 TOHO animation opened an official website for a television anime adaptation of Natsu Hyuuga's Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) light novel on Thursday, revealing the lead cast, staff, a teaser visual (pictured), and project promo. The anime series will premiere in 2023.Voice actress Aoi Yuuki (Heike Monogatari, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners) is starring as Maomao. Staff Director, Series Composition: Norihiro Naganuma (Mahoutsukai no Yome) Assistant Director: Akimi Fudesaka (Tsurezure Children) Character Design: Yukiko Nakatani (Go! Princess Precure) Color Design: Misato Aida (Uchi no Shishou wa Shippo ga Nai) Art Director: Katsumi Takao (Pokemon Movie: Minna no Monogatari) CGI Director: Yuu Nagai (Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu.) Director of Photography: Rumi Ishiguro (Akiba Meido Sensou) Editing: Daisuke Imai (Shadows House) Sound Director: Shouji Hata (Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu) Music: Satoru Kousaki (Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss), Alisa Okehazama (Jujutsu Kaisen) Studio: TOHO animation STUDIO, OLM Hyuuga originally began penning the medical mystery novel on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website in October 2011. Shufunotomo published it under its RayBooks imprint in a single novel volume in September 2012, featuring the cover illustration by Megumi Matsuda. The publisher began reprinting the series as a light novel through its Hero Bunko label with illustrations by Touko Shino in August 2014. The 12th volume went on sale last July, with the 13th volume scheduled for a February 25 release.  Itsuki Nanao began writing a manga adaptation in Monthly Big Gangan in May 2017, featuring illustrations by Nekokurage. Square Enix published the tenth volume last June, with the 11th volume scheduled to be released on February 25.Sunday Gene-X began serializing a second manga adaptation by Minoji Kurata in August 2017. The 15th volume shipped in November 2022, with the 16th volume going on sale on February 25. J-Novel Club licensed the light novel in English in November 2020 for digital release and published the sixth volume in October 2022. The seventh volume is planned for a March 1 release. Square Enix Manga & Books licensed Nanao and Nekokurage's manga adaptation in English in November 2019 and shipped the seventh volume in December 2022. The eighth volume is planned for a June 6 release. Synopsis In an imperial court in ancient China, it has been a few months since a 17-year-old girl known as Maomao was kidnapped and forced to work as a low-level servant at the emperor's palace. Still, she manages to retain her curious and pragmatic spirit, planning to work until her years of servitude are over. One day, however, she catches wind of the fact that the emperor's two infants have fallen gravely ill. She decides to secretly take action, drawing on her experience as a pharmacist raised in the poor red-light district. Despite Maomao's attempts to remain anonymous, she soon catches the eye of Jinshi, an influential eunuch who recognizes her talents. Maomao soon finds herself in the emperor's inner courst, where she gradually makes a name for herself by utilizing her knowledge and eccentric personality to solve various medical mysteries. [Written by MAL Rewrite] Project PV Official site: https://kusuriyanohitorigoto.jp/ Official Twitter: @kusuriya_PR Light novel special site: https://herobunko.com/special/kusuriya/ Source: Moca News Kusuriya no Hitorigoto on MAL |
VindstotFeb 15, 2023 7:27 PM
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| This looks so good. HYPE |
| Bro I love the manga to this series! I'm so curious on how this will turn out. MaoX2 getting animated hype. |
| Source material seems to be critically acclaimed, OLM is an A-tier studio and this character fits Yuki Aoi's voice perfectly. This gonna be good. Definitely gonna watch. |
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| Nice! This series deserves an anime adaptaion for a long long time. |
何それ？意味分かんない  |
| Looks good! I can't wait for this *o* |
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| I am excited for this anime it looks beautiful 😍 OLM is slowly becoming one of my favourite studio. |
| Wow i can't wait to see the show OLM do a great job and Aoi voicing Maomao is the best choice |
| I'm not surprised because I knew it would be animated one day. Rather, I was surprised that it was finally animated...later than I expected. |
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| Toho animation as a studio???? Now that's new |
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| I guess that will be like ENGI for Kadokawa |
Utopipi said: Do you mean sequel or total remake from the very beginning? Seeing this makes me wish for Juuni Kokuki remake. As for Kusuriya, it is only a matter of time this got an anime. Definite watch. ABSOLUTE WATCH. |
| Oh my god, i knew it anime will come one day but i didn't expect this soon. It deserves this, the BG manga version has entered the top ten of the "manga that we wanted to animated" pool three years in a row. The light novel and both manga adaptations are very popular in Japan. Great to hear this news finally we'll see Mao2 moving . (Also, I hope Takahiro Sakurai voices Jinshi like in the Drama CD. His voice is the best fit for him, I think.) |
| Oh, I sometimes hear about the manga adaptation for this... holy shit does this PV look really good or what...... |
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| It looks amazing so far! I ended up dropping the manga but I am definitely watching this, also I'd always figured Aoi Yuuki would be fitting for the MC if they made an anime. |
 'nom' |
| holy fuck, took them long enough. |
 "If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| The PV looks really good. |
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| so you're telling me aoi yuuki plays a role that doesn't include screaming? I don't believe it |
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| A first season with two cours, please and thank you! :' ) |
| "Genki is Life, Genki is Love" |
| Given how readily Light novels get an adaptation, this for some reason took ages. Though now hope it comes out by the end of this year itself. And yes PV looks great. |
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| Finally! I waited for this adaptation so long time! Great news! |
MemoreFeb 16, 2023 3:46 AM
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| toho finally has an animation studio now huh. animation looked incredible and the bgm sounds really good. |
| I've heard amazing things about this show. I'm excited. |
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| Idk what the hell this is, but I'm sold |
| Sounds pretty good, will keep an eye out for. |
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| I want this to get an anime adaptation about a year and a half ago and here it is now getting one. |
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| Oh, this seems surprisingly good! I remember it winning some title, so I'll continue to keep a close eye on it. |
#Anime4Life be my Life Motto! #PrayForKyoAni  |
| Hell yeah, I've been waiting for this to get an anime adaptation for a while. Super excited!!! |
| - ratings literally don't matter. (especially the top 10 or whatever) - anime characters aren't real people. - why do you have signatures on. lol |
| yo very unique and long synopsis... i will keep an eye on this just because of animation and OLM studio involved. |
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| Won so many times they had to move it to 'hall of fame' )) |
| So it's finally happening. The LN juggernaut that was already selling more per volume than almost any LN series in history and this WITHOUT an anime series to advertise it(18 millions sales in only 12 volumes by last year, probably above 20 millions by now with still the same amount of volumes) is getting an anime adaptation. Definitely one of my favourite Japanese novel, and the protagonist is easily in my top 10 protagonist of all time (manga/anime/japanese novel together). That's cool. But you know what's even cooler? Aoi Yuuki was one of the two seiyuu I was hopping for Maomao if that were to happen one day. One of the best part of this story is Maomao's lines. The better at voicing quirky characters her seiyuu is, the better the anime will be. This is so much win. |
ZefyrisFeb 16, 2023 10:27 AM
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| promoting alternative medicines of china eh looks cool too |
| Yuuki-san lets fkicng GO!!! |
My Candies:           |
| First look at the title and synopsis screamed "just another apothecary anime", but people seem to be loving the LN + record sales = must be something unique? Definitely piqued my interest. |
| oh my god!! it's happening!!!! so excited |
The siren of a flightless bird Quietly destroying its cage Dance, until tonight, with a raised voice- For I don't want to lose hope! -Utsuro wo Aogu, Vivid BAS SQUAD |
| Many people speak well of this work, by the synopsis and PV you can see that it is worth it! |
| Apaixonado por jogos e animes. |
deg said: if anything, the series has protagonist that criticize ancient backward practice that persist.promoting alternative medicines of china eh looks cool too |
"If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| The manga was good, but I dropped midway because I got bored. I'll definitely reread again now that more chapters were released |
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| Hypeeeee MC voiced by Yuuki Aoi!!! Animation is soooo good |
uncleqrow said: But it's TOHO though.... A literal shounen anime studio. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto is not a shounen, in fact it was way deep in the seinen demography with A LOT of really mature contents (death, assassination, prostitution, medically disturbing scenes, on top of the MC is a literal drug addict). I actually fear that they may tone some scenes down to accommodate shounen demography. So much stupid shit in one post. This is Toho Animation studio's first anime. Main Toho produced shitload of battle manga adaptations. KnH is LIGHT NOVEL, manga demographics don't apply here. It's two manga adaptations are in seinen magazines. The so called "mature contents" appear in many sshounen manga for long time (for example Akame ga Kill). Shounen only applies to manga/magazine, not anime. |
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| If we were to try to classify the LN using manga demographic, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto would be either a Josei or a shoujo rather than a seinen. That being said, Manga demographics barely mean a thing anymore nowadays even for manga, and it even means less for anything else. But it is true that the LN label it's published into clearly do novels oriented toward women rather than men. |
ZefyrisFeb 23, 2023 3:16 PM
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| I heard a lot of good things about these LNs. always wanted to read them but lacked time. Purchased first 3 volumes after this announcment and I love them so far. And I would argue about demographics post above. Having a strong female lead and bishonen male lead does not make the series automatically oriented for female audience. I do not see any significant amount of related tropes here. It's like, say, caling "House" a "male-oriented" seies. IMHO it will fit equally to any gender demographic. |
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