Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023

wanderer_1204

I really like that a lot of which is left unsaid or left for the reader to interpret is shown visually in the anime. One example is in the garden party episode - in the book maomao just has her mind in the gutter and thinks Jinshi was molested and forcibly given a hairpin. But in the anime we see that Jinshi is wearing the hairpin with the imperial crest and that he was just adjusting his collar himself to get some air.

I prefer the intro and outro music of the first season to be honest. But the visual teasers in the 2nd cour make it seem like nothing will be skipped. So I am glad.

I would love to see Suirei in action. Her character seems to be well drawn. But we need to wait a few more books and their anime adaptation hasn't been announced yet sadly.

kuali

@learn_japanese_ay

spoiler

Though to correct you about the hairstick, in the novels, Jinshi is wearing his hairsticks 3 chapters before Maomao sees him with a loosened collar - he gives one of them to her in The Garden Party (Part One), and his collar isn't loose until After the Festivities. Maomao never thinks that Jinshi had a hairpin forced upon him. (Though her mind is in the gutter briefly...)

Wait—was his collar ever so slightly askew? It was! So that was it—the scoundrel! He’d no doubt claimed he was cold as a pretext to do something smarmy.

And we also get a hint at how important Jinshi's hairsticks are a chapter later:

“You’re still wearing your hair stick,” Gaoshun said, pointing to his head.

“Oh. Crap.” Jinshi didn’t usually talk that way. “It was fairly well hidden. I doubt anyone noticed.” Jinshi pulled out the stick to reveal an accessory of considerable craftsmanship. It was carved in the shape of the mythical qilin, a sort of cross between a deer and a horse. It was said to be the chief of the sacred beasts, and the right to wear its likeness was conferred only upon those of considerable rank.

wanderer_1204

@kuali thanks for the info. I had the order mixed up since it has been a while since I read it. But I still am happy that things left unsaid would have a visual cue in anime

kuali

@learn_japanese_ay Personally, my favorite change has been the extra scenes of Maomao in the pleasure district. In the novels, by the end of volume 1, Luomen and Grams were the only members of the pleasure district cast who had been properly introduced (we know Meimei, Pairin, and Joka's names, but they hadn't really gotten any speaking appearances in the first book). The extra time spent in the setting gave us a better introduction for the princesses.

Also a bathing scene for Grams, but eventually I'll drink enough to forget that one...

xdrfiredogx

Finally caught up... dear gods but they have knocked this adaptation out of the park! The pacing gives the series so much time tobreath that it really gets to flourish and the animation itself is simply gorgeous!

I've seen a few comments about the tone not quite matching the early books, and that's a valid point but there is some obvious logic involved here. First, just like with some other newer adaptations I've seen - Tearmoon being the most obvious - they are obviously pulling inspiration in from the manga as well. More to the point though, whomever is heading up the actual adaptation has obviously read the series, and not just the first couple books. Maomao grows more emotive as the series goes on and that seems to be reflected here. It would also explain why we get introduced to the idea that they are using pigeons for messenger birds now when it doesn't show up in the novels until volume 10.

kuali

spoiler

Curious why they seem to have swapped the running order. In the LN, The Pipe was the chapter before Teaching at the Rear Palace, not the one after.

Alright, we've gotten our introduction to the new consort, Loulan!

Gyokuyou: "Maomao's back! Now, how shall we break Jinshi's composure this time?"

Maomao's instincts: That patch of dirt isn't growing a single poisonous thing! I must fix that...

I do love the shot of Maomao trying to hide a brush behind her back while handing the bill to Jinshi.

You know the cart full of porn has to be the good stuff if it comes with its own angry guard cat 😁

Monocle guy cameo! With more villain buildup...

Gaoshun: "That was Jinshi's gift! Jinshi's! Don't show thankfulness to me, you'll set him off!"

Maomao: "I can hear you!" I'm just not listening to you. 🤣

Maomao: "Just a quick experiment."
Lihaku: "Sure."
A savvier character: "How dangerous will this be?"

pcj

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

Maomao: "Just a quick experiment."
Lihaku: "Sure."
A savvier character: "How dangerous will this be?"

It may be more of him feeling like he needs to humor her because he knows she can put in a bad word for him with Pairin if he makes her mad.

kuali

@pcj I never said the savvier character would tell her no - just that they'd be more concerned with how dangerous the experiment was. And thus, not set their own hair on fire.

arghc

I liked how many times Lishu passed out, tried her best with the material and then passed out again. 8-)

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

...Loulan ...

With the way she took off her hair decoration right after she got home, I'm guessing B.

Maomao's instincts: That patch of dirt isn't growing a single poisonous thing! I must fix that...

They're not all poisonous. Not all medicinal things are poisonous (eg. the mentioned dandelions).

Lihaku: "Sure."

Don't remember how much of a cold he ended up with.

kuali

spoiler

I hear she's a beautiful intellectual with cold eyes

That's... mostly true...

So, looks like Maomao's drawn the attention of Lakan the Monocle Man! And he's sending poison-related mysteries her way...

People often pay attention to stories that are actually interesting.

Oh, Maomao... you should have left behind some burn cream, Jinshi's gonna need it...

"Don't worry, its fine... Probably."

And naturally, Maomao tries to go back for a second helping when the others aren't watching... Only to be caught by Jinshi's finely honed Maomao-sense.

Gaoshuuuun! Maomao broke Jinshi again!

So, Lakan shows up at Jinshi's office with another Maomao Mystery... and a story about a courtesan with a suspiciously Maomaoish attitude...

kuali

Basen: "Did you figure out something?"
Maomao: "You look like Gaoshun!"
Basen: "...Something about the case!"

Hmm... The reconciliation scene between the brothers is new, I think.

And it looks like Jinshi's eventually going to have to talk with Maomao about courtesans...

Alright, this was our second one-chapter episode of the cour! From here on out, we'll be averaging 2 chapters per episode to finish the novel in 12 episodes (and there are scenes from the next two chapters in the preview, so that does seem to be the pace going forwards).

Jon Mitchell

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

Maomao tries to go back for a second helping when the others aren't watching.

the difference between something considered food (seasoning) ,a medicine, and poison is often just a matter of dosage

or "dosis sola facit venenum " the dose makes the poison- a maxim attributed to a 16th century alchemist and physician, Paracelsus

wanderer_1204

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

Hmm... The reconciliation scene between the brothers is new, I think.

Yes. In the book she just hopes to herself that the younger brother treats the other two well since he has understood what his father meant.

And it looks like Jinshi's eventually going to have to talk with Maomao about courtesans...

I thought in the book he already asks Maomao as to how a courtesans value can be reduced and she touches upon her biological mother's story.

kuali

@learn_japanese_ay In the books

spoiler

arghc

That "shack" was huge and not even a little ramshackle.

kuali

Maomao: "If I'm gonna make Jinshi ugly, no half measures! Gotta get rid of all the sparkles!"

Jinshi in lipstick: One of the clearest we shall never speak of this again moments in all of anime!

For a moment, you think 'Wait, why did Suiren have one of her daughter's dresses hanging around in her place of work?'. Then you realise that Maomao getting done up and sent along as Jinshi's 'master' was likely premeditated...

Maomao: Maybe I should have made him dress up as a woman? No, I can't do that, if I want to maintain peace in our realm. ...🤣

Basen: Jinshi and Maomao ate two skewers, so I'll have to eat three!

So, that was mostly Makeup and A Jaunt Around Town, with a couple of additions - the conversation between Gaoshun and Suiren about Jinshi's toys (seems to be an amalgamation of a couple of other scenes from various points in the first few books), Basen shadowing Maomao and Jinshi, and the conversation between Maomao and Jinshi about lowering the price of a Courtesan (which would have happened in next week's episode if left in its original place).

NakamiJun

I've always felt Maomao was like super cute (even with freckles), but geez she is just so amazingly cute all dressed up! I need more cute Mao Mao to warm my heart...

wanderer_1204

I am almost convinced from the anime that maomao secretly has the hots for Jinshi and isn't showing it due to her upbringing.

pcj

@learn_japanese_ay said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

I am almost convinced from the anime that maomao secretly has the hots for Jinshi and isn't showing it due to her upbringing.

That's always been the case. She was raised as a commoner and she knows commoners don't marry nobility so she won't even entertain the idea. No point in getting your hopes up when society says it's out of your reach. That and she wants to eventually, someday, but not any time soon, actually have kids. And eunuchs can't have kids. And she's still operating under the assumption that he's a eunuch.

kuali

@pcj Honestly, she's never once struck me as having the hots for Jinshi - that particular street always seemed to be one-way...

(She seems to like him well enough, but not in that way.)