The Apothecary's Diaries It wasn't just my favorite anime of 2024, but my favorite show overall. Based on the light novel series of the same name, The Apothecary's Diaries It's a perfect blend of medical procedural and period drama, peppered with a delightful slow-burn romance between one of my favorite grumpy girl/flirty boy tropes. It's very good, and each episode immediately made me want to queue up for the next one.
Luckily, season two starts this week. Unfortunately, because the episodes drop weekly, I can't enjoy them all at once. But if you I haven't done it If you've already watched this anime, you have the perfect opportunity to catch up on the entire season 1 and have a good backlog of season 2 to delve into. I envy you!
[Ed. note: This essay contains some setup spoilers for The Apothecary Diaries.]
Image: Toho Animation Studio, OLM/Crunchyroll
The Apothecary's Diaries takes place in a fictional country that is basically modeled after the Tang dynasty in China and follows Maomao, the adopted daughter of an apothecary, who herself studies medicine. He works in the red light district, often helping courtesans and other brothel workers. After being kidnapped, she is sold into indentured servitude, working in the back of the imperial palace, where the emperor's concubines live. At first she keeps her head down, but when a medical mystery arises, Maomao can't help but try to solve it. She catches the attention of Jinshi, the eunuch who heads the back palace administration, who ends up promoting her to lady-in-waiting and taste tester to one of the emperor's favorite concubines.
For the most part, the show tackles a new mystery each episode, usually centered around some type of medical illness or mysterious death. Since it's a period piece, those medical puzzles often have compelling twists that modern viewers may not expect (for example, Maomao uses cocoa beans to prepare a powerful aphrodisiac, which would definitely work on people who haven't tried chocolate before). The mysteries themselves are intriguing, and Maomao's particular approach (morbid fascination combined with dogged curiosity) makes them even more fun. She is very eager to experiment with poisons and examine sick patients and corpses.
Image: Toho Animation Studio, OLM/Crunchyroll
Little by little, medical mysteries turn into political intrigue. Through Maomao, we learn more about the drama that occurs in the emperor's palace, from rivalries between concubines to military geniuses with secret motives. That intrigue extends beyond the palace and into Maomao's previous life, especially after she discovers her father's secret connection to court life. It's the kind of plot that comes to a head at the end of the first season, but looking back it's clear that everything was planned from the beginning. All of those seemingly unconnected medical puzzles become intertwined with larger mysteries and political plots at hand.
But what it really does The Apothecary's Diaries How wonderful Maomao herself is. she would prefer No getting caught up in judicial politics, thank you very much. But nothing excites her more than a good medical mystery and the opportunity to try new drugs and poisons. She faints at the prospect of obtaining rare healing ingredients, but bristles when the concubines try to disguise her. He's also incredibly intelligent, and when he's not gushing about poisons and remedies, he coolly analyzes his surroundings and calculates his next move.
Maomao is a gem of a character and, because she is so different, her relationships with the other characters shine even more. She talks candidly to the concubines about their lives (and even gives a sex talk to two of the newer ones). She understands that the order of the Imperial Palace means that she needs to keep her head down and be respectful to her superiors, but at the same time, she is not afraid of them when it comes to expressing or defending her findings.
Image: Toho Animation Studio, OLM/Crunchyroll
But the juiciest relationship is the one she has with Jinshi, who is as cunning as she is. She maintains a flirtatious and carefree demeanor, but in reality, she plans carefully behind the scenes to improve her own position and balance some secret duties. He is also completely in love with Maomao, although she thinks he is a fool. But every time she looks at him, he melts a little. They have wonderful banter and both are hiding bigger secrets from each other.
The first season ended with some of those big secrets coming to light, opening up fertile ground to delve into for the next season. The Apothecary's Diaries It's the kind of show where each episode answers a bunch of questions and then immediately asks a dozen more, making it the kind of show that had me excitedly clicking “next episode” the moment they came on. the final credits. And there's no better time to watch it than now, with an entire season to dive into and more news week after week. I can't wait for more medical mysteries, more political intrigue, and more Maomao.
The Apothecary's Diaries is available to stream on Crunchyroll. The first episode of season 2 is now available and new episodes will premiere on Fridays.