In order to examine the "ruin flag" this time, I would like to first explain the standard format of the villainess story. First, the protagonist dies in her previous life, and is then reincarnated as a villainess in the world of the otome game she played in her previous life. A certain trigger causes her to regain her memories of her previous life and struggle to avoid the scenario of the ruin end. In front of the protagonist, a captureable character or heroine appears, and events leading to ruin occur.....This is the basic pattern. The starting point of the story is the "ruin flag", and the trigger is the return of the "memory of the previous life". In other words, the development of the story is how the protagonist avoids the bad end by using the knowledge of the game in the "memory of the previous life" in order to avoid the "ruin flag". In other words, the story cannot be made without the "ruin flag".
What is a villainess story anyway? Let's take a look back!
The villainess genre was born on the novel submission site "Let's Become a Novelist", and began to be commercially published around 2013, becoming established as a popular genre. Since then, many works have been produced, and many of them incorporate original content and settings into the standard plot, giving the author a unique color, and are still established as a popular genre.
What was the trigger for the sudden penetration of villainess stories!
I think the biggest factor was the popularity of the anime adaptation of "My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!" in the spring of 2020. The second season will air in July 2021, and the movie version is scheduled to be released in 2023, which has further increased the attention.
When did the doom flag of "Aku-Last" rise!
When did the doom flag of "Since I'm a Villainess, I Tried to Raise the Last Boss" rise? It was the moment at the beginning of the story when the crown prince told Irene that he was breaking off their engagement. There are various situations depending on the work, and there are other situations where the doom flag is raised as soon as the story begins, but in Irene's case, her memory was not complete, and she had not yet remembered the doom events, so her memory was incomplete. In that situation, Irene traces her memories of the game and arrives at one answer: "...the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?".
Avoid the doom flag by conquering "the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"
The doom flag that Irene traced back her memories was the event in which the Demon King Claude awakened and became a dragon. In the otome game "Saint, Demon, and Maiden Regalia," there are multiple routes, but in most cases Claude awakens and becomes the final boss dragon. In every route, Irene dies an incredibly rude death in the confusion of the awakening. So Irene comes up with the idea that "the enemy (the heroine)'s enemy (Claude) is an ally," meaning she marries Claude, who is on the destruction flag. The only way Claude can remain human is if the heroine loves him, so she thinks that the best way to avoid the flag is to be loved in place of the heroine and prevent him from awakening.
Introducing the events on the route to the Ruin Flag
There are several events on the way to Irene's Ruin Flag, and the route changes depending on the results of those events, but some routes do not exist in Irene's memory. Here are some events that are turning points in the route.
1. Start of the Ruin Flag
As I wrote in "Akuras" Ruin Flag When Was It Raised!, the first event is the cancellation of the engagement at the academy's winter closing evening party. This event is actually something that happens in the middle of the game, but it was here that Irene's memories of her past life returned for the first time. Irene decided that she had to be the one to end this event, and that she would not give him any sense of superiority for having done him a favor, and she left with a smile, saying, "I've always loved you."
2. Event for the birth of the Maiden of the Holy Sword
Fenrir's child gets lost on the school grounds, and his parent Fenrir appears to help him. This is an event for Marx, in which the heroine Lilia manifests the power of the Maiden of the Holy Sword and defeats monsters together with Marx, but Fenrir is saved by Irene's efforts. This affects the route to the Ruin Flag.
3. Are you really harassing Irene that much?
The Crown Prince sends an invitation to Irene to a ball, and this ball event is an event where Irene is thrown out into the downtown area and becomes a commoner. Moreover, this ball is an event to make Irene accept the cancellation of her engagement, bow her head and ask for the company, and celebrate the engagement between the Crown Prince and the heroine. How will Irene deal with this adversity?
4. Countdown to the awakening of the Demon King!
The key to the Demon King awakening event that Irene is trying to prevent is her servant Keith. She shows Claude the betrayal of her confidant Keith and makes him kill Keith with his own hands. Claude, unable to bear the negative emotions, turns into a dragon and awakens into the complete demon king. However, Keith's betrayal was something he only did once for Claude's sake, but he was deceived by the nobleman he made a deal with, who had his weakness exposed, and he continued to help him afterwards. The heroine's aim is to destroy the awakened demon king Claude with the holy sword, and the other ending is to skillfully heal the injured Claude and turn him back into a human. Claude seals the monster and lives as a human to avoid a conflict with the heroine... Will Irene be able to stop the heroine's plot?
Summary
We have introduced the ruin flags and events that occur in the story of "I'm a Villainess, So I Tried Raising the Last Boss", but one of the characteristics of "Aku-Last" is that the timing of Irene's memory of the event is too bad. In some events, she remembers after it has happened, and in other cases, she remembers just before the event starts. For this reason, Irene will struggle while using her natural ability to act and her head to the fullest, but I think that her struggle is one of the charms of this work. The story will develop at a good pace from the beginning of the story, when the destruction flag is raised, so please look forward to the anime broadcast. Thank you for reading to the end.
