Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
The Apothecary Diaries

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Wow, I think we found another gem that is none of your conventional storyline with the same damn stereotypical lead characters. If I could compare this series to another, it would be Akatsuki No Yona off the bat. Although this is a seinen, I felt that it can also play off as shoujo genre as well because of its art style, and the vibe that I got from the first few chapters. I've always enjoyed historical setting in my manga so when I discovered upon this series, oh boy I was so excited.

The protagonist is not just sassy, but also has a very likeable ... personality that would make the readers fall for her charms. She's a little crazy- which the author has done very well in drawing her wicked expressions during those situations. Whenever I see those, I just go "Oh shit.." and would be very taken aback. HOWEVER, she's also very smart and is very good with her words. She's sharp and can read the situation very well, which is something that I find quite refreshing.

The plot of this manga is very interesting. I don't think I've come across similar storyline and I think it has a lot of opportunities to develop. It is not your typical girl-in-palace-falls-in-love-with-a-high-ranking-official cliche and has her doctor/pharmacist background as a "side dish" to go with the story. Although I would say that I would love to see more of Maomao in her vast world of medicine and poison. If any of you have seen the K-drama "Dae Jang Geum/Jewel In The Palace", that's how I kind of want the direction of this manga to follow. Well, not exactly as the latter, but I expect for there to be more instances and situation where her skills as a doctor/pharmacist and knowledge of medicine are tested and thus, growth as a character and social status. Seeing how this is a seinen manga, I hope that the author would go in-depth as it is such a waste to just focus the story on the romance and shallow introduction of her medicine knowledge.

With that being said, if you're here because you seen this manga popping up in your recommendations or anywhere, go ahead and give it a shot! You won't regret it and in fact you'll probably thank me. I hope reading this review has encouraged you to give the manga a chance. You'll love it, so enjoy and have a nice day! ;-)

This manga is like the main character, an unusual gem that shines with a non-traditional beauty.

After I got your attention, let me explain my confusing intro for this review.
The story is a common, but also uncommon story, that puts a plebeian girl into the harem of the emperor as a maid. So far so common, but here the plot disperses from the common root.
There are no "ugly (usually not ugly at all) duckling charms beautiful prince" shenanigans happening here, because our main heroine is not interested in any of that. Her only interest is in herbs, mushrooms, poisons, medicine and experiments including all of ... those.
Unfortunately for her, even those interests can be quite valuable in a place brimming with intrigue and assassination attempts.
Unfortunate because our main heroine planned to get out of the place by being of no use as a maid, but her interest in aforementioned things cuts her plans to escape short.
How could she resist all the unusual poisons that are being used in the scheming of the palace?
The different arcs can vary heavily, but usually circle around the mystery of the happenings at the court of the emperor and his harem and end often in our quite clever main heroine having to play detective to uncover the truth of the events that shake up the inner circle of the emperors' harem. These fascinating episodic mysteries build the core of the story, but there is always an underlying plot that never stops moving. In this quite serious plot they somehow managed to weave in even some hilarious comedic moments. These can range from character to character moments to tasteful situational comedy.

If this description of the plot direction intrigues you for only the smallest amount you are in for a treat, because now we will talk about the real strength of the manga, the characters and the art.

The characters are astonishingly varied, while also managing to avoid most clichés. All the characters in the harem are unique and bring their own strength and weaknesses with them and this includes a giant cast of maidservants, eunuchs and later even prostitutes and soldiers that all have their unique place in this story. Even the far off side characters get at least some characterization and the moment we get close to any of them the characters bloom the moment our main heroine gets in contact using her wits or observational ability.
It is simply breathtaking to see a cast of this size realized in such a detailed and thought out manner.

While the characters are great, the art is where the manga really shines.
I read quite some media in a similar vein, but they often fall into some traps, having all characters be beautiful but too similar to each other (same face syndrome) or having the characters be too perfect, but not in this manga! What the artists did here is amazing, Nekokurage not just gave all the characters beauty and differentiated them through design, but s/he somehow also managed to convey the exact feelings the characters should convey.
No character is a better example of this masterful craftsmanship than our main heroine Maomao herself. She is never meant to be the beautiful flower, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't be appealing. She has a rough beauty to herself, that can be smoothed quite a bit if necessary (with the help of her fellow maids and cosmetics), that gives her a variety of looks that never betray her core design.
The designs completely sells the appeal of the second or first concubine, without undermining the beauty of the other characters.
The art also manages to visualize the beauty that comes from the confidence that surrounds the more important members of the harem (or the top prostitutes). Even if you see a character for the first time, nobody has to tell the reader at what position this character is, the body language, self-assuredness, clothing and actions will let you know the position of the character.
This brilliance is later even abused and played with when characters dress up to go undercover as a person of lower rank. It manages to showcase how much work has to be put into a disguise to dim the aura of someone with authority and the art makes sure to still let the true authority shine through in a moment of carelessness. These brilliant moments only work because of the incredible strength of the art.

The backgrounds are not as spectacular as the character art, but they are still brimming with detail and I'm sure that quite some research went into this time period to depict the places and architecture in as satisfying a way as possible.

In conclusion, this manga is astonishingly good. The story is interesting and goes in a direction you would not expect from the classical setup, while the art and characters fill the world with tons of life. This manga is not for the action hungry, but if you have any interest in mystery, political intrigue, early pharmacy and comedy in a historic setting this manga will be one of your favorites.

Found another favourite and I can confidently predict this manga will blow up soon.

I really enjoy how the chapters are episodic and reminiscent of detective/Agatha Christie-type narratives (in Kusuriya's case, each chapter is usually about discovering who was responsible for poisoning [insert name of imperial concubine that was poisoned]). Although this sounds repetitive, each chapter is kept interesting with new strategies the female lead uses to identify the culprit.

This manga is based on a light novel and from reading a few chapters of the light novel I can say that the plot is/will be GREAT and keeps you intrigued for the whole duration of the ... read with it's many twists and turns. The light novel develops from an episodic structure into a more long-term narrative as it goes on which makes the story very interesting so I can only assume the manga will go through the same thing - Story 9/10

Female lead is comically matter-of-fact, quietly intelligent and shrewd. Male lead is equally as intelligent but acts as a great foil to her in his flamboyancy. They make a great match. - Characters 10/10

Art - 10/10
So clean and crisp - love the style.

Romance 10/10
It's subtle and slow to develop but it's so cute.

Definitely worth reading.