Reviews

Apr 3, 2024
Mixed Feelings
Have you ever had that feeling when a series is too fast and too slow at the same time, when it somehow feels completely off the pace? I had exactly that feeling with "Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp".

Apart from the fact that I don't know where the lamp is supposed to be in the series, the anime is about a noblewoman who was executed at the stake by her husband. However, she wakes up in our world and wants to make up for her past mistakes and becomes a doctor who is considered an absolute genius. She is so talented that she rescues every injured passenger after an airplane crash without having any tools. In the end, however, she dies from her own injuries, only to wake up again shortly before her engagement! In order to really make up for her mistakes and prevent all the suffering she had to witness in her first life, she does her best to break off the engagement and become a doctor here too.

I have a few problems with the series. I've already mentioned that the pacing seems slightly off. Halfway through, she's still engaged and still not recognized as a doctor, while at the same time she's undergone dozens of surgeries (or the like), all of which we get to see within the few episodes. This makes the show feel rushed when it's about her work as a doctor and too slow when it's about royal diplomacy.
Apart from that, the characters all come across as flat or unsympathetic. The king, for example, allows himself to be influenced too much by his minister and thus comes across as stupid and an asshole, as he makes life difficult for the protagonist even though he made her a promise. Everyone else often only appears very briefly and simply befriends her or falls in love with her, without much backstory or similar. There seems to be some backstory, because stuff is hinted at again and again, but the hints aren't enough to give the characters any depth.

Conclusion: Uff - why am I still watching this? The series somehow has a charm that I can hardly describe and that makes me curious about the next episodes, even though I could hardly stand the previous ones.

Edit: I've now seen the series all the way through and decided that I can leave this review as it is. The biggest problem with the series is the intrigue part, which I can only describe as strange. I admit that it has potential, but the way it's implemented is annoying 90% of the time. The last 10% concerns the finale, which took a step back from the doctors' part and focused more on the intrigue, making for a thoroughly interesting finale, even if the rather open ending is annoying.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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