The following contains spoilers for I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss through Episode 4, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss is an otome game isekai anime in the Fall 2022 lineup, and while it may well remind fans of My Next Life as a Villainess, the comparisons don't stop there. Both of these villainess anime series tell shojo-style tales of friendship, acceptance and second chances, which should sound familiar to Fruits Basket fans.

Protagonist Aileen d'Autriche of I'm the Villainess is ultimately more like Katarina Claes than Tohru Honda, but these three anime girls still have some vital traits in common. Anyone who found Tohru's altruistic crusade are bound to enjoy Aileen's quest as well -- though of course, Aileen puts a villainess twist on it.

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The Power of Friendship, Second Chances & True Compassion In Anime

Image features a visual from Fruits Basket: (From left to right) Shigure Sohma (short, black hair and dark purple kimono) is winking, Tohru Honda (long, brown hair and yellow dress) is holding her hands together, Kyo Sohma (short, orange hair and red shirt) has his arms crossed over his chest, and Yuki Sohma (medium-length, silver hair and dark blue-purple shirt) has a hand on his chin.

It's true that I'm the Villainess is a seinen anime rather than a shojo, but it still embodies many vital shojo storytelling elements, and not just because of its female lead. This may be isekai, but unlike series such as Black Summoner and Overlord, it's not a gratifying power trip with a self-insert. I'm the Villainess, like My Next Life as a Villainess and Fruits Basket before it, is all about the protagonist's personal connections to other people. Aileen sees others not as rival warriors to fight, but as potential friends or even lost souls who need help. Aileen, Katarina Claes and the legendary Tohru Honda all define their character arcs with noble acts of compassion, altruism and giving second chances to those who have nowhere else to turn.

Characters like Fruits Basket's tsundere Kyo or Villainess' reclusive demon king Claude are widely seen as a lost cause. But Aileen, like Tohru before her, sees others for who they really are, not what society has labeled them as. The Sohmas see a delinquent with a dead-end life in Kyo, while Tohru sees an emotionally wounded boy who just needs someone to accept and understand him. Katarina did the same thing for nearly everyone in her co-ed harem, and now Aileen extends that favor for anyone who needs it in two otome game worlds.

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Aileen's biggest Tohru Honda-style act in I'm the Villainess was to cozy up to demon lord Claude, who was much lonelier than anyone expected an isekai demon king to be. Aileen made him much happier with their genuine friendship and open honesty with one another, inspiring Claude to open up as an enthusiastic, sweet lover before long. No one had ever seen that side of him until Aileen coaxed it out of him.

As a bonus, Aileen gave prince Cedric's fired workers a second chance and actually appreciated their skills, earning their personal loyalty along the way. Now, Aileen is befriending everyone who needs her help at the Mische Academy, from the downtrodden Rachel Danis to the kuudere student council president, James Charles. Everyone else sees a lofty, princely boy in James, but Aileen sees him for what he is -- an emotionally vulnerable, miserable boy who just needs a friend who understands and supports him. His own Tohru Honda has arrived.

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How I'm the Villainess' Aileen Helps Herself By Helping Others

Aileen with Claude on ramparts in I'm the Villainess So I'm Taming the Final Boss anime.

When Aileen d'Autriche approaches characters like Claude and James Charles to help them, she actually has two motivating factors. Like Tohru, Aileen is a genuinely compassionate person who takes personal satisfaction in befriending and supporting people who need her. In a way, becoming Claude's loving girlfriend is its own reward, and Aileen felt pretty good about hiring prince Cedric's fired workers and giving them paying work to do for a worthy cause. Unlike Tohru, however, Aileen views this as a transaction or trade, not one-way altruism; she expects something in return.

The other factor motivating Aileen's saintly behavior is her own survival, something that Katriana Claes can relate to, but not Tohru. The latter's motives in Fruits Basket were entirely selfless, while Aileen trades her kind altruism for personal protection from her new friends. She depends on Claude to protect her, both from the game's plot and from characters like the wicked Cedric and Lilia. Aileen may not be a true villainess like the otome game's original character was, but even so, she won't give help away for free. She and Katarina help themselves by helping others, always making sure they benefit from these new friendships as well.

It's conceivable that Aileen helps some other people out of the goodness of her heart. But all her major relationships in I'm the Villainess, both present and future, are motivated by her benignly selfish goal of sheer survival. Aileen has little choice but to act like this because her character has almost no plot armor. She must retool her personal network of friends into her own plot armor or die trying. Even Tohru Honda could understand that.