Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023

kuali

And after all the fun we shared at the Crystal Pavilion, too...

Yes... 'fun'...

Yinghua: "I said, there's a hidden meaning! Interrogate me, damnit!"

I guess I'm the only one who enjoys eating poison.

That one's a pretty safe bet, yes.

Though I'm kinda sad we lost the bit from the novels of the other food tasters sneaking peeks at Maomao to check each course was safe to try :(

Travis Butler

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

Though I'm kinda sad we lost the bit from the novels of the other food tasters sneaking peeks at Maomao to check each course was safe to try :(

I think we did get it, it was just a blink-and-you'd-miss-it moment, and not presented as well as it should have been.

Right after Maomao says she's rinsing out her mouth with water, she has a surprised reaction and looks up, and then we cut away to a still picture of the court. I think that's supposed to be everyone watching her test.

I wish we'd gotten something closer to the extended sequence in the LN, but they might not have had the running time for it. :(

kuali

Alright, progress check! By the end of episode 7, we've completed every chapter up to Homecoming. That's slightly slower than my original guess (I thought we'd be a chapter further ahead), There's 10 chapters left in the first Light Novel, and at the rate the last few episodes have run, that's probably 4 more episodes to complete that first novel.

Updated predictions

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MiniMaoMao! ...Well, even more mini than the usual one.

...Is it just me, or does the hairpin look like a match when the camera zooms out from it?

Xiaolan: "Now you can get out of the rear palace!"
Maomao: "DETAILS."
Yinghua: "Oh, now she's interested in the hairpins!"

Lihaku: "...You have bested me at my own game."
Maomao: "Don't flatter yourself - you were never even a player."

Guyokuyo: "Maomao took off with someone." laughter
Guyokuyo, ladies and gentleman: Upper Concubine and High-Class Troll!

Wow, Grams has an arm on her! I know Maomao's pretty light, but that's still some impressive distance from a single blow!

TheGrimLich

@kuali Grams brought the Verdegris House from a low-class joint to the jewel of the pleasure district — you'd best believe she'd retain the skills she had from when she was a bit player, and that means an arm strong enough to literally throw a misbehaving cretin onto the street.

kuali

Luomen: Oh, no, we can't possibly accept -
Maomao: Can you afford rent this month?
Luomen: Ah, in that case...

And we finally get to see Maomao's astonishing martial arts skills in action: Eeking out a narrow victory against an angry little girl! (Admittedly, the girl did have a knife at the start of the fight, but she wasn't exactly trying to kill Maomao with it...)

That servant girl is scarier than she looks.

Funnily, that applies just as well to Maomao herself...

Ooh, something new! I don't think Meimei ever had a bathing scene in the LN, and we're still well before her first speaking part. Plus we get a look at how well Pairin has succeeded at wrapping Lihaku around her finger!

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Jinshi probably needs to learn to grill Maomao with his hands empty next time. She does have a habit of saying things he doesn't expect...

Anyway, I think this is a first for the series - we've gotten an episode cut part way through a chapter! Specifically, the last scene of A Misunderstanding seems to have been sliced off. I assume it'll be used as the lead-in for the plot of the next episode...

pcj

I love Gokyuyou's laugh when she can't contain herself out of the idea that Maomao trolled Jinshi about 20 times worse than Gyoukuyou did the previous week and Maomao doesn't even realize it.

rsog412

@pcj - I'm not convinced that Maomao doesn't realize it. No one is that good of a troll by accident.

endoftheline

@rsog412 @pcj She also grew up in a very worldly neighborhood. It'd be hard to remain ignorant for long when people are using euphemisms like that all the time.

kuali

@endoftheline Though, as a counterpoint, I'll add that Maomao doesn't actually know what the significance of the hairsticks is. ~~Xiaolan didn't know the full story~~ Actually, checking the episode again, Xiaolan clearly did know it was meant to be a romantic thing - but failed to mention it directly to Maomao; Yinghua did try, but Maomao didn't bother listening to her. Remember Guyokuyo and Hongniang working out that Maomao didn't know what she was getting into as she left, but not bothering to tell her (mainly, it seems, because Guyokuyo thought the results would be funny... and they were).

Her neighbourhood may be worldly, but it doesn't mean all that knowledge translates to life in the palace...

Hongniang: "I'm pretty sure she has no idea what the hairpin means."
Guyokuyo: "Yes, I'm sure of it. I feel so sorry for a certain someone."
Jinshi: Cutaway sneeze
Guyokuyo: "This is so amusing. laugh I wonder what kind of face he'll make..."
Hongniang: "I suspect some turmoil in the future..."

endoftheline

@kuali I only meant the euphemisms she used when reporting her outing, not the significance of the hairsticks (e.g., working hard all night). While I can't speak for what it's like in Japanese, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a way to communicate it with less of a chance to cause misunderstandings.

I'll concede that it just might be the translator emphasizing a more lurid encounter between the two to help sell the misunderstanding better.

That said, I agree, Maomao's lack of understanding the significance of the hairpins and the subsequent Jinshi grilling, altered the context in a way that goes way over her head.

holatuwol

@endoftheline said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

While I can't speak for what it's like in Japanese, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a way to communicate it with less of a chance to cause misunderstandings.

Well, Hongniang did smack Maomao in the head for it, so I'd say that the in-story characters agree with you on the idea that Maomao could have phrased it better.

In case you're curious or want to use ChatGPT to dissect it, this is what Maomao says in the original Japanese (taken from the light novel, but it matches the anime):

「申し訳ありません。壬氏さまにご満足いただける対価など、思いつかなかったもので」

「ええ、一夜の夢に喜んでおりました」

「大変ご満足いただけたようで、こちらとしても頑張ったかいがありました」

kuali

Huh, we actually got to see Kounen's murder in the cold opening? That's more Columbo than the usual episode...

It took considerable effort to get Gyokuyou to stop laughing uncontrollably and explain

I can only assume that her title being Precious Consort was a translation error: They clearly meant Trollish Consort.

Stop spoiling my nostalgia with reality!

Jinshi finally found Maomao's weakness: Drinking age laws!

Maomao: "I'd hate to die. Death means no more opportunities to poison myself!"

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Alright, progress check! Looks like we're up to the end of Two 'Cides to Every Story. And going by the preview, the next episode is going to cover the next four chapters... which makes it look like the first book will finish at episode 11. Though I guess after previously predicting 10 and 12 episodes to adapt the first volume, I had to get the right number eventually...

rsog412

Given the events of volumes 9 and 10, I think Jinshi's line at 14:11 in episode 9...

「先生、ちゃんと見てもらいないだろうか?」
「sensei, chanto mite morainai darou ka?」
"Doctor, could you please do a proper autopsy?"

Should probably say "examination" instead of "autopsy." It's probably technically correct (autopsies don't have to involve dissection afaict), but I think most people would get the wrong impression of what Jinshi actually asked there.

Not that anyone on these forums has the power to make corrections to whomever is doing the Crunchyroll subtitles.

NakamiJun

I still keep laughing at Jinshi's reaction where Maomao clearly broke him...

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I still love the animation work and I'm happy the series has continued to be very close to the LN. Especially compared to some series' which seem to be squished time-wise so they fit into single episode blocks or even gloss over chapters the Animation team thought were not required... It also continues to look beautiful.

kuali

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Is it part of the nature of being a woman to be cautious of the same sex?

I'm not an expert on women myself, so its not like I can answer that one... I'm just amused that Maomao didn't know the answer, either.

Does she remind me of someone?

'No'. You're 'seeing things'.

I found hunched-old-man Maomao after her first day of physical labour to be surprisingly amusing 😎

Lady Lishu, accompanied by just the one taster? Why is she at the Garnet Pavilion?

Clearly, its a clandestine raid to destroy Ah-Duo's stocks of Lishu's Kryptonite - Honey!

Oh, right, that's the kind of pervert he's always been!

And at this rate, always will be 😁

Gaoshun deliberately notices nothing
Maomao He's getting laxatives in his food later! 🤣

Jinshi patiently waits for Maomao to finish her eureka flashbacks
Gyokuyou "Jinshi!"
Jinshi "Damn, I shouldn't have hesitated... I'll feed you next time, Maomao!" flees

Gaoshun She does have some peculiarities
Some? They've been practically driving the plot all season!

Progress check! Turns out, last week's preview (the bit that made me think we'd cover four chapters this time), was showing a teaser at the start of the episode, not something actually covered this week. Dirty trick by the production company, that😢 Anyway, we covered the chapters Honey 1 and Honey 2 in episode 10, and every scene I could recognise in the preview was in the next two chapters, so it looks like book 1 will get cover a full 12 episodes after all.

kuali

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Ah-Duo: "It's bad enough that I'm in labour, why are you idiots making me do strength training at the same time?!!"

"Hey. Do you know what's most precious to the person most precious to you?"

Do you? You never told Ah-Duo what really happened, so how can you be so sure you know her thoughts on the matter?

I guess that's not bad for hastily-improvised body armor, but Maomao really needs to get something a little sturdier if she's going to make a habit of confronting murderers one on one...

Jinshi: "It's sweet."
Maomao: "Poisonous though."
Jinshi: Giant spit-take

Whoa! Booze! 🤣

Maomao: "You'll catch a cold wihtout a coat."
Jinshi: "I don't need a coat, I've got a Maomao!"

Maomao: Comes up with a theory that fits all of the facts and explains the motives of all the main characters in the story
Maomao: "Complete nonsense. An idiotic delusion of a story."

Progress check! Almost got this week's episode right. It covered the episodes Honey Part 3 and Ah-Duo, then clipped a tiny bit from the start of Dismissal for its ending. So we're on track to finish Volume 1 in exactly 12 episodes :)

NakamiJun

I got all teary eyed watching Lishu chase after Ah-Duo... The girl always in need of a parent and the woman who wished to be someones mother... ;_;

Though knowing what comes Lishu is such a sad story in general...

arghc

The anime is painting MM as much more of a lush than I remember from the LN. Sure she likes booze but she doesn't sparkle eyes and grabby hands in the LN. That's more when medical ingredients are dangled. 8-)

Travis Butler

@arghc said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

The anime is painting MM as much more of a lush than I remember from the LN. Sure she likes booze but she doesn't sparkle eyes and grabby hands in the LN. That's more when medical ingredients are dangled. 8-)

We just haven’t seen them dangle the ox beozar yet. ^^;;

Honestly, the anime’s been exaggerating a number of her reactions with SD neko features; this case didn’t stand out for me from the rest.

I do remember her going ‘oooh, booze’ at this point in the LN, so it’s only a matter of degree; and on that, see above.

kuali

Jinshi: Anguished thoughts about how to do right by the object of his affections... without just drowning her in poison
Gaoshun: "I thought she was just a convenient pawn."

Maomao: I have to make it appear like I'm not begging.
Jinshi: She isn't begging to stay... she must be happy to go!
Maomao: Bluescreen

Don't think I've seen round-faced petulant Gyokuyou before! And I couldn't help but grin at Jinshi stewing in his personal swamp of dispair...

I'm sure they wouldn't notice one thing taken as a souvenir!

...Tsk, its terrible what actions addictions can drive young girls to. See how Maomao contemplates theft to fund her poison habit?

Its such a little detail, but I love the mismatched expressions on the Three Princesses' faces as they enter the room for the party - Meimei and Pairin seem quite professional, but Joka looks unhappy to be there...

Jinshi: "You should really stop experimenting with poison."
Maomao: I guess I could switch to experimenting with poison...ing pretty eunuchs...

Oh, gods, no! A bathing scene for Grams? My poor, abused eyes! 😢

And next time: Volume 2!