I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie Review

I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss is a spirited fantasy-comedy in the realm of gaming RPGs and the fantasy world.  Based on the popular Japanese light novel series created and written by Sarasa Nagase. The light novel series featured illustrations and original character designs by Mai Murasaki. I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss features animation production by Maho Film (A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life, The Blue Wolves of Mibu).

The light novel series for I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss was later adapted as a manga series before being adapted as an anime production. I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss also features theme music performed by Rie Takahashi (opening) and ACCAMER (ending). Featuring voice performances by Rie Takahashi and Yuichiro Umehara in the leading roles, I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss is going to appeal to RPG fans immersed in the world of gaming.

Aileen Lauren Dautriche (Rie Takahashi) lost all of her memories of her past life. Upon being able to regain all of her lost memories of her life before, Aileen comes to the realization that she is on an unfathomable journey to destruction. If Aileen isn’t careful, she’ll end up being an evil villainess!

Determined to bypass her possible fate as a villainess, Aileen has only one choice – she must try and be charming and sweet – to romance the demon king Claude Jeanne Elmir (Yuichiro Umehara). It might be impractical but it seems the only way out of being the villainess herself! Can Aileen win the “game” and make it out alive and as a hero? Aileen won’t be able to use a simple kill switch and the game has zero “restarts” to make things right.

Aileen is a fun central character for the series to explore. The character is certainly on a curious thrill ride of sorts. Aileen wants to not have an ill-fate as a villainess and the concept revolves heavily on exploring this side of the character and her ambitious goals. The character sets herself off on a big mission as a result – audiences will find some charm in that side of the series.

The character designs by Eri Kojima (I'm Standing on 1,000,000 Lives, In the Land of Leadale), Momoko Makiuchi (Ginban Kaleidoscope, Mameushi-kun), and Yūko Ōba (The Blue Wolves of Mibu, A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life) are engaging. The impressive character designs certainly work well for the series. The designs are well- done and fit the style of the production, too. The character designs are out of another time and with good reason – it fits the series.

The animation is accomplished. The animation style is certainly one of the great strengths of the series production. The animation doesn’t fail to impress and provides a quality style to the production that makes a difference. The series art direction by Satoshi Shibata (Eyeshield 21, Rainbow Days) looks splendid and stylish. The series animation direction capably showcases the environment of the storytelling – the little subtleties of the animation and the landscape art.

The cinematography by Yukina Nomura (By the Grace of the Gods, Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp) is lush and engaging. The visual sensibilities of cinematographer Nomura are quite accomplished. The style works well for the production. Nomura understands the aesthetic that the series is going for and manages to do a solid job with the anime. The cinematography contrasts between some bright, colorful, and vivid hues and some more foreboding images – the lighting and tone of the visuals enhanced by the eloquence of the cinematography.

The score composed by Hanae Nakamura (The Quintessential Quintuplets, A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics), Kanade Sakuma (The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered), Miki Sakurai (The Demon Girl Next Door, The Quintessential Quintuplets), Natsumi Tabuchi (Castle Town Dandelion, The Quintessential Quintuplets), and Sayaka Aoki (Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X) adds to the series charms. The series has an impressive score – one that highlights the characters and the world of the tale. The score emphasizes the drama and highlights the saga in an effective manner.

Written by Kenta Ihara (The Blue Wolves of Mibu, Uncle From Another World), I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss explores the fun concept in a compelling manner. The writing by Ihara exploring a journey and a mission set forth from the main character. Ihara enjoys the series concept and has a good time exploring it.

Directed by Kumiko Habara (The Blue Wolves of Mibu, Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp), I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss is a well-produced fantasy and the series is one which will appeal to fans of RPG video games and fantasy series. I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss provides a solid concept with compelling characters – something not always present. I’m the Villainess, so I’m Taming the Final Boss is worth checking out.

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, I'm the Villainess, so I'm Taming the Final Boss is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation looks impressive on the release. The release has outstanding color reproduction.

The colors "pop" with incredible detail and clarity. The series animation is vibrant and engaging on the release. The background animation and line art are also impressive and add to the quality of the presentation.

The Blu-ray release features a quality encoding of the anime series. Physical media provides superior video encoding compared to streaming video services. Blu-ray discs have less compression to the video source. The streaming version is comparatively more compressed and the picture-quality can fluctuate, too. Physical media provides a more consistent and pleasing presentation quality.

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles) are the main audio selections on the release. The release also provides a French Dolby TrueHD 2.0 audio option. The English 5.1 surround track will provide audiences with a somewhat more enveloping and spacious sounding audio mix with the rear channels in effect. The surround audio for the English dub allowing the score to expand and take more prominence in the surround channels. The original Japanese language audio will be preferable for any and all purists, regardless. The original audio is provided with a crisp and pleasing audio presentation. The English subtitles are generally solid and free from any egregious spelling or grammatical errors.

The Blu-ray format has a massive advantage over streaming video services – lossless audio encoding. Streaming video platforms are limited to lossy (non-lossless) audio encoding. For audiophiles, enthusiasts, and home theater aficionados the physical media format advantage is obvious.

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first-print run of the release includes a nicely designed o-card slipcover. The limited-edition o-card slipcover features a nice cover-art design. The cover-art highlights a colorful and robust landscape alongside the central characters.

The artwork underneath the slipcover features additional unique artwork highlight more key art for the production. The contrast of artwork between the slipcover and artwork highlighted underneath the slipcover – the main sleeve art – makes the boxset even more appealing and nice as a collector's item for fans. Fans of the series will appreciate the design in hand and the release will look great on a shelf.

On disc supplements include:

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss Minis (HD, 10:31)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Unfortunately, the release doesn't have the most robust supplemental package. It is nice to see the inclusion of some mini episodes, though. Nonetheless, the set could still have used some additional audio commentaries, cast/crew interviews, photo galleries, and art galleries. Some additional bonus features would have added even more value to the release.

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm the Villainess, so I'm Taming the Final Boss is an entertaining anime with beautiful animation and a compelling concept. The series production is impressive and there are a lot of nice qualities to the release. The Blu-ray release provides an excellent video and audio presentation. The extras include I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss Minis and established fans may wish to consider picking up the set for the bonus mini episodes. The first-print run of the release includes a nicely designed o-card slipcover as well. Recommended.