The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Has 14 English Manga Volumes (18 in Japan)
Here’s the quick answer: The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess currently has 14 English manga volumes published by Yen Press, with 18 Japanese volumes released so far. The series is ongoing — so if you’re jumping in now, there’s plenty to read and more on the way.
If you’re new to manga, a quick orientation: manga are Japanese comics, typically published as individual volumes (book-sized paperbacks running around 180–200 pages each). They’re read in order, just like novel series. The manga is written and drawn by Touka Akiharu (冬夏アキハル) and published in Japan by Hakusensha under the Hana to Yume Comics label. The series is serialized in LaLa, a Hakusensha shojo manga magazine — meaning manga aimed at young women, typically focused on romance, emotion, and character relationships. That gives you a good idea of this series’ flavor right away: expect romance, comedy, and character-driven storytelling alongside the fantasy premise.
Yen Press is the company that licenses and translates the series for English-speaking readers. With a four-volume gap between the Japanese and English releases, they still have quite a bit of catching up to do. That’s actually great news if you’re starting fresh — by the time you finish Vol. 14, there’s a good chance more volumes will already be on shelves.
Complete English Volume List
Below is a list of all 14 English volumes currently available. Since exact release dates can shift depending on printings and retailers, check the product page at your preferred store for the most up-to-date info.
| Volume | Content Notes |
|---|---|
| Vol. 1 | The story begins — our heroine Konoha Satou wakes up reincarnated as Iana Magnolia, the villainess of a fantasy world built from her own embarrassing teenage writings |
| Vol. 2 | Konoha’s attempts to avoid her doomed fate get complicated as romantic interests start circling |
| Vol. 3 | The embarrassing writings from her previous life — the ones she created during her youthful fantasy phase — continue to haunt her in increasingly public ways |
| Vol. 4 | Social dynamics at the academy heat up, and Konoha’s cover gets harder to maintain |
| Vol. 5 | New characters and entanglements push the comedy and romance forward |
| Vol. 6 | Stakes rise as Konoha’s relationships deepen and her dark history threatens to unravel everything |
| Vol. 7 | A major turning point with bigger emotional beats alongside the signature comedy |
| Vol. 8 | The fallout from earlier events reshapes alliances and romantic tensions |
| Vol. 9 | Konoha faces new challenges that test both her social survival skills and her feelings |
| Vol. 10 | The story expands its scope as the world beyond the academy comes into sharper focus |
| Vol. 11 | Plot threads from earlier volumes start coming together |
| Vol. 12 | Dramatic developments raise the emotional stakes significantly |
| Vol. 13 | Picks up right where Vol. 12 left off with plenty of momentum |
| Vol. 14 | The latest English release — continues the story with new developments |
A quick note on that four-volume gap: Japan is currently at Vol. 18, meaning there are at least four more volumes of story waiting to be translated. If you’re the type of reader who dreads catching up to a series only to face a long wait, this one has a solid runway ahead.
What Is The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess About?
The premise is a fantastic twist on a popular manga genre. First, some context if you’re newer to this corner of manga: isekai is a Japanese term meaning “another world,” and it describes stories where a character from modern-day Japan dies or is transported and wakes up in a fantasy world. Within isekai, there’s an entire subgenre built around villainess reincarnation — stories where the main character realizes they’ve been reborn as the villain (usually a noblewoman) in a fantasy setting, and they have to find a way to avoid the terrible fate that awaits that character. It’s a hugely popular setup, and dozens of manga series use it as a starting point.
The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess begins with that familiar framework. A young woman dies and reincarnates as Iana Magnolia, the designated villainess of a fantasy world. But here’s the twist that makes this series stand out: in her previous life, Konoha went through an intense chuunibyou phase. Chuunibyou is a Japanese slang term (literally “middle-school second-year syndrome”) for that adolescent period where someone becomes convinced they have secret dark powers and starts writing elaborate, melodramatic fantasy stories about themselves. It’s the kind of phase that, years later, makes you want to crawl under a rock when you remember it.
The problem? The fantasy world she’s been reincarnated into is literally based on those old writings. Her embarrassing middle-school creative output has somehow become the reality she now lives in. The characters around her are inspired by the ones she made up during her most cringe-worthy phase, and fragments of her “dark history” keep surfacing at the worst possible moments.
This setup turns what could have been a standard “avoid the bad ending” story into a comedy goldmine. As Iana, she isn’t just trying to dodge her villainess fate — she’s desperately trying to prevent anyone from discovering that this entire world is basically her old embarrassing fiction come to life. Every dramatic moment that the other characters take seriously is something she wrote at age thirteen while thinking she was incredibly cool.
The series runs in a shojo magazine, and that heritage shows. The romantic comedy elements are front and center, the character designs lean into classic shojo aesthetics (expressive eyes, flowing hair, elegant panel compositions), and there’s a warmth to the storytelling that sets it apart from darker or more action-heavy fantasy manga. If you’re looking for a villainess isekai that prioritizes laughs and heart over political scheming or power fantasy, this one delivers.
The comedy works because the cringe is deeply relatable. Most people have something from their teenage years they’d rather the world never saw. Now imagine that thing becoming an actual living, breathing world you’re trapped in, populated by real people who treat your most melodramatic ideas with absolute sincerity. That’s the engine driving this story, and it doesn’t run out of fuel.
Is the Series Finished or Still Ongoing?
The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess is ongoing in both Japan and English.
Here’s where things stand:
- Japanese volumes: 18 published so far, with the series still running in LaLa magazine (new chapters are published in the magazine first, then collected into volumes)
- English volumes: 14 published by Yen Press
- Gap: 4 volumes between English and Japanese editions
Since the series is still actively running in Japan, the total volume count on both sides will keep climbing. For readers just starting out, this means you’re getting into a living series with new English volumes still being released on a regular schedule — not one that’s been finished and abandoned.
The four-volume gap is pretty standard for English manga releases. English-language manga publishers typically run a year or more behind the Japanese editions, and that gap tends to stay roughly consistent rather than growing or shrinking dramatically. So while you won’t catch up to Japan anytime soon, you can expect new English volumes to keep coming at a steady pace.
The series also received a TV anime adaptation produced by Studio Deen, which aired from October to December 2025. The anime is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Two OVAs were also released in April 2026 as part of a special edition of the manga’s 18th Japanese volume. If you came to the manga through the anime, you’re in good company — and the manga has significantly more story to offer beyond what the anime covered.
If you’re the kind of reader who prefers to wait for a series to finish before starting, that’s totally valid — but you might be waiting a while on this one. The good news is that 14 volumes is a very satisfying amount of manga to read through. That’s enough story to give you a complete sense of whether the series clicks for you, with plenty of plot development and character growth along the way.
Where to Buy the English Volumes
Yen Press publishes the English edition, and they’ve made it widely available across major retail channels.
Physical copies are available at most places that sell manga — Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and local bookstores that carry manga inventory. If your local shop doesn’t have it on the shelf, they can usually order it in for you. It’s also worth checking your local library system — many libraries stock manga, and apps like Libby or Hoopla let you borrow digital copies for free. That’s a solid way to sample the series before you commit to buying.
Digital editions are available on Kindle, Kobo, BookWalker (a manga-focused digital store), and other digital manga platforms. Digital is a great option if you’re short on shelf space or want to start reading immediately. Digital editions for manga are often priced below the print cover price, so they can be easier on the budget too.
The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess, Vol. 14
For readers just starting out, Vol. 1 is the natural entry point. The English releases include the standard single-volume series from Vol. 1 through Vol. 14, plus a Short Story Collection — a separate release from Yen Press that sits outside the numbered volumes. There are no omnibus editions (collected books that bundle multiple volumes into one). That keeps things simple: start at 1, read in order, enjoy the ride.
One thing worth mentioning: since there are 14 volumes out right now, buying the whole run at once adds up. If budget is a factor, mixing physical and digital can help — grab your favorites in print and read the rest digitally. Or just start with the first few volumes to make sure you love it before committing to the full set. With a series this fun, though, there’s a very good chance you’ll want them all.