Get out your mortar and pestle, because it’s time for The Apothecary Diaries!
The second half of this colorful, entertaining series has begun. There’s a beautiful new opening song – “Ambivalent” by Uru – with amazing accompanying visuals. The new ending song is “Ai wa Kusuri” by Wacci. It’s not great, in my opinion, but at least I love the new intro song. The animation quality for Apothecary Diaries hasn’t changed in the second half – everything still looks stunning.
That’s all the basic info, so let’s get into the reviews for episodes 13, 14, and 15!
Episode 13: Serving in the Outer Court
The ladies of the Verdigris House give Maomao gifts and well-wishes in congratulations for landing a good job at the palace. Before she left, there was a sweet moment with Maomao and her father. She pulled her futon up close to his for more warmth, and he patted her on the head, telling her she could come home any time. Maomao happily reflects on the fact that she has a great family: her “granny” and “big sisters” at the Verdigris house, and her kindly old father. This scene warmed my heart.
The courtesans get Maomao “dolled up” and send her off. Much to Maomao’s surprise, she will no longer be working in the rear palace, but in the outer court that surrounds it. This is where Jinshi and many government officials have their offices. There are also several court ladies, well-educated women who serve as secretaries. Jinshi tries to set Maomao up as a new court lady, but she doesn’t pass the written exam.
All that’s left for Maomao is to become Jinshi’s personal servant. She seems happier as a servant anyway, since she can be outside more, look at the gardens, and not be targeted by the prideful and jealous court ladies. One day, Maomao is collecting herbs along the sidewalk, when one of the court ladies tells her not to go any further. Maomao notices that the lady was telling her stay away from a military office. From said office, a strange man with a monocle watches Maomao closely.
I don’t have other thoughts on this episode besides, “Damn, Jinshi is hot.” He really is extremely attractive. I don’t appreciate the fact that his looks are considered “wasted sex appeal,” as if Jinshi couldn’t still be sexually active with people he liked. They talk like PIV sex is all that exists. Of course, this is how people would have thought and acted historically – they would want Jinshi to bear sons, and consider anything else useless. I can’t blame this anime for being historically accurate, but it still makes me sad.
Episode 14: The New Pure Consort
The episode opens with what looks like a funeral procession. I can’t tell if it was an actual funeral or if that was just the aesthetic or mood of the scene. The one leading the procession of darkly clad ladies was the new consort, Lady Loulan. She moves into the Garnet Pavilion that Lady Ah-Duo used to occupy. We haven’t heard her speak so far, and she’s not very expressive. Even Maomao wasn’t able to tell much about her yet. All that’s clear is that she’s very young and she hasn’t had a night with the Emperor yet.
Gyokuyo and Lihua recommended Maomao for the position of teacher to the new consort. Since the job pays well, Maomao accepts it. On the day of the first lesson, all four concubines attend. We don’t hear any specifics, but it’s clear that Maomao is teaching the ladies sexual tricks and new positions. I suppose that’s appropriate education for concubines. Still, I’m surprised Maomao didn’t end up in any trouble.
The second portion of the episode was about the mysterious fire in the warehouse. The night after the explosion, Maomao went to see it. Lihaku the military office was investigating the site, suspecting arson. Maomao figured out the explosion was caused by the combustion of fine flour after it was exposed to someone smoking a pipe. She finds an ivory pipe charred and broken in the warehouse.
After explaining things to Lihaku – and showing him a powder explosion firsthand – Maomao returned to work, only to realize later that she accidentally took the ivory pipe home with her. I’m not entirely sure yet, but it seems like the man with the monocle arranged for it to happen by giving someone the ivory pipe. He’s planning something, and I doubt it will look good for Maomao to have his pipe.
When Maomao was explaining the cause of the fire to Lihaku, she said something interesting. Lihaku had just said it’s very mysterious for powder to explode. (Crunchyroll translated it as “strange,” but “mysterious” is a better translation for the word used, which is fushigi.) Maomao then says, “Almost nothing in the world is truly mysterious. Anything that feels mysterious just isn’t understood yet.” I think that’s a great quote that shows Maomao’s analytical, almost scientific way of thinking.
Episode 15: Raw Fish
Most of this episode was about Maomao solving the mystery of two bureaucrats who were poisoned. It was thought that pufferfish poison was responsible, but Maomao discovers it was actually seaweed. It was imported from another region, so the cook didn’t know it was a different kind of seaweed that had to be soaked in limewater before becoming edible. The younger brother of the poisoned bureaucrat was the culprit behind the conspiracy. He confessed and was arrested.
The last five minutes or so of the episode showed Jinshi meeting with the creepy monocle man who was watching Maomao in episode 13. The man’s name is Lakan and he’s a military strategist. For some reason, he’s been pestering Jinshi, who can’t figure out what he wants. When they meet again, Lakan tells a long story about how he used to be interested in a certain courtesan of Verdigris House. She was a strange and highly intelligent woman, but Lakan was unable to buy her out.
There was definitely more to that story, but Lakan didn’t finish it. Instead, he turned the topic back to what he actually wanted. Lakan had heard rumors of a very clever servant girl who worked for Jinshi. He asked Jinshi if he could use Maomao to try to solve a strange case. It’s something involving a metalworker who died in the palace without deciding which of his three children would succeed him. There’s a puzzle surrounding his art and his death – perhaps Maomao can unravel it.
Lakan is probably indeed trying to solve the case of the metalworker, but that’s not the only reason he’s interested in Maomao. I suspect the courtesan he liked so much was Maomao’s mother, and Lakan has probably realized Maomao is the child of that courtesan. I’m not sure how he will confirm this or what he will want to do with Maomao, but I have a very bad feeling about the whole thing. Lakan might be the shadowy background villain for the remainder of the anime.
To end on a light-hearted note, there were several funny scenes with Jinshi and Maomao in this episode. For example, there was the part where Maomao was having a great time thinking about her caterpillar fungus. Jinshi returned just then, and Maomao actually greeted him with an adorable smile and a cheerful “Welcome back!” It’s rare to see Maomao act so girlish. Earlier in the episode, there was also a scene where Jinshi startled Maomao and she made this hilarious face at him. What a funny episode.
Thank you for reading~
PATREON
