The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 has begun and the beloved female protagonist Maomao is back. I’ll briefly cover some thoughts on the first episode. Before that, let me just mention that the new opening song (Hyakka Ryouran” by Lilas Ikuta) is insanely good and catchy. I’m not as crazy about the ending song though. (It’s “Shiawase no Recipe” by Dai Hirai.) Anyway, let’s get started.
Episode 1: Maomao and Maomao
Episode Rating: 8/10
Maomao secretly brings educational literature about sex into the rear palace. The literature probably contains some basic sex-ed, but seems to be made primarily of illustrated tips on various sexual activities and positions. Unfortunately for Maomao and the concubines, Jinshi and Gaoshun figured out what was happening. At first, they didn’t seem strictly opposed to the books. However, by the end of the scene, Gaoshun decided to confiscate the literature and work on censoring the explicit images.
I thought it was great of Maomao to try educating the concubines. By rights, every adult in the palace should have access to sexual education – but that’s far too progressive for this setting. (It’s based on the Ming era of China.) Regardless, nobody deserves sex info more than the concubines. Even the emperor has expressed interest in letting spicy materials into the palace, but the tradition of withholding sexual knowledge from women (to keep them “pure”) is still the dominant force.
Although sex information is still restricted, the women in the rear palace are not deprived of every important learning opportunity. The palace officials want there to be a high percent of literate women. Jinshi has an idea and starts spreading around a popular fiction novel so the illiterate ladies will want to learn to read. The plan works beautifully. Even Xiaolan gets inspired by the novel and asks Maomao to teach her to read and write. It was very cute watching Maomao instruct the other girl.
You may recall that Gyokuyo has a small child. Her name is Lingli. One day, Maomao and Hongniang (one of the ladies-in-waiting) take Princess Lingli out for a walk. The little toddler is probably two by now, able to run around clumsily on her own. Lingli also loves to babble. She is adorable and has no idea of life’s stresses yet. As Maomao pointed out, it will be hard for the Princess once she becomes aware of all the watchful eyes on her. Some are positive and some are negative, but everyone has expectations for her.
Maomao finds a kitten and tries to catch it for Lingli’s entertainment. However, she misses when she tries to leap at the skinny little cat. Another girl – whose name hasn’t been dropped yet – appears out of nowhere and captures the feline. She gives it to Maomao and then cheerfully goes about her own way. I look forward to meeting this character again soon and learning more about her.
Maomao cleans, feeds, and cares for the kitten with help from Guen. Everyone in Gyokuyo’s camp loves the tiny animal. The emperor allows them to keep it as a pet for Princess Lingli. Much to Maomao’s displeasure, they name the cat after her: Maomao. For those who didn’t know, Maomao’s name means “cat,” as it’s derived from the Japanese word for cat, 猫” (māo). In addition, with different Kanji characters (毛毛), Maomao is also a pet name for babies and children. Interesting, right?
Despite giving so much time and good care to her new namesake, Maomao tells Jinshi that she isn’t too fond of cats. She doesn’t understand their appeal. There’s a hilarious moment wherein Jinshi realizes that Maomao is very similar to a cat in terms of how she interacts with him. Once this realization hit him, Jinshi understood the appeal of cute cats at once. He proceeded to nuzzle the tiny cat’s belly with his face. Maomao was at a complete loss to understand this action, and her bewilderment was amusing.
At the end of the episode, Maomao hears the news that a caravan is approaching the palace. I’m excited to see what that’s about and where these people come from. That’s all for the pilot episode of The Apothecary Diaries Season 2.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke
Tag: Apothecary Diaries Season 2
