Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

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]

Maomao Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Jinshi Main

Ootsuka, Takeo Japanese

Loulan Supporting

Seto, Asami Japanese

Gyokuyou Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Kan, Lakan Supporting

Kirimoto, Takuya Japanese

Gaoshun Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Xiaolan Supporting

Kuno, Misaki Japanese

Lihua Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui Japanese

Ah-Duo Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Pairin Supporting

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Morishita, Katsuji Producer

Okamoto, Junya Producer

Fujimura, Tomoko Producer

Mutou, Hiroshi Producer

Reviews

Jan 22, 2026

DI0NYSIUS

Recommended

STORY (Review adjusted based on show length)

Complexity: 7
World-Building: 8
Pace: 6
Direction: 9

CHARACTERS (Review adjusted based on show length)

Quantity vs Quality Ratio: 8
... Development: 8
Depth: 8.5

Art, Animation & Music (Review adjusted based on air date)

Art Style: 10
Animation Quality: 9
Soundtrack & SFX Quality: 8

ENJOYMENT LEVEL 8/10


=====Introduction=====
I'd been introduced to The Apothecary Diaries long before its animated release and my initial thoughts had been very clear, "If this ever got a faithful adaptation, its success would be inevitable". The series positions itself as the antithesis of all factory farmed isekai shows by showcasing a slower pace, a unique setting, and some room for characters to breathe. All these are priceless merits that are often overlooked by modern anime in exchange for accelerated storylines and rushed conclusions. These characteristics are rare because they expose the truth behind the quality of the show's writing, plot, characters and the world. Most modern anime cannot afford to be exposed as terribly written, so they operate at a higher pace to try and conceal their weaknesses. This anime however, is fearless.


=====Story===== 7.5/10
It is very deceptive in this area. At a high level, the story can be compressed into a few statements. But, there are several layers of detail with each story event showcasing great writing that the show is littered with. A good sign is when a story event can afford to change certain layers (on a story layer stack) while maintaining the high level pretense & logic. Another good sign is when story events can act as converging points of several seemingly unrelated events of the past. The goal is to create a show with several interconnecting moving parts while ensuring viewers can parse what's happening since the high level logic stays unchanged. A close adjacent to this ideal of flawless writing is The Apothecary Diaries. The story's direction has to be its biggest captivating highlight (apart from the art). Most events happen with a purpose, if not immediate then at least with a future occurrence in mind, so circumstances change not just for entertainment but either to contribute to a future incident or as a reaction to a past episode. Furthermore, it operates at a level where the story is not predictable and boring but not unpredictable & illogical either and it isn't afraid to showcase unpredictable or shocking scenes when it needs to. So then why is the rating not perfect? Because the main drawback is its pacing, yes it is slow on purpose. However, the slowness is very blatant in certain sections since there aren't many twists & turns or edge of your seat action moments that can mask some runtime (thrilling moments). Also it's quite unclear what the show primarily wants to be, its a concoction of romance, drama, mystery and history (which I'm sure is what it wants to be). But it tries to split the runtime equally to all of them, which means the overall pace of the show does drop a lot.


=====Characters===== 8/10
The characters of this show are yet another strong point since there are almost NO black & white characters. The standard "bad guys" (Because he's bad guy with bad intentions with bad appearance to destroy good guys) don't exist so it requires curiosity and thought to appreciate them, their roles and their responses. Maomao is an interesting character herself, being gifted with talents that were uncommon of her environment while lacking in those that were common (you know what I mean) sets up for a compelling (& comedic) journey. Though if I were to nitpick, I'd say she's a bit unnaturally out of place or rather too "advanced" in thought (like her skepticism). The characters, as they are setup are close to ideal frankly. So again why not perfect score? The problem is with screen-time, a lot of characters don't appear much after the initial episodes since the narrative is primarily focused on Maomao & her immediate environment. If & when she shifts her location to a new area, the characters & their screen-time shift along accordingly. This is realistic but it does limit screen-time for characters, and I feel like they could have distributed it better among them. It's not a major issue but combined with the show's slowness it does classify itself as a demerit.


=====Art, animation & sound===== 9/10
Okay the art is just...beautiful. Like seriously, wth. The characters are all designed beautifully, the colors pop, the visual scenes were fantastic. This is a slight spoiler but the garden party episode was particularly amazing. Like at this point, its trying to be more beautiful that nature itself. The animation was fluid enough, I didn't really notice major issues. Voice acting for Maomao was excellent, I mean it can't be easy voicing her (I watched it subbed, don't know about dubbed). I think voice acting in general was a standout apart from the art. The SFX & soundtracks took a back seat but I think that might've been intentional. Honestly, this section was not that important for this show and yet they nailed it so well. (A small inclusion here, I've started watching season 2 and they have improved the soundtracks & such but since this is a review for season 1 I'll maintain the rating)


=====Reasons NOT to watch=====
It's not the most casual watch ever since it isn't a roller-coaster ride of emotions or full of barreling action. It does require you to watch with your brain turned on and it doesn't have too much of something. So if you want maximum romance, mystery or drama or something specific like that then you may be disappointed. It is unpredictable in its narrative and has 1 (or 2?) kind of shocking/disturbing scene. It's not too bad but it caught me off-guard since I guess I didn't expect that from this show. It does tackle some uncomfortable or taboo topics, if its not in your interest then perhaps steer clear.


=====Overall===== 8/10
A solid show. I haven't seen season 2 yet but I heard season 3 is on the way. If all the later seasons are more of what I've seen. I can say I will definitely be interested to watch more. The "atmosphere" this show sets is one of a kind. And its a drug that I just want more of.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 3, 2025

radiatior11

Mixed Feelings

Apothecary Diaries is an anime that isn't perfect, but it's still a very enjoyable show. The world feels realistic and it portrays the historical setting very well as the main character solves mysteries and uncovers intrigues at the royal palace. And there's also a little bit of romance to spice things up a little bit. It's just there are flaws in and it doesn't really excel in any aspect, generally being mostly above average.

CHARACTERS
I personally like the main character, Maomao, I personally like the voice acting a lot with how unenthusiastic she sounds most of the time and how it contrasts the other female characters, ... who focus on elegance while Maomao tries to stay low. But looking deeper into her she's just a "Mary Sue" type of character. Despite being young, she seems to be knowledgeable about everything, there's nothing she doesn't err about and nothing she hasn't learnt yet, only requiring a minor detail to come to a conclusion and find evidence for something. Some of her knowledge makes no reason. Oh yeah, and she built up invicibilty against poison, cause why not. That said, her negative characteristics make up for it, with her being dense, introverted and being unable to relate to people.

The other characters are good, despite there being a lot of them they're distinguishable. The antagonists aren't pure evil and have bad and good sides and good motives for their actions.

STORY
The anime portrays concubines and prostitution in an open way, though I find it treats it too positively despite showing the bad sides as well. It may come as off putting for some.

The mysteries and intrigues in the story are great, the solving isn't really. As the viewer, you're basically told almost everything to understand the mystery, with the key word being almost, because there's always something that only the genius Maomao will figure out. I always came close to solving a mystery myself but being stuck on something involving poison, physics etc. It' still enjoyable though with how convoluted it often times becomes.

Then there's Jinshi. [minor spoilers about the story structure]
First, his story is told in such a weird way (with it being made confusing in the first place not helping), Maomao will assume something about him based of some details, which basically reveals info about him, but you don't really get a confirmation, since Maomao doesn't dwell on it due to her philosophy of not assuming things without having evidence, which she doesn't feel like seeking. And then the confirmation comes straight from Jinshi, but as a monologue during a plot point that often doesn't relate to Jinshi at all, is several episodes late and basically comes at a random arbitrary point. And the MC still doesn't know btw.

Also the romance is cute with it highlighting the fact that it's one sided, but we don't even get the reasoning for why they love them isn't really clear from that one side, there's a motif about the other side being a toy, but that's about it. It's still fun though and makes me savour every development.

PRODUCTION
As I mentioned, the voice acting is great and same thing goes for the soundtrack, the first opening is awesome. It isn't a high budget/tier production and it's not like every second is an eye candy, but it still manages to look beautiful in some scenes. I find the audio design to be out of place sometimes and there are minor scenes where I had to skip several seconds ahead due to them being slow.

7/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jan 8, 2026

__SkyFlower__

Not Recommended

The anime starts promisingly, but the lack of conflict and character depth discourages the viewer from continuing to watch. At first the story seems original, but as the episodes go by, a predictable formula becomes apparent. Furthermore, the author dumbs down the secondary characters, making them one-dimensional, and at the same time exaggerates Maomao's genius, making the plot hardly believable. In the end, I gave up on watching the next seasons of this anime.
The only positive point is the quality of the anime's art; it's very beautiful! But what good is beauty if there's no substance?
If you're easily satisfied and don't value your free time ... much, you'll probably enjoy this anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Softhenic03 - Oct 28, 2023	250 replies	by k1rarara »» Yesterday, 9:48 AM
	Maomao is kinda overrated ( 1 2 3 ) Grg3 - Jun 25, 2025	127 replies	by Laraso »» Yesterday, 9:45 AM
	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Mar 23, 2024	360 replies	by MASTERCRAFT938 »» Feb 4, 10:14 PM
	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) KANLen09 - Oct 21, 2023	242 replies	by MASTERCRAFT938 »» Feb 4, 11:09 AM
	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) KANLen09 - Oct 21, 2023	210 replies	by Rasco »» Jan 24, 10:28 AM