Falsely accused of plotting to assassinate the Saint, Lady Alphina finds her engagement to the frigid prince called off and her head under the guillotine. Time rewinds upon her death, but despite all efforts to stave off her fate, she faces the same end 99 times over. Just when all hope seems lost, she awakens a new power during her 100th loop. She can now hear the thoughts of those around her, and it turns out her accusers were a lot more enamored of her than she thought! Can she use this newfound ability to turn her fortunes around? The 100th Time's the Charm!

The 100th Time's the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! has a story and art by Roharu Kai. English translation is done by Tara Quinn and lettering by Cedric Macias. Published by J-Novel Club (July 24, 2026). Rated T.

Erica Friedman
Rating:

It always amazes and pleases me that, as overdone as certain fantasy tropes are, authors continue to put out books that do something new with the same elements. Human creativity is so interestingly vast. In 100th Time's the Charm, Alphina's fate has been sealed due to the overwhelming power of a corrupt “Saint.” On the 100th go-round, Alphina is determined to have a little fun with it. Suddenly awakened, she realizes that the Saint has been manipulating everyone, and she develops a plan to break the spell and get the hell out of this stupid loop.

I did not expect to be this engaged by yet another Villainess story, but the combination of tomboy Alphina's personality and the extra magic that allowed her to escape the loop to live a free life had me pretty much spellbound, pun intended. The little dash of schadenfreude at the Saint's fate helped. I appreciate it when terrible people get their just desserts.

The art here is good enough to tell the tale with dignity, but it does not hesitate to drop down into cruder comedic moments. But neither the setup nor this initial volume interests me most. I am a lifelong fan of “happily-ever-after” tales. What will become of Alphina in her 100th loop? How will things turn out this time? I'm joking, it's pretty obvious what is going to happen, but it still sounds like it ought to be fun to spend more time with Alphina this time around.

Rebecca Silverman
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I know the villainess genre feels overplayed at this point, but if it keeps giving us stories like this one, there's life in it yet. 100th Time's the Charm is my favorite entry in the genre since My Next Life as a Villainess, albeit for rather different reasons. Where Katarina was charming because of her less-than-brilliant mind, Alphina is impressive because she's so determined. Having been executed ninety-nine times before, she's well aware of the futility of her situation. She's tried everything to get out of it and has now basically resigned herself to it…until her one hundredth loop grants her the ability to hear the thoughts of everyone around her. Now she not only has a way out of her terrible situation, but she also knows that she was right: Saint Debonaire has been orchestrating the entire thing.

Oh, and her fiancé, Prince Lionet, and his aide, Kithling, are both in love with her. In fact, everyone in the kingdom loves her aside from Debonaire, who has been controlling them all with her magic. Surprise!

A large part of what makes this so fun is both the truth about Debonaire and her horrific laugh and the way Alphina is just so weirded out by the truth about how Lionet and Kithling really feel. In fact, listening to everyone internally scream about how awesome she is and how much they hate the saint is remarkably funny, not just for the juxtaposition between their inner and outer monologues, but also for how Alphina reacts. The face game is strong in this manga, and not in an over-the-top way, either – it's just simple enough to be effective, and it works remarkably well.

The story also acknowledges the tragedy of the situation, though, which is important to making the book feel coherent. Although Alphina manages to triumph this time, no one is aware of it. Lionet and Kithling are bereft at her loss, and Kithling is even shown attempting to kill himself in a blink-and-you'll-miss- it panel. Alphina's little brother Carl can't cope. Her parents are sobbing. Her loss takes a toll on everyone who knew and loved her, and even though we know where she's heading, the end of the volume is effectively very sad. This book successfully runs the full gamut of emotions, and it does it well.

While I wish we'd gotten a bit more of Unhinged Debonaire from the light novel (and that's also available in English and worth reading), this is still an excellent adaptation. Be glad that this made the jump from digital-only to print, because the villainess genre still has some good times in store for us. I hope this is the next one to get an anime adaptation, because I'd love to hear Debonaire's deranged laugh out loud.