The Summer 2026 Anime Preview Guide

Though I Am an Inept Villainess

In a kingdom inspired by historical China, five clans put forth their maidens as imperial consorts–but only one will be crowned empress. The frail and beautiful Kou Reirin, the so-called “butterfly” of the imperial court, is a shoo-in to marry the crown prince. But when “court rat” Shu Keigetsu lashes out at her during the glittering Lantern Festival, it's Reirin who wakes up in the dungeons. Body-swapped by her assailant to steal her position at court, Reirin's plight seems dire...to everyone else. Now that she's got a robust new body, not even the looming threat of execution can stop her.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess is based on the light novel series by author Satsuki Nakamura and illustrator Kana Yuki. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu on Sundays.

If there was ever someone who could make lemonade out of rancid lemons, it would be Reirin. After surviving for years in a sickly body – and learning how to cope with it – she suddenly finds herself the victim of a body swap with the villainess of the Maiden Court, Kougetsu. And since everyone now thinks she's Kougetsu (and that Kougetsu is Reirin), that means she has to die for harming the prince's favored maiden. Sounds pretty grim, right?

Not for Reirin! If you want a heroine with a can-do attitude, you can't do any better than her. Sure, it's a surprise at first, and it's difficult that part of Kougetsu's spell is that Reirin can't tell anyone about the switch, but becoming the most hated woman in the inner palace has one very specific benefit: suddenly, Reirin is in a healthy body. And if she refused to surrender in an ill one, now she's nigh unstoppable. Or at least, she will be if people stop trying to execute her via lion or poison. Kougetsu clearly spent a lot of time and energy making people despise her.

There is a piece of me that's uncomfortable with this scenario. Having Kougetsu be punished by putting her in Reirin's body isn't a great look, even as Reirin is rewarded with a healthy one. Chronic illness absolutely can feel like a punishment and like it's not worth living, but using it specifically as a punishment for Kougetsu isn't a great look. I'm glad Reirin is healthy and energetic now, but again, health isn't a reward for being a good person. That of course wasn't Kougetsu's intent when she orchestrated the body swap; she didn't realize that Reirin was in poor health. But there will be a temptation to frame it as her getting her just desserts, and that's simply not okay.

Of course, it looks like the real punishment is that she's now stuck with the prince. Granted, we haven't seen much of him, but watching his behavior at Reirin's trial-by-lion gives the impression that he's perhaps not the greatest guy; he's impulsive and doesn't give a fig for the fairness of the situation, telling Shin-U, the guard captain, to prod the lion into attacking Reirin despite that completely negating the point of the trial (that the lion won't eat the innocent). Shin-U is disgusted by this and definitely interested in (and wary of) this new Kougetsu, so if he turns out to be Reirin's love interest, I think it's safe to say she gets the better deal.

Even with the issue of how the episode uses chronic illness, this is a delight. Reirin is adorably enthusiastic in her new form and the rich colors (except for the pale yellow of Reirin's original body's clothing) form a gorgeous backdrop to the lovely art and animation. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this, and to seeing what Reirin can do now that she's no longer constrained by health and position.

I love being completely taken by surprise when a premiere turns out to be positively excellent. The only thing I knew to expect from Though I Am an Inept Villainess was based on the one trailer I watched for the show, which merely indicated that this would be one of those anime with Villainess in the title that was at least pretty to look at. As it turns out, not only is Though I Am an Inept Villainess indeed very pretty to look at, it also has a great premise and a hell of a protagonist to back up all of that style with some substance.

Our heroine, Kou Reirin, has been placed in a nefarious trap by the dark sorceress Shu Keigetsu. Keigetsu has spent her entire life being rejected and bullied by the aristocrats in the emperor's court, and she has seethed with jealous fury over the way everyone fawns and preens over poor, delicate, beautiful Reirin. To steal away the life she has always felt should have been her own, Kougetsu uses the old secrets of forbidden magic to swap bodies with Reirin, framing her old self for the attempted murder of her new body at the same time. Reirin finds herself trapped in an ingenious prison of both the body and the soul. She now has the face and tainted reputation of the court's most hated pariah, and she's on death row for daring to place her poisonous hands on the Emperor's beloved court butterfly.

It's just an excellent plot for a court drama like this one, with some magical intrigue and immediately heightened stakes that have all been put into motion by a truly cruel villain who manages to earn just a teensy bit of sympathy while still being oh-so-easy to hate. What makes Though I Am an Inept Villainess such a standout series in just this first episode, though, is how well its protagonist holds her own as an awesome character in her own right. It would be one thing to just make her the preternaturally sweet and innocent Disney Princess who makes friends with all of God's creatures and doesn't have an unkind word to say about anyone. Don't get me wrong, Reirin definitely is that kind of girl. This is never more apparent than when she interrupts Keigetsu's evil expository monologue to give Keigetsu some advice on how to handle the frail constitution of her new body.

Reirin is also a real survivor though, which makes her positive attitude feel both earned and genuinely infectious. She's so used to living in her sickly little bubble that she's not about to be scared by something so banal as her imminent execution. Spending time with the rats in the palace dungeons is just fine by her, because the rats are her friends. She's even honestly kind of excited to be inhabiting Keigetsu's body, because Keigetsu hasn't been afflicted with debilitating circulatory and immune system disorders. Reirin can do jumping jacks, now! How could things possibly be all bad.

By the time we get to Reirin's Trial By Ferocious, Starving Lion, the story has crafted that delicate balance where we all know exactly how things will turn out—The lion will not eat our main character in Episode one, and Reirin will live to survive another day—but we still can't wait to see how it all unfolds. That is truly the mark of an excellent program, if I do say so myself. I didn't think Though I Am an Inept Villainess was going to be one of the must-watch anime of the summer for me, especially with how much sterling competition there is, but I am very eager to see where Reirin's time as the court's vilified villainess takes her next.