Warning: Spoilers for Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With the Lamp episode #6Although still quite new, Crunchyroll‘s Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With the Lamp is proving early on that it can be the face of every positive thing about Isekai. Some big-name series like Rising of the Shield Hero might be infamous for exploring more negative-based tropes through controversial characters and actions, but there are actually many Isekai that put more effort into being more heartwarming.
Doctor Elise‘s unique combination of reverse Isekai and time loops automatically accentuates the very core of what this series emulates – the common, good-natured dynamic in villainess series when the protagonist gets reincarnated into the eponymous evil female character of a romance novel or otome game.
Things get positive when the protagonist doesn’t want to be evil and goes out of their way to be as good as possible even though it goes against the character they reincarnated as. A great example of this is HIDIVE’s Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior.
Doctor Elise Reformed As a Villainess to Do Good
Based on the web novel written by Yuin; produced by Maho Film
This dynamic is much more direct in Doctor Elise and therefore underscores this positive message more clearly than most since the titular protagonist never reincarnated into another character. She was originally a villainess, but after dying and reincarnating in the modern world, she time loops back home to amend her own evil ways by continuing the wonderful things she did in her second life. This captures the full spectrum of how Elise’s actual character grew for the better, as opposed to a protagonist who was never evil getting reborn as that person and making them better, like they were in their previous life.
This naturally highlights all the positive actions Elise takes when she time loops to her original life. Although many Isekai protagonists do wonderful things in their new world, their actions normally happen organically and are never their number-one goal. Elise’s number-one priority is to atone for her past evil ways by treating and curing as many people as possible, even after a doctor gets overly suspicious of her.
Doctor Elise’s Kindness Even Changes Other Characters for the Better
The sixth episode also accentuates another aspect of this when Elise treats her former rival, Lady Child, with kindness. In the brief flashbacks of how they were originally, the anime portrays them in an unflattering light as they participate in childish endeavors. While Elise’s actions are heartwarming now, it’s much more powerful to see how Elise’s kindness transforms Lady Child for the better. This naturally diverges from the litany of Isekai protagonists who are completely selfish and try to take advantage of their second life by doing everything they wanted to do for themselves, many times avoiding offers for them to help others or accepting tasks begrudgingly.
Similarly, the greatest moments in Doctor Elise are when her kindness accentuates the goodness in other characters. How this happens with the crowned prince Linden de Romanoff is so effective, in particular, because the anime explores this dynamic by comparing how he interacted with Elise before and after she reincarnated twice. He originally didn’t love or even care about Elise when she was a horrible person, but now he falls helplessly in love with her after she changes for the better.
Although the latest episodes also expose the darker or selfish sides of once-beloved characters like the king, the positivity easily overshadows the negative aspects. Even better, Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With the Lamp is only halfway through the usual 12 episodes that the anime is expected to receive on Crunchyroll, so Isekai fans can expect even more positive, heartwarming moments in the coming weeks.
Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With the Lamp is available on Crunchyroll
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