Crunchyroll Goes All-In on 2026’s Must-See Romance Isekai

Winter 2026 was already crowded with returning heavy hitters, and now Crunchyroll has tossed one more into the pile: The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom is officially on the slate for the season. If that title rings a bell, it should — this is one of the early villainess-isekai blueprints that helped shape a bunch of the tropes everyone else has been remixing for years.

The hook is simple and clean: our protagonist wakes up as the story’s designated villainess, Tiara Rose. Instead of juggling six suitors and a dozen flags, the show locks onto one romantic lead — Prince Aquasteed from the neighboring kingdom — and actually lets their relationship breathe. That focus is a big part of why fans of the source material swear by it; it plays more like a proper fantasy romance with light isekai seasoning than another reverse-harem goofball parade.

'She reincarnated as the villainess Tiara Rose, but when Prince Aquasteed proposes out of nowhere... maybe being the bad guy isn't so bad after all?'

Crunchyroll announced the anime for its Winter 2026 lineup (the social post went up December 17, 2025), and it lands right at the start of the season. More good signs: this thing has already lived several lives. It started as a web novel by Puni-chan, then grew into a light novel and a manga, and even spun out a visual novel from Operahouse that’s on Steam. Each version has its fans, and if you’ve ever dipped into the VN, you know there are multiple routes — but the mainline ending is the one people rally around, which gives the anime a clear target to aim for.

Here’s what you need to know before it drops:

• Title: The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom
• Premiere (Japan TV): January 11, 2026 at 23:00 JST
• Streaming: Crunchyroll weekly, with a short delay after the Japan broadcast
• Director: Takayuki Hamana
• Studio: Studio Deen
• Genre: Fantasy Romance

As of now, Crunchyroll is the only confirmed home. Given Netflix’s recent habit of snapping up isekai streaming rights, there’s a chance it shows up there too, but nothing’s announced. Either way, if you’ve bounced off villainess shows because they drift into reverse-harem mush, this one’s worth a look — it picks a lane (Tiara Rose and Aquasteed) and actually commits, which is rarer than it should be.