Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: The Pharmacist's Monologue, Drugstore Soliloquy

Japanese: 薬屋のひとりごと

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 24

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 22, 2023 to Mar 24, 2024

Premiered: Fall 2023

Broadcast: Sundays at 01:05 (JST)

Producers: Dentsu, Square Enix, Nippon Television Network, TOHO animation, Shogakukan, Imagica Infos

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: OLM, TOHO animation STUDIO

Source: Light novel

Genres: Drama, Mystery

Themes: Historical, Medical

Duration: 22 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 8.92¹ (scored by 176,265 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #18²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #610

Members: 381,111

Favorites: 9,641

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@kusuriya_PR

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Streaming Platforms

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Netflix

8.92

Ranked #18Popularity #610Members 381,111

Fall 2023TVOLM, TOHO animation STUDIO

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Episodes: /24

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Synopsis

Maomao, an apothecary's daughter, has been plucked from her peaceful life and sold to the lowest echelons of the imperial court. Now merely a maid, Maomao settles into her new mundane life and hides her extensive knowledge of medicine in order to avoid any unwanted attention.

Not long after Maomao's arrival, the emperor's infant children inexplicably begin to experience grave symptoms—almost as if a curse has been cast. The curious Maomao easily solves the mystery and, to remain out of the limelight, attempts to leave an anonymous tip. Unfortunately, the dashing and perceptive eunuch Jinshi sees through it and manages to single her out.

In recognition of her talent, Maomao is promoted to lady-in-waiting for the emperor's favorite concubine, Gyokuyou. As Maomao continues to remedy the numerous ailments afflicting the imperial court, her pharmaceutical expertise quickly proves indispensable.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto was released on Blu-ray in four volumes from January 24, 2024, to July 17, 2024.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
Other:	Maomao no Hitorigoto
Sequel:	Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 2nd Season

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Maomao

Main

Yuuki, Aoi
Japanese

Jinshi

Main

Ootsuka, Takeo
Japanese

Gyokuyou

Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi
Japanese

Kan, Lakan

Supporting

Kirimoto, Takuya
Japanese

Gaoshun

Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki
Japanese

Meimei

Supporting

Han, Megumi
Japanese

Lihua

Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui
Japanese

Loulan

Supporting

Ah-Duo

Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko
Japanese

Lishu

Supporting

Kino, Hina
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Morishita, Katsuji

Producer

Hirahara, Yuito

Producer

Hishiyama, Mitsuteru

Producer

Mutou, Hiroshi

Producer

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Opening Theme

	1: "Hana ni Natte (花になって)" by Ryokuoushoku Shakai (緑黄色社会) (eps 1-12)
	2: "Ambivalent (アンビバレント)" by Uru (eps 13-24)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Aikotoba (アイコトバ)" by AiNA THE END (アイナ・ジ・エンド) (eps 1-12)
	2: "Ai wa Kusuri (愛は薬)" by wacci (eps 13-24)

Reviews

Mar 25, 2024

Alisson07

Recommended

"The Apothecary Diaries" or "Kusuriya no Hitorigoto", an anime that pleasantly surprised me and, in my opinion, ranks among the best anime of 2023/2024. The anime is set in imperial China and tells the story of Maomao, who was kidnapped and taken to the emperor's palace. From there, we begin to learn more about her personality and traits, along with the unfolding of the story, revealing an intricate web of interconnected events and mysteries.

Technical Aspects:

Plot = 9.8/10

In my view, the anime presented no flaws in the plot. The way events connect and some mysteries are gradually unraveled shows meticulous and insightful writing. It's been a ... long time since I've seen such a well-constructed plot. The anime is rich in elements such as investigation and mysteries. It's literally a butterfly effect, where a small event can lead to something big or be intrinsically linked to something that has already happened! As for the narrative, it has many comedic elements while also being serious when needed, although it may seem somewhat unpretentious in some episodes!

Art (Character Design, Backgrounds, and Animation) = 8.6

The art of the anime is beautiful, with characters that are very well drawn and animation that is extremely consistent and fluid from beginning to end, which is rare for a 24-episode anime. The backgrounds were also very good, although they did not reach the level of detail found in films like "Kimi no Na wa". The only downside was the CGI, which stood out a bit from the rest of the animation and caused some unease.

Character Charisma and Development = 8.7

Maomao is, in my view, the best waifu of 2023/2024. The character is very fun, charismatic, and easily wins you over. It's almost impossible not to like her! Her romantic partner is also a captivating and enjoyable character, and the interactions between the two are very pleasant! As for the personal development of each character, in this aspect, the anime does not deliver as much. You can sympathize with the characters and feel some of what they feel, but the work does not usually delve deeply into their feelings, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret what they feel or think and the reasons for it! This is cool for an anime that focuses on mystery! Just don't expect major dramatic developments of the characters with the anime delving into their thoughts, emotions, and motivations very clearly!

Script/Storyboard and Direction = 9.1

The anime has beautiful framings and a very commendable immersion of the story. The weighty scenes really convey the feeling they need to convey. The rhythm and execution were done with great care, making the anime truly deserve many points for it. Even in episodes where there were no major revelations, the anime maintained good quality using other elements like comedy, having excellent comedic timing in these scenes, and a great power to generate memes with Maomao's facial expressions and reactions. The series manages to grip you, captivate you, and leave you interested in the story, making you feel part of it!

Soundtrack and Audio = 8.5

In this aspect, I believe the anime delivered something within expectations. Nothing absurd like Sawano or Masaru Yokoyama level, but the soundtrack is good, although I don't believe it to be an extremely outstanding point in the work. There are some scenes with cool tracks that deserve to be seen with affection, but they are not emblematic and striking. In this aspect, I've seen works that had a greater capacity to be striking. Another point in this topic would be to highlight the Openings and Endings, which are excellent songs, especially the first Opening and the first Ending. They are truly songs to listen to on repeat for a long time!

Conclusion: If you're looking for an anime with cool characters, mystery, investigation with a hint of romance, and a very well-constructed and written plot, you'll definitely love this work! Just don't expect a series where absolutely all mysteries are interconnected and all subplots are relevant to the main plot, that said.. I highly recommend it and I'm looking forward to a future continuation.

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Mar 24, 2024

BrickToast

Mixed Feelings

The Good:
This show get's a LOT right. The characters, the setting, the music, the colors, it's all loving crafted, animated, and produced. Like the many varied flowers found in both the Pleasure District and on the Rear Court, the overall feel and vibe of this anime is seductive, comforting, and alluring.

The Big Flaw:
Where does this show fall short then? Writing. Writing writing writing. Once past the opening episodes, the flaws of the writing starts to become pretty noticeable. It's not bad compared to other anime, just aggressively average.

Mystery Cases:
Some of the episodes follow a sort of episodic mystery-case style format which is a great ...

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Mar 23, 2024

Ionliosite2

Not Recommended

Have you ever seen the amount of anime that are power fantasies for men for the audience to self-insert into? Well, you don’t have to worry about that in this show, because this decided to do the “innovative” idea of making a power fantasy but for women, with Maomao serving very clearly as a Mary Sue to do this.

I mean, when you look at the conversation around this show, you see people being fine with the protagonist, which honestly confuses me, because this is the kind of show that, if it had a male protagonist, it would be rightfully called a self-insert power fantasy. The ... exact moment that I got to this conclusion was when Maomao put on makeup, because this moment showed that Maomao isn’t some plain girl and that her freckles are actually fake but she puts them on for safety reasons, which means that she makes herself uglier on purpose while she is actually so pretty that she surprises people with her beauty, a blatant example of the “looks ugly but is actually beautiful” trope being used to make the protagonist look better.

I’m fine with Maomao being good at testing poisons and having deep knowledge about the subject, she worked as an apothecary after all, and has even tested poison on herself. Maomao being a detective might be fine, her scientific interest aligns with critical thinking, but the fact that she actually guesses correctly every single thing thrown at her can make her look too perfect at a job she doesn’t actually have. She also teaches concubines about how to be better at having sex, despite being a virgin, and this is a problem, as she is better than other people in their areas of expertise when she is supposed to just be an apothecary, and that extends to things beyond this point. It’s fine if she is smarter than a quack doctor, but it almost seems that without her, the palace won’t be able to continue running because she solves almost everything.

You can just look at her qualities and see that her flaws aren’t actually flaws. Being ugly is a completely self-imposed thing, as she’s apparently the most beautiful around. She is very quirky and shows no interest in men, but that’s what gets her Jinshi being interested in her, since unlike the other girls who are lusting over Jinshi everywhere he goes, she is not interested in him as she is not like the other girls and her quirkiness makes her “interesting”, so she ends up getting attention from the perfect guy despite the fact that he doesn’t receive any reciprocation from her. I thought that we made fun of this when a romcom is about a 10/10 girl talking to the completely average guy just because he is nice, why is this suddenly okay when the exact thing is being done here?

Also, there are other girls who don’t like her and they are always proven wrong by saying they were just jealous of how amazing she is, I swear that I could barely look at the screen on episode 4 where she scolds that lady-in-waiting and slaps her in the face, I mean, Maomao was in the right (she always is) but it made me cringe at the scene, it almost felt like when in revenge fantasies the MC puts a popular guy “in their place”. I don’t even want to go about who her real father is, is there any other hidden talent or important connection that she has that I do not know?

Honestly, I’m very confused at the very positive reaction this series got, maybe it’s just that I can’t see this series and think in the MC as anything other than a massive case of a Mary Sue MC, because to me she is just blatantly written as one.

Thank you for reading.

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Recent News

'Kusuriya no Hitorigoto' Second Season Announced

The 24th and final episode of the Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) television anime announced a second season on Sunday, revealing a teaser visual (pi...read more

Mar 23, 10:53 AM by Nioxys | Discuss (19 comments)

'Kusuriya no Hitorigoto' Unveils Additional Pair of Cast, Theme Songs, Promo for Second Cours

The official website of the Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) television anime unveiled two additional cast, theme songs, and a promotional video for i...read more

Dec 25, 2023 8:48 AM by Hyperion_PS | Discuss (5 comments)

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Poll: Is The Apothecary Diaries popular in China ? KingSunWukong - Apr 21	11 replies	by GuyWithoutFear »» Yesterday, 8:13 AM
I came to realize that Maomao is Gregory House Gaming_Moment - Apr 23	11 replies	by Zarutaku »» Apr 25, 5:32 AM
On which chapter does this season 1 end? Creeture - Apr 24	5 replies	by Ash_Anime24 »» Apr 24, 8:01 PM
Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Mar 23	247 replies	by EinTheVariance »» Apr 22, 5:59 PM
Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) KANLen09 - Oct 21, 2023	116 replies	by NotBonBon »» Apr 21, 1:36 PM

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

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Gyokuyou

Kan, Lakan

Gaoshun

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Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

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Information

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Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

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Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

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