The Apothecary Diaries

People can screw on their shipping goggles tight.

The feeling I get is more that people have decided this is a romance series, and therefore Jinshi doing Shoujo Male Lead things must be intended to be romantic. Most of the takes I've seen in that direction aren't shipping Jinshi and Maomao so much as, they've decided those two are Male Lead and Female Lead, and squished the two of them to fit into those molds.

Yeah, I’m always baffled when I read reviews talking about the "romance" between Jinshi and Maomao… I’m like "Are we reading the same series?"

Things get more complicted in this regard after vol. 4. But anime won't reach this point anytime soon anyway.

We got a, presumably, standalone detective case this time. But keep in mind, Lakan was not pointing presumably random things just for his own entertaiment.

Also, for anyone interested, there are indeed a bunch of alloys that have a very low (below 100C) melting temperature and a sunlight beem focused through the lense can heat the metal way stronger than this. The specific alloy used in this case seem to be Rose's metal as someone pointed out on MAL.

Next time is the first appearence of "Jinka". It will be a fun episode for anyone carving for more Mao Mao - Jinshi antics.

Edited by Nachtwandler on Jan 28th 2024 at 7:13:01 AM

Talk about Solve the Soup Cans haha. Give Meowmeow a raise!

I recently was at an office party in which the activity was a portable "Escape Game" in which one of the props was a multiple-compartment cabinet. Basically, you had to figure out how to open doors 1+2 from outside-the-cabinet hints to get the hints to open door 3, which in turn contained the key to one of the outside-the-cabinet riddles that was needed to figure out door 4 etc, etc. And the Excuse Plot was basically the episode's setup. This made the episode more amusing than intended for me.

Edited by Nazetrime on Jan 29th 2024 at 5:46:10 PM

Congratulations, you are an apothecary now.

MC got a date... sort of. Basen spying on them was hilarious. And the final revelation is pretty obvious, you get more next time but do not believe everything said.

And I would say it here to: high ranked courtesans are not obliged to have sex, they are also not obliged not to if they want. But their value is in different talents and getting pregnant is total suicide unless you are 100% sure the babies father will buy you out.

I liked Jinshi's little "pay attention to me!" moment. He organized all this just to have a date with her, after all.

Edited by Dracoblade on Feb 3rd 2024 at 12:17:27 PM

I'm happy Basen got to munch on some chicken skewers. Now all I need is for Meowmeow to secure those radishes.

That was a cute date, even if I don't ship the two people involved. Jinshi vying for Meowmeow's attention is just so funny.

Starting the next episode they should sloely explain that situation with Lakan is not that it seems. Also, things will start getting serious in terms of the plot and I am waiting for it.

Haha, seeing watchers threat Lakan like the most evil psycho and probably bad guy and such is kinda funny when you know the truth.

All according to plan (c)

Regarding the previous ep, the glee with which Catcat works to make Jinshi uglier is a joy to watch.

Same audience reaction when the manga adapted this arc.

Episode 18: I'm sorry I'll go back to calling you Maomao don't glare at me like that

We got some meaty tidbits this week. Explicit confirmation that Maomao's mom is still alive and suffering from severe syphilis, and that she was the courtesan Lakan fancied. I initially thought Lakan wanted Maomao as a replacement for her mom, but it turns out that Lakan is in fact her father by blood. It all makes sense with how the dominoes were lined up, and it's so satisying getting the payoff. Lakan seems like he's putting schemes into motion to get his daughter back.

Lakan also provides his statement which supports Jinshi being an incredibly high ranking noble. I maintain my theory that Jinshi is the emperor's and Ah-Duo's son, and he is next in line to the throne.

And now we're adding Suirei to the mix, who seems to be a fellow herb enthusiast. Wonder what'll happen between her and Maomao.

On your second point officially or unofficially? Because officially he's the Emperor's young brother. Unofficially, yes. He is the the Emperor and Ah-Duo's son who was swapped with his uncle and never swapped back because of the accident with the honey. Though I think he's the only one who doesn't actually know. Even Maomao has figured it out.

I think Lakan only knows he is the Emperor's brother and doesn't really care to find out more. The people that actually know the true are the Emperor, Andou, the empress dowager, maybe Gaoshun and Andou's mom.

& Before I look, any LN spoilers there?

This episode shows one of the show's strengths, which is the way it handles conversations where each of the participants have slightly(?) different understandings of what's being said or not said, and what's being intimated. There's quite a lot being bandied around behind the dialogue and a lot inferred rather than said, and the people who are doing the inferring aren't always 100% right with their reads.

Just speculations regarding already shown things.

L Ns only stated that Ah-Duo and Anshi (empress dowager) know. If the Emperor knows is still unclear, though, it will explain Luomens punishment if anyone else found out.

Either way, untill any other Emperrors male child survives, Jinshi is the first in line for the throne either way.

Edited by Nachtwandler on Feb 11th 2024 at 3:09:37 AM

Okay. Peeked at the spoilered posts. Saying "next in line" was wrong on my part, I meant that Jinshi must be sort of a reserve candidate for emperor.

Yup! Actual layered conversations are happening, and it's so engrossing.

Well I shit my pants. I like that the reaction lasts a literal split-second yet Jinshi immediately gets the message. I don’t think it was this subtle in the manga?

Definitely not, but I think I like the anime treatment better. It feels like Maomao's composure cracking just enough for a glimpse.