Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
AveragNazunaSimp
Maomao is just female Ayanokoji. She's the perfect, all knowing girl that every handsome man with 2 eyes and a dick wants.
Pro's
- Show is highly entertaining, enjoy watching it while eating lunch and just turn off your brain and enjoy.
Con's
- Characters. Maomao is perfect in all the bad ways. It seems to me Maomao is written to be a sort of female-self insert. She is the solution to EVERY problem in the show, everyone else is just her supporting cast, she isn't royalty but she is 100% the centre of the palace. Everyone is wrong except for Maomao and everyone is stupid except for Maomao. It's almost comedic how unbelievably incompetent every other character in the show is. It makes NO sense how Maomao is the all knowing deity that has the answer to every problem, how does a teenager tha…
Read at the sourcepamemeland
I tried, honestly i tried more than once to like this anime. Unfortunately, I hated this. And I was so hyped for this anime, what a turnoff.
The show is called "Apothecary Diaries", she learned from her father how to practice, worked as an apothecary, so you would assume this show is about her as an apothecary, right? Wrong! She starts to solve misteries like scooby because people thinks she is smart. What that has to do with apothecary? Nothing. And everything and everyone just goes along.
Why would a high patent noble call an apothecary everytime he has an issue? Is he dumb? No, it's because he likes her.
The thing that irritates me the most is that this show tries to be many things, but actually is none.
Nothing sticks, nothing standsout, the story never evolves. I finished the s…
Read at the source_Bubassotto_
A good anime, but not for me.
My initial statement is because I can clearly see that the anime is well produced, has a well-written story and captivating characters, but I can't like it enough. To me, it seems like an anime for a female audience, with an intelligent female character in an important position and her romantic partner being the man from the place where she works (who is always a Hollywood hunk). Anyway, overall I didn't like it very much because it's not a genre that interests me. I don't plan on watching the second season and I only watched it because it was recommended.
=================================================================================================================Versão em Português=====================================
Um bom anime mas não para mim.
Mi…
Read at the sourceCodeCypheur
How overhyped this was has definitely skewed my perception, I was expecting a heavy romance set in the imperial court with lots of drama - instead I got a per episode comedy with a side of ham fisted story that was not interesting in the slightest. Oh and a whole lot of exposition!
My main gripe is just how much of a mary-sue/self inset the mc is. Her apothecary skills make sense as she was raised with one,, and her detective skills could be plausible if it wasn't for how the entire world revolved around her. Everyone else is made out to be a bumbling idiot who either loves her or genuinely wants her to die. it's just not believable and contributed to many moments that had me rolling my eyes with how out of place they were. She's so nonchalant and cool, she's not like other girls - but sh…
Read at the sourceMik0_o
I finally watched the anime that almost everyone seems to praise, and I have one question: Why? What exactly did people find so captivating about it? I even went through some positive reviews, hoping to understand the hype, but honestly... I still don’t get it.
Let’s break it down.
Story & Plot:
Mediocre at best. Sure, there are some mystery elements, but they’re executed in such a dull and uninspired way that I couldn’t bring myself to care. If you’re watching this anime for the "mysteries," trust me—there are far better options out there. The pacing is also sluggish. Maybe some people enjoy slow-burn storytelling, but for me, those 24 episodes felt like they dragged on forever. At times, it was just outright boring.
Characters:
Meh. Mao Mao is somewhat interesting, but nothing excepti…
Read at the sourceSpaceBeebop
Half of the first season is good. As the chapters progress, the story becomes increasingly worse. The characters don't feel real, they have so many changes in personalities and appearances. It has many nefarious characters and ridiculous stories as if they were taken from science fiction and with zero realism.
The detective aspect is the worst, and the anime focuses entirely on the pleasure house, and having servants as slaves, the hierarchy is horrible. and there comes a point where the anime has no meaning, but rather focuses on everyday and boring things.
I'm not going to deny that I enjoyed watching it and it has great quality in the animation and sound, but we keep going more and more of the same and it ends up boring.
Read at the sourcescy318
I hate to be writing yet another negative review for a widely beloved (and rated) anime. But it can’t be helped, so here I am again to tell you why the Apothecary Diaries is mid. Vague to minor spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.
My main critique of the Apothecary Diaries is its main character, MaoMao. She is often touted as a modern example of the well-written female anime character. MaoMao is clever, dedicated, curious, unapologetically blunt, class conscious, and doesn’t pander to male characters. How can there be so much good stuff that can fit into such a small frame? And yet, all of these things conceal one big, terrible flaw. If you put MaoMao in a vacuum, she would seem amazingly written. But it’s through the interactions with her world and other characters that the weaknes…
Read at the sourcekeirashii
This review contains spoilers.
UPDATED VERSION (7/8/2024)
This is a review ONLY for the first season. I have not watched the second season.
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, also known as The Apothecary Diaries, is an anime that passed under the shadow of Sousou no Frieren due to the gigantic popularity that the latter achieved during its time; but, despite this, it achieved some fame and renown in the community for its ideas and change in an ocean of isekai anime, shounen and action flicks with exhilarating battles. It is without a doubt that The Apothecary Diaries drank a lot from the fame of Sousou no Frieren, mainly because of the demographic to which these two shows are addressed, but also because of certain similarities in some genres or cast of characters; I bet that if I were to make a Ven…
Read at the sourceSuequinhaK
Apothecary Diaries presents us with a refreshing setting reminiscent of imperial China, following the story of a female apothecary. The best way to describe the show is like watching a passionate writer with many ideas throw them into a blender. Fortunately, it wasn't blended to the point of becoming slop, but it still needed work on its characters and story. Unfortunately, the focus was on pointless decorations such as a pretty male lead and good visuals.
I'll get straight to the point. Apothecary Diaries is a mediocre mystery and a weak romance. The drama and comedy were at least entertaining. Fortunately, there's still a message if you can ignore its numerous issues, such as the commoner and noble dynamic and the interpersonal problems such a dynamic brings, which is the only reason i…
Read at the sourceSlamJones
Though decent at times, this anime suffers from what I will dub the "isekai self insert". The MC has the mind of a 21st century secular rationalist, and given that you could say this show has the isekai property of someone from another world, because her mind is from another world. We get a character who uses the scientific method, quickly dismisses any spiritual or superstitious attitudes, and even talks about heritability in the first couple of episodes (something that Gregor Mendel discovered in 1865, AFTER Darwin). Even pre scientific method people like Isaac Newton had quirky tendencies like alchemy, but not our MC!
But like many of these "isekai self insert" shows, god forbid they have any social critiques of their world. No questioning why the emperor gets all these women, or why…
Read at the sourceShabbaRico
TL;DR: Not worth your time if you care about the existence of a plot and of at least a decent or bland protagonist (she really is really bad as a character, especially in a leading role), not to mention the many inconsistencies and bs that happens throughout the anime that you are supposed to just "consoom" and not question in order to believe the possibility of this plot actually working. I would say that at least it doesn't promote degeneracy and immorality, but there are at least 2 plot threads about buying a woman (courtesan) because the characters are in love with them and they wish to save and marry them for whatever price they have to pay, as much and unaffordable as they may be. So yea, it's a borderline 5/10, close to a 4.
This anime is really impressive with what it manages to m…
Read at the sourceJackHallowz
Positive:
The show's the theme(clothes, building design,...), art (aesthetic characters) and sound design are on point
The plot is coherent, good pace, well connected from the beginning to the end.
Negative:
The characters are not well-written. Every single side-character in the show is just there to support the main character. They exist to create problems and ONLY main character seems to have ability to solve it.
The flaws of main character have no or little impact on her surrounding. For example: Despite being an unattractive girl she still gets the most attention from the most attractive male in the show and there's no punishment for her being unattractive. So what's the purpose of embedding this flaw into the character ? Being cynical yet everyone likes her? No capability to feel lo…
Read at the sourceLegolaspt
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,…
Read at the sourceBrickToast
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 kn…
Read at the sourceeksratu
I watched this show while it was airing and found myself drawn in by its strong character writing, eye-catching visuals, and subdued humor (a far cry from the over-the-top gags I often expect from anime). As the episodes went on, the mysteries got deeper, and I began to appreciate the intentional shot compositions, the fun callbacks, and even the slick opening themes. There was a lot to love about Kusuriya no Hitorigoto.
I don’t want to overhype this show, because it’s not for everyone. But for me, it hit all the right spots and quickly became a personal favorite. I highly recommend giving this show a try.
Read at the sourceIonliosite2
Have you ever seen the amount of anime that are power fantasies for men for the audience to self-insert into? Well, you don’t have to worry about that in this show, because this decided to do the “innovative” idea of making a power fantasy but for women, with Maomao serving very clearly as a Mary Sue to do this.
I mean, when you look at the conversation around this show, you see people being fine with the protagonist, which honestly confuses me, because this is the kind of show that, if it had a male protagonist, it would be rightfully called a self-insert power fantasy. The exact moment that I got to this conclusion was when Maomao put on makeup, because this moment showed that Maomao isn’t some plain girl and that her freckles are actually fake but she puts them on for safety reasons, w…
Read at the sourceAlisson07
"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 butt…
Read at the sourceMarinate1016
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto is hands down one of the best anime I’ve ever seen. Boasting some of the most gorgeous character designs and visuals, as well as masterful direction. But that’s not what makes this show great. Its characters, mystery, historical setting, down to earth story and pharmaceutical aspects make it one of a kind. It’s a perfect example of simplicity being the ultimate sophistication and is rightfully highly regarded.
At the end of the day, Kusuriya is very much a slow burn historical mystery anime with a lot funny character interactions. It starts slow with Maomao being thrown into life in the palace initially against her will, solving medical cases and crimes, but we quickly realise this is part of a much larger plot that ends up being grander than anyone could have imagi…
Read at the sourceMcsuper
Having grown up in a household filled with family that loved Chinese period dramas, they were virtually inescapable for me. Someone in my family was always watching the hottest new period drama, and eventually, I also began to watch them with my family, and I got hooked on them quickly. At this point, the tropes in those shows were all too familiar to me, so count me surprised when I watched *The Apothecary Diaries*, and almost immediately thought of what a breath of fresh air this was. It has probably the best female character of 2023, and while it definitely was overshadowed by a certain other heavy hitter, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, this anime still had enough going for it to merit a lot of discourse in the anime community, and in my opinion stood up to its opponents in both the Fal…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
The Apothecary Diaries - A masterclass at how to do a mystery-drama series, yet sprinkle in some tough thematics and establish a hidden ship within the midst.
If you'd told me 6 months ago that novelist Natsu Hyuuga's Kusuriya no Hitorigoto a.k.a The Apothecary Diaries, would, like the hype that came from Sousou no Frieren a.k.a Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, come to be a strong AOTS contender, I would have chuckled it off to think that a series based on a fictional country in Imperial China during the Tang Dynasty, would be a good show and nothing more. But nope, this 2011 Syosetu work-turned-2014 LN series with 14 volumes and counting to its name, with the anime being a fraction of what the series has to offer (with the first 2 volumes adapted), it has a matching quality as that to Frie…
Read at the source