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

Meimei Supporting

Han, Megumi Japanese

Morishita, Katsuji Producer

Fujimura, Tomoko Producer

Mutou, Hiroshi Producer

Okamoto, Junya Producer

Reviews

Dec 12, 2025

Tactician

Recommended

As I read the synopsis of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto I became gradually more intrigued for many reasons. Genres, setting and curiosity of how the Apothecary part fit in.

The story itself is really nice. The story clearly centers around Maomao though because, well, she is the subject of the "diaries". At first I didn't think it would be much but there is layering that gets peeled away as the story unfolds and Maomao solves more mysteries. The mysteries build on one another, ultimately unveiling a certain timeline. Through the first season we get to meet a handful of characters and each one that sees more then ... ten minutes of screen time gets a touch of development which think they did a good job with.

I liked the way Maomao is portrayed, mostly unfazed and uninterested in things, except when it comes to herbs and her work as an Apothecary. When she's in detective mode she also "turns on" as well. I like the dynamics she has with some of the primary supporting cast. The show does a really good job of squeezing in a bit of humor where I wasn't expecting throughout the entire season. It can get pretty grim and gruesome at times and the humor is actually one of the things I like most about the show. It really keeps things neutral in a good way.

I haven't seen many mystery Anime and I think that is the biggest contributing factor as to why I found Kusuriya no Hitorigoto to be really interesting. I think it has a lot of good things going for it regardless and I am going to dive right into season 2 to see what happens next.

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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Aug 15, 2025

pamemeland

Not Recommended

Funny

I tried, honestly i tried more than once to like this anime. Unfortunately, I hated this. And I was so hyped for this anime, what a turnoff.

The show is called "Apothecary Diaries", she learned from her father how to practice, worked as an apothecary, so you would assume this show is about her as an apothecary, right? Wrong! She starts to solve misteries like scooby because people thinks she is smart. What that has to do with apothecary? Nothing. And everything and everyone just goes along.

Why would a high patent noble call an apothecary everytime he has an issue? Is he dumb? No, ... it's because he likes her.

The thing that irritates me the most is that this show tries to be many things, but actually is none.

Nothing sticks, nothing standsout, the story never evolves. I finished the season 1 and started season 2 only to realize it's never gonna make sense, and it's never gonna be anything more than someone being poisoned, concubines fighting, and something involving the courtesans...

That being said, you might like for the historical, or for the investigations. But I've seen better anime with lower scores than this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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