Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte

, also known as for short, is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Suzu Enoshima and illustrated by Eihi. It was serialized online between August and November 2018 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō, and all 47 chapters were later released on the Kakuyomu website in December 2019. It was later acquired by Fujimi Shobo, who have published two volumes between April and August 2019 under their Kadokawa Books imprint. The light novel is licensed in North America by J-Novel Club. A manga adaptation with art by Rumiwo Sakaki was serialized in Enterbrain's manga magazine B's Log Comic from June 2019 to May 2024 and was collected in seven volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Tezuka Productions aired from January to March 2023.

Plot

Broadcasting club members Aoto Endo and Shihono Kobayashi decide to play A Magical Romance, an otome game following the adventures of the protagonist Fiene as she romances her capture targets while fighting against the villainess, Lieselotte Riefenstahl, who is eventually consumed by darkness and tragedy in all of the game's routes. Aoto, having read the game's supplementary material, believes Lieselotte to be misunderstood, claiming she is instead a tsundere that has trouble expressing her feelings. Aoto and Shihono play the game while each providing color and play-by-play commentary respectively, only for Prince Siegwald Fitzenhagen, Lieselotte's fiancé, to hear their words and interpret them as the word of god. As Aoto and Shihono continue providing commentary on Lieselotte, Siegwald begins understanding her feelings and thus avoiding the dark fate she faces as the misunderstood villainess, leading to drastic changes to the fate of their world.

Characters

Lieselotte, or "Liese," is the high-ranking aristocratic villainess of the otome game A Magical Romance and a tsundere. She is engaged to Prince Siegwald "Sieg" Fitzenhagen and kept from succumbing to her destined fate thanks to Shihono and Aoto coaching Sieg, thus causing him to pay more attention and attempt to understand her inability to communicate.

Siegwald, or "Sieg," is the "main" capture target of the otome game, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Fitzenhagen, and the fiancé of Lieselotte. He breaks the plot by being able to hear Aoto and Shihono tell him that Lieselotte does love him, but can't express her feelings properly, thus keeping him from focusing on the heroine. He is earnest and kind.

One of the two protagonists and narrators, Aoto is a modern Japanese high school student and the official "commentator" of A Magical Romance otome game. He joins the Broadcast Club after irreparably injuring his shoulder, thus making him unable to continue playing baseball. He has a crush on Shihono and agrees to play the otome game with her to practice his commentary for the Broadcast Club.

One of the two protagonists and narrators, Shihono is the official analyst of A Magical Romance otome game. She saves Aoto from being volunteered to play softball for their school by telling the class he has already joined the Broadcast Club. She is very enthusiastic about the game and Lieselotte Riefenstahl's survival/happy ending therein. She convinces Aoto to give the game a try by saying he can practice his commentary as if he were watching a sporting match.

Originally the heroine of her otome game world, a "commoner" with magical abilities. However, because Sieg has been advised by Aoto and Shihono about Lieselotte's devotion to him, Fiene has been kept from falling into a romance with him. Some time after Fiene has built a friendship with Liese, Sieg, and Baldur, she is informed of her important role in the future, which Sieg learns from the commentators. It is eventually revealed that her father was August Riefenstahl (Liese's uncle), who passed before her birth, and her mother's family is a prestigious one in the Marschner Duchy.

Baldur is a capture target, as well as the cousin to Lieselotte Riefenstahl. He is the second character Aoto and Shihono try to change the fate of. He is in love with Fiene and devotes himself to protecting her from harm.

Another capture target, Artur is an active priest of the Church despite still being a student at the Magic Academy. He is away on a mission from the Church an shows up later in the game as a magical healer. He is a bit of a playboy.

Fabian is a capture target and a child prodigy. Despite his young age, an exception was made for him to attend the Magic Academy and he is studying how to control his overwhelming magical powers. He has an aversion to adult men.

The final capture target, Leon, is a professor at the Magic Academy. He is secretly a sadistic savant of magic but he comes across as unremarkable and avoids others.

Media

Light novel

The series by Suzu Enoshima, originally serialized on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō from August 11 to November 3, 2018, was later made available on Kakuyomu in December 2019. It was also later acquired by Fujimi Shobo, who have published two light novel volumes with illustrations by Eihi between April 10 and August 9, 2019, under their Kadokawa Books imprint. An extra volume was released on December 9, 2022. In September 2021, J-Novel Club announced that they had licensed the light novel in North America, and they released it digitally from December 13, 2021, to July 7, 2023.

Manga

A manga adaptation with art by Rumiwo Sakaki has been serialized in Enterbrain's manga magazine B's Log Comic from June 5, 2019, to May 5, 2024. It was collected in seven volumes, released from December 28, 2019, to August 30, 2024. The manga was canceled on September 4, 2024, due to the lack of editing and communication skills of the magazine's editorial staff, which led to Enoshima terminating the licensing contract. In January 2023, J-Novel Club announced that they had also licensed the manga, and they released it digitally from April 19, 2023, to May 7, 2025.

Anime

On December 24, 2021, an anime adaptation was announced. It was later confirmed to be a television series adaptation produced by Tezuka Productions and directed by Fumihiro Yoshimura, with oversees the series' scripts, Miyuki Katayama designed the characters, and Tatsuhiko Saiki, Natsumi Tabuchi, Sayaka Aoki, Junko Nakajima, and Kanade Sakuma composed the music. It aired from January 7 to March 25, 2023, on the Animeism programming block on MBS and other affiliates. The opening theme song is by Dazbee, while the ending theme song is by Anna. At Anime NYC 2022, Sentai Filmworks announced that they licensed the series, and streamed it on Hidive.

Episodes

Reception

The series had over 500,000 copies in circulation by December 2021.

Notes

References

External links

• at Kakuyomu