Destruction world as New Game+ with her previous Catarina life's memories erased. In a sense, the original was Easy Mode while Verge of Destruction is Hard Mode.
Catarina will end up resolving or preventing a Succession Crisis.
- When I first read the novel, I noticed Sorcier doesn't have any idea of primogeniture, the royal heir is just the son the current monarch chooses (which is why it's still possible for Catarina to become a queen consort). We also see that both Geoffrey and Ian has their share of supporters, and it's just a matter of time Geordo would get his, whatever he wants it or not.note Furthermore, we know that there already was one for the current king and it was bloody. So I guess this series will end in something related to a Succession Crisis, probably by Catarina preventing or resolving it.
Speculations on the issue of Acchan and Sophia.
Nearly a month ago, Space Drake, through their edits on Hamefura pages, raised the issue regarding the relationships between Acchan and her reincarnate Sophia. This happens to be something I had thought a bit, mainly because I'm a bit partial—not in the shipping sense—towards them.
My view can be summarised as "Sophia is not Acchan, but Acchan is subtly influencing Sophia". I base my speculations on the following:
- If we can say Catarina is the Monkey Girl, then I'd say Sophia is not Acchan. This is because:
- It has been rather clearly stated at the beginning of Acchan's side story that she had problems understanding social interactions, and had always been that way (which to me sounds like she needs to be assessed for developmental disorder). Sophia doesn't seem to have the same issue.
- Sophia's demeanour does not match Atsuko's. At the beginning of Acchan's side story, she was extremely social-phobic. Catarina's recollection of high-school Atsuko shows she's a rather outgoing person who may occasionally be a bit smug about her hobbies (well, Monkey isn't that great in video games, as we all know). Novel Sophia is mostly rather demure (although S2 seems to make her more forward than before), but hardly qualifies to be a Shrinking Violet.
- The idea that Acchan has been influencing Sophia was first inspired by a fanfic that, I admit, violates the source material at that very pointnote . Yet, I noticed one thing in the novel text that can only be explained by Acchan influencing Sophia by some means (I personally suspect a mild Bedtime Brainwashing).
I compared the opening paragraphs of Sophia and Acchan's POV chapters in the novel, and noticed both of them used very similar language (at least in the J-Novel translation) to discuss their own escapism. These POV chapters are just 2 chapters apart, which means it's likely to be intentional on the author's side. It's would be a complete coincidence if two random people happened to be cute bookworms, but it's hardly coincidential if they use similar wording for their similar reasons.Sophia Ascart: In my quiet room, I read book after book. The wondrous, beautiful stories within transported me away from my cruel reality. When I was reading, I could forget about all my troubles. [...] [Sophia and the Emerald Princess] was a splendid story... one that a cursed child like me could not possibly experience. This was why I continued locking myself up in my room, fantasizing about becoming Sophia — the Sophia in the stories with Princess Emerald. In my imagination, at least, I could be popular and loved by those around me.Atsuko Sasaki: If I imagine myself slipping into these stories as I read them, I can forget all about my loneliness. I pretend that I’m the protagonist of these stories. That way, even someone who is lonely, shy, and unhappy like me can become a popular girl who everyone loves.- I am also of the opinion that Sophia's love of romance novels is not in Fortune Lover. Based on The Law of Conservation of Detail, any of her attributes must be relevant to the gameplay or the story-telling. In context, this means it must be relevant for Maria to bond with her (so that the Nicol route can start). Yet, there's no evidence of Maria having any interest in romance novels before meeting Catarina. This means one of defining attributes has no real purpose in Fortune Lover. This means the attribute is unlikely to be there in the first place, and it's only there because of... Acchan's influence.
Nicol's actual issue in Fortune Lover.
Canonically, Nicol's hangup in the Hamefura timeline is one of Don't You Dare Pity Me!. While I recognize this is most certainly a genuine issue, especially when considering Sophia's albinism counts as a disability.note However, reading Nicol's POV chapter carefully, I noticed these pities are an indirect consequence of Catarina regaining her Past-Life Memories, or, more directly, Sophia ceasing to be a Hikikomori and thus both Ascart siblings are more frequently in the public than before.This is not remotely close to what Maria is likely to do in Fortune Lover. So Nicol's hangup in Fortune Lover has nothing to do with pity. It must be something else. But what?
Reading Nicol's POV up to (and including) Sophia's first visit to the Claes mansion, what I can see is he's fixated on Sophia to an unhealthy degree. No, I don't mean Brother–Sister Incest, I refer to codependency between the two. Sophia's dependence on Nicol is obvious, but Nicol also had dependency issues with Sophia: the opening portions of his POV, other than a few line about the twin princes, is all about Sophia. He's supposed to be 11 at the time, and it's starting to become abnormal at this point (this is not even considering the fact Hamefura characters often think older than they should). Put simply, Nicol fixates on Sophia too much to be normal.
And of course, Catarina solves this without knowing due to her influence on Sophia. Catarina's action effectively puts Sophia into her social circle, rather than Nicol's. On the other hand, Nicol is convinced that Catarina is genuinely good to Sophia. This mean Nicol no longer needs to consume most of his time worrying about Sophia, since this means he doesn't really need to worry about her well-being when she's with Catarina (and/or Mary), leaving him some time and space to think about other things, such as his career path. His story in the fifth novel/S2E08 shows this, where his train of thought is more about Catarina than Sophia, while Sophia treats Nicol like a brother, rather than a Living Emotional Crutch as in the case of Fortune Lover.
The boy Sarah knew in her backstory was the real Sirius Dieke.
It mentions he became more and more sickly every day, which fits Sirius' backstory, and he's mentioned to have red hair. Whether or not this is connected to her eventual slavery to the Dieke family, or will lead to a confrontation between her and Raphael, is more uncertain. The Developers planned for a Redemption Arc for Katarina in Fortune Lover 2
The reason the Good Endings all have Katarina being exiled was because the hidden route involving Sirius Dieke/Raphael Walt would have been revealed, Katarina would have been revealed to have been under his influence during her bullying of Maria, and Katarina would have been given a Redemption Arc in the sequel game, having had a Heel Realization during her exile and working to be a better person overall as a result. The revelation that she had been manipulated by Sirius Dieke/Raphael Walt would have forced the kingdom to allow her to return in the interests of fairness, and she would have spent her time trying to make amends to Maria. It's simply that Monkey Girl's interference with the events of the first game meant that Katarina had no envy or malice in her heart for Sirius/Raphael to manipulate in the first place.Why is Sophia written to have albinism.
(Note: This WMG is a speculation of the author's intent, so Death of the Author applies. In addition, the troper who wrote it only went up to the sixth novel)Since getting into Hamefura in 2021, I have been somewhat annoyed at the lack of realism regarding the portrayal of Sophia's albinism—the issue of being Prone to Sunburn isn't even raised beyond a line in the "Demo" (where she says she's "not good with the sunlight") despite this being a well-known fact regarding the condition, and since the universe mostly runs on Earth rules, I can't really ignore it, unlike the case of a certain albinistic-looking protagonist in a major fantasy LN, where I can chalk it up by saying the biology there runs on different rules. As a result, I'm thinking of why that is written as a plot device.
Of course, in this series, there are two layers of intent in a work this Hamefura: one of the intent of Fortune Lover's creator, and the other being the intent of Yamaguchi the novelist. I'm presenting the intents of both here.
- Intent of the Fortune Lover developer: Nicol is intended to be a platonic siscon, or, as I have previously written here, having a codependent relationship with Sophia, so the player (as Maria) needs to crack open a way for Nicol to notice her (mostly through Sophia, of course). But the creators need a plausible reason for the existence of such relationships. IRL, the most likely reason is the Little Sister Heroine being either disabled or is Delicate and Sickly. However, being set in the Medieval European Fantasy universe, especially one set in a school, means she can't be too sickly or disabled, given the lack of accommodations of that era. This is why albinism is chosen as Sophia's affliction—it's a condition known to the audience, being visibly not normal, even realistically written she doesn't need a lot of support in school, as albinism does not significantly affect exercise capacity, mental function, or mobility, and the Truth in Television trope of Albinos Are Freaks gives extra reason for Nicol to be anxious of Sophia's well-being.
- Satoru Yamaguchi's intent: This part relates to the fact that Sophia is Acchan's reincarnation. It's obvious that Yamaguchi intends to make Sophia similar to Acchan to some extent, but not to the extent of making Sophia into Acchan. The most obvious similarity is that they're both huge geeks in romance fiction (and mostly defined as such), but they're, by the series' standards, also relatively introverted and socially isolated, probably to fit into certain geek stereotypes. In Acchan's case, this is mostly explained by her neurodivergence (she states at the beginning of her side chapter that she has problems understanding social interactions) and could hardly make any friends (there's an implication of the Wild Monkey being her only friend that isn't an otaku in the strict sense). However, similarly neurodivergent characters are not common in romance (especially for girls). As a result, Sophia isn't neurodivergent, her social isolation being explained through discrimination—in novels after Catarina's graduation it's stated that while the latter repaired Sophia's self-image, Sophia's still wary of the discrimination against her.
