[Manga] The Apothecary Diaries - Maomao's Rear Palace Notebook of Mysteries
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Alt Titles: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Maomao no Koukyuu Nazotoki Techou, 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～
Author: Hyuuga Natsu
Artist: Kurata Minoji
Publisher: Shogakukan (Sunday GX Comics)
Volumes: 14 (ongoing)Synopsis: In the imperial court, a young woman is put into servitude, Maomao. The tale is just beginning for the woman doctor/pharmacist from the red-light district, as rumors circulate about the emperor's children's lives being short-lived. Her curious nature and thirst for knowledge pushes her to action. To satisfy her curiosity, this young doctor/pharmacist will investigate the origin! What is shifting in the imperial court..!?
Comments: While everyone is probably more aware of the Square Enix manga, there is indeed another manga adaptation of The Apothecary Diaries published by Shogakukan (the rights holder sold the rights for a manga adaptation to two different publishers). Supposedly, Kurata's version has a different pacing and is closer to the light novel. It is apparently the author's preferred adaptation, although its art is arguably inferior when compared to the Square Enix adaptation.
Sure, people may already be spoiled by an existing adaptation, but there’s no reason that JNC can’t try doing one as well.
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Most recent volume was 16, released in February. I know someone tried to recommend this before and the thread was locked due to a duplicate post, but just in case
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Yeah i would recommend this as well, especially because of the upcoming Anime adaptation which is going to be based on Light Novel more.
And since this Manga adaptation is closer to the light Novel plot compared to the Square Enix one, it's better. This Manga adaptation seems to have some extra stuff as well which are not even included in the LN (like who Jinshi went to meet while in disguise in LN Vol.2).Plus it is atleast half a volume ahead in plot compared to the Square Enix Manga adaptation (the Square Enix Manga just ended the LN Vol.3 plot, while this Manga adaptation is already at mid-point of LN Vol.4 plot, even though it covers the plot more).
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Referenced by
saffire
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boosting this suggestion
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I would also love to see this one get an official english translation!
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I would be very excited to read Maomao's story again by a different artist, even though I still prefer the other manga adaptation.
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@JeweledPoisonousButterfly It‘s the same for me.
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You know, everytime I look for information on this manga in the internet it seems like everyone has to bring up how the art in this version is the inferior one, but as an artist myself I feel like I have to disagree. It may not have the polish of the square enix version, but polish isn't everything. It's got a ton of charm and character and I keep coming back to admire how gorgeous the cover art for them are.
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@blur0se I wouldn‘t say inferior, only that I prefer the art style of the other manga adaption more. That said, I really would like to read it too. This artist depicts the events of the light in novel sometimes in a completely different way than the other one. I‘m almost ready to say that I liked how this artists drew the scenes with Jinshi as the moon spirit more than how Nekokurage drew them.
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@silvi haha that wasn't directed at you necessarily. I've been looking for raw scans of this all night and have seen a lot of comments. I just wanted to comment that there are some of us that actually do prefer this one!
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@blur0se That's good, after all, everyone has their own taste (otherwise it would be boring).
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@silvi absolutely!! I'm trying to pitch it here so I can get my hands on this i've gotte be it's number one defender!!
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@blur0se Well, it has already 15 upvotes, plus the one from the creator of this post. I don‘t know the standards, but this seems already pretty much for a manga.
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I love the other manga, but would also really like to read this one.
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Jumping back onto this thread to say that this months chapter wrapped up light novel 4, which is likely where season 2 of the anime will be ending. Next months chapter should be starting light novel 5. Even more reason to want this manga translated officially!
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