my next life as a villainess romance options are completely broken and that is the only correct take. Catarina Claes has built a bisexual disaster harem around herself and remains so dense that she probably thinks marriage proposals are just really enthusiastic friendship bracelets. You have got a protagonist surrounded by nobles who want to lock her in a castle, a brother who wants to break the incest taboo, and at least three girls who would commit crimes for her hand in marriage, yet she spends her time worrying about farming simulators and eating sweets. This is not a standard otome setup, this is chaos with a tiara.
The series started as a light novel about a girl who remembers her past life and realizes she is stuck inside an otome game called Fortune Lover where her character is doomed to die or get exiled. Instead of pursuing romance, she tries to avoid death flags by befriending everyone, which backfires spectacularly because now everyone is in love with her. The anime calls this comedy. I call it a psychological study in how to give an entire cast anxiety disorders. The visual novels and the new Pirates of the Disturbance game try to give you actual romance routes, but they run into the problem that Catarina herself might not even experience romantic attraction, or at least that is what a lot of fans think after watching her ignore every signal for two seasons.
The Male Routes Are Mostly Red Flags
Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Prince Geordo Stuart, the official fiancé, is a walking red flag factory disguised as a blonde pretty boy. He forces physical contact constantly, ignores her saying no, and gives off serious yandere vibes when anyone else gets near her. In the original Fortune Lover game within the story, he straight up murders Catarina in one route, yet the narrative wants you to forget that because he smiles nicely sometimes. He is the kind of guy who would install a tracking device in your corsage and call it affection. Fans keep ranking him low for good reason, even if he is canonically the main guy.
Then you have Keith Claes, the adopted brother, and this is where it gets weird. The series tries to sell you on this romance by making him not blood related, but they grew up together as siblings from age eight. He calls her sister. She calls him brother. He has a massive sister complex and gets jealous of anyone looking at her. The game routes where you romance him feel uncomfortable because you are essentially validating a dynamic that started when he was a child looking up to his new big sister. Some fans love the childhood friend angle, but others see it as the writers trying to have their cake and eat it too by removing the blood relation while keeping the taboo thrill.
Alan Stuart comes out looking like the healthiest option among the original boys, which is sad because he started as a hostile rival. He grew up, stopped being a jerk, and actually respects her boundaries. He sees her climbing trees and getting muddy and thinks that is cool instead of trying to change her. His route in the games shows genuine chemistry where he is not trying to possess her, just be with her. Nicol Ascart is fine, I guess, if you like pretty statues that stare at you. He is blandly nice, attached to his sister Sophia in a way that feels codependent, and his attraction to Catarina seems to come out of nowhere except that she helped his sister make friends.
Sirius Dieke, also known as Raphael Walt, brings dark magic trauma and emotional baggage so heavy it needs its own luggage cart. He is currently unfit for romance because he needs therapy, not a girlfriend. His whole deal involves childhood abuse and dark magic possession, and while his story is compelling, putting him in a romance route feels like it is glossing over some serious issues that need professional help, not a kiss from Bakarina.
The Girls Deserve Better Than Being Sidelined
Here is where the fandom gets angry, and rightfully so. The anime heavily implies romantic chemistry between Catarina and the girls, especially Maria Campbell, the original protagonist of Fortune Lover. Maria bakes for her, protects her, blushes constantly, and they have multiple scenes where the subtext is basically text. There is a reason fans call this series Bisexual Disaster the Anime. Mary Hunt is so obsessed with Catarina that she borders on yandere, sabotaging anyone who gets near her and treating gardening competitions like life or death battles for Catarina's affection. She is aggressive, possessive, and completely devoted.
Then there is Sophia Ascart, who many fans theorize is actually the reincarnation of Catarina's best friend from her past life, Acchan. Sophia loves romance novels, supports Catarina unconditionally, and has that soulmate-level loyalty where she would literally follow her to the ends of the earth. The bond between them feels deeper than any of the male options because it crosses lifetimes.
But here is the kick in the teeth. The official otome game, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, completely removed the female romance options. You cannot date Maria, Mary, or Sophia. The game that is literally about a bisexual harem decided to go with straight routes only, which fans rightfully called queer-baiting and a betrayal of the source material. The anime spent twenty-four episodes showing these girls swooning over Catarina, linking arms, sharing sweets, and acting like jealous lovers, but the game pretends that was just platonic friendship. It is a blatant cash grab that ignores what made the series unique.
Pirates of the Disturbance Added More Problems
The new game, Pirates of the Disturbance, tried to fix things by adding new male routes, but it mostly made the mess worse. Rozy Linde is a twenty-three-year-old ship engineer hitting on sixteen-year-old Catarina, which is creepy even by anime standards. His route is full of flashbacks and info dumps that feel like reading a textbook instead of playing a romance game. Silva, the pirate captain, is the only decent addition because he starts with no feelings for her and actually has a personality beyond obsessing over the protagonist. He is chaotic, independent, and matches her energy without being a doormat.
However, the game structure itself is flawed. You spend eighty percent of the runtime eating food and listening to Catarina think about farming while the actual plot happens in the background. The romance development gets crammed into the final two chapters, making most routes feel rushed and unsatisfying. One reviewer described the experience as genuine torture, ranking Silva first only because he is the least annoying option, not because he is actually good. The game also still refuses to let you date the girls, maintaining the frustrating straight-only policy despite the source material screaming otherwise.
Why Catarina Might Be The Worst Harem Protagonist
There is a popular theory that Catarina exists on the asexual or aromantic spectrum, which would explain why she is immune to romantic advances that would make a normal person blush. She does not fantasize about weddings or kissing. She fantasizes about having a farm with a cat and growing potatoes. When she looks at her suitors, she sees friends or children she needs to protect, not partners. She admits in the light novels that she still sees them as the kids they were when she met them, which makes sense given her mental age from her past life, but also suggests she is not capable of viewing them romantically.
This creates a weird dissonance where the player or viewer wants romance, but the character herself might not even want it. It is like trying to date a black hole that keeps absorbing your affection and converting it into enthusiasm for snack foods. Some fans argue this makes her a refreshing protagonist who does not need a man, while others find it frustrating that she is too dense to function as a romance lead. The TV Tropes page speculates that she develops feelings for Geordo eventually in the light novels, but it is so slow and subtle that it barely counts as romance.
Ranking The Chaos From Worst To Best
If you absolutely have to pick someone, here is the brutal truth based on fan consensus and basic logic. Sweets rank dead last, which is a joke entry but also weirdly accurate because Catarina loves cake more than she loves people. Rafael Walt sits at ninth place because trauma makes bad boyfriends. Geordo is eighth despite being the main love interest because his possessiveness is toxic. Mary Hunt is seventh because while she is devoted, she is also terrifying and would probably isolate Catarina from society out of jealousy.
Keith lands at sixth because while he is sweet, the sibling dynamic is too weird for comfort. Alan takes fifth for being a solid respectful guy who actually grew as a person. Nicol is fourth for being pretty but boring. Maria Campbell takes third because she actually understands consent and has genuine chemistry with Catarina, plus she could bake for her forever. Sophia takes second because if the reincarnation theory is true, they are literally soulmates separated by death and reunited by fate.
The number one best romance option for Catarina Claes is staying single. No really. The best ending is her living on her farm, climbing trees, eating sweets, and having her friends visit without the complications of marriage or romantic possession. She gets to keep her independence, her hobbies, and her weird chaotic energy without being locked in a castle by a prince or smothered by a possessive sibling. The ranking articles agree that the single ending preserves what makes her character actually interesting instead of turning her into a prize to be won.
my next life as a villainess romance options work best when you stop trying to force Catarina into a traditional otome structure. The series is at its most fun when she is accidentally collecting a harem through sheer kindness and density, not when she is picking one person to settle down with. The franchise keeps trying to sell traditional romance routes in the games, but they feel forced because the protagonist herself does not fit the mold of a romantic lead. She is a force of nature who cares more about farming than feelings.
The fans have spoken in forums and Reddit threads. They want the polyamory ending. They want the option to romance Maria and Sophia. They want Catarina to realize she can have her cake and eat it too, literally and figuratively. Until the games give us those options, we are stuck with a broken system where the best choice is to not choose at all, or to acknowledge that this disaster harem works precisely because it is a mess. The romance options are broken, the protagonist is oblivious, and somehow that creates the most entertaining train wreck in modern isekai.
