Hello and welcome to Anime Rants, where we’re reviewing episode 3 of the new Fall 2024 anime, I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History! (It’s also called RekiAku for short.) In this episode, we learn that Alicia is “a Divergent,” a rare existence with increased magic abilities from a young age. I don’t have a detailed recap, but my thoughts and responses on selected events and characters are below. Enjoy!
Notes on Episode 3: The Villainess and Tresspassing
Episode Rating: 7/10
When Alicia infiltrated the Magic Academy, she almost immediately got lost in the huge campus. It was the game’s heroine, Liz, who appeared to help direct her where she wanted to go. After this encounter, Liz started doting on Alicia, taking a strong liking to the cute girl. Alicia doesn’t seriously hate Liz, but she doesn’t feel too friendly either. She would prefer a rival relationship instead of the “besties” thing that Liz is trying to force.
As an introvert with a private nature (at least during in-person interactions), I have a hard time liking characters like Liz. She is extremely extraverted and a bit pushy. That kind of enthusiasm can be exhausting even when nobody is pressuring you to match the energy. In addition, when somebody is overwhelmingly positive at all times, it’s a turn-off for me. I’m often gloomy and lethargic. So, I completely empathize with Alicia’s dislike of Liz. She’s rather insufferable.
While we’re on the subject of these two characters, I enjoyed the scene where Alicia used magic to bring a vase of daisies straight to her hand. When she offered a daisy to Liz, it almost seemed romantic. No wonder Liz is so charmed by Alicia – she has natural charisma. Unfortunately, this magic trick proved to everyone that Alicia was a Divergent, leading them to see her a little differently.
Most nobles begin to use magic around age thirteen, but Divergents can begin when they’re much younger. They also master magic more quickly than anyone else. Some reach level 80 magic while still young. (Level 100 is the highest recorded level in the kingdom.) Although Divergents are sometimes praised for their talents, they are also treated with caution. After all, Divergents would be nearly unstoppable as enemies. They can also be dangerous to their own futures by trying to rush their magic. If their mana goes too out of control, they could lose the ability to use magic forever.
It was weird to me that Alicia knew nothing about Divergent people or the normal age of onset for magical ability. She’s been studying magic for years, hasn’t she? This is a good example of awkward or low quality writing in RekiAku. I’m enjoying the show so far, but it would have benefited from more planning and better screen-writing. Some plot points are not believable or consistent, and other moments feel poorly planned from a visual standpoint.
Another example is the scene where Alicia is intimidating the young boy, Gill. She threatened to kill him with dark magic. Of course, the spell she had prepared was only a cloth cleaning spell, but the kid had no way of knowing that, and neither did Will, the adult in the room. Will is outside of the camera sight during this scene even though he’s right there, watcing. He says and does nothing until after Gill throws the pillow. It was weird to cut Will out of every shot and not give him any reaction to Alicia’s death threat.
Besides the weird placement and lack of reaction for Will, this scene was otherwise quite enjoyable. The music was particularly nice as Alicia made her villainess speech and won Gill to her side. In the end, she empowered him by reminding him that he still had the drive to live. I think Gill will prove highly useful to Alicia in the future. Also, I’m starting to like Alicia’s motivation of, “I have to help people just to outdo the heroine.” I still think she could just help people without excuses, but she takes her villainess role too seriously to do that. It’s sort of humorous.
Alicia’s father (Arnold) and Lord Joan decide to start teaching Alicia magic and making sure she doesn’t mess up her mana. Alicia also continues training with the sword and studying. Three years pass. At age thirteen, Alicia reached magic level 80 and was allowed to start Magic Academy. Most students start at fifteen, but the King made an exception for Alicia. The episode ends with the King asking Alicia to be his spy and keep an eye on Liz Cather. To be continued!
~Thanks for Reading~
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