History AdaptationalAttractiveness / AnimeAndManga

*** Valjean is a [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bc/4f/d5/bc4fd5f4a46799f19a02669af4dfe6cb.jpg short and stocky old man]] in the book and even the previous anime [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/9e3ceaae7a1026860ba79350c3cff45c/tumblr_inline_pa1zbnIPAb1ttsu6g_1280.jpg depicted him as old]]. In Takahiro's version Valjean is a [[https://img.mghubcdn.com/file/imghub/les-miserables-arai-takahiro/5/29.jpg tall and handsome]] [[ShonenDemographic Shōnen]] Hero-esque hunk of man, whom is still attractive even when he's [[https://www.bedetheque.com/media/Couvertures/Couv_270663.jpg grey haired]]. Not to mention Valjean's appearance when he was young which was described as "sluggish and insignificant", whereas in the manga he's an [[https://img.mghubcdn.com/file/imghub/les-miserables-arai-takahiro/1/6.jpg utter pretty boy]].

* In ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'', Anne has [[https://g.christianbook.com/g/slideshow/1/153277/main/153277_1_ftc.jpg unflattering appearance]] with a small face covered in freckles and she constantly bemoans her looks throughout the series. In the 1979 ''Anime/WorldMasterpieceTheater'', she's an [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZGI3MWVlYzMtZDAyNC00MzczLWE0MDQtMjJhZGEwOTg3ZDFiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxMTY0OTQ@._V1_.jpg adorable Miyazaki-esque girl,]][[note]]which makes sense, given that the anime was storyboarded by [[Creator/HayaoMiyazaki the man]] himself[[/note]] making her complaints about her appearance even more ridiculous. Her adoptive guardians Marilla and Matthew are also nicer-looking and younger than they were described in the book. Of course, the majority of book illustrations depict Anne as attractive as well.

* In ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'', Anne has [[https://g.christianbook.com/g/slideshow/1/153277/main/153277_1_ftc.jpg unflattering appearance]] with a small face covered in freckles and she constantly bemoans her looks throughout the series. In the 1979 ''Anime/WorldMasterpieceTheater'', she's an [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZGI3MWVlYzMtZDAyNC00MzczLWE0MDQtMjJhZGEwOTg3ZDFiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxMTY0OTQ@._V1_.jpg adorable Miyazaki-esque girl,]] making her complaints about her appearance even more ridiculous. Her adoptive guardians Marilla and Matthew are also nicer-looking and younger than they were described in the book. Of course, the majority of book illustrations depict Anne as attractive as well.

* Neko Musume from ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro'' is a strong example. In the original series, she looks like a potato with a bowl cut and a mouth full of needle-like fangs. In the 2007 anime, she's a conventionally attractive young redhead. In the 2018 series, [[MsFanservice she looks like]] the character designer was trying to stay true to Shigeru Mizuki's original artistic techniques by doing everything [[ADateWithRosiePalms with only one arm]].

* ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' has an odd variant of this in Reigen. Though his actual character design is no different from the original manga (though his proportions are more consistent), he's often shot in the fashion of a MrFanservice, his mannerisms further this, and sequences involving him have a noticeable AnimationBump. The closest way to describe it is that he's still accurate to the original, but he's drawn to be as attractive as possible without looking inaccurate.

* ''Anime/{{Wolverine}}'': Logan is even younger and prettier than he is in the ''other Anime/MarvelAnime series,'' and ''they'' are subject to the Creator/HughJackman effect (see Film) and the way the character has gotten ProgressivelyPrettier. The result is a Wolverine that comics fans would have a hard time recognizing.
* In the ''ComicBook/XMen'' comics, Mastermind is a gaunt, middle-aged man who used his telepathy to disguise himself as a younger, handsome man in "ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga". In the ''Anime/XMen'' anime, the handsome form ''is'' his true form, best seen when [[spoiler: Emma Frost is in diamond form, which blocks her telepathy and shields her from the powers of other telepaths, sees through Mastermind's disguise as "Jun"]].

* Happens to Ruiko Saten from ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun''. In the manga she's short, rather plain, and flat-chested. In the anime she is taller, has a figure, and is overall much prettier.
** Shinobu Nunotaba, much more jarringly, was very creepy-looking in the manga, but was changed into an attractive woman in the second season of the anime.

* In the film versions of ''Manga/DeathNote'', the character of L, originally designed to be dishevelled and unattractive (but ''[[SpringtimeForHitler still]]'' gained a number of fangirls) is played by the rather handsome Creator/KenichiMatsuyama. And then we have the TV drama version, which not only has L played by the very cute Kento Yamazaki, but gives him a ShowerScene as well. The [[Film/DeathNote2017 American remake]] continues this trend, casting the handsome Creator/LakeithStanfield as L. This goes a step further, since the American L doesn't even sport the perpetually tired and disheveled appearance of his predecessors.
* The ''[[Anime/DeltoraQuest Deltora Quest anime]]'' (and the preceding manga by Makoto Niwano) gives this treatment to several characters from Creator/EmilyRodda's ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' books:

** Fuuko from ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheWindmasters'', loosely based on a manga short called "Typhoon Fuuko", who went from a cyclone-{{cyclops}} with barely any features (save for a single floating eye) to becoming a fluffy, living pile of sentient cotton candy. She (confirmed to be a girl in the remake, unlike AmbiguousGender original) even gets a cuter appearance when Doraemon puts her into a costume-making machine, looking like a chibi dragon-cat CartoonAnimal.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':

* Kariya Matou from ''LightNovel/FateZero'' has a hideously disfigured left side of his face as a result of the crest worms in his body. The anime adaptation toned it down a bit, however; he now looks like he's just somewhat scarred, but not half as much as he's supposed to be.

* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'':

** Ed, while not ugly at all in the manga, doesn't quite have the same sort of facial structure as his [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga counterpart]] originally did; it's less square, which makes him look prettier. While Ed in the manga and second anime hits a growth spurt eventually, towering over Winry, in the anime he becomes taller by TheMovie but is barely taller than his biologically thirteen-year-old brother, despite the fact that he's 18-19 (the movie takes place 2 years after the series). He isn't even Winry's height.

* Chief Aramaki from ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell''. In the original manga, which was more of an action-comedy, he's drawn as a cartoon Japanese Macaque wearing a three-piece suit. In the more serious movie version, he's more realistic-looking but still has a slightly monkeyish face. By the time ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' rolls around, he's actually quite handsome for an old guy. ''Anime/GhostInTheShellArise'' dials this back somewhat and has him looking closer to the movie version, though. In [[{{Film/GhostInTheShell2017}} the 2017 American live-action film]], he's played by Creator/TakeshiKitano, who is HollywoodHomely at worst.

* Played with in the ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' adaptations: few, if any, appearances were outright changed in the initial TV run (before the plot took a [[GeckoEnding sharp left turn]] from the manga), but they got rid of the chibi and other off-model moments, as well as far fewer disturbing expressions and [[SlasherSmile evil grins]] from most everyone except for Alucard himself; even he had some of his inherent horror toned down. Then along comes ''Hellsing Ultimate'', which takes all those factors and puts them right back in, with a vengeance.

* ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** ''Manga/PhantomBlood'':

** ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'':

** Similarly to Mariah, Yoshikage Kira from ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'' is already attractive in the manga. But whereas his face in the manga is more skeletal, his face in the anime is a lot more chiseled.

* Downplayed in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom''. Anne has a large burn scar on her back in the original light novel, while the anime moved it to her arm and made it a lot smaller. This was probably so it'd be easier for the audience to see when getting into the details of her backstory without having to come up with an excuse for her to take off her outfit (given that the series doesn't really have any fanservice).
* ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'':
** In the DistantFinale of the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' anime and manga, Temari is still attractive as an adult but has noticeably aged and has wrinkles. Her appearance in ''Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie'' makes her look several years younger despite taking place several years ''after'' the epilogue. This redesign is also used in the spinoff series ''Manga/{{Boruto}}''.

* The ''Franchise/OnePiece'' ''Advertising/HungryDays'' ads makes every single character (from a large cast, mind you) supremely attractive compared to the main series. Among the Straw Hats [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTF6erqa5wmjtojZwVAnvoPe3x27W39tuR2MA&usqp=CAU Usopp]], [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ3xskzJIzFFnB4W3Ep2St5B-8icWP0R8xVWQ&usqp=CAU Franky]] and [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7c/53/35/7c5335bec97c50916b5baddb6ae1d42e.png Brook]] are much more conventionally attractive (although in Brook's case it helps that [[DemBones he's not a skeleton]]). The ads also make Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Vivi and Robin even more better looking than they already were, with Luffy, Zoro and Sanji becoming outright pretty.
** Even '''Blackbeard!''' One of the most {{Gonk}} characters got [[https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b0/6b/be/b06bbe9c0a2b4d1aaaac4e601f90a5f8.jpg a handsome makeover]].

** Charles in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is an out of shape biker with a scruffy face. In ''Best Wishes'', he is a slender pretty boy - and a [[{{Toku}} superhero]]!

* The anime and novel designs don't transition much between attractiveness levels in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', but Zelgadis' design in the original novels, while not ugly, can be a bit unsettling to look at, even devilish. In the anime, on the other hand, he's ridiculously pretty, even though, as a chimera, he technically ''shouldn't'' be. Also, [[ThePollyanna Amelia]] looks younger and more [[{{Moe}} round-faced]] in the anime than in the novels.

* ''Franchise/YokaiWatch'''s usage of this trope is lampshaded in ''Anime/YokaiWatchShadowsideTheReturnOfTheOniKing''. When Natsume and Akinori meet Enma, the Buddhist gatekeeper of hell, they're surprised to see he's a young-looking PrettyBoy. Enma just says that they know an older representation of him.

* ''Manga/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms1971'' portrays Dong Zhuo as a lean fellow, rather than the FatBastard as he was in ''[[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms the novel]]''.

* ''Anime/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' portrays Dong Zhuo as a lean fellow, rather than the FatBastard as he was in ''[[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms the novel]]''.

* The anime of ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'' shifts Kyrie from being a pretty boy to cute, though he's still recognizable and other characters look more or less identical to their [[VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction game]] counterparts. The [[Manga/SandsOfDestruction manga]], on the other hand, gives the characters a complete makeover; male characters [[DudeLooksLikeALady become pretty enough to be women]] and female characters [[BuxomIsBetter double their bra size]] (perhaps to better differentiate them from the exceptionally pretty men).

** Scar is younger in the 2003 [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist anime]].

*** Valjean is a [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bc/4f/d5/bc4fd5f4a46799f19a02669af4dfe6cb.jpg short and stocky old man]] in the book and even the previous anime [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/9e3ceaae7a1026860ba79350c3cff45c/tumblr_inline_pa1zbnIPAb1ttsu6g_1280.jpg depicted him as old]]. In Takahiro's version Valjean is a [[https://mangafreereadonline.com/img2/file/imghub/les-miserables-arai-takahiro/5/29.jpg tall and handsome]] [[ShonenDemographic Shōnen]] Hero-esque hunk of man, whom is still attractive even when he's [[https://www.bedetheque.com/media/Couvertures/Couv_270663.jpg grey haired]]. Not to mention Valjean's appearance when he was young which was described as "sluggish and insignificant", whereas in the manga he's an [[https://img.mghubcdn.com/file/imghub/les-miserables-arai-takahiro/1/6.jpg utter pretty boy]].

* The live-action adaptation of ''Manga/NanaToKaoru''. The short and ugly Kaoru was transformed into an average-height, moderately attractive young man; moreover, the actress playing Nana is ''shorter''.

*** Javert is described as having an [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Javert.jpg unpleasant brutish ever scowling face]] in the book and ''Shōjo Cosette'' depicted him as [[https://cdn.myanimelist.net/r/360x360/images/characters/12/277541.jpg?s=7c17a155edeadd48e0bc13ebe7f3a67b ugly]] as well. In Takahiro's manga while he's still intimating in the manga [[https://static.mangajar.com/pages/2653/207170/AsxXbywhBBjAMVOGNId9g2AFDuSLBpAkaXYocQLa.jpg he's still far less ugly and looks more like a gentleman]] with lighter hair which covers one eye. Possibly justified as he and Valjean appear to be same age in this version.

** Jasmine in the books is very unkempt-looking, with wild, messy hair ([[JunglePrincess she grew up in a forest]]) and a small face with slanting brows and green eyes. While Jasmine does have a CleansUpNicely moment while disguised in ''Maze of the Beast'', she's generally not considered beautiful, [[spoiler: at least before she becomes queen]]. In the anime, Jasmine is [[https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/qabqur9Py2CKADSVKOPTtba01Z9.jpg gorgeous]] even when not dolled up. The DS game even removes Jasmine's messy hair, giving her [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EFOxwKDVAAAM4Yx.png:small silky]] RapunzelHair instead.