Thanks for visiting Anime Rants. The Apothecary Diaries episode 41 – AKA season 2 episode 17 – was highly enjoyable as usual. Two different interesting plants were mentioned. This may seem random for an introduction topic, but I’m keenly interested in learning herbs and their historical uses. That’s part of why I started watching The Apothecary Diaries in the first place. So let’s briefly talk about silvervine and lantern plants before the episode review.
I had never heard of silvervine before, but it’s an interesting organism. It’s not related to catnip, but it has a similar effect on domestic cats and is often sold and used in powder form to get cats high. The scientific name for silvervine is Actinidia polygama. It’s related to kiwi fruits and grows in eastern Asia and Japan. Maomao the cat quite enjoyed silvervine in this episode.
As for the lantern plant, it’s a beautiful Asian plant prized for decoration in gardens. Its unusually shaped flowers look like orange paper lanterns. Related to nightshade, its scientific name is Physalis alkekengi, and it’s sometimes just called Alkekengi. In The Apothecary Diaries episode 41, we see Shisui delighted by the assortment of lantern plant flowers that the boy and his maid prepared for the upcoming festival. Now that we’ve learned something about plants, let’s discuss the rest of the episode.
Episode 41: Fox Village
Episode Rating: 8/10
Luomen figured out a message left behind by Maomao when Suirei took her out of the rear palace. Maomao had been carrying dried silvervine berries, leading the cat (the other Maomao) to follow her. Just before being led into the secret tunnel with Suirei, human Maomao managed to stuff a note and a bunch of silvervine berries into the crook of a tree. Luomen went looking for Maomao the cat and found her at the tree with the note and the stash of cat-drugs.
Maomao didn’t have time to write anything that made much sense, but she tried to write “Shisui.” This actually gave Jinshi the clue he needed to start investigating. He began a search for the servant girl known as Shisui. At this point, Jinshi was extremely worried about Maomao. He was close to losing his composure, but Luomen’s quiet acceptance of the facts prompted him to act calm again. There was no point in getting upset. He needed to keep up his smiling, patient persona as best as possible.
It turns out that Shisui was Suirei’s younger sister and was tricking Maomao all this time. She was some kind of spy in the rear palace. Maomao confirmed her suspicion by throwing a snake in front of Suirei, who was terribly afraid of snakes. As Suirei freaked out, Shisui immediately stepped in to help her calm down. After that, Shisui and Suirei dropped the act and spoke like family. I wonder if Maomao felt betrayed by Shisui for lying to her. I would feel that way, but I’m a lot more emotional than Maomao.
When the snake incident was happening, Suirei appeared to be having a panic attack and then a cardiac episode of some kind. She probably almost had a heart attack. I bet Suirei’s heart was weakened from when she poisoned herself and revived. I hope we learn more about Suirei soon. I really want to know what drives her to be so determined. I’m also curious why she’s so afraid of snakes.
After recovering from the panic, Suirei led Maomao to an isolated village near a forested hotspring area. They met a rich young boy (Kyo-u) who seemed to be friends with Shisui. It was funny how Maomao had absolutely no patience for the boy. However, Kyo-u was not really a brat. He seemed like a good kid to me, and reminded me a little of my seven-year-old nephew. There was a festival coming up and Kyo-u was excited about it. Also, Maomao noticed that at least one of the foreign envoys was staying in this village.
I still want answers about a lot of things – including more information about Loulan – but I’m waiting patiently to find out. If I understand correctly, it seems like Loulan’s father is the real one trying to eliminate Jinshi. Regardless, at the end of the episode, we heard the news that something has happened with Lady Gyokuyo. She’s probaby beginning labor. To be continued.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke
