The Apothecary Diaries

Right, it’s interesting. The manga’s expression looks like a mix of anger, disgust and fear, while the anime’s looks more like… pure contempt.

Started watching TAD a week ago. It was fun so far! It thought it would be something more fantasy based but I got a really fun mystery series with some medical facts. Glad I'm watching this on Netflix.

Edited by Ayumi-chan on Feb 13th 2024 at 7:30:12 PM

It's a bit funny that after the scenes with Lakan this episode a bunch of commentators on CR still think he is a bad guy behind the whole plot here. But that's OK, you will get all of the answers this season.

Edited by Nachtwandler on Feb 17th 2024 at 2:13:59 AM

Last week, I happened to be in a place selling the French release of the manga and decided to try figuring out which volume first depicted Lakan's condition and buy it. Because of that, I got a glance of this episode's main event and can tell the anime nailed it.

However, since I was browsing while heavily spoiled, I could tell where I was just from seeing the right panel and hence didn't notice whether Lakan has that look that can be summed up as (safe for anyone who knows Jinshi's secret and episode 19's ending)"my daughter got hurt but she also saved the Emperor's brother's life but also I'm the one who got the guards to let her inside the building" in the manga also.

(For the curious, the volume I got is 7, it begins right where episode 20 will, and it also includes that scene that requires Lihaku to strip down to his loincloth and a nice moment for Ascendance of a Bookworm fans) (Also, why am I still pretending that the Tearmoon Empire light novel still stands a chance of being picked up over this one whenever I will be done with my current reading backlog?)

Edit: changed episode numbers to proper ones instead of a number that is only correct within the second cour.

Edited by Nazetrime on Feb 18th 2024 at 9:24:50 PM

Reddit is the same, despite the only thing he has actually DONE so far is help the protagonist save Jinshi. The distrust is just something else.

I mean, while I've read far enough a head in the novels to know the truth I am trying to cut people some slack because even afterwards Lakan is an obnoxious obsessive asshole who refuses to actually come out and say things directly and this is him at his worst because he's actively trying to be as annoying as possible to Jinshi out of jealousy and spite

Yeah, it's a bit hard to call Lakan a good person, or at least to say he acts like a good person, given that a lot of the time he genuinely IS obsessive and spiteful. I do think the books tend to strike a pretty good balance between 'oh that's Maomao's weird dad' and respecting the actual open disdain Maomao views him with for reasons that aren't entirely about her mother.

I still generally like him as a character, mind.

Technically speaking, Lakan did have a hand in the result. He was too lazy. He knew something was wrong and could order an official investigation but he didn't because he is lazy which led to his daughter getting injured.

I think that part of the issue for all her issues with Lakan, Maomao does tend to get along fairly with with Lahan. I think this makes everyone else just shrug her feelings to Lakan off as "family drama".

Okay, so I think I'm going to dip out of this thread. I know there haven't been egregious spoilers about Lakan, but I'm hearing more about him here than I would like.

Anyway, liked how all the "random" incidents from previous episodes tied together. Winced hard at Maomao getting a steel club to the head, and to make things worse she even gets a deep cut on her leg. Like, Jinshi, maybe get to the doctors a little faster.

That guard is so gonna be send to Chinese Siberia.

same about the last thing Jinshi is seen doing. Hope the next episode does justice to the fact that he gets better about it.

Edited by Nazetrime on Feb 18th 2024 at 2:54:26 PM

When Mao Mao behaves like a dick with most of the people, it is fine (baring select few she only restricts herself somehow because most of pople around are of to high of a status). Lakan is like he is, considering his condition. At least he helps people who have potential. And Lahan knows how to behave properly when it is required (I presume you read manga and not L Ns to reach that point) but I do think a lot of Mao Maos hate for both is because they are in fact to similar.

In fairness, I haven't read the novels yet (the second one is released next week, it's already ordered), but I think that after that episode you can pretty much guess everything there is to know about Lakan as a character. Maybe he gets some development later, but I doubt it will mentioned here since it is pretty much only about anime-viewers.

Jinshi has to be pretty in all circumstances, you can’t have him do something as uncooth as "running".

Though in the first place you're not supposed to run while holding someone who might have a concussion. The shaking will make it worsw

A lot of answers this episode, but a bunch of questions also. Next one will be sort of a Co.edic brake but then we'll get Mao Mao vs Lakan mind game with go. Her parents backstory. And conclusion if it.

The new episode is "calm before the storm" of sort. It higlighted some secondary characters including my boy Lihaku and put uds closer to the Mao Maos family story which we will see soon.

Read about Lihaku's strip tease on the work's "funny" page while trying to figure out if the anime was for me (mildly sex-averse, but some enjoyment of quick shallow jokes about the topic), it happens to be in the one manga volume I really wanted to have because of another scene, just watched it again in the anime. Still laughing after three times.

Also, good job on that paper Maomao, Myne from Ascendance of a Bookworm would be proud.

Edited by Nazetrime on Mar 2nd 2024 at 10:20:00 AM

Jinshi: "I will pay you 20,000 so you can marry the girl of your dreams!"

Lihaku: "...Why? Why would you do this for me?"

Jinshi: "To get you the fuck away from my gir- I mean, no reason! I just want to help a promising young soldier, that's all!"

Also the logic fails because then Maomao would consider him a virtual in-law.

Though Jinshi is... not exactly rational on this subject.

This episode is unfortunately also one for which I have a couple of criticisms:

1. I at some point got the impression that I was watching the quack visibly slim down, then fatten up again.
2. The target of Pairin's excessive lust in the scene establishing it. They could have shown this with someone who looked a little older (the manga makes it a chibi scene, so the age of the target is much less clear).

Yeah, reading the novels it definitely implied she was going after the older apprentices or those who have just debuted (or if she's really on a tear going as customer to other establishments), rather than the younger kamuro.

I can finally let out the "I see what you did here" that I have been holding in ever since I saw the sequence introducing Lakan in the opening.

Otherwise, it looks like that at the price of not seeing the actual game in this episode (the last chapter of Volume 7 of the manga ends with its outcome), we are also getting Lakan's side of the (back)story next week.

Edited by Nazetrime on Mar 9th 2024 at 8:06:34 PM

Why did the anime change Lakan to go to study instead of war?

I mean it makes more sense he can't go back if it's war. Plus why sending Lakan study abroad if his father deemed him useless, why wasting resources on him if he is not going to inherit the family anyway?

I don't remember well but isn't future novel mentioned something related to the said war? If they omit it does it mean they aren't gonna adapt far future novels too?

It seems like a weird choice. Same with Lihua poison-powder attendant who was fired in manga but just welcomed back in the anime.