The Apothecary Diaries (薬屋のひとりごと) is a 24 episode historical anime based on the light novel series of the same name by Hyuga Natsu. The anime aired during the Fall of 2023 and the Spring of 2024.
Maomao finds herself kidnapped and sold into servitude at one of the Imperial compounds. She is the son of a lowly apothecary who grew up on the outskirts of the red-light district, under the watch of the woman who work in a particular brothel. Maomao understands that her existence isn't worth a second thought in her new environment and is content keeping her head down and suffering through her two years of captivity, working as a lowly washer girl. When the top concubine consorts for the Emperor begin to fall ill, with one of them loosing their young child, Maomao's training at the hands of her father kick in. Her attempts to remain anonymous as she leaves out clues to the cause of the illnesses/deaths unravels as one of the Emperors top Eunuchs finds her out. Jinshi is the highest authority in the rear palace, where all the Imperial consorts are housed and commands equal parts respect and envy. Even though he is a eunuch, he is remarkably handsome and suave, causing all of the women and some of the mens hearts to flutter at his mere presence.
Through crafty analysis he susses out Maomao as the guardian angel who pointed out the whitening makeup all the women wear as the culprit for the illnesses. She was familiar with its poisonous properties from her time in the brothels. After some further investigating, Jinshi learns that Maomao caries a multitude of skills that can be beneficial in other areas of the rear palace. She has been obsessed with poisons since a young girl and has built up a deep knowledge on the subject and an amount o resistance to them...seeking them out intentionally as if addicted to their negative effects. Maomao finds herself forced into the position of a lady in waiting for one of the top 4 consorts, one who is struggling to overcome the illness. While at first unwelcome by the other women of the house, she quickly demonstrates her deep knowledge and abilities. News of her continued exploits reach Jinshi who begins to rely on her to present an outsiders perspective on seeming frequent mysteries among the palace's residents. Her natural curiosity, confidence in observation and unusual studies make her known more and more, causing her to regret all of her choices, loosing her easy life as a slave, wanting just to return to her father.
I have usually don't find interest in historical anime, particularly historical Chinese ones, having zero interest in Chinese imperial court drama's. While this is not actually feudal China, its close enough to be irrelevant. The thing that kept me watching the story, especially through the first half of its initial run, was Maomao's personality and the randomly injected humor. By all means, this could have been a dour historical melodrama but the sprinkled in super deform/comedic aspects frequently broke the ice. Maomao is by no means the subservient maiden. Her childhood growing up among the sex workers and destitute residents of the slums made her a realist. She respects the need to observe societal norms, but only does so out of self preservation. She is wilful, independent and confident. The only reason she becomes wrapped in the levels of intrigue she does is due to her uncontrollable curiosity.
That said, I really did not enjoy the episodic problem of the week formula of the first half of the series. The conclusions of them did sometimes surprise me with their creativity and unpredictable nature. What really sealed the enjoyment of the series was how the back half of the second part began to wrap everything that has transpired into one larger story. The artwork wan't too bad, even if some of the character designs were a little out of realism. IN the end, with everything wrapped together as well as it was, I don't regret watching the entire first season and eagerly await the continuation and some actual romance developing between Maomao and Jinshi. A short side note as well, I was very pleased with how the characterization of someone who was portrayed as villainous through the entirety of the story was redeemed and humanized. It was very well done.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and is also available in English dub.
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