The Apothecary Diaries - Mysteries in the Imperial Court

Just in time for the 2nd season of the anime adaptation, I finished the first season of The Apothecary Diaries (薬屋のひとりごと - Kusuriya no Hitorigoto). This is a show I heard high praise of but I allowed to pass me by, but this winter holiday I wanted to watch something good and this was on the back of my mind.

The story is set in a country similar to Imperial China that is a slight hodgepodge of different dynasties. A peasant girl named Maomao is learning how to make medicine from her adoptive father, primarily at a brothel where she grew up. One day she is abducted by slavers and sold to the imperial palace. Initially she attempts to lie low while working as a servant for the concubines of the Emperor, but her knowledge and cleverness is discovered when she realizes that the babies of the concubines are accidentally poisoned by the makeup of their mothers and she covertly tries to warn them. This leads to her becoming a lady-in-waiting for one of the concubines and tester for poisons, as Maomao has been experimenting on herself with poison for years now. From there she encounters various mysteries, often asked about them by the beautiful head eunuch Jinshi.

This series was excellent and well produced with fun mysteries both for the episode-to-episode content as well as the overarching plot of the show that deals with Maomao’s upbringing and heritage and Jinshi’s strange place in the imperial court that hints at him being more than he appears. The machinations and politics of the imperial court that Maomao has to be careful to navigate also provide for an interesting backdrop, which also allows the show to fall far short of pitfalls other mystery shows get bogged down in, namely having to conjure up a murder every week, which wouldn’t befit such a seemingly tranquil environment. However, I do wish that sometimes it would allow to marinate the mysteries that are present a bit longer.

Star of the show is of course Maomao herself who has some delightful mannerisms without it feeling tropey, and is often a bit frumpy looking but has a fun and sometimes mischievous personality. The interplay between her and Jinshi is also very entertaining, as Jinshi attempts to use his beauty to control Maomao which has been quite effective with many other servant girls and concubines before. Maomao rebuffs him, which, combined with her cleverness, makes him only more interested in her.

Maybe it is me pulling a “I’ve only seen Boss Baby, so every other movie is giving me strong Boss Baby vibes” thing here, but considering this is definitely a work primarily targeted at women, I was reminded of other shows that fall into that category. Particularly the series that I was constantly thinking of was Ascendance of a Bookworm as both series have a female protagonist with greater scientific knowledge than they appear. I would say I liked Apothecary Diaries a lot better though, perhaps because it isn’t hampered by a having to rely on crutch that is the isekai and fantasy world setup. Another show I was reminded of is Ouran High School Host Club due to Maomao cleaning up rather nicely which the show regularly indulges in, but I guess “wallflower is a secret beauty through the power of makeup” is quite a common trope in these sorts of shows, as the aloof wallflower rejecting the semi-romantic advances for a beautiful man.

The only negatives I can say is that due to half the setting being a red-light district, the courtesans are dressed rather provocatively which I guess helps marketing but also seems a bit gratuitous at times, but the show is far from the territory of ecchi. There are also untoward things occurring in the show such as poisoning, sexual diseases, and death of infants. And of course there is the matter of women being treated as disposable tools for men, both as baby makers in the court and as courtesans in the brothel, a similarity that the series notes very early on. These topics are handled delicately enough but I was slightly taken by surprise (though not offended) with the subject matter being discussed so frankly.

Nevertheless I would highly recommend the show. It currently sits within the top 25 at MyAnimeList and it rather deserves it. Hopefully the second season will continue with the high quality the first season left off.

Also: Dear Anime Industry, if this is what Josei light novels are generally like, give me more of that rather than “Edgy Isekai power fantasy #5726”.