Deconstructing Villainesses and Heroines: An Interview with I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History’s Author, Izumi Okido

To talk about light novels, there is a continuous “villain” boom in comics and anime. A story like this is I’ll be a declining villainthis was an anime adaptation in the fall of 2024. To give a peek behind the scenes into successful stories, the anime news network sits down with the creator of the story, light novel writer izudiōkido. During our hour-long chat, we talked about how her story twisted the standard villain genre recipe, her impression of the anime adaptation and why she decided to write a story that was first written.

At thematic level, I’ll be a declining villain It is a story about giving all the value, no matter what the result is. O’Quedo told me that she gave a detailed introduction to her philosophy. “I think this effort is to give you confidence, or something that nourishes you throughout your life – but that doesn’t always lead to results. ‘If you keep trying, your dreams will come true’: I don’t like that way of thinking. Finally, sometimes you don’t get rewards, but if you work hard, your path becomes clearer or clearer or more defined.”

This is the lesson Okido himself learned while writing the first novel in the series. She is a high school student who is studying for college entrance exams and things are not going well. “[When I failed my entrance exam]I thought about what I was working on, and at the time I realized that not everyone who was working hard was admitted to college,” O’Qideo told me. “When I continued to take other entrance exams, I started writing novels, which somehow became popular. ”

“The first part of the book included my beliefs at the time that were very attractive to me,” Okido concluded.

All above is associated with a surprising fact: Despite being the author of a popular villain story, Okido is not a fan of the villain characters as a whole – not exactly. “I like people who are determined and can act,” Okido explains. “I think most of the protagonists in the story are people with strong beliefs, or, people who have a clear understanding of what they want to do and have the ability to achieve that. Not many are weak or cowardly-not many are shaking. I think these people will be like, ‘I want to do! I like people like this, but I don’t particularly like villain characters.”

Alicia is the main character and titular villain of the story, sharing Okido’s love for the strong and hopes to be a villain who sways these ideals and inspires others to live with an equally hardworking philosophy. Alicia’s beliefs can be clearly seen through her work in the criminal village of Roana. “The difference between Alicia is if she does everything [the people of Roana]they will eventually rely on this – in the long run, nothing can really be fixed. ” [to grow]And say the only thing that can be changed is their skills and motivations, etc. ” Or in other words, Alicia is a man who follows the motto: “Give a man a fish, you feed him a day; teach a man to fish, you feed him for the rest of your life. ”

Of course, Alicia’s overly concerned nature also put her in trouble due to her personal relationships. A typical example is when she unilaterally decides to give her eyes to her will. “From her perspective, Alicia improved her magical level and was trained, so just like she did everything she could, she was full of accomplishment to achieve her goals. [of restoring Will’s sight],” O’Quito said. “But from the perspective of others, everyone who likes Alicia is worried, for example, ‘Why would she do this? ”’

“I wrote something from Alicia’s perspective, and I think it’s a lot like Alicia. I don’t understand the concerns of the people around me.” O’Quito continued, “I’m writing, ‘People generally worry about me.’ [if something similar happened]? ‘ – I don’t know what this feels like. What do you think? Are the people around you worried? ”

Alicia’s choice to give up her eyes also stems from some deep personal beliefs from Okido: “I know I’m a little arrogant to say this, but I feel that if someone is in trouble because they have nothing, then someone should give it to them and give it to them without big things. That’s my philosophy.”

While it makes sense to choose Alicia to give up her eyes, I wonder if Okido is worried that fans will react to such a big change in her character design. Her answer was simple. She smiled and said, “I don’t think about it at all.” “Not at all.”

Of course, Alicia is just I’ll be a declining villainThe winning formula. After all, how could you have a villain without the heroine? “[With Liz and Alicia]I want to create a conflict between the two ways of thinking. The heroine is very ideal, and Alicia is a realist. Both sides have pros and cons, but I just want to have a conflict on this basis.

That being said, Okido hesitated to call them competitors in the traditional sense. “It’s like they’re from different countries,” she explained. “Everyone of them has a sense of justice – they conflict, but it doesn’t turn into war or anything.”

Interestingly, the two are indeed for completely different reasons, but the two do see each other as competitors. “Liz likes Duke and thinks Alicia is an opponent in love, but Alicia sees Liz as an opponent in ability, etc. – so they see each other as competitors in some way, but the nature and nature of their competition is different. [in the story]. ”

What makes Liz so compelling about Alicia is that she pushes the innocent heroine archetype to its greatest limit. “Liz is not exposed to evil. She is pure and innocent – intention to evil. If you are an adult, you will be abandoned in society and your worldview will be twisted – everyone’s world is different. Liz may just be purer, which is why she can continue to laugh at her ideals,” O’Quito told me.

“I think having ideals is a good thing, but Leeds is the one who brings them to the extreme. […] Liz is the one who only sees beautiful parts of the world, but Alicia is the one who says the world won’t move forward unless you see the ugly part too. I feel like I built Leeds’ personality just to show these extremes. ”

In a more sensitive sense, Liz is Okido’s reaction to the innocent heroine archetype. “I don’t think the world is easy, and when you walk into society, everyone wears a different mask. People wear a mask in front of their parents, they wear a mask in front of their lovers. Everyone has a multifaceted life. But Liz doesn’t have that kind of experience at all.

However, this does not mean that liz is a word character that cannot be changed. “I heard her describe it as ‘like a psychopath’. She believed what she got up at the first moment of meeting her. “But she asked Alicia for help and was told about all kinds of things. Liz tries to face reality rather than turn a blind eye to it. ”

As the conversation progresses, we talk about her novel being adapted into comics and anime, as well as the cuts and additions made in the process. “This story changes a lot between comics, anime and original novels, but it’s like ‘the expert is an expert’. I’m not a professional [manga artist or anime director]so I don’t feel like I have a say,” O’Quito detailed her philosophy about the adaptation. “As long as the main story doesn’t change, they can make themselves like it. ”

“Each version has its own merits. So does anime. I didn’t say I especially wanted them to blend. I just kept it for them.” “The original work is not as romantic as anime. Still, I can enjoy the romance in anime. I think it’s great.”

When the interview ended, I asked her which scene she wrote as the author was her favorite. “I like the scene where Alicia watches Will, and the scene where she cuts her hair.” “When I write about them, they made the biggest impression.”

“I like that scene too [in the dining hall] A line from Alicia to Duke, she said “I will protect you”, like she was saying to him, “I will be with you, make sure you are safe.” When I wrote it, I thought, “If it was anime, I wanted her to reach out and tilt his chin, and everyone thought it was a great scene.” She loved Duke and had the ability to protect him and her heart, so I loved that part as a love story. ”

To close things, Okido conveyed this message to fans of her work: “As an author, it makes my life more fun or happy when you read or watch my work as an entertainment. Love reading!”

this I’ll be a declining villain Light novel series published in English Yen Publishing House. Volume 1 is now available, Yen Publishing House Volume 2 will be released on June 10.

This comic version is also available from Yen Publishing House. The 13-episode anime series is in the pipeline crunchyroll.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.