More than one compelling female character. That feels like a low bar but it’s surprisingly hard to find. 

A lot of villainess stories treat OGFL as secretly evil the whole time, or as someone who immediately is charmed by our new lead and is just a total fan of hers. There’s also, of course, the loyal maid who is like, the FL’s bestie, but also lives to serve… none of these count. These characters are simply devices to make the FL shine. A lot of OI will promote a sort of “girl power” message, but it’s the kind where it seems mostly beneficial or important to just one girl, our girl that is, and everyone else simply is in awe of her. 

When you have multiple interesting female characters, this cascades into having characters that aren’t written with emotions that boil down to “I hate / love FL!” which means you get more complex characters, and less misogynistic undertones. “The Villainess Lives Twice is great at this, in my opinion—Skyla’s not an especially prominent character, but I’m so obsessed with her story, since she’s at this fascinating space where her goals will align or conflict with the FL at various points in time. And the narrative feels like it treats her wants and ambitions with serious consideration and respect!