Before My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- ever stranded Catarina Claes on a hijacked luxury liner, it almost became a completely different game. Director Akira Haruse has since revealed that Otomate considered several concepts during development, including stories centered on a magical government ministry and another school adventure, before eventually settling on the idea of trapping the entire cast aboard a cruise ship overrun by pirates. Looking back after finishing the game, it’s hard to imagine another setting working quite as well. The ship doesn’t simply provide a backdrop for romance—it solves one of the biggest challenges of adapting Hamefura into an otome game by forcing its enormous cast into the same confined space for dozens of hours.
That challenge is larger than it first appears. My Next Life as a Villainess has always existed in an awkward position as a romance series. Its heroine was originally written to avoid death flags rather than pursue love interests, and one of the franchise’s biggest appeals is watching Catarina accidentally collect admirers without realizing what she’s doing. Turning that into a genuine otome game could easily have felt forced. The developers avoid that trap by making this an entirely original story that exists outside the continuity of the light novels, manga, and anime, freeing every route from worrying about contradicting the source material.
The premise itself is straightforward enough. Catarina and Keith board the Vinculum after her parents become ill and are unable to attend its maiden voyage. Their holiday disappears almost immediately when pirates seize the vessel and everyone aboard becomes a hostage. Catarina quickly realizes she’s wandered into an incident described in a Fortune Lover fan book she remembers from her previous life. Unlike the doom flags she already escaped, however, this one comes with frustratingly little information, forcing her to improvise rather than simply remember the “correct” outcome.
The visual novel wisely refuses to abandon the comedy that made the series popular. Every major decision sends Catarina into another meeting of the now-famous Council of Catarinas, where five exaggerated versions of her own personality argue over the best course of action while Chairman Catarina attempts to maintain order. I expected the joke to wear thin after a handful of appearances. Instead, it became one of the moments I consistently looked forward to because each council meeting reflected whatever absurd situation the story had managed to create next.
Mechanically, the game keeps things comfortably familiar for Otomate veterans. After a relatively short common route lasting around two hours, Chapter 3 branches into the individual romance paths, each lasting roughly six or seven hours. The generous bank of one hundred save slots made experimenting with different routes painless, especially when paired with visible affection indicators that removed much of the guesswork usually associated with otome route management. My only recurring frustration came during the Council of Catarinas sequences, where saving is disabled until voting concludes. Missing a save there often meant retracing dialogue before trying again.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was Nicol. Surrounded by louder personalities and more traditionally dramatic princes, he initially seems destined to disappear into the background. Instead, his quieter route became evidence that strong characterization doesn’t always require the loudest scenes. The optional memory episodes also help flesh out the supporting cast by briefly shifting perspective away from Catarina, exploring moments from childhood and academy life that the main narrative only hints at.
Visually, the game benefits enormously from retaining Nami Hidaka’s original character designs. Fans of the novels and manga will immediately recognize the expressive faces and soft aesthetic that helped define the series, while Asada Mochiko’s additional illustrations and chibi artwork give comedic scenes far more energy than static dialogue alone could provide. The sprite work deserves particular praise. Characters don’t simply swap facial expressions—they accumulate injuries, change outfits, and subtly reflect what’s happening around them, making conversations feel more dynamic than many visual novels with significantly larger budgets.
Not every production choice lands as cleanly. The English localization occasionally stumbles over awkward phrasing and word choices that stand out more often than they should. The script remains perfectly understandable and the humor survives intact, but those rough patches become increasingly noticeable across a game that can easily stretch beyond forty hours depending on route completion. Community impressions after release frequently praised the game’s faithfulness to Catarina’s personality while also highlighting the strength of its original romance routes, suggesting the adaptation succeeded where many licensed visual novels struggle: feeling like a natural extension of the series rather than obligatory merchandise.
The returning Japanese cast deserves considerable credit for that success. Sora Amamiya captures Catarina’s endlessly optimistic panic with the same charm that made her such a memorable heroine in the anime, while performances from Mutsumi Tamura, Mao Ichimichi, Asami Seto, Yuichiro Umehara, and Kengo Takanashi effortlessly shift between slapstick comedy and genuine suspense whenever the pirate plot briefly takes center stage.
Verdict
Rather than asking whether Pirates of the Disturbance faithfully adapts My Next Life as a Villainess, the better question is whether it justifies existing alongside it. I think it does. By telling an original story unconstrained by established canon, Otomate created room for stronger romance, enjoyable character interactions, and one of the funniest recurring decision mechanics in recent otome games. A shaky English localization occasionally interrupts the experience, but Catarina’s infectious optimism, expressive presentation, and the surprisingly effective pirate setting make this feel less like a franchise obligation and more like a genuine celebration of why Hamefura became popular in the first place.
