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Beast and Beauty in Anime & Manga.


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  • The Ancient Magus' Bride: Chise who's a Human and fairly pretty Sleigh Beggy and her fiance and magic teacher Ellias whose a deer-headed demon-like fae.
  • Angel Densetsu: The teenager Seiichirou Kitano is a Friend to All Living Things, but has such a creepy, demonic face that everybody takes him for an Omnicidal Maniac, and his naivety only makes the misunderstanding worse. Koiso Ryoko is a beautiful girl skilled in martial arts and deadset into defeating Kitano in a duel until she realizes he is a good person. The trope is repeated with Kitano's parents (he takes after his father and his mom is gorgeous), who are Happily Married.
  • Anima, by Fran Brigs e Anna Giovannini, is a very curious Brazilian manga that rewrites the plot of Disney's film. Damaran, the beast, won his fortune by robbering but that cost him his humanity. Belle, a.k.a. Amadeus, is a Hooker with a Heart of Gold exploited by her roomate Cleo (Maurice's counterpart), a very feisty transwoman that has the brilliant idea of looting Damaran’s castle to pay her debts with a loan shark - the Big Bad, since Gaston and Le Fou's counterparts are Amadeus' only true friends in town. Ah, and Damaran's subordinates are humans.
  • Appleseed: Briareos and Deunan. Briareos is a rather large and unmistakable cyborg (what with the eight eyes and literal rabbit-ear antennae), although they began their relationship before he got shot up and turned into a big metal man. Notably, despite his mechanical form, they apparently still are able to continue their relationship as normal. Yes, even that.
  • Assassination Classroom: Aguri, a beautiful, compassionate teacher, formed an emotional connection with an amoral assassin known as the God of Death, who was being cruelly experimented on by her abusive fiancé. He started out being physically attractive, but the experiments transformed him into a bizarre tentacle monster. Even so, Aguri treated him with kindness and became the only person he could talk to, and gradually, he began to see the light and regret his past actions. Her tragic death cemented it, and he decided to honor her final request and look after her students, completeting a Heel–Face Turn and becoming Koro-sensei, the Cool Teacher we know and love.
  • Baccano!: Played with for Ladd and Lua. Sure, psychotically violent Ladd's gonna make sure nobody touches his girl, but only because he wants to be the one to kill her. Lua is disturbingly okay with this.
  • Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost is a very dark and twisted retelling of the fairy tale. Belle believes she is ugly because she grew up hearing that from her deranged father, who blamed her for the death of her mother. The Beast is an arrogant, cynical jerkass , but he saves her life, encourages Belle to be more assertive and to overcome her trauma, thus she sees the good in him as much as he denies it.
  • Belle (2021) : a non-romantic example, although it is clearly inspired on Disney’s movie. Belle is the Secret Identity of Suzu Naito, a girl who is only able to sing in the virtual world known as "U" because of a childhood trauma. The Dragon is a dirty fighter persecuted by a virtual posse whose leader is basically Gaston with different looks. Sensing in the Dragon a great pain, Belle obsesses into knowing who he is and helping him.
  • Chrono Crusade:
    • Chrono's a demon with a terrifying amount of power, and Rosette is a blond, petite nun that keeps him in check. Surely they're an example of this trope, right? Except that Chrono has a gentle, emotional, loving personality, while Rosette is loud, Hot-Blooded, violent, and overall a loose cannon. There are some signs of the archetypes there—Rosette getting hurt will get Chrono really angry, and Rosette IS a very kind person despite her temper—there's definitely a stark contrast between these two and the typical portrayal.
    • Played much, much straighter with Chrono and Mary Magdalene. When Chrono met Mary, he was either a loner coping with survivor's guilt and Unstoppable Rage (manga version) or a rebellious demon who is mentioned using a woman for pleasure and discarding her when she became "boring" (anime version). Mary, however, is a pure, holy saint with ingenue qualities whose gentle nature convinces Chrono to give humans a chance.
  • DARLING in the FRANXX has a gender-flipped example between Hiro and Zero Two. When Zero Two was younger, she was a Cute Monster Girl who fell in love with a normal boy. Moreover, her favorite picture book during her childhood was a fairy tale about a monster/beast princess who fell in love with a handsome prince.
  • Death Note:
    • Rem and Misa have a same-sex version of this dynamic. Misa is the first and only human Rem regards highly and she's willing to disregard shinigami law for her sake. Tragically subverted in that Misa doesn't appear to care that much about her and lets Light manipulate her as he pleases.
    • There's also Misa with Gelus, a Shinigami who fell in love with her and began to observe her from the Shinigami Realm. Gelus was small, ugly, and knew that Misa didn't know he existed or that she would ever love him. When he sees her approaching death through a crazed, stalking fan, Gelus writes the fan's name in the Death Note and saves Misa's life, but dies himself because he broke a Shinigami's rule. While Rem tells Misa of this story, Misa finds the idea romantic.
  • D.Gray-Man: Krory and Eliade. While Krory isn't ugly, he's vampire-like, has a feral and bloodthirsty Split Personality, and everyone in the village he lives in sees him as a monster. Eliade, on the other hand, is a beautiful woman who loves him despite what he is. Subverted, as it turns out Krory is a human with Innocence in his teeth that makes him thirst for Akuma blood, and Eliade is an Akuma who hopes Krory's love will redeem her.
  • Dorohedoro: Kaiman and Nikaido. One is a lizard-headed guy, the other is a beautiful blonde. Aside from that, the usual underpinnings of the trope are defied, as both of them are cheery, tough bruisers whose relationship never gets romantic.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • Played with Bulma and Vegeta. Although Vegeta is far from being ugly, he starts as a genocide monster who terminated life in several planets because his Bad Boss Freeza told him so or just For the Evulz, before he learned better. Bulma, by her turn, is a beautiful but futile scientist and the only person in the universe able to boss Vegeta around, probably because she is as self-centered and Hot-Blooded as him. It takes years, a Face–Heel Turn, a Heroic Sacrifice and a magical ressurrection for him to admit he cares about Bulma and their son... but yes, they truly love each other, and show that more openly in Dragonball Super.
    • There's also Broly and Cheelai, from 2018 Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Like his original counterpart, retcon Broly has an impressive physique and almost infinite powers. And, although he doesn't get to be a psychopath like the former, he has no social skills or mental stability, having been raised in a planet full of beasts by Paragus, his abusive dad, who controls him with a shock collar. Cheelai is a good-natured thief that enlisted Freeza's troops to escape from galactic police and the first person to treat Broly with kindness. He protects her from a drunk; she listens to him, stands ground against Paragus and steals the control of the shock collar. Later, she saves Broly from Gogeta by wishing him back into Planet Vampa... and goes to live with him. So, it's more him that brings the best out of her than the other way around.
  • Fruits Basket: Played with through Kyo and Tohru. While he's technically a human that turns into a cat when embraced by members of the opposite sex, Kyo's "true" form is actually a monster. Furthermore, Kyo tends to consider himself a monster even when he's fully human.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist has a non-romantic subversion in Gluttony and Lust. Gluttony is the Homunculi's Dumb Muscle and has a lot of trouble getting through the day without someone telling him what to do; Lust is the brains and provides the orders that the big lug needs. The subversion comes from the fact that Lust is by far the more evil of the two, being a Card-Carrying Villain and Dark Action Girl who gets her kicks by hurting people, while Gluttony is an Obliviously Evil dopey Anti-Villain. She does keep him focused though, and hurting her will without a doubt make him go One-Winged Angel.
    • The manga/Brotherhood has also Alphonse Elric and Mai Chang, in a platonic basis. He is a soul attached to a huge, empty armor. As such, he's very strong, but also a Bruiser with a Soft Center dedicated to protect all life. She is a stubborn, reckless 13 years old girl master in martial arts, who dreamed into meeting Edward because she heard he was tall and handsome. Disappointed with Ed's true appearance, she transfers her interest to Al after he says he's taller than his brother (in his human form), but comes to love him because of his kindness.
  • Grimms Manga: The first chapter has a short but cute retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. A wolf cub - a boy with wolf ears, tail and fangs - is told by his father that, to become an entire wolf, he has to eat a virgin - specifically, a little girl. He falls for Red, she saves him from the Hunter and he decides to protect her. That is more than an enough to give him the power of transforming into a big, intimidating wolf, whenever he wants.
  • Hayate × Blade has Ensuu, described as a "beast" even in canon, and her partner Meiko (She's definitely far from ugly). Subverted in that Ensuu appears to be more Blood Knight than mindless animal, and that Meiko is actually a Manipulative Bitch.
  • Hyper Police: Tommy is a werewolf pretty much permanently stuck in wolf form, and deeply in love with Peau, a human woman. Though she rejects him at first, eventually they date, become a couple, and even have children. A lot of children.
  • Inuyasha:
    • Inuyasha and Kagome, although it seems most of the good demons in that series are beautiful and the bad ones are Body Horrors at best. Inuyasha is typically violent as the 'beast' (claws included) while Kagome is the kind, more open-hearted 'beauty.'
      • Gender flipped by the parents of the Thunder brothers.
      • There 's also Tsukiyomi and Hoshiyomi. She was a strong-willed priestess and he is a handsome but arrogant demon who changed his name in tribute to her. According to him, Tsukiyomi was the only one able to tame his "savage heart" but, after her death, he quickly reverts to his old, violent ways.
  • Jujutsu Kaisen: Yuta's relationship with Rika is a gender-flipped example, and a twisted one at that. They were childhood friends who promised to marry each other when they grow up until Rika died in a car accident. Yuta unwittingly cursed Rika's spirit, causing her to become a cursed spirit. She becomes violently protective of him, and eventually they use their Power of Love to defeat Geto. Upon being released from her curse, Rika tells Yuta that she was happy being by his side (and arguably more so after her original death).
  • Kaiju Girl Caramelise tells the story of Arata Minami, a Nice Guy and a popular Chick Magnet, dating Kuroe Akaishi, a shy, socially awkward Creepy Loner Girl who occasionally transforms into a Kaiju known as Harugon whenever she gets too emotional. It's played with, as Kuroe is rather pretty in her human form (not that she thinks so herself), and no one but Kuroe and her mother Rinko know that she and Harugon are the same person.
  • Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits: The plot is basically a cross between Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Spirited Away. Aoi Tsubaki is a kind, assertive high-school student kidnapped by Odanna, an attractive but cynical oger from the Hidden Realm. It happens that Aoi's late grandfather offered her as a bride to Odanna to pay his debts with him. Aoi, however, negotiates to pay it by cooking by and working in his establishment. Of course they gradually warm up to each other, with Odanna never losing an opportunity of trying to convince Aoi to marry him, but she resists.
  • Kamisama Kiss: Nanami and Tomoe. Nanami is a sweet teenage girl who inadvertently becomes the new Land God of Mikage Shrine and gains Tomoe, a ruthless fox-demon, as a familiar who isn't too fond of taking orders from her. Naturally, they start becoming attracted to each other.
    • Gender-flipped with the fish princess Himemiko in the manga. She met the clumsy human Urashima Kotarou when he was a kid and asks Nanami's help her to see him again, but is afraid that he'll be scared of her fishy face (no pun intended). Nanami and Tomoe help her to disguise as a human girl, but Kotarou (who can't remember her) is so overwhelmed by anxiety and shyness that abandons Himemiko in a park, until he notices two delinquents harasing her. That and a little (literal) push from Nanami are enough to make him go back to her.
  • Kill la Kill: Gamagoori is a humungous, muscled, intimidating, strictly-by-the-book member of the Absurdly Powerful Student Council, while Mako is a cheerful, clueless, optimistic non-star student who lives in the slums. Along the series, he develops a crush on her, much for his colleagues' amusement, although Mako is completely unaware of that.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016) upgrades Link and Midna from Fire-Forged Friends with Ship Tease to a full-on romance. Despite gender, comparative size, and a "beast" transformation of his own, it's Link who serves as the Beauty to Midna's Beast, in both role and appearance.
  • Mermaid Saga: In one chapter, Mana is kidnapped by a man who consumed mermaid flesh and turned into a monster. Unlike most people who this happens to, he keeps his human mind...usually. While Mana pities him, he still has a breakdown and attacks her and Yuuta has to kill him. He gets his human mind back as he dies, and Mana comforts him.
  • Monster: Roberto is a Beast in every sense possible, not exactly the most handsome of men, psychopathically violent, and capable of great rage and destruction without a doubt. Naturally, he deserves a Beauty and he gets the Beauty he deserves: the angelically beautiful and terrifyingly amoral Johan. From a certain perspective, Johan definitely brings out the best in him. Unfortunately for Roberto, this is a subversion, as his love for Johan is one-sided due to Johan being completely inhuman.
  • Sacrificial Princess & the King of Beasts: Sariphi is a brave, optimistic girl offered in sacrifice to the king of a land of "beasts" (anthropomorphic animals). Impressed by her absence of fear, the king not only spares her life but also decides to make her his queen, much for the court's dismay.
  • Samurai Champloo: In the second episode, Mugen is hired to kill an ogre that is terrifying the locals, but it is a trap set by Ryujiro, who also kidnaps Fuu. She is watched by Oniwakamaru, the "ogre", who is actually a huge, simple-minded man that endured a life of abuse because of his ugliness. Fuu pities him, even after he tells her he killed a lot of people (in self-defense). Mugen comes to the rescue, but he was poisoned by a prostitute in cahoots with Ryujiro, so Oniwakamaru defeats him easily, apparently killing the ronin. Ryujiro decides to kill Fuu For the Evulz, but Oniwakamaru breaks his neck before Mugen backstabs him. Fuu asks the fallen giant why he saved her and he says "You were not afraid of me. I'm not alone anymore," and dies watching the fireflies Fuu showed him minutes ago.
  • Slayers: In one episode of Slayers TRY, the heroes help out a fish woman (read: giant talking fish with arms and legs) who's in a relationship with a human man against her father's wishes get components for a potion that can supposedly help them out. It doesn't work, because although she gets turned into a human, he becomes a fish man!
  • Spider Riders: Played with with Buguese and Aqune. Even if Buguese is the most humanoid Insector, he's still not exactly... human. First, we have the setup of Aqune willingly staying in the Insector castle, giving up any better life she could have had. Aqune is the gentle, nurturing, empathetic one. She tries to see the good in everyone. Buguese is the brooding, cynical, angry one. Despite his hate for humans, it's very clear he has a soft spot for Aqune. Freeing her is the last thing he does before confronting Mantid, which he expects will kill him.
  • Violinist of Hameln: Hamel might be very handsome and look nearly angelical at times (though it takes a while for the manga artwork to reflect this fact), but, being the son of the Demon King means he has a god-awful-looking alternate monster form he slips into whenever he loses his mind (though it can look compelling in the hands of the right artist). He's also a jerkish brat who puts on an arrogant façade to push people away. Also, kind, cute Flute is the one who not only turns him back into his human form, but also the one who coaxes him into slooooowly dropping the Jerkass 'tude.
  • Watashi No Ookami Kun: Downplayed with Ookami Yuu and Kusokogi Kougi. Yuu is member of a foster family composed by boys with habilities of turning into animals (cat, fox, etc, nothing too big); he is the wolf, although he spends most part of the manga as a human. Interestingly enough, Yuu is popular and a Chick Magnet, while Komugi is socially awkward because of a traumatic experience in her previous school. Not that he doesn't have issues of his own.

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