Welcome back to Anime Rants with Mono (7Mononoke). The Apothecary Diaries Episode 42 – AKA season 2 episode 18 – was excellent. It contained some important character moments for Jinshi especially. With Maomao missing for ten days, he was extremely agitated and prone to losing his composure. It was intense when he intimidated the fake Loulan with physical force. I appreciated this episode because even though it was hard to watch in a way, it made me appreciate Jinshi’s struggles more. Let’s review the rest of the episode.
Episode 42: Lantern Plant
Episode Rating: 9/10
Gaoshun brought the report that the “eunuch” (Suirei) was once seen paying their respects to the graves in the northern rear palace. This was where women were unceremoniously buried after being raped by the previous emperor and spending their entire lives trapped in the palace. There was once a lady-in-waiting who died and was buried there. Her name was Taihou and she was probably Suirei’s mother.
Jinshi headed to the graveyard to investigate. He found Shenlu paying her respects to the graves. After smelling cleaning alcohol on Shenlu, Jinshi grabbed her and demanded to know where Maomao had gone. He tried to put on his friendly eunuch persona again, but that was useless because Shenlu saw right through it. She knew that Jinshi was the previous emperor’s son in disguise – mostly because she recognized that he looked freakishly similar to the late emperor when he was a young man.
Since she now knew a dangerous secret and was probably in trouble with royalty, Shenlu tried to drink poison, but survived after a eunuch guard forced her to vomit. Shenlue was arrested. Meanwhile, Jinshi was deeply troubled by the fact that he looked so much like the man who was so feared and hated by the women here. His appearance had always bothered him as a child, since it led others to call him a bastard child. That was presumably before he knew he was the son of the emperor.
Speaking of lineages, Taihou apparently had an affair with a doctor in the rear palace at one point. The daughter that was born was probably Suirei. Taihou was also a lady-in-waiting to a certain concubine who was later given to Lord Shishou. He impregnated her and she bore Loulan (AKA Shisui). If I understand correctly, Suirei isn’t actually related to Loulan, but they still might have a connection.
Jinshi immediately went to meet with Lady Loulan, only to find her missing and replaced by an imposter. The one disguised as Loulan was actually one of the ladies-in-waiting named Renpu. Jinshi intimidated her intensely, gripping her face and yelling her with a terrible expression. Eventually, another another servant intervened, begging Jinshi for forgiveness. Jinshi knew he had to calm down after that. It was quite a scene.
There are two other quick notes to make before we talk about the new character. First, Lakan at some point foundds out that Maomao was missing. Jinshi had been hiding the fact from him, knowing he would overreact and freak out (which he did). Secondly, concerning Gyokuyo, she started having contractions. Hongniang said she was doing well so far, waiting for the actual birth to start. It could be a few more days.
The new character we met was Lahan, the adopted son of Lakan. He seems like a fairly interesting but slightly creepy character. He might end up being an antagonist, but that’s just conjecture. Jinshi hired Lahan to find out what was going on with the local economy and who was buying up all the metal. Lahan was voiced by Toshiyuki Toyonaga, who has a very pleasant, humble voice. I know him best as Tanizaki from Bungo Stray Dogs. Hopefully, Lahan will be a fascinating new addition to the cast.
That concludes my notes on this excellent episode. Sayonara until next time!
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke
