#2023 fall

The Apothecary Diaries

薬屋のひとりごと

(Anime + Manga)

Historical mystery by Matsu Hyuga

Era: 2010s, 2020s

Rating: S

Plot: In not-Imperial China, Maomao is the daughter of a local apothecary, and works her craft with the courtesans of a brothel in the red-light district. One day she's literally bagged by bandits and sold to the Imperial palace to become a maid, but after her knowledge of poisons and medicine helps saving one of the consorts and the daughter of another, she gets the attention of her mother, the emperor's favourite consort Gyokuyou, and of Jinshi, a high-ranking sparkly eunuch who appreciates her inquisitive mind.

Length: 48 episodes, ~80 chapters (ongoing) (covered second half of second season from #1 to #12)

Thoughts: One of my favourite ongoing show and certainly one of the best to show to anyone who's not familiar to the medium who might skew a bit older, The Apothecary Diaries is pretty much a story dealing in palace intrigue and the daily going ons of a place with a rigid structure as a medieval Chinese imperial palace. While much of the focus is on medicinal mysteries and ailments, Maomao also lends a hand on suspicious deaths and minor going ons on the daily lives of the rear palace. What makes this such a strong show is how Maomao navigates what is a very dangerous world for someone like her - she's a strong willed and exceptionally smart character, who knows her position in the court demands her to know when, what and how to talk - even when sure of something, talking to someone who can act on it with less consequences (usually Jinshi) or carefully implying something only the person she's trying to reach would understand. The concubines mostly like to have her close and wouldn't turn on her, particularly the Emperor's favourite, Gyokuyou, and while Jinshi can (and will) cover some of her eccentricities, both know there's a limit to how much he can do, so it's not like she can just annoy most of the residents of the palace. She expresses curiosity over Jinshi's peculiar status in the court and identity a number of times, but quickly tries to get her head out of even thinking about that, or even when Jinshi *wants* her to know, as she knows what curiosity does to cats. Likewise she also understands when Jinshi or Gaoshun ask her opinion on something, there will be details omitted for theirs but also her protection, and figuring out what is the picture on the puzzle while missing out on so many pieces is one of her talents and where many of the stories begin. She's also a complete poison gremlin who loves few things more than getting her hands on some rare herb or material, or test something on herself to the constant horror and desperation of Jinshi. But a show isn't a single character, and thankfully every character brings something to the table - the courtesans all are in the same perilous position of knowing they are political pawns, less disposable than their maids but not as much as you would expect, and showing too much ambition can end poorly for them. Said maids also know their lives in the palace can very much depend on the status of the consort they serve, and lacking their social skills, are often the ones causing needless friction inside the court.

Visually, it's impressive, doing a solid work of bringing not-medieval China to life. The character design is very rich and detailed, and they all have a wide range of expressions, including their chibified forms. For something that often breaks the tension with a well placed joke, it helps that the visuals do keep up with that.

There are two manga adaptations from the light novel, one alternate by Minoji Kurata (with the subtitle Maomao's Notes From The Inner Palace), the other by Nekokurage which serves as the base for the anime adaptation in design and some storyboarding. Very faithfully, I might add, if watching the anime isn't for you, you can just read the manga, and if you prefer to watch things move, it's not like there's not a treasure trove of material left, either. Worth keeping in mind neither is too far ahead of where the anime story has stopped, the Nekokurage version even lagged behind, so unless the production is comfortable enough to do it on their own and adapt directly from the LN (it so far covered 4 of the 16 published), and forgetting the whole "the anime exists to sell the manga" thing, it might take a long while before she's back on the screens, so I'd consider picking either of the print versions, and the LN itself.

Recommended to: Probably one of the best entry points to non-fans of anime, particularly of older age.

Plus:

Maomao is one of the best characters in recent years

Extremely good looking show, from the settings to character design and the animation itself.

Minus: