Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023

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

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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.)

pcj

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

@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.)

Maomao is averse to men in general I think... She's seen too many of them at Verdigris House and knows what they're like. ;-) That said, I do think Jinshi is growing on her, but it's a slow burn.

IIRC from the light novel...

spoiler

wanderer_1204

@pcj I got the feeling that she kinda resigned to her fate

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That's why I said almost convinced that she has the hots for him.
Even now we see from the latest volumes that

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pcj

@learn_japanese_ay I had kind of gotten the impression that she knows the only way Jinshi can legally marry her is

LN spoilers

spoiler

I'm 90% sure the piece of info I spoilered that for will be disclosed to anime watchers in this coming week's episode.

arghc

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

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...

a) totally planned out by Gaoshun to deal with Jinshi's obsession with his new toy
b) this is where Jinshi lives. MM now lives nearby as his... attendant? lady in waiting? Suiren as his main servant surely has quarters nearby as well, so near her place of work is also near her quarters, I expect. The distance to Suiren's home is probably 5 mins leisurely walk, tops.

@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.

She appreciates his aesthetic appeal. She knows what people will do for beauty and she can see that he has that but it's not something she wants for herself. The moments where she sees the sparkles are far, far fewer than the cat with her back up when he does something she finds annoying/revolting. (anime)

In the LN iirc she has never indicated that she finds him appealing. Her thoughts of children are abstract (or more scientific, similar to her thoughts of poison experimentation) and in no way related to him.

kuali

@arghc said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

b) this is where Jinshi lives. MM now lives nearby as his... attendant? lady in waiting? Suiren as his main servant surely has quarters nearby as well, so near her place of work is also near her quarters, I expect. The distance to Suiren's home is probably 5 mins leisurely walk, tops.

This one I'm gonna argue with. Suiren may (and probably does) have quarters near Jinshi's, but from what we've seen these are closer to (fancy) work dorms than proper family homes. Every palace official we've seen with a family has had a house outside the palace grounds where they raised their kids. Suiren probably isn't an exception...

kuali

Naturally, the mark of a 'good' mother is when your grown daughter wakes shivering from her nightmares of you!

You're suffocating me, Pairin.

Somehow, I don't think that's the first time. Though it was nice to see someone so happy to see Maomao that they'd run over to give her a hug. She doesn't get enough of those.

I've come to pick up some medicine!

That's the most enthusiastic she's been all season! There were even sparkles! At least until Suirei's appearance.

For those who didn't catch it, I present the Face of Filial Piety!

spoiler

Suirei: "You again?"
Maomao: "Run, its the herb police!"

Not that I'm one to talk, but she doesn't seem very excitable.

...Yeah, that line worked much better for LN Maomao...

Anyway, progress update:
Today we covered The Plum Poison, Lakan, and Suirei. This puts us a chapter ahead of schedule, meaning we've got another 1 chapter episode coming up at some point. I... don't really have a good guess as to which one.

arghc

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

Naturally, the mark of a 'good' mother is when your grown daughter wakes shivering from her nightmares of you!

I didn't try to pause it but I thought that MM's hand that she looked at had all 5 full length fingers.

For those who didn't catch it, I present the Face of Filial Piety!

I rewound it twice and still couldn't pause at the right time to get a good look. It was there long enough to know that it was there but not really see it. 8-( The perils of watching on the TV with a TV remote instead of on a computer with a mouse, I guess.

kuali

@arghc said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

I didn't try to pause it but I thought that MM's hand that she looked at had all 5 full length fingers.

spoiler

arghc

@kuali said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

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kurosov

@arghc said in Apothecary Diaries anime - airing 2023:

spoiler

kuali

Sneak

After 19 episodes, I can confirm that, yes, a lot happened.

Maomao: There's nothing fun here. I beg to differ!

Ox Bezoar Jinshi... may have motivated Maomao a little too much that time!

Teenage Girl vs Armed Guard. Teenage Girl chooses intimidate...
Thwack
Teenage girl chose poorly.

Say whatever else you like about Lakan The Monocle Man - he does not appreciate seeing his daughter attacked by the guard.

Maomao: First things first: Don't get beheaded. Can't argue with her priorities there!

Jinshi's life has been saved. Maomao's injured twice. And Maomao's first words: "Master Jinshi... Can I have the ox bezoar now?" Which is... slightly more questionable on the priorities front!

And then we end the episode with Jinshi carrying an unconscious Maomao to ~~heaven~~ the medical office.

So, we covered two chapters again - Chance or Something More and The Ritual. I think next week is also covering two episodes - the preview looked like it had scenes from Thornapple and Gaoshun.