How The Ancient Magus Bride Subverts Tropes of the Anime Heroine

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To say thatThe Ancient Magus Bride was a breath of fresh air for fantasy in anime may be an understatement. In a medium flooded withthe isekai genre, having a genuine fantasy, even if it is the kind that exists in secret underneath the modern world à la Harry Potter, stand out is a feat unto itself. But more than just introducing fresh takes on folk tales and mythologies interwoven into a believable world of magic, The Ancient Magus Bride's heroine, Chise Hatori, was one who was not only not often seen in fantasy anime, but who also seemed to subvert many of the usual tropes her character would normally possess.

It's worthy to note that the original mangaka, Kore Yamazaki, was inspired by the story of «Beauty and the Beast», the only disappointment being that the beast always turns human again at the end. In essence, The Ancient Magus Bride is a subversion all on its own, in that the beast starts as a beast and always remains a beast. Finding inner beauty means accepting what's on the outside as well as the inside, rather than having the outside changed as a «reward» for finding that inner beauty. As for Chise herself, as fantasy anime heroines go, she was appreciably complex and very different in terms of what's expected of her character archetype.

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In the first place, the obvious: she's not half-clothed and buxom, like Lena Inverse in Slayers for example. In fact, she's never placed in any sexual context. Romantic yes, but even then, it's an innocent, asexual sort. Even to call it romance is stretching it. The closest instance was perhaps her introduction, where Chise was shown having sold herself into slavery in the underground magical world market. However,