The Apothecary Diaries

Today I’m taking a break from “all Queen Titania’s Court, all the time” to highlight an anime series I’m enjoying. The Apothecary Diaries is a historical mystery series, written and performed in Japanese but set in the Tang Dynasty of China. Like a lot of anime, it was first a novel, then a manga, and finally adapted for the small screen.

Maomao is the lead character. She grew up working beside her father, a renowned apothecary doctor. She was kidnapped off the street and sold into servitude in the “Rear Palace” — basically the walled villas and gardens where the emperor’s concubines live. The scheme as I understand it is that Maomao has to work for a certain length of time to pay off her own ransom. Discipline is extremely strict, people are frequently executed, and it’s not at all certain Maomao will live to redeem herself from servitude.

Initially, Maomao tries to hide that she is educated. She doesn’t want more ransom being paid to the gang that abducted her. However, she can’t resist using her knowledge to try and save lives. Before long she’s found out by one of the principal concubines, Gyokuyou, and the head eunuch, Jinshi. Once they realize Maomao can detect poisons, she is elevated from the servant pool to be Guokuyou’s taster. From there she gets embroiled in palace politics and is enlisted to investigate a number of crimes (usually involving poisons).

Other characters in the series are Maomao’s fellow servants, the handmaids of each concubine’s staff, and the concubines themselves. There is also a corps of eunuchs who oversee the concubines. It’s as tangled a political web as you can imagine. One of the most interesting characters is Jinshi, who is incredibly handsome and charismatic. He flirts outrageously and can persuade the women to do what he wants. Except for Maomao, who rebuffs him. This only makes him focus on her. You want to like Jinshi, who mostly acts toward justice, but his continual harassment reminds you how entitled someone in a position of power can be.

The series does a good job of showing how precarious everyone’s situation is. Concubines and servants alike are surrounded by luxury and yet held to impossible standards. Several of the episodes highlight how the women try to work things out in their own favor. In one case, a concubine starts dancing on the walls at night, because she is going to be given away to a man she despises. Considered “flawed,” she instead is granted to the young man she really wants to be with. In another case, an abusive nobleman is poisoned. It turns out he had promised to buy a concubine’s contract but cruelly backed out of the deal. The broken-hearted concubine and her staff are out for revenge.

The Apothecary Diaries has been an entertaining series so far. I’m watching it on Netflix, but I know there are multiple other places online to watch anime.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.