Sakuga NotesLibrary / Series
The Apothecary Diaries
A kidnapped apothecary in the imperial palace would rather be testing poisons.
- Original title
- Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
- Year
- 2023
- Studio
- TOHO animation Studio & OLM
- Director
- Norihiro Naganuma
- Length
- 24 episodes (season 1)
The story
Maomao grew up in the pleasure quarter learning medicine from her adoptive father. Kidnapped and sold into service in the emperor's rear palace, she plans to keep her head down, but cannot resist solving the mystery of why the emperor's children are falling ill. That brings her to the attention of Jinshi, a courtier who is better at getting what he wants than he looks.
Why watch it
Each case is a small medical or chemical puzzle, and Maomao's deadpan commentary carries the comedy. The court politics build slowly underneath the episodic mysteries.
A scene to pause on. The white powder episode, where a single observation about cosmetics explains a tragedy nobody could see.
Official trailer from the Crunchyroll YouTube channel. The player loads only after you press play. Open on YouTube ↗