Though I Am an Inept Villainess anime drops Ei Gyomei and Shinu character designs – and yep these men are HOT!!!
Michelle Topham 
Could you choose between two hot guys — Crown Prince Ei Gyomei and court overseer Shinu?
As anime character designs go, I have got to say I am partial to the ones being released by upcoming fantasy anime Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court.
Not only the utterly adorable Shu Keigetsu and Kou Reirin, whose first character designs dropped back in May, but also the anime’s male characters.
Case in point, character designs for Crown Prince Ei Gyomei and maiden court overseer and the prince’s half-brother Shinu. Two studly-looking guys, although markedly different in appearance, who float all my boats when it comes to hot dudes in anime.
I mean, how would you pick your favorite, when the crown prince looks like he would always be thoughtful about your happiness, while Shinu would decimate any enemy who came your way.
Ei Gyomei and Shinu’s character designs drop via X
The latest two Though I Am an Inept Villainess character designs were released on The Inept Villainess‘s anime’s official X page today, with messages about the two men.
Crown Prince Ei Gyomei’s character design description suggests this guy would be the steady one:
Crown Prince of the Ei Kingdom. A talented scholar and warrior with striking features, sincere, and strong sense of responsibility.
while the character design for Shinu commentary explains he isn’t of the same ethnicity as his half brother, the Crown Prince:
The eagle captain who enforces discipline in the palace harem. He has blue eyes inherited from his mother, who was a foreign slave.
Quick facts on the Though I Am an Inept Villainess... production
The anime is based on the popular light novel series by Satsuki Nakamura, and its manga adaptation.
It is being animated by Doga Kobo (animators of Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian), and directed by Mitsue Yamazaki (Zenshu).
Yoshiko Nakamura (screenwriter for upcoming The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter) is in charge of series composition and scripts, while Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie‘s character designer Ai Kikuchi is designing the anime’s gorgeous characters.
It’s very fun plot (I’ve read the manga, so can guarantee fans of body-switching stories will love this one), looks like this:
Reirin, the young princess of the Kou family known as “His Highness’s Butterfly,” has had her body swapped with that of Keigetsu Shu, the young princess of the Shu family, and the most despised person in the imperial court.
Thrown into prison, unable to speak the truth of the body swap, and facing death for a crime she did not commit, Reirin’s fate seems sealed… or so it appears.
But, having lived constantly on the brink of death due to her frail health, Reirin is instead overjoyed to have acquired a healthy body. With her innate mental fortitude, she begins to overcome one adversity after another—!?
Look out for the Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court anime premiering its first episodes in January, 2026.
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