By Manzi Mazi and Yuuya. Released in Japan as “Gokuaku Reijou no Kanchigai Kyuukokuki” by PASH! Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri.

There is a running gag throughout this book where a character is screaming at the top of their lungs in the face of Lettie, the titular wicked lady, and she tells them “TOO LOUD!”. That’s sort of how I felt about the book. It’s a comedy, you see, and it makes sure you know that on every page. There aren’t any straight men here – or rather, because there aren’t, Lettie is frequently forced to be the straight man, which is annoying as it’s her own weird quirks that are supposed to be what this series is about. Her conceit is that she does wonderful things for everyone in her land while pretending that it’s all due to her selfish evilness, but we never really get a backstory about how she came to that idea, and it honestly reads, as many of the newest light novels read, like the author noticed a trend and decided to do a book with that trend. And, well, this has 4+ volumes, so I guess it worked?

Lettie Ungaria is a wicked, evil villainess. She’ll tell you so herself, as she walks through her fancy mansion, announcing to her strangely devoted and grateful servants that she will work them to the bone (for 8 hours, after which they get free time, and of course weekends off). She’s horrible! She buys slaves from a slave trader (who turn out to be the first prince and his loyal army, fleeing from a revolution). She’s wicked! She walks through her city denigrating passersby as she tells them about the potential skin cancer and dental issues that they really should get looked at. Sure, OK, she’s yet another sixteen-year-old who looks ten, but can’t have everything. Unfortunately, everyone keeps calling her really sweet and kind, and there’s a rumor she’s even nicknamed a saint! What’s a wicked lady to do?

So, aside from Lettie being forced to be the least eccentric person in this book about her eccentricities, what else annoyed me? I’m never going to like the pervert guy character, even if you do make him super powerful as well. The prince’s emotional reserve bordering on stoicism is meant to tie into a tragic backstory but, again, looks like the author just wanted that type. The revolution itself gets a brief look-in and it’s the only part of the book that’s not “wacky” – which is a problem because that means it’s a wacky comedy with a scene where a villain decapitates multiple women and talks the new King into murdering his vassals and engineering wars. Clearly we’re going to see more of him later, but since he only shows up in that one scene, it’s just off-putting. And while I do think Lettie’s excuses for handing out money like it’s candy are meant to be seen as flimsy, we still don’t have the backstory to make that work, so it just looks halfhearted.

While Livid Lady made me livid, Wicked Lady just makes me sad. Where are the villainesses of yesteryear?