Medicine and Fantasy: An Interview with Doctor Elise Manhwa Artist Mini

It's getting more common for anime series to seek inspiration outside of its traditional seedbeds of manga and light novels. In recent years, we've seen a rise in the number of series based on Korean properties, primarily webtoons serialized on sites like Tapas, Lehzin, and Webtoon, among others. One of these series is Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp, a story loosely based on events in mid-19th century Britain and drawing inspiration from Florence Nightingale, the original “lady with the lamp,” as she was called by soldiers in Crimea recovering in her hospital ward. The series originates as a novel by Yuin, and artist Mini has been adapting it since 2017 as a full-color manhwa, serialized on Tapas, with a total of ten collected volumes. The anime barely has the chance to scratch the surface of this fascinating story, so when we had the chance to sit down with Mini to discuss her work, we took it.

First of all, thank you very much for agreeing to talk with us. We're really delighted.

Mini: Thank you. It's my pleasure, too.

Did you have to do any research for the medical aspects of Doctor Elise? What kind of research was that?

Mini: I actually got a lot of help from the original creator of the novel, Yuin, because they are a doctor themself. Yuin gave me a lot of references. For example, they gave me all the information about the actual procedures of a surgery and the locations of organs as well. Yuin also provided video references, so I can actually look it up for creating this, and also a lot of other reference materials from overseas, too. Then, before we actually released this, we made sure that we have Yuin review everything.

How did you decide how much detail about the medical procedures to go into in the art?

Mini: Since I'm not a doctor myself, it was difficult for me to make that call. Yuin actually helped out in deciding which procedures can actually be omitted, which are not necessary to include in the webtoon.

Do you have a favorite character in the series?

Mini: I would have to pick Elise, the female lead. I really like the reason why she decided to study medicine, and I like the fact that she's a very proactive character.

The king can come across as a very unsympathetic character, at least to Western viewers. Is that a fair way to view him? Or is he more of a good king and father trying to do the best for his country and his son?

Mini: I don't necessarily think that he is a mean or unsympathetic person. Rather, I think it's because of his position that he had to consider many different things. And because of that, in a way, he had multiple sides, and he had to consider many different things in his position as king.

Why do you think that Elise was reborn as Jihyeon after her first life? Was she supposed to learn a lesson, or was it just the result of her past actions dictating that she suffer in her next life?

Mini: People might say it's karma, and it's easy to say it's a result of karma, but, in my opinion, it's more like a new opportunity given to Elise as Jihyeon. As a matter of fact, she did make a lot of effort to actually save more people and do good in her next life. So I'd say that it was a new opportunity given to Elise as Jihyeon.

What do you think the greatest impact being Jihyeon had on Elise? Was it necessary for her to experience the modern world in order to save her past?

Mini: I think it's a combination of the advanced medical technology and the knowledge of medicine that she acquired, as well as her increased power and capabilities. Because in the past, as Elise de Clorence, there were a lot of things that she couldn't do on her own under the protection of her family. So, I think it's the combination of those two things.

What do you think Elise's greatest strength is as a character? Is it something that was in her all along and she just needed to learn how to access it within herself?

Mini: I think her biggest capability is the same as the charm that she has. The biggest charm that she has is that the strength and the goodness in her were enhanced after making a lot of effort herself, and she decided to use it for good. She decided to use it in a good way. Of course, in her first life, she was a villainess, but I do believe that deep inside, she always had that within her, and she found a way to take that and use it for the good of people.

On a different note, are there any challenges to adapting a novel into manhwa, and what are they?

Mini: I think this is a challenge faced by a lot of other creators of webtoons and manhwa as well when they're adapting a novel. Whenever we are creating a scene where they're sitting down and having a long conversation, or there is a long section of explanation, we need to figure out a way to draw the panels in the best way possible and also to make sure that we provide various different angles so that it doesn't look too plain or bland. I would say that's one of the biggest challenges that we have.

One of the ways it seems like you work around or with that is in the dresses that the women wear in the series. They're all very unique. How did you decide to design the costumes? Did you want Elise's and Julianne's clothing choices to tell the audience something about their personalities? Did you have any specific inspirations?

Mini: So as for Elise, although she's strong inside, she's very soft on the outside. So I try to dress her in lighter color clothes, whereas, for Julianne, there are much stronger silhouettes and color palettes for her. As for Linden, because he has many different sides, I try to use both dark and strong colors as well as soft colors. I actually majored in design in college, and so I put extra effort into what colors should be used in each of those outfits.

How did you feel when you learned that Doctor Elise was going to be turned into an anime? Did you have any concerns?

Mini: When I first heard about the discussions about making it into an anime series, for a month I was actually in disbelief. I didn't really think that it was actually going to happen because I know that there's just a lot of effort by a lot of people that has to be put in, both time and human resources as well as financial resources are required. And so it was difficult for me to believe it. I would say that I was just thankful and grateful for the opportunity for this to be turned into an animated series, and I really didn't have any concerns about it.

How do you feel about where they had to end the story in the animated version? Obviously, they couldn't adapt the whole thing, but were you happy with where they had to stop?

Mini: When they were adapting the scenario and the script for the animation, they actually gave me an opportunity to review that. I could tell that the producers of the anime had a lot of affection for all the characters and that they did their best to actually show the charms of each of the characters in the animated series, too. And so, all in all, I think the ending actually captured the charms of the characters in its own way. I was happy with the fact that the anime version had its own way of portraying the characters in their best light. And so because of that, although shorter, the animation, I think, had a very clean and nice ending.

Finally, do you have anything that you would like to say to your English-speaking readers?

Mini: I'm actually very grateful for this opportunity to be able to communicate with the English language readers of my work. And every time I hear that my work is actually quite popular among an English language audience, I'm very thankful that they like it. And so, please continue to support my work going forward.

Thank you so much for agreeing to speak with us.

Mini: Likewise, thank you for the opportunity and thank you for the wonderful questions as well.