The Apothecary Diaries anime was first broadcast in October 2023, this anime about the life of a pharmacist is planned to have 24 episodes in its first season which will be divided into two parts (cours) where when this article was written the anime had entered its second half. Immediately after the anime was broadcast, The Apothecary Diaries managed to attract the attention of anime fans because of its interesting story, full of plot twists that surprised the audience, and the light comedy of the anime which managed to invite laughter in every episode.

This anime with the drama, mystery, romance, and seinen genres is a balanced portion of the anime genre and at the same time brings a new color to the anime currently being broadcast. If you want an anime with a light story but still full of interesting mysteries that make you curious to be solved, you must watch this anime. For those of you who might be curious about the anime, here is some information you can get about The Apothecary Diaries so you can get an idea of what the story of the series will be like.

Synopsis of The Apothecary Diaries

This anime tells the story of Maomao, a 17 years old female pharmacist in a brothel area who is suddenly kidnapped and sold until she becomes a servant in the royal palace. Due to her experience living with her father who was a medicine expert, Maomao became curious about a rumor involving the mystery of a curse between the concubines and ladies-in-waiting within the palace.

Thanks to her ability, knowledge, and sharp analysis, Maomao managed to find a cure for a disease circulating among the concubines, allowing her to be promoted from a low-ranking servant. Her success in finding a solution to this existing problem attracted the attention of a eunuch named Jinshi and ultimately made Maomao have to be involved in various mysteries regarding various illnesses and mysterious events that occurred around the palace. With various plot twists and mysteries that will make you curious, you definitely won't get bored with this anime, especially since you are also presented with elements of light comedy but still stomach-churning. Not to mention that the dialogue between characters is light and easy to understand, so you won't get bored with this anime.

The Background of The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries or Kusuriya no Hitorigoto was released on Blu-ray in four volumes from January 24, 2024, to July 17, 2024. This anime comes from the light novel series by Natsu Hyuga and is illustrated by Touko Shino. Since 2011, the novel has been serialized online on the user-generated novel publishing site Shōsetsuka ni Narō. Later the following year, the series was acquired by Shufunotomo, who initially published the series as a single-volume novel in 2012 and then as a light novel series in 2014.

Then, this light novel was adapted into two manga series in 2017, one published by Square Enix in Monthly Big Gangan, and another published by Shogakukan in Monthly Sunday Gene-X. The light novel is digitally licensed in North America by J-Novel Club and printed by Square Enix, and the manga illustrated by Nekokurage is also licensed by Square Enix. An anime television series adaptation was then produced by Toho Animation Studio and OLM and premiered in October 2023. This series is set in a fictional country modeled after the Chinese Empire, where the story is set during the Ming Dynasty in China, this anime has traditional Chinese elements such as eunuchs, concubines kings, and imperial politics that you will find in the story.

Characters and Voice Cast in The Apothecary Diaries

Below are some of the main and supporting characters in the story series The Apothecary Diaries that you should know about, including:

1. Maomao

The main female lead, voiced by Aoi Yuki, is the daughter of a pharmacist who has a simple appearance and lives on the outskirts of town. Maomao usually works in a brothel in the city and makes friends with various workers there. One day, she was kidnapped by bandits and eventually sold to the imperial palace to work as a servant. Laterm Maomao is accidentally drawn into palace intrigue, using her knowledge of poisons, medicines, plants, and basic chemistry to become an unofficial forensic pathologist.

Jinshi was interested and could be said to be in love with Maomao, but he never reciprocated her at all. Maomao instead feels disgusted and annoyed every time Jinshi involves her in the intrigues of palace matters, and prefers to spend her time testing various poisons and medicines on herself. Even so, he often helps her solve any mystery that catches her attention.

2. Jinshi

The main male character in this story and voiced by Takahiro Sakurai. Jinshi is a chief eunuch who carries out most of the rear palace administrative duties in The Apothecary Diaries. This rear palace was the residence of the Emperor's concubines and their respective servants who worked for the upper concubines. Having a handsome face, Jinshi is always the center of attention. Both men and women are attracted to his face, but he finds himself attracted to Maomao, the only person he meets who doesn't like him for his face and manages to interest him like no other person. Not only was his face handsome, but Jinshi also had a clever way of thinking and could balance his duties as a eunuch in the empire while increasing his standing in the Imperial Palace.

3. Gaoshun

The character you will often see with Jinshi is the character voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda. He is a loyal servant to Jinshi, and often supports Jinshi and Maomao secretly. He is also a gentle and caring figure whose attention to Maomao sometimes makes Jinshi jealous. Even though he had served Jinshi for a long time, Gaoshun sometimes couldn't understand why Jinshi was so interested in Maomao and instead thought Maomao was Jinshi's new 'toy'.

4. Gyokuyo

Gyokuyo is voiced by Yoko Hikasa in The Apothecary Diaries. She is one of the Emperor's concubines with pink hair and is the mother of a baby girl whom Maomao helped with her illness. She appointed Maomao as a lady-in-waiting as a sign of gratitude for warning her not to use poisonous makeup on the baby and herself. She is is also a character who supports Jinshi and Maomao to be together.

5. Guen

The character who is the palace doctor is voiced by Mitsuru Ogata. He is a character whom Maomao considers a shaman before they become friends. Although Guen initially felt doubtful towards Maomao, he eventually became close and willing to befriend her until Maomao was able to use his study to find various interesting medicines.

6. Lihua

This character is voiced by Yui Ishikawa. Lihua was also one of the concubines in the imperial palace with dark blue hair. She was the concubine who initially ignored Maomao's warning not to use poisonous make-up on her baby son, which resulted in the baby dying and she almost lost her life too. After Maomao helped nurse him back to health, he became friendly, caring, and trusted towards Maomao.

7. Lishu

This character is voiced by Hina Kino, and she is known as the Virtuous Consort. She is the youngest of the Emperor's four prominent concubines. Due to political reasons, she became the mother-in-law of the older Pure Empress. Due to her food allergies, her court ladies thought she was just a picky eater, making it a point of subtle intimidation towards her. But Maomao was aware of this allergy and slowly started to help her.

Apart from several main characters who are often present in every episode of The Apothecary Diaries, there are several other supporting characters. Below are some of the supporting characters and voice actors who fill the characters.

• Yuko Kaida as Ah Duo
• Megumi Han as Meimei
• Ami Koshimizu as Pairin
• Hiroki Nanami as Joka
• Kimiko Saito as the Madam (the owner of a brother)
• Hiroshi Yanaka as Loumen
• Kenji Akabane as Lihaku
• Misaki Kuno as Xiaolan
• Noriko Hidaka as Fengming
• Takuya Kirimoto as Lakan

That is some information that you can know about The Apothecary Diaries. If you are looking for an anime story that is anti-mainstream but still has an interesting story plot. This anime could be a recommendation for anime that you must watch.

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