#the able consort lihua

[saiyef]

[fangirlingpuggle]

A very very dumb Apothecary diaries AU where Lakan checks in on Fengxian before he leaves finds out she's pregnant. She can't go with him or marry him yet but instead while he goes abroad to study she stays with Luomen helping him set up pharmacy after he's cast out from his family.

She and Lakan stay in regular contact through letters, both of them gushing over letters only for someone top look over their shoulders and see letter is only a move in go They're playing long distance each letter is just the next move. At least until Maomao is born the Fengxian includes scribble drawings Maomao does or hand prints...Lakan office and room are full all walls covered in them.

The two reunite and although they live with La clan and Lakan gets headship but they still visit Luoman and the visit Verdigris house (Madame still hastes Lakan but they send good business recommending them to high ranking officials). So Maomao still has her big sisters and still learns about medicine and poison from Luomen.

She still tests on herself , Lakan freaks out but Fengxian trusts her daughter just makes sure they have plenty of antivenom and antidotes ( Basically every room in the LA family state has an emergency draw for if Maomao has had poison again)

Maomao doesn't get kidnapped, she ends up in rear palace because consort Ah-Dou she can see that Lishu is struggling she can't intervene or protect her within her own court so she contacts Fenxian who she's met at functions other the years.

Ah-Dou- Fengxian you have a daughter correct. Is she as terrifying as you?

Fenxian: Of course

Ah-Dou: May I please request a favor?

Maomao enters Lishu's court not as a noble but as a lady in waiting (and the food tester, it's how she agreed to it)

Maomao: Do I really need to go into court I want to make medicine

Fengxian: You will be testing food for poison

Maomao:....deal

She of course see's the bullying in the court and instantly Nopes, she does totally overhaul terrifying Lishu's ladies in waiting and getting rid of them, she spends time around other servants and ends up recruiting other servants as new ladies in waiting ones who will actually care for and protect Lishu. Full big sister Maomao mode with Lishu.

She keeps an eye on other departments dressing as a maid while moving around to avoid suspicion and still see's the confrontation between Gyokuyo and Lishu and sends the messages with torn dress (She didn't get chance to change and couldn't go into their pavilions in her lady in waiting clothes)

She gets dragged in the room with other maids also, she kinda gets stuck and pulled in and meets Gyokuyo having to admit so sorry can't be your lady in waiting already Lishu's. Jinshi suddenly puts together about the totally change in ladies in waiting and promotion of other servants. Jinshi is very curious but Maomao is able to divert attention.

Gyokuyo still wants to see Maomao and so she moves between both her and Lishu and gets Lishu to spend more time with Gyokuyo the two getting along well.

She also helps Lihua as before and then she is basically going between 3 of them and the 3 consorts spend time together... Lihua and Gyokuyo figure out who Moamao is but they're not saying they want to keep Maomao around and also they are all shipping Jinmao and enjoying watching this soap opera.

The banquet happens but Maomao is of course Lishu's food tester not Gyokuyo's but none of the old ladies in waiting are there to bully Lishu and swap bowls so Moamao still gets poison. (She 100% tried to get to test food for all 3 consorts ... they didn't let her)

Lakan still trolls Jinshi because he's seen letters Ah-Dou and others sent Fengxian keeping her updated and is suspicious about Jinshi and his precious daughter. (Fengxian and Jinshi are planning the wedding already)

When Maomao is still dismissed after the poisoning is revealed and Jinshi is super upset and sulky until fancy banquet and high ranking personnel and then sees Maomao again as daughter of head of La clan...

Maomao: I suppose you are upset than I hide my identity

Jinshi:...

Jinshi:Yes very upset (he says hypothetically ignoring looks he is getting form the emperor and Gaoshun)

She still comes back to rear place (The consorts missed her so much... plus they have a betting pool... a lot of people are in it Fengxian has a board plotting moves so the 2 get together when she's bet...while Lakan is pouting in corner that no one deserves their baby girl)

(Light Novel spoilers

Lahan is raised as Maomao's brother and adores his sister, the two are chaos gremlins her making medicines and him plotting how to self and market them

He is also adored by Verdegris house the beloved little brother... also everyone is pretty sure he and Maomao are twins they know there was only 1 baby but... they're sure the 2 are siblings.

The madame also adores him both coming up with schemes for money and he happily does the accounting when they visit (they're sure he's her favorite)

When Jinshi sees them together before knowing they're related he thinks the 2 might be a couple, Gaoshun is face palming and despairing while the courtesans are losing it laughing)

[ecargmura]

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 30 Review - Crystal Pavilion Conspiracy

There’s always something going on in the Crystal Pavilion and it seems that there won’t be any more conspiracies there now. I’ve been told that Shin had appeared in the first episode, so I did go back to watch the first episode and saw that was the case. It seems that everything bad that happened in the Crystal Pavilion all revolved around Shin and that’s pretty crazy when you think about it.

On the topic of episode 1, Shin had shown up when she noticed Maomao’s message but discarded it, which then resulted in the death of Lihua’s newborn son, but it did eventually led to the banning of the white face powder that caused the late infant prince’s death. It makes me wonder: since Shin is revealed to keep banned items, was she the reason why that one servant girl kept the face powder back in episode 4? It would make sense if that were the case since Lihua was weary and wanted to die at the time; Shin would’ve found it a good opportunity to get rid of her if that was the case; since she’s also a high position of power in the Crystal Pavilion, her words are definitely of power to the servant girls.

Shin’s motive in all of this is basically driven by envy. She prepared herself all her life to become a consort and believed she was the best candidate, but her cousin Lihua was chosen over her. She believed that if she gets rid of Lihua, then she could have a chance, but that’s not really the case. I think it’s obvious why she wasn’t chosen other than the lack of…vavoom; Shin is too focused on status and power while Lihua isn’t. A noticeable trait that the consorts have is that they all aren’t too power hungry and that’s possibly the reason why the current Emperor took them in as concubines.

Lihua certainly went through a lot of character development. When she was first seen, she had slapped Gyokuyou and seemed mean and arrogant. Episode 4 had her be very weary due to the loss of her son, but Maomao was able to get her spirits up. Now, in this episode, she’s going all out with firing her own cousin by slapping her and almost punching her. She certainly took a page out of Maomao’s book with the b*tchslap. In fact, it’s crazy to see her go from weary to be the concubine ready to throw hands. She’s gotten so strong! Maybe it’s because Maomao helped her reevaluate the importance of her own life and now that she’s pregnant again, she doesn’t want to repeat the same tragedy—she’s fighting for her unborn child even harder.

This episode shows that even if the concubine is the nicest person around, the corruption is mainly due to the people around them. No one has to worry about the Jade Pavilion’s ladies as she only has a few and they’re all trustworthy people. Shin is probably the main reason for the corruption in the Crystal Pavilion as she’s the one who quarantined the sick servant girl instead of getting her help for her cough to the point that Shenlu, the clinic lady, had to request Maomao to give her medicine. It makes you wonder what the system in the Diamond and Garnet pavilion are like…

Shin is voiced by Sayaka Kinoshita, who you might have heard in Delicious Party Precure as Secretoru and also in Pokemon Sun and Moon as Lusamine. Her voice acting was actually really good towards the end where she started screaming and tried to throw the basket of fragrance at Lihua. It’s a really good voice, so it feels unfortunate that this is probably the last time Shin will be seen. Shenlu is voiced by Masako Katsuki, who is known for voicing Tsunade from Naruto. It’s crazy how stacked the voice cast is for this anime.

I wonder what’s up with the Emperor towards the end. Is he reminiscing the past or something? Maybe there was another similar incident in the past and that’s why the episode ends with him looking back? I honestly can’t wait to see what next week has in store. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[potato-mother]

OH MY FUCKING GOD

⚠️spoilers for Apothecary Dairies EP. 33 "The Crystal Pavilion, For a Third Time"⚠️

I love this show's use of subtle foreshadowing so much. The way that things can be presented so innocuously and build to become integral building blocks for an overarching mystery is a welcomed change from other mystery animes I've seen that contain plots to a single episode. The writing is so well done and up to this point I've been able to look back easily to see the instances of this.

HOWEVER:

In this case, I genuinely did not put together these pieces until I was watching some video essay on Apothecary Dairies and picked up on ONE clip, a ten second scene from the first episode.

For context: Episode 33 reveals that Lady Lihua's head lady in waiting is her cousin, Lady Shin. Shin has secretly been plotting against her cousin in multiple small ways out of jealousy, but it has grown over time until she started making a drug to cause Lihua to miscarry. Up until this episode, Shin has been for the most part in the background not drawing attention. Occasionally, she's had screentime, but only for a few frames or to give a few lines.

Ironically, I actually thought Shin WAS Lihua in some of these scenes at first due to their striking resemblance, like with the sniffing incident. And that is precisely why this piece of story telling went over my head.

Episode one, from minute 12:00 to 12:10. A blue haired woman finds the flower Maomao left warning if the face powder, then drops it out the window and walks off. Immediately after, Lihua is laying on the floor wailing over her son's death.

I have always taken this moment as Lihua's ignorance directly causing her son's death. Ignorance is a running sin in the show, it is stated as such no less than a minute later. However, this is not an example of such.

Lady Lihua's son did not die due to her ignorance. He died because Lady Shin killed him. Lihua never received the warning of the powder, because Shin found the note first and purposefully discarded it. The prince died due to Shin's jealousy and direct efforts to take her cousin's place as consort.

This was so masterfully done, I cannot applaud the creators of both the original story/light manga as well as the anime. This simple moment of animation established Shin's desire to harm her cousin from the very first episode and then went untouched until it was needed.

GOD I love this show

[magical-girl-coral]

Here's a neat detail I noticed in the apothecary diaries

(manga spoilers under the read more)

In the manga during Shin's reveal, it was said that the head maid is the one responsible of hiring new ladies in waiting for the consort she works for. The readers also know that at point that the emperor's type are "ripe" women with an atmosphere of maturity. Now let's compare them to Gyokuyou's ladies:

While all of them are pretty, none of them are the emperor's type. All of Gyokuyou's ladies in waiting, Mao Mao including, have a childish face structure and easy going air to them. Even Hongniang who's in her thirties seems younger than she actually is looks wise and her small stature doesn't help.

Meanwhile Lihua's ladies?

They're all the emperor's type. Tall, mature seeming and with big "assets". Each of them could have easily caught the emperor's attention if they put the work in, which is where my point is:

Shin absolutely did this on purpose. She could have hired any easlity manipulated girl who would be shit at the job, but she made sure to hire women who were drop dead gorgeous to boot. I bet she was just waiting for the eventual betrayal between mistress and servant, taking advantage of the scandal to worm her into the able consort position, only for it to blow up in her face when all the ladies became completely loyal to Lihua and Lihua alone.

Between this and the inferiority complex she got from being in Lihua's shadow despite being better than her in their studies, I would be eating glass by now in her place.

I think it's also interesting to note that only after Lihua takes full control of her palace by getting rid of Shin do we see a lady in waiting that doesn't fit the emperor's type, with a small and childlike appearance, who is actually good at her job and tried to work with all the tools she had to help her friends in need.

I don't know if I'm gasping at straws, but god would it be cool if this was intentional.

[folyoszel]

My Live Blog of The Apothecary Diaries Light Novels Volume 1 Chapter 3: Jinshi

I'm procrastinating packing for my trip that happens in 6ish hours, so I might as well read another chapter of The Apothecary Diaries!

No points for guessing the central character of this chapter. Lol

I do like that the LN has chapters from different perspectives. I love having Maomao as a guide, don't get me wrong, I just also like seeing different perspectives and thought processes.

How many times a day does this poor man have to break up cat fights? If the ladies-in-waiting at Lady Lihua's palace are any indication, it's probably a lot.

On another note, something I haven't really thought of much is that the way that Jinshi and Maomao refer to the consorts as "flowers" or "blossoms" is kind of dehumanizing. I don't think either of them are trying to be rude or anything, I just think they're trying to distance themselves emotionally from the consorts so they can think more rationally about each situation.

I just went ahead and used different colors to differentiate my points rather than trying to take multiple screenshots of one specific paragraph.

Yellow: I know this isn't at all what it meant, but I have a weird imagination, so I pictured Jinshi trying to walk through a pile of lovestruck women while looking absolutely disturbed. I kind of wish that was fanart that existed.

Green: So it really was that Maomao didn't swoon at the sight of him and not her comment about writing. Poor dude really is flabbergasted by her immunity to him.

Red: But it isn't the end. Instead, you will become absolutely smitten with that girl and trip over yourself, trying to get her attention.

I don't know, I think Lady Gyokuyou is probably fine considering how much the Emperor favors her. One woman's sick leave probably didn't hurt her financially and would only up her kind reputation.

I don't blame either one. It's all on the makeup people for not mentioning the fact that it's poison and the people who were managing the harem while Luomen was there for not keeping his warnings about the stuff.

Lead poisoning is awful. Among a bunch of other terrible things, it can cause headaches and general irritability. That as well as the paranoia that comes from being a consort with the eldest/only son, having your child dying in front of you, and having maids who don't believe it's poison until sense is literally slapped into one of them, you can really see how she made that mistake, and it makes the loss of her son all the more tragic.

I really like Lady Lihua because she has all the set up of a general mean girl who will be an opponent for the rest of the series, but turns out to be a genuinely wonderful person who was just in a terrible situation. (Spoilers) I'm really glad she ends up able to have another son later in the series. (Spoilers end)

I appreciate that not only that Maomao tried to make her handwriting look bad to throw people off, but also that Jinshi can apparently tell that she purposefully wrote poorly and that she's a girl. I do kind of understand the gender thing since I've noticed different tendencies between the handwriting of different genders, but I'm going to really question his ability to tell whether the writer is purposefully writing badly or just has bad handwriting. Especially since it earlier said the message was written using grass stains. I can't imagine that being easy.

Great memory for something innocuous that happened almost a month ago. I guess her not stopping to admire his hotness really stuck with him. I mean, Jinshi's had to come across someone so lost in their thoughts that they walked by without noticing him, right? I mean, I sometimes walk around with zero awareness of what's around me. I also appreciate his immediate glee at his lead and the random insult to the people watching the fight between Lady Gyokuyou and Lady Lihua. I kind of love the random, offhand insults that Maomao and Jinshi have in their thoughts.

Does he just have an encyclopedia of different cloths he's felt? And if he so distinctly remembers her and what she said, wouldn't he remember her outfit? Unless the maids that have different jobs have outfits that look similar but don't use the same material. Does any of this actually matter? No, but my brain got stuck on it, and you chose to read it.

I love that Jinshi hasn't spoken a word to Maomao, but he's already delighted by her and the mystery that she's accidentally given him. He's also 100% using Lady Gyokuyou's gratitude as an excuse to satiate his curiosity and boredom with work.

I'm so glad I managed to fit all the quotes I wanted to share in one post, I would've been annoyed if I had to make another post for just one or two quotes. Anyways, thank you for reading once again, and I hope to see you when I cover the next chapter, "The Nymph's Smile."

[recentanimenews]

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 3

By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

One of the enjoyable things about the Apothecary Diaries is that, while it will always bee about the relationship between Maomao and Jinshi to a degree, if you’re completely uninterested in that sort of thing there’s still a whole lot to get out of every volume. There are the mysteries, of course, as everyone and their brother wants Maomao to apply her cunning and figure out Who’s Killin’ Who. There is Maomao herself, who has an idea of what social niceties and graces are and has decided to tell them “no thank you”. And there’s an increasingly fun cast, including the amusingly carefree Xiaolan, who spends most of the novel learning to read – and unlike what most books of this sort would do, she proves to be pretty good at it once given proper education. And then there’s Shisui, who is my new Best Girl, and is basically to bugs what Maomao is to poisons. It’s tough to be so eccentric that Maomao is mistaken for you, but this girl can pull it off.

When Maomao is not busy snarking at Jinshi or “the quack doctor”, she is helping Jinshi to try to educate the people min the rear palace, discovers a cat that is quickly named after her (sort of), deals with a caravan that is selling all the ladies fragrant perfumes… some of which are potentially dangerous; trying to solve a recent disappearance that turns into a not-so-recent murder; figures out how a sheltered young woman snuck past her guards and got pregnant; discovers that the issues surrounding Consort Lihua, which is what started this series off, have not vanished; and ends up going on a hunting trip with a disguised Jinshi, which ends up turning far more dangerous than either of them had anticipated.

As I said last time, the series rewards close reading, and having prior volumes on hand. There are several pregnancies in this book, and several chapters dealing with people who are trying their hardest to make sure that those pregnancies are unsuccessful… or are they? It *could* just all be a coincidence. On the lighter side, for those who ARE reading the book for the relationship between Maomao and Jinshi, the last quarter of the book is pure gold. Somethign we had long suspected is finally straight up admitted, and you will never be able to see the words “decently sized amphibian” again without laughing. Maomao herself seems more determined than ever to avoid going anywhere near this – she’s very aware of how Jinshi feels, what it would mean for her future, and how she really does NOT want to deal with it. Even if she does go gaga when he gives her the right present.

So yes, this remains essential reading provided you don’t mind that it’s got the Emperor and his many consorts, or that the heroine (not one of the consorts) can kill a man with her sharp tongue at 500 yards.)

By: Sean Gaffney

[ecargmura]

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 26 Review - Caravan Conspiracy

Someone needs to call an exorcist because someone is always wanting to poison another in this gosh darn palace. However, that’s how it is in a palace where there are multiple consorts. Political power and reputation are things that are highly sought after.

I also like the world building aspect of this episode. World building has always been sprinkled here and there with how some consorts are from foreign land. This episode has it where there is an annual caravan that sell products from different lands. It’s basically the palace’s exposure to foreign goods. It also makes me wonder if Maomao and co will be able to see the world outside of wherever they are. It’d be interesting to see if Maomao can solve mysteries of other world’s crimes.

I like that the mysteries of the upcoming case is building up in this episode where Maomao buys ingredients but also stuff like jasmine tea. I always like learning new components of plants that I never even knew about. Maomao’s dedication to her craft is always so funny because she thinks of almost everything to be ingredients. I also like how blunt she can be when listing the benefits and detriments of jasmine tea. She even had to tell Jinshi that it can help with infertility and forgot that he was a eunuch. Her dedication to her craft is also shown when she starts sniffing everyone and everything like Tanjiro from Demon Slayer.

Two new characters are introduced. First is the girl from the previous episode who helped Maomao catch the cat. Her name is Shisui and she likes bugs. Her hair and eye color still pegs the question if she is Loulan. In this episode, it was stated that Loulan has a lot of maids, so it would make sense if she were to use one as a body double in order to disguise herself as Shisui and roam about the palace. What’s her purpose? I have no idea. Though, I do like the sudden friendship she and Maomao develop. While the relationship between Maomao and Xiaolan is cute, I’d like to see a friendship between these two weird girls.

The second new character is Lihua’s attendant Shin. Has she always been her attendant because I clearly did not see her in the first season during the time Maomao had to stay in the Crystal Pavilion? However, I know for a fact that she’s definitely involved with this new poisoning incident. Whenever Lihua could be involved with something, the culprit does seem to be someone around her, making her the obvious villain. I wonder what her purpose could be because it seems like Lihua is also pregnant and if the Crystal Pavilion keeps using those particular scents, Lihua will get a miscarriage.

I’m worried about Gyokuyou because the poisoning is definitely directed towards her as she’s pregnant. She always seems to be a target in these cases. Let’s just hope nothing bad happens next episode. Who’s the culprit and what’s their motivation? Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

[ecargmura]

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 14 Review - The New Consort

For an episode about the new consort, Loulan, she sure got very minimal screen time. She didn’t even speak! Either this is something to throw people off as she’s a secret conspirator or something or just used as plot device and then never brought up again. Regardless of what her role is or will be, it doesn’t change the fact that her screen time was legit scraps. I wonder what her deal is.

Maomao still steals the episode. First, she teaches sex-ed to the consorts and even partakes in another mystery in the second half of the episode. It’s interesting to see how Maomao is faring in the Outer Court compared to her time at the Rear Palace. She was able to be a bit more free when she was working under Gyokuyou, but now, she’s under a watchful eye by Suiren. While she can still do as she pleases, she has to do things a bit carefully now.

Maomao teaching sex-ed to the ladies was super hilarious. Gyokuyou and Lihua were certainly enjoying the lessons while Lishu was panicking. Loulan didn’t seem to care. I think it’s hilarious that Gyokuyou and Lihua were the ones suggesting this and Maomao just went with it as she’s knowledgeable about erotic activities due to her living near the Red Light District. It was a nice form of comedy; heck, Jinshi tried eavesdropping too. He’d faint if he learned all of this.

There was a mystery that happened at the second half of the episode. Apparently, an explosion went off. Maomao learns that the cause could be flour due to its flammability alongside a smoking pipe. Given how abrupt this mystery happened, I wonder if Loulan has a connection with it. 

It was nice seeing Lihaku again! Though, he’s still a bit flighty as he wasn’t aware that Maomao got fired and then rehired by Jinshi to work under him. What has changed since Episode 7 is that he has fallen for Pairin and is trying to buy her out. He even got a promotion that shows off how serious he is about earning money and about her.

The ending of this episode sort of scared me because that guy who murdered that high-ranking court official in Episode 9 has returned to perhaps commit another one. Just who is that man? Is he working for someone or is he doing it all on his own? What are your thoughts?

[ecargmura]

I Finally Watched The First Episode Of The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries has been one of the seven animes I said I would be reviewing for Fall 2023. This anime aired in October. It’s December right now. I finally stopped holding it off and got to watching the first episode; I’m eight episodes behind! What are my thoughts of the first episode? I think it’s interesting!

I love fantasy shows, and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is one of the animes I am watching this season. I know that The Apothecary Diaries is another hyped up show and I actually love the difference between them. Frieren is a western-inspired fantasy story while The Apothecary Diaries is an eastern-inspired fantasy story. I love that I’m now reviewing two fantasy shows of opposite spectrums.

From what I saw, this anime seems to be about Maomao, the protagonist, who was kidnapped and sold to work as a palace servant. She used to be an apothecary and lived with her dad before her kidnapping, so she has a plethora of knowledge about herbs and poisons. She had involved herself with solving the mysteries behind the illnesses of the baby prince and princess and realizes that they were poisoned. She tries to warn the consorts about the poison, but it was too late for Consort Lihua as the prince died while the princess, daughter of Consort Gyokuyou, survived thanks to the mother heeding Maomao’s warning. This catches the attention of both Gyokuyou and Jinshi, a very beautiful eunuch who is in charge of the rear palace where this all takes place. I think that the story is going to be about Maomao using her knowledge to solve poisoning cases, so I think that the story will be episodic in a way, which isn’t bad.

Maomao as a character and protagonist is very interesting. Because she’s an apothecary, she was able to educate herself into knowing how to read and write, a trait that not many low-class girls like her have; this is evident with how Xiaoling, her friend, asked her what her tag said and how she was the only one who read Jinshi’s sign when servant girls were called to his office. I really like smart characters, so to see Maomao be that sort of character makes me excited to see more. I just hope the writing will be consistent for her. She was super cute with how she liked seeing herbs and such. I can’t wait to see how she’ll use her knowledge to help people. I already like her.

Jinshi feels very sketchy to me. He’s beautiful as heck, but he’s giving me trust issues. Is he using Maomao or does he genuinely want to work with her? If so, what’s his reason? He seems like a man of high status and what I know about asian/oriental fantasy stories is that any man of high status are suspicious. I do have to say, the anime really does like to emphasize how beautiful this man is as there are always close ups of his face or some parts of his face to show off his beauty. Someone in the animation studio must really like him.

The other characters in the story haven’t shown much, so I can’t say much about them. Xiaoling is cute. Gaoshun is probably that one character that has screen time but doesn’t say much due to his role as Jinshi’s attendant. Lihua seems like she’ll either be a villainous woman or one with development later on. Gyokuyou seems like a nice lady. I’ll talk more about the characters once they get more screen time in future episodes.

This story is Chinese inspired from names to buildings, but why is it that Gyokuyou’s name is in Japanese while everyone else’s names are in Chinese? I’ve noticed that Japan has a tendency to do this sometimes when it comes to animes with Chinese affluence. From this spreadsheet I saw on TVtropes, Gyokuyou’s name in Chinese would be Yuye. I mean, sometimes, Chinese, Japanese and Korean names would be translated into how it would be pronounced in their respective languages, but in a world where there are names like Maomao, Jinshi and Lihua, a more Japanese name like Gyokuyou does stick out like a sore thumb.

Not just Jinshi, the entire animation is very beautiful. The studio is OLM Incorporated; they have done many projects, but they’re also known for animating the Pokemon anime since the beginning and are even animating Horizons. The whole scenery and the way everything is colored is so beautiful. I really love how the flowers look, honestly. The rhododendron flowers look really pretty. Maybe it’s just a me thing, but any anime that can animate nature super well is a good one for me. The music is also really good too! The opening is addicting to look and listen.

The voice acting is superb. They got an all-star cast with a few rising stars. Aoi Yuuki stars as Maomao. I think this is a perfect fit. Yuuki has the range to pull off the serious, comedic and cute moments. Maomao was so entertaining to watch just from the first episode because of her performance. Jinshi is voiced by Takeo Otsuka. I feel like I’m seeing that name a lot in recent animes. I know he voiced Aqua in Oshi no Ko and Aqua is one of my favorite characters there. Unlike Aqua, Jinshi is more of a dynamic character, so instead of seeing him all moody and depressed like in Oshi no Ko, he’s all chipper. I think this shows Otsuka’s range and I can see why he’s getting casted left and right—he’s definitely a rising star. I don’t think I’ve heard Yui Ishikawa voice such a hot woman before. I’m usually familiar with her voicing teenagers, so this is the firs time I’ve seen her voice an adult and a mom at that. Lihua hasn’t shown up yet, but I do commend Ishikawa for going out of her comfort zone. I didn’t even know Yoko Hikasa voiced Gyokuyou until I looked it up. I don’t remember the last time she used that tone for a character. She has been voicing strong-willed, tough older ladies lately, so hearing her using a rather softer tone caught me off guard. Everyone else did a great job; I’ll talk about their performances in future episode.

Since this will have 24 episodes, I will be taking my time with the reviews for this anime. I know I am behind, but I want to take my time since I am juggling with a plethora of other animes to review. I hope you enjoyed my review! What are your thoughts on the first episode of this anime?

[saiyef]

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Maomao no Koukyuu Nazotoki Techou

[saiyef]

The Able Consort Lihua/Rifa

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Maomao no Koukyuu Nazotoki Techou

[saiyef]

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Maomao no Koukyuu Nazotoki Techou

[saiyef]

The Able Consort Lihua/Rifa

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Maomao no Koukyuu Nazotoki Techou

[saiyef]

The Able Consort Lihua/Rifa

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Maomao no Koukyuu Nazotoki Techou

[saiyef]

The Able Consort Lihua/Rifa

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