7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to her Worst Enemy
Author: Touko Amekawa
Illustrator: Wan Hachipisu
Publishers: Seven Seas Entertainment
Age Group: Teen
Genre: fantasy, romance, temporal time loop
Type: Light Novel
Content Warnings: death, war, trauma
Spoilers ahead
Plot
Being reborn once may sound impressive, but Rishe is already on her seventh time around! She has had all kinds of excitement in her previous lives, from peddling goods as A merchant to locking blades as a knight, so now she’s determined to kick back and enjoy. But to savor the high life, she first has to marry the handsome prince…the same one who happens to be her murderer! It will take six-plus lifetimes of experience and skills for Rishe to break the time loop and make her extravagant dreams come true!
Character Development
Rishe Irmgard Weitzner is an intelligent young woman who’s always had a love of learning. She’s inquisitive, observant, pure of heart, plans ahead, and admits that she has faults. She can be naive sometimes but it’s all of these traits that make her such an interesting protagonist. She uses the knowledge from her previous lives to help those she’s encountered in those lives in her 7th run-through. She’s the embodiment of female empowerment and that you can do anything you set your mind to.
Arnold Hein is your traditional cold prince who is bored with his life. While we find out that he cares deeply about the commoners of his kingdom, he keeps himself separated from them. He doesn’t really value his life and has lost the ability to see things as beautiful even if they’re mundane. One thing we can know for certain is from the very first moment he meets her in this 7th life of Rishe’s, he’s smitten and would do anything for her. He can be teasing at times.
This series is filled with great supporting characters that challenge Rishe and Arnold in different ways. One such instance is Rishe’s old merchant mentor from her first incarnation. He’s shrewd and believes a merchant should have the ability to choose their clientele. He doesn’t make it easy for Rishe to work with him in her 7th life. She has to work for it. This gives way for us to learn more about Elsie, Rishe’s personal maid. For Arnold, his younger brother is his main challenge. With some help from Rishe we can see things begin to change between the brothers. Each supporting character has a purpose and is well thought out on how they should interact with our two main characters.
World-building
This world is a pure fantasy world with a variety of feudal systems from Kings to Emperors. We slowly learn more about the world through Rishe’s past incarnation experiences she draws upon to help her navigate her current life. This first volume is mainly Rishe establishing herself as Arnold’s fiance and developing the connections she needs to prevent her death in 5 years.
Themes
You can be whatever you want to be as long as you use that knowledge to create your best life.
Rishe has gone through 6 previous reincarnations and had a fulfilling life in each one. These skills come with her in each new reincarnation. She uses those skills to help others and continuously surprise Arnold. It makes her endearing and witty while keeping an innocent that resonates with those that have lost their way. Her goal in her 7th life is to have a carefree life, though that doesn’t mean she doesn’t find ways to get into trouble.
Observations & Predictions
I would love to see more of the trauma Rishe endured by being slain by Arnold in her previous life. We get a little of this when she requests that he doesn’t touch her. I want to see more of the emotional impact of that as she develops feelings for Arnold. A war with herself will help her to grow out of being so naive at points.
I would love to see more of the trauma Rishe endured by being slain by Arnold in her previous life. We get a little of this when she requests that he doesn’t touch her. I want to see more of the emotional impact of that as she develops feelings for Arnold. A war with herself will help her to grow out of being so naive at points.
I want to see more of Arnold and Theodore’s (Arnold’s brother) relationship develop and create a united front against their father, the Emperor of Galkhein. For Arnold’s character development, I am hoping we see a major shift in him wanting to disappear and become an Emperor that would be well loved by the commoners. He does really well handling the aristocracy with Rishe’s quiet support. I want to see him be willing to make more compromises for the betterment of Galkhein without needing to resort to violence. Let him see the beauty in the simple things again.
As we don’t get much world-building currently, I’d also love to see more of that outside of Rishe’s memories of the world to help ground us better in her world.
Recommendations
More Villainesses:
I’m the Villainess so I’m taming the final Boss
By: Sarasa Nagase
My Next Life as a Villainess: all routes lead to doom
By: Satoru Yamaguchi
Villainess level 99: I may be the hidden boss but I’m not the demon lord
By: Satoru Tanabata
I’ll go down in history as the world’s greatest villainess
By: Izumi Okido
The most Heretical Boss Queen
By: Tenichi, Suzunosuke
Similar Series with awesome female protagonists:
Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion
By: Milcha
The Apothecary Diaries
By: Natsu Hyūga
Raven of the Inner Palace
By: Kōko Shirakawa
The Remarried Empress
By: Alphatart
My Ranking
Plot: 8/10
Character Development: 9/10
World-Building: 6/10
Overall: 8/10
