Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Maomao, an apothecary's daughter, has been plucked from her peaceful life and sold to the lowest echelons of the imperial court. Now merely a maid, Maomao settles into her new mundane life and hides her extensive knowledge of medicine in order to avoid any unwanted attention.

Not long after Maomao's arrival, the emperor's infant children inexplicably begin to experience grave symptoms—almost as if a curse has been cast. The curious Maomao easily solves the mystery and, to remain out of the limelight, attempts to leave an anonymous tip. Unfortunately, the dashing and perceptive eunuch Jinshi sees through it and manages to single her out.

In recognition of her talent, Maomao is promoted to lady-in-waiting for the emperor's favorite concubine, Gyokuyou. As Maomao continues to remedy the numerous ailments afflicting the imperial court, her pharmaceutical expertise quickly proves indispensable.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Maomao Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Jinshi Main

Ootsuka, Takeo Japanese

Gyokuyou Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Kan, Lakan Supporting

Kirimoto, Takuya Japanese

Gaoshun Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Lihua Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui Japanese

Ah-Duo Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Pairin Supporting

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Lishu Supporting

Kino, Hina Japanese

Meimei Supporting

Han, Megumi Japanese

Morishita, Katsuji Producer

Fujimura, Tomoko Producer

Okamoto, Junya Producer

Mutou, Hiroshi Producer

Reviews

Mar 25, 2024

Alisson07

Recommended

"The Apothecary Diaries" or "Kusuriya no Hitorigoto", an anime that pleasantly surprised me and, in my opinion, ranks among the best anime of 2023/2024. The anime is set in imperial China and tells the story of Maomao, who was kidnapped and taken to the emperor's palace. From there, we begin to learn more about her personality and traits, along with the unfolding of the story, revealing an intricate web of interconnected events and mysteries.

Technical Aspects:

Plot = 9.8/10

In my view, the anime presented no flaws in the plot. The way events connect and some mysteries are gradually unraveled shows meticulous and insightful writing. It's been a ... long time since I've seen such a well-constructed plot. The anime is rich in elements such as investigation and mysteries. It's literally a butterfly effect, where a small event can lead to something big or be intrinsically linked to something that has already happened! As for the narrative, it has many comedic elements while also being serious when needed, although it may seem somewhat unpretentious in some episodes!

Art (Character Design, Backgrounds, and Animation) = 8.6

The art of the anime is beautiful, with characters that are very well drawn and animation that is extremely consistent and fluid from beginning to end, which is rare for a 24-episode anime. The backgrounds were also very good, although they did not reach the level of detail found in films like "Kimi no Na wa". The only downside was the CGI, which stood out a bit from the rest of the animation and caused some unease.

Character Charisma and Development = 8.7

Maomao is, in my view, the best waifu of 2023/2024. The character is very fun, charismatic, and easily wins you over. It's almost impossible not to like her! Her romantic partner is also a captivating and enjoyable character, and the interactions between the two are very pleasant! As for the personal development of each character, in this aspect, the anime does not deliver as much. You can sympathize with the characters and feel some of what they feel, but the work does not usually delve deeply into their feelings, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret what they feel or think and the reasons for it! This is cool for an anime that focuses on mystery! Just don't expect major dramatic developments of the characters with the anime delving into their thoughts, emotions, and motivations very clearly!

Script/Storyboard and Direction = 9.1

The anime has beautiful framings and a very commendable immersion of the story. The weighty scenes really convey the feeling they need to convey. The rhythm and execution were done with great care, making the anime truly deserve many points for it. Even in episodes where there were no major revelations, the anime maintained good quality using other elements like comedy, having excellent comedic timing in these scenes, and a great power to generate memes with Maomao's facial expressions and reactions. The series manages to grip you, captivate you, and leave you interested in the story, making you feel part of it!

Soundtrack and Audio = 8.5

In this aspect, I believe the anime delivered something within expectations. Nothing absurd like Sawano or Masaru Yokoyama level, but the soundtrack is good, although I don't believe it to be an extremely outstanding point in the work. There are some scenes with cool tracks that deserve to be seen with affection, but they are not emblematic and striking. In this aspect, I've seen works that had a greater capacity to be striking. Another point in this topic would be to highlight the Openings and Endings, which are excellent songs, especially the first Opening and the first Ending. They are truly songs to listen to on repeat for a long time!

Conclusion: If you're looking for an anime with cool characters, mystery, investigation with a hint of romance, and a very well-constructed and written plot, you'll definitely love this work! Just don't expect a series where absolutely all mysteries are interconnected and all subplots are relevant to the main plot, that said.. I highly recommend it and I'm looking forward to a future continuation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 24, 2024

BrickToast

Mixed Feelings

The Good:
This show get's a LOT right. The characters, the setting, the music, the colors, it's all loving crafted, animated, and produced. Like the many varied flowers found in both the Pleasure District and on the Rear Court, the overall feel and vibe of this anime is seductive, comforting, and alluring.

The Big Flaw:
Where does this show fall short then? Writing. Writing writing writing. Once past the opening episodes, the flaws of the writing starts to become pretty noticeable. It's not bad compared to other anime, just aggressively average.

Mystery Cases:
Some of the episodes follow a sort of episodic mystery-case style format which is a great ... vibe but the actual cases themselves are laughably amateur and tropey. Our protagonist is always in the right place, always has the right knowledge or skill, and always figures out the solution at the perfect time. The show tries to play up the mystery angle but is also too anxious to lose the viewers so they hold our hand through everything. There's only ever like two or three clues that they constantly emphasize (Oh that object has always been here. Oh we don't touch that object. OMG the puzzle needs the object!).

Overall Plot:
There were a couple (beautiful) scenes and major plot points where it was abundantly clear that the author had the climactic scene in mind and then tried to work backwards to guide the story to that scene. Unfortunately, the plot lacks any actual finesse. As a viewer you pretty much feel like you're being dragged along familiar plot points leading to big reveals that are abundantly obvious. Interestingly, I didn't get the feeling that the writing is lazy; you can really feel the care and the love poured into the setting and characters. I think it really is just a lack of craft. Good writing is difficult.

Overall:
If you're looking for a mature cast, individual, non-tropey female characters set within the backdrop of a beautifully intoxicating rear court, I really recommend this show. If you're looking for smartly-written mystery and palace intrigue, you will end up disappointed. I give Kusuriya a solid 7.5 for a potentially incredible show held back by very average writing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 10, 2024

Legolaspt

Not Recommended

Funny

Kusuriya has a solid start, but it loses itself halfway through, when both character development and plot progression come to a halt.

The show has some elements of a historical drama and of romance, but it focuses mostly on the genre of mystery. Regarding drama and romance: the show is not great, as the personality of the protagonist doesn't suit the genres well, because she is content by just being left alone and she is quite unemotional as well (both genres prefer emotional protagonists who want to have strong connections), and this has the effect that the show lacks a bit in both stakes and hooks ... for the viewers.

Regarding the mysteries: they work well during the first half of the show, but they get overly complex, and many are even outside of the mc's area of knowledge; nevertheless, she still manages to always gets them right first try without putting in much of any effort - similar to a Mary sue tbh, although less egregious. As the show progresses, the mc goes from an intelligent person with mastery over a single subject to a genius that can do almost anything because the plot says so.

Not only that, but the story gets more and more nonsensical as it goes on: by the second arc, the characters' reactions are not appropriate to what's happening around them, it seems people in this world don’t really care, not even they are engaged in what’s going on, much less the viewers.

Another negative is an almost 9 minutes flashback during an episode near the ending of the series, which is used to tell a badly written tragedy as the backstory of a side character. This all would've been much better if this subplot was left for the viewers to figure it out themselves imo, as the sequence as is ends up really disappointing; and less is more after all.

My review has been mostly negative so far, but the mysteries, romance and drama all work to some degree; the production is good and the characters start off as interesting and charismatic people. The problem is that there is no progress, no evolution. As the series goes on, the plot remains basically the same and almost nothing changes and no one evolves; they all just devolve. And, by the end, I disliked the entire cast and didn’t care about anything happening on screen.

Overall, I can’t recommend watching Kusuriya – it isn’t bad, but it just doesn’t deliver often.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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'Kusuriya no Hitorigoto' Second Season Announced

The 24th and final episode of the Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) television anime announced a second season on Sunday, revealing a teaser visual (pi...read more

Mar 23, 10:53 AM by Nioxys | Discuss (21 comments)

'Kusuriya no Hitorigoto' Unveils Additional Pair of Cast, Theme Songs, Promo for Second Cours

The official website of the Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) television anime unveiled two additional cast, theme songs, and a promotional video for i...read more

Dec 25, 2023 8:48 AM by Hyperion_PS | Discuss (5 comments)

	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Softhenic03 - Oct 28, 2023	216 replies	by AndoCommando »» Dec 21, 4:54 AM
	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Mar 23	299 replies	by Tsuyo_Mika »» Dec 14, 4:42 AM
	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 23 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Mar 16	212 replies	by Tsuyo_Mika »» Dec 14, 3:27 AM
	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 22 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Mar 9	107 replies	by Tsuyo_Mika »» Dec 14, 2:44 AM
	Poll: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 21 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Mar 2	107 replies	by Tsuyo_Mika »» Dec 14, 2:13 AM