The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom character designs out – Tiararose, Aquasteed, Hartknights and Akari are so cute
Steven Reynolds 
Tiararose, Aquasteed, Hartknights and Akari character designs set the visual tone for fantasy anime
As another villainess-themed fantasy anime — The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom — heads our way soon, its production committee is apparently getting into full-on promo mode, as it has just dropped four very cute character designs for its main characters.
The visuals were released on The Villainess is Adored… official X account, and follow on from the anime’s teaser trailer, which came out earlier this month.
Those The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom character visuals kick off with visuals for protagonists Lady Tiararose Lapis Clementille and husband-to-be and prince of the next country over Aquasteed Marineforest. (Yep, more silly fantasy anime names!)
Tiararose’s former love Prince Hartknights Lapis-Lazuli Lactomuth also gets a visual, along with his new love, heroine Akari (the only one with a normal name, you’ll notice).
All four character designs do a good job of setting the visual tone for the fantasy series, as all of them are elegant and exuding a suitable romantic aura.
Aquasteed is being voiced by Yuuichirou Umehara (Arata in The Shiunji Family Children), with Tiararose played by Mai Fuchigami (Nagisa Shiota in Assassination Classroom).
Supporting character Hartknights is voiced by Takuya Satou (Moriarty in Moriarty the Patriot), while Akari is played by Yumiri Hanamori (Nadeshiko in Yuru Camp).
Who is producing The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom anime adaptation?
The upcoming anime adaptation is based on the Puni-chan written and Akeno Naruse illustrated light novel series of the same title. And yes, it is a long series, with 16 volumes now out.
As of yet, the series does not have an English-language license. Hopefully, once the anime hits that may change.
Takayuki Hamana (director of Arte) is helming the anime, while Yoshimi Narita (writer of My Senpai is Annoying) is in charge of series composition, and Majiro (World Dai Star) is designing those cute characters.
Studio Deen, who is also animating the upcoming BL anime The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, is in charge of animation.
The fantasy romance anime follows Tiararose, a heroine in an otome game she had played in her former life, as she is dumped by her fiance, Hartknights, and quickly picked up by neighboring country prince, Aquasteed, instead.
After all, it turns out, while Tiararose thought being in love with her former game heartthrob would work out well for her, even though she has turned out to be the villainess in this new life, it is actually Aquasteed who has been in love with her all this time.
The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is currently scheduled to premiere its first episodes in January, 2026. (Update: The fantasy romance anime just had its firm premiere date announced — January 11th, 2026)
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Michelle Topham