The Apothecary Diaries

One day, a young girl named Maomao was kidnapped and sold into servitude at the rear palace of the emperor. Accepting the sudden change in her life, Maomao had planned to stay low and ride out her tenure of service. However, as events unfold, the court officials catch wind of her skills as an apothecary, and thus Maomao ends up being tasked with solving various maladies and mysteries afflicting the rear palace.

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At the time of this posting, there have been four episodes out, and Maomao continues to be a commanding presence onscreen. If you’re like and have watched your fair share of period dramas, it’s extremely satisfying to get a lead who knows how to cut through all the political bullcrap. The mysteries she’s had to solve have been rather interesting too, my personal favorite being the concubine who faked a mental illness in a bid to reunite with her beloved. The childhood friend does win!

Edited by fillerdude on Oct 29th 2023 at 7:29:02 AM

I don’t know if I’m the only one, but I kinda hope Mao Mao and Jingshi’s relationship remains strictly platonic (I’m at volume 8 of the manga, dunno how that’s gonna evolve). We need more asexual protagonists.

Still need to watch the anime, but the trailers were quite apetizing.

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 29th 2023 at 4:42:46 PM

I highly doubt it, but I also like this couple so no problem whatsoever with it.

If you want great asexual protags there's Ya Boy Kongming

Edited by Bexlerfu on Oct 29th 2023 at 6:14:48 PM

Mao Mao is not asexual per se. She just grew up in a brothel and so has pretty practical attitude towards sex. She mentioned in the books that she also does not mind getting pregnant but she is not interested in taking care of the kids.

Minor spoilers next.

The main reason she is so against pushing any relationships with Jinshi is not because she is totally asexual or heavily dislikes him (their relationships got a bit better later) but because being in relationship with him will put her in the whole lot of trouble and she prefers to avoid any trouble as much as posible. To bad Jinshi is determind to change the situation and pushes for it.

As I said in a different thread, the adaptation is great so far. They even added a few anime-original scenes that enchanted the story. But I am a bit concerned that some further events will be a bit rushed as they have to put the whole first story arc (which is more than current manga covered so far) in 24 eps.

Also, they put some nice foreshadowing to some further story events.

Edited by Nachtwandler on Oct 29th 2023 at 4:32:51 AM

YBK doesn’t have a French release, sadly. =[

I see. As long as Jinshi remains a Hopeless Suitor I’m fine with it. I like Jinshi, don’t get me wrong, but it’s funnier that way lol.

It is so as of the latest novel so far but he pushes it really hard

I'd raise a question on that, honestly. Give me a few minutes to find the passage in Japanese, but there's a pretty blunt bit in a later volume where Maomao wonders to herself why Jinshi, who's being very pushy, is seeking sex from "a creature without those desires."

Let me get back to the thread with the specific phrasings, though.

Edit: Found 'em. These are lines from volume 5 of the light novel, so mind spoilers below the folder.

Edited by RedSavant on Oct 30th 2023 at 5:04:12 PM

This fragment is pretty ambigous. I personally interprate it as a "desire to be his partner" not "desire to have sex with him".

As I said above, while Mao Mao has a bunch of things way more interesting to her, she is not totally avert to sex or even getting pregnant (though, she had a monologue that the latter is more out of curiosity and to shut up her cousin who bothers her every time regarding it since he found out Jinshi is interested in her). But she definetelly does not want to be Jinshis wife and hopes some other candidat will fetch him.

I can see the ambiguity, it's just the very clinical use of 生き物 (creature/living thing) that makes me immediately think that she means the biological drive.

That said, Maomao CAN still be asexual regardless (as I believe she is), but I get the feeling that Hyuga is more interested in the political ramifications than anything.

I mean, the author clearly uses political reasons as the main factor for not pushing the romance in the series. So we can only speculate about other factors. I am sure Hyuuga is not interested in the romance part betwen leads in the series in general but readers obviously push for some progress.

Maomao knows Jinshi is insanely hot, and keeps noticing how he can basically seduce any woman that is not her almost instantly.

So she wonders why he would pick the one who isn't falling for his charm. Which in great romcom tradition, is precisely the reason he wants her.

I don't think there are any mentions of asexuality in that excerpt. Maomao isn't instantly falling for Jinshi's superficial charm, but aside from also finding him hot, she seems to like what she sees behind the mask when she gets the opportunity, even if he keeps pestering her.

Just watched episode 1. Hard to imagine a better adaptation so far, it’s visually gorgeous with even some flair in the direction, and it’s ideally paced with just enough information and even some welcome additions at the start.

I had some doubts on the VA choice for Mao Mao but Aoi Yuuki is perfect.

Also it’s a detail but… I feel it’s rare for the narrator voice to be female for some reason?

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 30th 2023 at 11:00:12 AM

Épisode 4… Holy shit, I had forgotten Mao Mao could be this brutal. I guess being there on the Emperor’s order allowed her to get away with it, but she’s not kidding.

Regarding the previous episode… would an aphrodisiac work on an eunuch, I wonder?

Depends on how much the one got cut.

And how late. Adult or near adult castration that just removes the testicles will result in a lower sex drive and render the subject infertile but otherwise leave them fully functional in that department.

Technically, the muscles responcible for erection are located behind the base of the organ. So even if you cut everything, they will still work, just have nothing to... operate with.

Erection is a vascular phenomenon, not a muscular one (that's ejaculation). But those structures don't fully develop until puberty hits and they get a massive flood of testosterone. Testicular castration at a young age means that flood of testosterone doesn't happen and those structures don't fully develop.

OK, they cut a few minor cases from this episode if I am not mistaken (I just hope they will show the one about Jinshi mentor later as it will play part in further story), but I am glad they ramped up the pace a bit.

And they showed all of the high consorts at last and took the cat out of the bag about Mao Maos freckles.

Also, they showed Basen who won't play much role this season but is a prominient character. And next time Lihaku will show (this "big pup", as Mao Mao calls him, is one of my favorite secondary characters in the story).

The next 2 or 3 episodes will be wild .

Edited by Nachtwandler on Nov 5th 2023 at 1:44:37 AM

Spoilers for the latest episode would be appreciated! At least the first few posts about it.

Anyway, I somehow did not expect Maomao’s freckles to be fake. Jinshi seems to like her new look, and he gave her his hairpin? Kinda like showing favor or marking her as an important person I think?

I will keep it in mind.

It was traditional in China to give hairpins as appreciation gift to your GF/bride. Let's say this setting has something similar. But Mao Mao is not impressed as you can see.

Not everyone wants to be pretty. I respect that. Not that surprised at the age of one of the concubines.

Rather than specifically not wanting to be pretty, Maomao is just being practical as a small girl visiting the red light district.

And that teenage concubine is called "The Virtuous". Three guesses as to what it refers to. >.>

I noticed that the Quack blushed at Jinshi, it was kinda cute.

I wonder, how many anime-only people will guess a big spoiler before it will be revealed in 2-3 episodes.

6. As bad as the current emperor is regarding the concubines, clearly the previous one was worse on a much grander scale. Maomao knows how to be scary, but I don't think even she realizes just how intimidating she can be. Cool to see her continue to try and care for the competition as much as she can.