#The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 3

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Manga Monday: The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 3

Author: Natsu HyuugaArtist: NekokuragePublisher: Square Enix MangaReleased: September 14, 2021Find it on Goodreads | More Manga Summary: Maomao spent the earliest parts of her life training in herbal medicine. She had a path in life that she loved. Unfortunately, that was all ripped away from her when she was captured and sold to the inner palace. Now, Maomao is a poison taster, and that has…

[kolomo]

THE APOTHECARY DIARIES SEASON 2 — 10th of January, 2025.

[ace-aro-taku]

Bless the anime for the comedic value

[bubblesthemonsterartist]

Curiosity Killed the Cat (but satisfaction brought it back)

Would you care to find out?

Maomao jerks awake, eyes wide and heart racing. It takes a moment for her to register the fragrance of drying herbs in lieu of damp earth, a moment longer to recognize the window next to her bed is a screen and not light filtered through a wall of water. Also, the only sound is the drone of the night critters unique to palace grounds, not… anything else. Her nightgown – cotton, not her master’s silk – sticks to her body, but that has more to do with the soggy summer air than the contents of her dreams.

The dampness between her thighs, though, might be another story.

Read more on AO3

[gothsuguru]

— kairo. she/her. twenties. woc.

RULES ✧. ABOUT ME ✧. MASTERLIST ✧. TAG INDEX

જ ⁀ ➴ THE HOT NEW TOPIC!

RECENTS:

— the choiceless grief that drove him underground (geto x reader)

— black is the color of my true love’s hair (geto x reader) ♡

— the enormity of my desire disgusts me (geto x reader)

[bigbrainbiology]

Doodletober 1 <3

[saisaixchan]

Im at ch. 3 vol 5 of the apothecary diaries light novels

Jinshi, a prince: i never sleep alone (bc i need guards)

Maomao, who grew up in a brothel: understood. Get the virgins

[landofanimes]

The Apothecary Diaries

Manga by Minoji Kurata (subtitled Maomao’s Rear Palace Mystery-Solving Notebook) Volumes 1-8 Japanese Covers

See also Nekokurage's manga: [x]

*****

Bonus: Vol. 1-3 Indonesian Covers

[kitsune-rp-help]

Apothecary Dairies Icons from vol. 3 Jinshi pt 1

100 by 100 icons of Jinshi as depicted in vol 3 of Apothecary diaries. Please like or reblog if using.

[chibimui]

The Apothecary Diaries LN1 Thoughts - Part 2 (ch12-24)

[Part 1]

A continuation of my thoughts on The Apothecary Diaries light novels starting from Vol 1. This is part 2 out of 3 for the first volume.

(Warning: These reviews will potentially contain spoilers from later light novels/the rest of the series)

Starting off with another silly passage cause why not:

(This is such an aroace moment for Maomao).

So - Ch12 onwards we start with Maomao going to help nurse Consort Lihua back to health and I'm going to start with a bit that I love that I think gives us such wonderful insight into Maomao's character.

Overall, I really like this portion of the story because it shows how good Maomao is as a health professional, and how much she really cares for people. This passage in particular after she slaps the living daylights out of one of Lihua's attendants speaks volumes in not just how deeply Maomao feels, but as a result she also does pick up on and is actively hurt by the fact that other people are uncomfortable around her.

I could honestly spend the entirety of this review gushing about how I genuinely love Maomao as a character and the way she is written and portrayed. It's not just the moments where she takes no shit and acts like a girlboss, but it's also these smaller ones - how the author actively points out that Maomao has a warm heart, that she does get hurt, even if she herself refuses to show that to others. It makes her such a well-written and well-rounded character. It also really highlights how much of Maomao's tough exterior is truly a form of protection for her. She grew up probably feeling abandoned, very jaded to the idea of love and care and with the constant threat of ending up having to work in a brothel - sure she's incredibly sex positive and sex-work positive, but we know that's a life she would hate.

And here she is, in her element, doing her utmost best to save a person's life and she is treated like dirt for it.

It makes me think that even with her being annoyed at Jinshi's presence, he is actually one of the few people who was openly supporting her throughout this time. Even if the narrative doesn't highlight that, I do feel like this slightly changed Maomao's impression of him and I feel like narratively her interactions with Jinshi actively start shifting from this point on.

Now, skipping on ahead a bit to Chapter 15 to highlight this point a bit:

You might be wondering how this passage shows any change in the way Maomao views Jinshi, but I have a running theory that after helping her out with Consort Lihua, this is when Maomao actually starts somewhat seeing Jinshi in a positive light, and that is why she is so much more upset at the fakeness that she sees in him. She's always found Jinshi attractive, but I think a part of her is also starting to clue in to the fact that Jinshi could be a better person and that's what really ticks her off when she looks at him.

This is also when Jinshi's mask starts cracking a tiny bit too, because further on in the same chapter we get this little bit:

Of course, it still takes a litttttle bit more before I think Jinshi really starts viewing Maomao as not just a fun toy, but an actual human person who he actually really likes, respects, and falls in love with. That happens in the next chapter when the garden party starts!

Ugh. The garden party. I have so much to stay because it was such a pivotal moment for Jinshi and Maomao. The anime also did such an amazing job at adapting this part. The Japanese voice actors did such a good job at nailing the gravitas of the conversation Jinshi and Maomao share about why she covers her face with freckles, while also still preserving the strained and awkward dynamic they currently have.

Even in the novels it's clear that Jinshi doesn't know what to say, or how to act, or really what to do at all. He is also a person who feels like his entire value is based on his looks, and now he is coming across a person who is actively debasing her looks in order to protect herself. I don't think he's just shocked at the idea of Maomao being sexually assaulted, but I think he's also somewhat having his entire worldview being shifted in regards to how someone's appearance can affect their life, and what that means when you don't have the power he has. He is also finally fully recognizing Maomao as a person.

This is also the first -- and certainly not the last -- time that Maomao openly teaches Jinshi something about power and more explicitly, her absolute lack of power as a commoner, and highlighting his power as a noble. It's funny because this is one of those rare scenes where Maomao actually downplays Jinshi's power because she doesn't know who he is yet, but Jinshi does and we see the first signs of how Jinshi tends to take on way too much responsibility regarding matters of the country.

This is also notably the first time Jinshi finally, completely, lets his mask down around Maomao. She doesn't think of it much in the moment, but it's something she continues to notice and comment on from here on out.

Anyway I'm not going to screencap their entire conversation from ch16, but here is a moment from ch17 that stood out to me, again, regarding Maomao's softness and her tough exterior as a defense mechanism:

This is just after Maomao scared of Consort Lihau's attendants. Despite how Maomao may have appeared on the outside, their behaviour and obvious fear/disdain of her still hurts her. But of course, she isn't willing to actually share that. "It doesn't bother me", she said, like a liar. Oh Maomao. (But also, 1000 points to Consort Gyokuyou's Ladies-in-Waiting for sticking up for Maomao! Once again, they are the best girls).

Moving on, this is the portion of the book where we get introduced to Lihaku!

I didn't know what to think of Lihaku at first, but he is absolutely one of my favourite characters having finished the rest of the light novels. It's interesting because he frequently gets described as a dog--someone warm and friendly, but initially he is actually pretty cold, and somewhat rude to Maomao prior to being brought to Verdigris House. It's fair considering he accurately reads that Maomao is just using him--which also goes to show how smart Lihaku is.

You might want to call him a himbo, but he's not! This guy has a decent set of brain cells in his head! He's not a person that necessarily "stands out" in the flashy sense, but he's incredibly capable and reliable. I also love how he never looks down on Maomao. I do find it amusing that the author had to throw in this paragraph to save Lihaku's reputation though:

I mean, we figure this out naturally anyway later on, but still. Gave me a good chuckle.

I also want to give a few shout outs to the anime again because they made the entire portion of Maomao bargaining with Lihaku and going home, and Jinshi finding out hilarious. A+++ comedy. I'm actually breaking this novel-only review to throw in an anime screenshot because I just love this face:

But now we get to the portion where Maomao is home and we finally get to meet Luomen - Maomao's father and get a glimpse at what it truly is like to live in the Red Light District.

I think this passage says it all really.

I have definitely seen a few opinions from folks who don't like the series because of it's treatment of women, which blows my mind and is so disappointment because this series is so aware of how badly women are treated and that is the point. It's just to build awareness. I feel like Western media is so caught up in with the idea that media we consume has to tell us what to do. If you show women in a shitty society, you must juxtapose that with a female lead who actively fights against this shitty society. We shouldn't forget stories like The Apothecary Diaries though, where it's less about telling you how you should think, and it just... shows you. It shows you how bad things are and what people like Maomao, and all the women she interacts with, have to do in order to survive and live and it's up to us, the readers/watchers to come to our own conclusions with the information we've been provided.

Yes, it's couched with humor and moments of joy and love too, but part of that is also because this story is not trying to be social commentary. It's just being honest.

As I mentioned we also get our first glimpse at Luomen and we get to learn exactly why Maomao is so capable and smart. Luomen is portrayed as both incredibly kind and gentle, but as a teacher he is clearly very strict. He describes Maomao's work as "passable". PASSABLE. Oof. I really do adore their relationship though, and you can tell how much Maomao genuinely adores and loves him.

This is skipping ahead to future LN's (and major spoilers so stop reading here if you don't want to see it) ..........but I adore the moments Maomao gets to spend with Luomen when he returns to working in the palace. They're few and far in between, but still so sweet. Especially in LN15 when they perform the surgery together!

Finally, I am going to end this part of the review on one of my most favourite parts in the anime, that I rewatch constantly because seeing chibi-Jinshi blue-screening is hilarious -- but Maomao's return to the the palace!

We get so many glorious quotes of Jinshi being petty and jealous, which are equally hilarious, but again - I want to highlight how much Jinshi starts putting down his mask now! The garden party conversation was such a clear turning point for him. Look at this guy:

He is so upset you guys! SO UPSET. He's not being flowery polite court noble eunuch Jinshi, he's being bratty whiny pouty baby Jinshi and it's glorious. He calls Lihaku a hack! He's So. Rude.

And Maomao doesn't get it at all. She has absolutely zero clue of the psychic damage she has just dealt him.

I like to believe that in the future Jinshi complains about this moment to Maomao every now and then--maybe when he's annoyed at her, or she's being purposely dense/stubborn about something.

Jinshi: Remember that time I finished my work early just to see you and I arrive to find out you left with LIHAKU OF ALL PEOPLE. LIHAKU. AND YOU HAD NO IDEA HOW I WAS FEELING AT ALL. Maomao: *shrugs* How was I supposed to know you'd fallen in love with me by then???? Jinshi: *Sputtering*

For real though, this was amusing to read in the light novel, but the anime genuinely made this scene shine.

Alright - I am ending things here and will be back for Part 3 which will take us from ch25 to the end!

[Part 3]

[pomnavi]

The Apothecary Diaries - LN 3, 4 Impressions

The Apothecary Diaries Volumes 3 and 4 by Natsu Hyuuga, Illustrations by Touko Shino. Published by J-Novel Club.

These two volumes finish out what I would say is the first major story arc in the series. Volume 3 continues the evolving relationship between Maomao and Jinshi (with what I have to say is the funniest romcom scene and deflection by Maomao so far) with further Rear Palace intrigue, while Volume 4 dives deep into the ramifications of a certain high ranking family's actions.

In my personal opinion, while the first 3 volumes were entertaining, Volume 4 was what really got me hooked into this series. There were many plot twists and shocking reveals that culminated from all the intrigue from the previous books. Lots of little details were shown to be building up to a more cohesive story, and I really had a hard time putting this book down.

I've already started reading the next books in the series (I've just finished Vol. 7), and I'll probably do another post when I finish that story arc.

Dreamwidth Mirror

[aamaimonn]

Pls share your thoughts as well!! Vol 4 is my favorite of all time and has been for a while. I need to know if anyone agrees lol

[mythical-fangirls]

Watched Apothecary Diaries and then I bought vol 1 & 2 of the manga and read them both within 2 hours so I probably should've bought vol 3 as well but I didn't.

Anyways, differences from the anime vs the manga, mainly small details I like from both. Edit: Any Light Novel Readers, please correct me! I would love to know what was cut when it was turned into a manga!

In the manga we see Maomao put the flower with the note on the table for the respective concubines to find, as opposed to a windowsill in the anime

Jinshi, in the anime, is shown to gush over Maomao's disgust of him to Gao Shun twice as opposed to once. And honestly that just makes it funnier

The physician gives more background info on Concubine Fuyou in the manga. How the officer she was going to be given away to is a childhood friend of hers, which adds more context to who the soldier is

But the extra scenes from the anime on the couple is honestly so precious

Also, the incident with the poisoned food from the village, apparently the level headed soldier in that is the same one Fuyou ends up with. It's an anime exclusive

Chapter 2 & 3 are relatively uneventful, mainly filled with more information on things so those two chapters make up the whole of episode 2. Meanwhile episode 1 & 3 are whole chapters, with added scenes to add more context

It didn't feel obvious to me in the anime, but Jinshi did snag a piece of Maomao's snack during that neck kiss. In the manga he's seen wiping his lip, probably from the extra chocolate

Wording differences between the manga & subtitles. Depending on scene, I prefer one more to the other as. Ex: Maomao's explanation of why she can eat the chocolate thing as a snack and not worry about its effects. Her wording in the official subs is weird to me, while in the manga is more straight to the point

The increase amount of chibi kitty maomao in scenes in the anime, 10/10

In the manga, it seems that Maomao lived in the brothel but worked with her dad for apothecary stuff

In the anime, it's more coded that Maomao lives with her dad and just visits the brothel often

Speaking of, added scenes prior to Maomao becoming staff for the Inner Palace in the anime that shows her life before hand

Consort Gyokuyo laugh is cute in both, but her laugh in the manga looks cuter to me

The woman who requested to have tea with Jinshi is a mid-tier concubine. Three concubines have invited Jinshi to their private chambers, all of varying tiers (Manga)

A consort's place in the tier varies depending on several factors outside of status. It grades intelligence the strictest of all (manga)

Jinshi does know of others who have taken no carnal desire to him but looking at him with such blatant disgust is new (Manga)

Maomao's chocolate making includes some herbal oil and spirits, and the exact thing she wanted was solid cacao but they only had powder (Manga)

Maomao's chocolate cubes are bread that soaked up the excess chocolate, while the ones made for the Jinshi use dried fruit (Manga)

Due to remember the smell of many drugs and poisons, Maomao is also good at remembering foods

They made the scene with Maomao saying that the chocolate's aphrodisiac effects being three times stronger than the normal stuff a lot funnier in the anime lol

A detail I like in regards to episode 3/Chapter 4's main plot, is that episode 3 implies that saving that village from being wrongly prosecuted got the soldier high prestige while Chapter 4 states that he has worked hard for it

Fanfiction writers, I suggest having that incident in the village/barbarian attack be the final tipping point into Fuyou's childhood friend/lover reaching a certain level of prestige to be rewarded Fuyou's hand

So the explanation was confusing to me in the anime, but the second courtesan incident Maomao speaks of is that she feigned sleepwalking to be sold at a lower price to the man she actually wanted to be with. Because he lacked the silver to free her, so he had an acquaintance request to buy her, she starts to "sleepwalk" and the offer is dropped and due to her being sick the price is lowered (manga)

Concubine Fuyou looks happy on the day she leaves the Inner Palace in the manga

Little bonus manga pages. Xiaolan does Maomao's hair in a style popular with the other servants while Maomao's asleep. Jinshi is the one to see her and point out her hairstyle

Chibi strips, one is Maomao apparently gaining weight due to being the poison checker and being fed by the other ladies-in-waiting. Jinshi asks if she's been gaining weight

The second one is Maomao being thinner and Jinshi feeling guilty because was it what he said?

No, Maomao's workout routine is just getting distracted picking medicinal herbs as fast as possible

And I believe that's all that comes to mind? If anyone else who's read the manga wants to add more details please do!

Also, Maomao is my demi-aroace icon (demisexual & demiromantic btw). I can't wait for episode 4, I have no idea wtf the release schedule is like for this series

[romancemedia]

Gotta admit I'm surprised that Season 1 of The Apothecary Diaries anime covered Vols 1-2 of the Light Novel series. With so many stories and everything that happened, my original guess it covered at least up to Vol 3. The reason, I don't read the Apothecary Diaries LN, only the manga because I've mentioned before, even though I like this series, it's too complicated for me to fully understand sometimes.

Either way it's likely Season 2 next year will cover Vols 3-4.

[d999666]

I got tagged by @cerisia76 on this:

Tag 9 people you want to know better

But I don't have anyone to tag! Now that I've been tagged, I'll write it down. (My native language is not English. Grammar or words may be awkward. Please understand.)

3 ships :

Hiccup x Astrid(How to Train Your Dragon/HTTYD)

You don't know how much I love this couple. I was always happy to see this couple from HTTYD 1 to 3, and in the TV show series. In HTTYD 3, they are married and have children. They look great together. I want to draw their fan art someday. (I'm practicing.)

2. D'jok & Tia(Galactik football)

Yes, I know. Tia's love is Rocket.

I like D'jok and Tia's brother-sister relationship. These two people depend on each other. Obviously, these are my favorite characters in Galactik football. The chemistry between these two is crazy.

3. Zuko & Katara(Avatar: The Last Airbender, ATLA)

I'm careful about this couple, because Katara eventually married 'Aang' in the formula. And Zuko married mai. But the tense relationship between the two in the show was interesting.

( I'm supporting any coupling.) It's interesting how Katara forgives zuko, and how zuko makes mistakes and repents. Eventually, get to the fire episode. Katara and zuko became colleagues. At the end, the scene where zuko threw himself for katara to prevent danger is one of the best scenes.

Last song:

Zac Efron, Zendaya - Rewrite The Stars

It's a song I've been listening to over and over again every day these days. I haven't watched this movie, but I liked the OST, so I put it on my playlist.

Last Movie:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

I didn't watch a movie this year. The last movie I saw in the movie theater last year was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It was my favorite series in the Marvel series, and I don't want to think it's over. The members had great chemistry. I know that even if they went different paths, they would get together whenever there was a space crisis.

Currently reading:

Kurusiya no Hitorigoto(The Apothecary Diaries)

Recently, I am reading a novel called The Apothecary Diaries. I liked this book even before it became famous for its animation. Recently, 13 books came out and I am reading it. (The animation is on Netflix exclusively.)

Currently watching:

Delicious in Dungeon

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Both animations are on Netflix. I was happy that my favorite works would be animated in 2023 and 2024.

Currently drinking:

I drink americano at work to get rid of my drowsiness. Even if it's cold in the winter, I always drink iced coffee. Coldness and caffeine are the best for driving away sleepiness.

Currently craving:

When I was in college, I couldn't afford to buy animation Merchandise because I was busy working part-time. But now that I start making money, I have some leeway in my life.

I know that I enjoy minor genres (minor fandom).

There are only a few Merchandise that are officially sold.

So I thought, 'If you don't have any, let me make one.' I made a necklace with the names of my favorite characters engraved on it.

I put commission to get the illustration I wanted. (I didn't upload.)

Of course, I draw fan art, but I'm not good at drawing.

Recently, I've been looking for photo cards and doll making.

I want more Merchandise.

[royakahoshiart]

I GOT TBHK VOL 21 AND THE FIRST ART BOOK VOL 2 OF THE APOTHECARY DIARIES VOL 2 AND 3 LIMITED COVER EDITION OF MAKE THE EXORCIST FALL IN LOVE AND 3,4 AND 5 VOL OF CHAINSAW MAN OMGGG

MAYBE ILL TAKE PHOTOS IDK!!