I like that they’re trying to use dialogue / inner monologue to characterize Victoria, but it feels hamfisted sometimes.

They are reducing her thoughts quite a bit here. This is to be expected for an anime adaptation, but I feel like they reduce it more than usual here. On one hand, I am pleased that there aren’t extensive scenes of just inner monologue exposition. On the other hand, they cut now so much that a lot of her character and motivations are lost, and I agree that it feels hamfisted. As @Polkira@piefed.ca mentioned, she feels now “too perfect” without getting the exposition in her inner thoughts about why she is so perfect. Her character in the anime also feels less unfortunate. Maybe they will go into more detail in the next episodes so I’m not saying more in case of spoilers, but at this point in the LN it’s already clear to the reader that not everything is mirth and carefree wonder.