Warning: The following contains spoilers for Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp episode 7!!
Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp underscores how some of the best isekai can turn the overused anime trope of the overpowered protagonist into something effective. Not unique to Doctor Elise, most isekai can more easily achieve this dynamic whenever their protagonists are overpowered, not in terms of physical or fighting prowess, but in regard to the knowledge they accrued from their former life.
Isekai’s secret is mostly founded on how the genre’s overall formula naturally justifies their protagonists’ power more easily and provides more ways to portray their successes, especially in comparison to non-isekai anime series. Doctor Elise‘s delivery and specific subject have already proven that it naturally amplifies all of isekai’s strengths. Unlike the finite possibilities of repetitive classic anime battles, there is an almost endless supply of surgical procedures that its eponymous protagonist can perform.
As episodes #6 and #7 of Doctor Elise show, there are countless variations of Elise’s “battles” as a surgeon. She has both successfully finished operations that are known to be difficult and seemingly invented others on the spot, since she is living in a time when medical science hasn’t developed as far as her breathtaking reverse isekai world.
Doctor Elise Amplifies All of Isekai’s Positive Traits
Based on the manhwa by Yuin; produced by Maho Film
To be overpowered in a non-isekai setting, the protagonists are either naturally gifted, train, or always surpass their limits in the most convenient moment. The repetitiveness of the trope makes it hard to sustain after a while. Meanwhile, most isekai protagonists have no need for these clichés, as they are immediately granted overpowered abilities or, as is Elise’s case, have reached their peak in their former life.
This underscores just how impervious Doctor Elise is to most narrative constraints. Most series require conflict, but this particular isekai doesn’t because of the eponymous surgeon’s unique backstory that comes from a combination of a time loop and reverse isekai. Doctor Elise‘s drive and desire to save lives is enough to keep fans of the series entertained.
So, while Doctor Elise‘s flawless execution of surgical procedures could be viewed as a variation of a broken power like in most anime, the fact that her story is told from the perspective of an isekai allows viewers to enjoy her endless successes rather than needing them to be justified.
Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp is available on Crunchyroll.
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