Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 24 Discussion

@ssjokg Since you seem to have a good understanding of the story, I have a question:

Why did Lakan leave Fengxian for roughly 15 (?) years alone at the Verdigris House?

If he thought she was dead, who told him that and kept him in the dark for all those years? Was it the old lady who runs the brothel? (She did smack him with a broom) Was it because Fengxian asked her to tell him that, out of hatred for the man who abandoned her?

Why was the owner lady OK with Lakan buying Fengxian now? Isn't it messed up to sell Fengxian now that her mind is mostly gone due to syphilis, so that she doesn't have a say about this?

If Lakan knew Fengxian had a baby, then why didn't he do anything about his own child, and let Luomen raise her? Was it guilt and shame? If so, why did he ask Maomao to come live with him only now, after leaving her with Luomen for 17 (?) years? Or was he denied custody by Luomen?

It's tragic what happened to Lakan and Fengxian 17 years ago, but Lakan's actions since then (and to a lesser degree, Fengxian's) have been pretty careless and irresponsible.

(A less important question is, how did Fengxian remain at the Verdigris House as basically an invalid for 15 years? We were told time and time again that the pleasure district is a harsh place where women are cast out if they can't make money. Fengxian herself was forced to become a common prostitute after she gave birth. Was it Luomen and Maomao who paid for the expenses all those years? Was this mentioned?)

Lakan can be an asshole, no question about that...I'm not here to defend him. But the "mistake" he made could just as easily have been placed on Maomao's mother, who equally gave into their passion in that one night that conceived Maomao. Fengxian only got pregnant in the first place because she wanted to, as Maomao explained later in the episode. Nonetheless, I think we're all forgetting an even bigger asshole here, someone who doesn't get nearly enough hate the way I see it--the granny madam. It was her that forced Fengxian to bed dirty random nobodies who came in off the street because she was no longer "valuable" after losing her virginity/being pregnant/giving birth, which is how she got syphilis afterward. Now that she was too far gone and losing her mind at that, she could no longer take any customers thereby being a net negative from the money-grubbing perspective of the granny, making the excuse of needing to make money completely pointless now, as she wasn't bringing in anything anymore. The second reason why she's an asshole is that she prevented Lakan from getting near Maomao and Fengxian from the moment Maomao was 3, robbing him of the chances of ever experiencing fatherhood raising Maomao, and being a husband. After those first 3 lost years, Lakan TRIED to come back, again and again, but was chased away by the granny each time for over a decade (who's the actual one that forced Fengxian to be a low-tier prostitute). She also robbed him of ever buying out Fengxian, which he could have spent the remaining years together with her before she eventually succumbs to the disease...precious years that all three parties will never get back. The WORST part of all of this is that the granny is:
Right to the very end, the granny tried to stop Lakan from even knowing of Fengxian's fate and existence if it weren't for Meimei. The granny can go to hell!

At any rate, I think Lakan buying out Fengxian and redeeming the love of his life is a beautiful way to end this season (as well as Maomao's beautiful send-off dance for her mother). Lakan loved Fengxian regardless of what she looked like (she even lost her nose), while being one of the few people's faces he could recognize with his neurological condition of face-blindness. I think that deserves some amount of respect at least.

Maomao explained the reasoning for why she disliked him; for not using his talents better, which is different from when she was young when she disliked him for being a stranger (no thanks to the granny, the old hag). I'm glad Gaoshun said what needed to be said about "...no father wants to be disliked." as he himself is also a father.

I don't think I mentioned it before, but I'm happy they changed Maomao's eye color from purple to blue (probably to not clash with Jinshi's character design), because with the blue rose symbolism in the series, it's as if it's saying Maomao has inherited the beauty of the blue rose from her mother, and the effort of her father-who started the whole blue rose thing when he was first courting Fengxian in their younger years.

The 2nd season has been greenlit for next year! I couldn't be happier that it's going to be in production again. If only Frieren could make some kind of announcement that is more definitive than the ambiguous teaser that could just as easily mean nothing.

2nd Season Teaser Announcement:

I'm also excited about the release of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto's OST releasing in April. I'll likely get that to listen while reading the manga.

I'm feeling a bit puzzled how Lakan is called a "criminal" or "bastard". Can someone please enlighten me what exactly he did to warrant these labels?

From what I can see, his biggest crimes seem to have been not answering letters for 3 years since he was sent off - and getting on Maomao's bad side. But neither of that warrants the hate I see. What am I missing?

ABSURD CASE OF PARENTAL ALIENATION!! 💢




DISGUSTING CRIMINAL, I'M SO MAD! 💢

@perseii When he came back 3 years later the old lady told him she was no longer here and hit him with a broom. After that, she never ever re appeared anywhere (being at all time in that room so no rumours were going around). Only the Verdegris house members know that she's here. From the courtesans PoV, what happened to Fengxian is the worst possible thing that you can do to them. Make them dream of being bought by you, and then disappear after having a child with you. So yes, they're extremely mad at him and are "protecting" her from him.

The other reason no one talk ever about Fengxian is the simple fact that for a brothel, having one of their courtesans suffering from syphilis is a major problem if known by the customers. Furthermore, in this state she's no longer saleable anyway, so telling anything to Lakan doesn't make sense from their PoV.

The old hag is still not happy about selling her to the man that destroyed her (even if it wasn't on purpose at all), even today. But she did promise he could chose anyone, and she knows that she doesn't have long to live either.

As pointed in this episode, Lakan did things about his own child. A child born from a courtesan in a brothel belongs to the brothel. So if you want her out, you need to buy her. For that, you need a lot of money, which Lakan certainly took time to gather as he needed to raise in rank for that. And you also need the brothel to accept to sell her, which they didn't want to, as the old hag hates the guy. Luomen's small house is technically on the Verdigris's ground, and belong to them. So when Maomao sleeps here, she technically sleeps in the Verdegris house, in which she belongs.


Finally, to answer the last question, as well as explain further the old hag's behaviour, the answer is a spoiler (not an important one, but it's revealed quite late in the story (tome is not even translated yet)

@Mentar it simply of... first impression.
So no matter what the background and explanation being given in the anime, he still that.

Thought it's kind of a bum that they cut the expalantion on why Mao Mao react so strongly about Lakan, aside from her being jealous of his talent.

Here's another reason:

Only one, Maomao's mom