The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Volume 4 Review

Volume 3 of The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess saw protagonist Iana get involved in a serial kidnapping case, which also happened to be the last event she described when this world was simply the setting for the story she was writing. Having managed to avoid another bad end, Iana is hoping her life will become significantly safer but unfortunately wherever Iana goes, trouble is sure to follow… 

This book opens with an assassination attempt on Iana’s sister, Konoha. Naturally, Iana doesn’t want anyone to suspect her of being behind it, so she gives chase and soon finds herself in a dangerous position when she stumbles across a powerful monster. At the last minute, she’s saved and then scolded by Sol who is disappointed by Iana’s tendency to rush off by herself and wind up in mortal peril – especially after the events that befell them in Volume 3. 

More bad news awaits when Detective Clematis arrives to inform the group that Duchess Amaryllis (the one responsible for the kidnappings) has killed herself. In the original story Iana wrote, Amaryllis was always destined to die but Iana thought she’d managed to avoid it. To find that the world still forced her to die worries Iana because if it’s correcting itself like that, then it means she’s still headed for a bad end herself! 

Later in the book, while enjoying a spot of fishing, Iana and Konoha spot an elf who has fainted nearby and they end up helping her. To begin with, Iana struggles to remember even creating a race of elves, but then it hits her that the village the elf is from has a deadly storyline all of its own. 

Sealed in the village is a powerful vampire whose seal is beginning to come undone. In the original story, Konoha is supposed to defeat this vampire when it escapes, but in the current world, Konoha isn’t as powerful as she should be and Iana worries that, should she go to the village, she’ll meet her end. So instead, Iana heads off with Sol and Yomi in tow, hoping to fix the seal before the vampire is unleashed. 

While this development once again feels like author Akiharu Touka throwing anything and everything into the pot to see what works, oddly enough the inclusion of elves and vampires seems very apt for Iana as a character. We know as a teenager she was fond of adding random developments to the story according to whatever she was into at the time. When it comes to fantasy worlds, handsome elves and vampires are certainly a staple so I can see why Touka decided to go down this path. 

For what it is, the plot does slot into the world quite nicely. The elves’ village is supposed to be hidden from normal humans, so there is a ready excuse for why Iana hasn’t met any elves until now (nor heard them mentioned). I’m not quite as sold on the vampire aspect, but since I like vampires in general I was willing to let it slide. 

Seeing as Touka throws in yet another strange development right at the end of the book, I am wondering if I can continue to ignore how ridiculous this plot is becoming. That said, if you’ve been enjoying the series up until this point, it’s unlikely to put you off with any of these whacky developments. At the very least there is a lot of entertainment value in these strange additions and a compulsion to see them through to the end, regardless of the fact they might not be, strictly speaking, ‘good’ for the series. 

The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Volume 4 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and continues to be translated by Lisa Coffman. The translation reads well with no issues of note. Volume 5 of the series is due for a release in June, so not long to wait for more of Iana’s adventures. 

Overall, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Volume 4 introduces both elves and vampires into the story which makes for a mixed outcome in terms of the storytelling. Iana’s adventures only get more ridiculous with each passing volume, but somehow I still find myself wanting to read more so it can’t be all bad.