Highlights
- "I'm in Love With the Villainess" takes a more progressive stance on cross-dressing, allowing characters to genuinely explore and express their gender identities through clothing.
- The series challenges classist norms within the otome game genre by blurring the line between commoners and nobles through Lene's servant training.
- The show hints at a possible same-sex pairing between Prince Yu and a commoner named Matt, adding to its inclusive storyline and progressive subtexts.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for I’m in Love With the Villainess, Episode 7, "What Makes or Breaks a School Fair Is the Cross-Dressing Café," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
I’m in Love With the Villainess has already cemented itself as a progressive anime with its Shoujo-Ai (Girls Love) theme, yet the series continues to venture further into areas that are often left uncharted by other series. The show’s latest episode delves into the concept of cross-dressing, with the entire character roster dressing up as the opposite sex for a themed café.
Cross-dressing is rather common within the anime landscape, though its place within these shows is usually tied to comedic relegation. I’m in Love With the Villainess’ approach to the matter is slightly different, as characters genuinely take interest in the novelty of expressing a differing gender identity through clothing. The series has taken a more progressive stance with its subtexts, opening up room for dialogue within the anime community to view these themes in a more pragmatic light.
The School Fair’s Cross-Dressing Café
School festival episodes are a mandatory aspect of high school anime, and I’m in Love With the Villainess honors this tradition with its Foundation Day Fair. As part of the Knights, the series’ main characters are forced to partake in the group’s usual café attraction. However, Rae deems the idea of a maid café as basic and overdone, since it’s normal for this medieval world to have maids and butlers anyway.
Prince Rod interjects with his own unique take on the matter, suggesting a theme where both genders swap styles to draw people in. In this case, it would mean the guys dress up as maids while the girls don a butler's outfit. Despite resistance from Claire and Prince Thane on the matter, the rest of the character roster agrees on the idea, finalizing an audacious cross-dressing theme.
The scene showcases the open-minded nature of the princes, which deviates from the norm, especially since male characters tend to be opposed to the idea of dressing as the opposite sex. Instead, Prince Rod and Prince Yu are the most vocal supporters of this idea, with Rae chiming in with her support for the idea, though her reasoning revolves around seeing Claire in male clothing. Prince Yu also expresses his interest in dressing up as a girl, further pushing a narrative that promotes judgment-free gender expression.
Lene’s Servant Training
Apart from the daring theme of cross-dressing, the series challenges other classist norms set within the otome game. The divide between commoners and nobles seems to be one of the biggest issues within the Kingdom, yet this episode blurs the line between the two sides with Lene’s servant training. To bring the Knights up to speed with a servant’s work, Lene takes on the role of an instructor and gives them a special class lesson on servant etiquette.
However, due to Lene’s status as a commoner, the nobles within the Knights digress at the notion of royals taking orders from a mere plebeian. Prince Yu intervenes and shifts the perspective, stating that it's akin to taking orders from an expert on a specific field. While this specific incident may have been resolved, it still reveals the cracks within the Bauer Kingdom’s classist society.
In the midst of the series’ current focus on cross-dressing and sexual identity, a few elements of deep-rooted social issues have begun to arise. The introduction of the Commoner Movement is the first sign of these developments, as several commoners have joined together to form a group that denounces the nobles’ social status. They demand a society that offers equal rights to its people, irrespective of their backgrounds. These societal issues are just as important as challenging heteronormativity, and I’m in Love With the Villainess is trying to tread a path that balances both.
Another Possible Same-Sex Pairing
I’m in Love With the Villainess has pulled all the stops with its progressive subtexts and inclusive storyline. Now, the show has hinted at yet another surprising pairing, one that seems unlikely yet possible to some extent. During Prince Yu’s service as a maid at the café, a commoner named Matt rushes to the café, pleading to talk to the prince. He is denied entry due to cutting the line, despite his frazzled state.
However, Yu shows up and reassures them that he will get a chance to talk to him later. That brief interaction may seem insignificant, yet the tonality and expressions of both characters indicate several nuances. Matt’s bashful expression indicated that he might bear some sentiments for Prince Yu, especially since the prince was sporting a maid's costume.
However, this pairing seems rather unlikely since the three princes are supposed to pursue the protagonist, and the game can’t change its course from its intended routes. Still, a possibility exists seeing how Claire and Rae have gotten close over time, with the three princes slowly receding into the background. Cross-dressing may be the first of I’m in Love With the Villainess’ progressive stances, though it certainly isn’t the last considering the current audacious storyline.