Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
LarSuz
i'll start by saying that i absolutely loved this anime. one of my favorite aspects is how well it portrays the different facets of maomao's personality. at first, she can come across as someone who doesn't care about much beyond her own interests, but as the story progresses, you begin to understand what she actually values and why she approaches the world the way she does. i love how the series allows you to piece these things together through her actions, reactions, and relationships instead of constantly spelling everything out for the audience. she feels like a character with her own priorities, contradictions, and way of looking at the world, rather than someone whose entire personality revolves around the plot.
my favorite aspect, however, is how subtly the anime explores the lives…
Read at the sourcelunarylub
this anime was a great opportunity for me to get to know an era I wasn't familiar with: imperial china. What made the show even more interesting for me is Maomao. With each episode, I found her more compelling, frankly brilliant, and far more complex than I would've thought initially. She’s an incredible character who has her own way of dealing with her past and her situation. something I unfortunately haven't seen in many anime before, which is why she was such a great surprise.
I also really liked the romance. I've always had a keen interest in shows where the romance doesn't entirely overshadow the main plot, and Jinshi and Maomao had fantastic chemistry that made me root for them as the episodes went on.
Overall, I love how the show focused so deeply on women's experiences and perspe…
Read at the sourcePol1shPierogi
I should start off by mentioning that this review is currently being done during a rewatch in light of the new season. I can’t speak of everything this season has to offer as I originally watched this years ago, but it feels like everything I’m about to say stays largely consistent throughout the season, with few exceptions. I intend to come back to this when I have finished this season again, so my apologies if this feels incomplete, because it absolutely is.
MINIMAL (Important) SPOILERS
A quick praise:
So, the positives. As a source of entertainment, it does a decent job. The story it's trying to tell is unique and, in a setting, we don’t see all that often. It has elements of a lot of things, from mystery, drama, romance and more, they each have their own chance to shine. However,…
Read at the sourceKisugi0
The Apothecary Diaries is easily one of the most original anime in recent years. With her strength, sharp intellect, and endearing charm, Maomao is genuinely one of the best-written female leads of modern anime. The supporting cast—Jinshi, the other consorts, and the court ladies—adds so much vibrant color to the narrative as well. The art is gorgeous, the animation quality is top-notch, the music is great, and the mysteries and overall plot progression are thoroughly intriguing and exceptionally well handled. I could easily watch this for 15 seasons without ever getting bored. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries, strong female leads, or historical settings.
Read at the sourcemarvinarviin
The Apothecary Diaries is one of those shows that gets almost everything right. Its imperial China-inspired setting is fascinating, especially with its mature focus on courtesanship, murder, poison, and palace politics. Maomao is easily the biggest reason I enjoyed it so much. She's incredibly intelligent and observant, with a pragmatic nature balanced by her loyalty, bravery, and humour. Her personality makes her far more compelling to me than anyone else in the cast, and she quickly became the shining star of the series.
The mysteries are another major strength, with most of them being interesting enough to keep me invested, even if the formula gets a little repetitive later on. Jinshi becomes more passive and underused than I'd hoped despite his prominent role, but the supporting cast…
Read at the sourceCherryHalen
I can't help but feel disappointed now that I finished the first season of Apothecary Diaries, it lacks in many areas in which it was said to excel in, to be clear; I came in with 0 expectations but it's true the abundance of positivity from people in anime circles may have set a high bar as well as the current 8.8+ median score which is nothing to scoff at. Looking at the genre tags you'll see it's a Drama and Mystery and immediately this is where I start having issues with what is presented
To begin with, the mystery. The mystery parts of Apothecary Diaries boils down to Maomao's episodic adventures where she, a poor apothecary girl somehow manages to solve cases with her striking intellect, that she just happens to know every piece of knowledge regarding to every detail in whatever mon…
Read at the sourceKatsumataJ
If I could use one word to describe this show it would be... Poison.
I mean poison in the way Maomao would consider it. It's so addicting you might just become one with your chair after you put on the first episode. This show is extremely dynamic, with extremely good storytelling and some of the best depth in the entire cast I've seen in any show.
The depth of this cast is incredible, not just between Maomao and Jinshi, but throughout the entirety of the imperial court. All of the nobles and their court ladies, the consorts, even the servants have extremely fleshed-out characters. If you've ever wanted to feel like you're living in a fictional world, The Apothecary Diaries gives you that feeling. All of these characters feel like they're truly with you and taking you through this journey…
Read at the sourcesylorite
Who said female protagonists can't carry a story?
I genuinely think we're living through an incredible time for female protagonists in anime.
Maomao isn't the strongest person in the room. She isn't the chosen one. She isn't some ridiculously overpowered character who can solve every problem by beating the shit out of it. She's just... insanely smart. And somehow, that's even more entertaining. The first thing that grabbed me about The Apothecary Diaries was how much confidence the writing has in its characters. It doesn't need to constantly explain everything to you. It gives you clues, little details and seemingly insignificant conversations, and lets you piece things together alongside Maomao. And watching Maomao figure something out five minutes before everyone else is one of the mos…
Read at the sourcejohnninetwo
If you're thinking about watching this show, it's important that you're considering it for the right reasons. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto is a fictional period piece about life in the court of an emperor; our main character, Maomao, investigates mysterious incidents that permeate throughout the emperor's court.
Although Kusuriya no Hitorigoto contains period and mystery elements, it is certainly not first and foremost a period or mystery show. If you're looking for a gritty and realistic depiction of life during a past time period, this is not the show for you; similarly, if you're looking for a tightly-written, deeply stimulating, and invigorating mystery, this is not the show for you. First and foremost, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto is a character-driven slice-of-life in a historical fiction setti…
Read at the sourcejsnutty01
There’s a reason this is so popular. I like that Maomao is a show instead of tell “not like other girls” and it doesn’t come at the expense of putting down other female characters. More than the slow burn romance and the mysteries, it’s a really compelling piece of feminist media that so genuinely engages with the women’s world, their restrictions and their strengths, and how they navigate socioeconomic and classist values with the minimal tools at their disposal. Women are often put in helpless circumstances, but they are never powerless. The characters are delightful, the mysteries are so cool, and I love the dynamic between the leads who are essentially teenagers forced to grow up too early.
Read at the sourceIcebaetz
First of all, it was a pretty decent anime with really nice artwork, in my opinion.
But man, it wasn’t the kind of series that made me think, Wow, what a great anime I should watch it again. It was a season where, on one hand, I kept wondering if I should just give up, but on the other hand, I told myself, Come on, I’ve already started I should finish it, even though I occasionally felt the urge to switch to another anime.
The reason is most likely that there was too much romance for my taste since I’m not a big fan of romance but you might consider it an anime to watch with your girlfriend; if you watch it that way, it might be more enjoyable. The mysteries somehow keep you watching at least they give you the motivation to finish it. Like I said, it’s watchable for me, but it’s not an a…
Read at the sourceO1991
Premise: I had read the synopsis of The Apothecary Diaries about a year and a half ago and found it interesting and intriguing, so I decided that I would watch it sooner or later. Fast-forward to August 16 of this year, when I finally started watching it. I knew about its reputation, but despite that, I started it without any expectations, hype, or anything like that.
The story was never interesting to me, except in very rare cases, and it only moved me slightly once, although there were a few moments that made me smile. It felt predictable and unengaging, and there were also times when I found it boring, with many things that felt familiar, obvious, and cliché. I never found the mysteries interesting, and I managed to solve some of them before Maomao's actual solution. I didn't like it w…
Read at the sourceKbthebest
Well this anime was very watchable the pacing of the events and the PLOTS totally unexpected kept me wanting to see more.
I have some points that made me feel meh but it was in the overall vibe of the setting and the historical period, if the goal of this work was to show how bad it was, it was good at it and still didn't over do it and kept it settle enough to focus on maomao daily life and missions.
Overall maomao is one great written FL I can see how she is serious and have a fun side, has complicated feelings but still everything is clear, and the way she is written to be smart not just look so with everything handed to her.
At the end it was a great show just the animation is low-key so Chinese it's good, they do a fabulous job at backgrounds and objects which was very fun to watch bu…
Read at the sourceRyan_the_Bread
Hiya. I'd just like to make the reader aware of an UNCUT and EXTENDED version of this review on my blog. It features content TOO HOT for MAL's review section! Shameless self-promotion over; the review commences.
Hypothetical: a buddy of mine asks me while we're hanging out one day, "Hey man, I've been thinking of sitting down and watching The Apothecary Diaries, legally, of course, on my new Crunchyroll Fan account. It's only $9.99 a month! I love the inevitable media monopoly some soulless corporation's bound to have in due time! Anyway, should I watch it?"
In the timeline where I don't immediately beat him to death with my bare hands, I tell him to assume that every negative thing he's heard about the show is true, and like even more gnarly than he thinks.
Damn this shit is stupid. Ma…
Read at the sourceEnshourT_
(warning if you have that phobia the fear of long words then don't click)
"This isn't an anime about medicine."
That's probably the biggest misconception surrounding The Apothecary Diaries. On the surface, it looks like a historical drama centered around herbs, poisons, and palace intrigue. The promotional art features a reserved young woman dressed in elegant robes, and even the title sounds like it belongs to a slow, educational slice of life series. But after only a few episodes, it becomes clear that this is not what the show is really about.
What surprised me about The Apothecary Diaries is that it never stays as just a story about medicine. It starts as a mystery inside the imperial palace but the more you watch, the more you realize it is really a story about people, power, and…
Read at the sourcefbmar
I came into this anime completely blind. I had seen merch of it when I went out to "otaku" stores and liked MaoMao's design. As someone who likes Chinese history, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that was the setting. As a bit of a history nerd, I was worried that a Japanese studio might try and snark or degrade Chinese history, but this wasn't the case at all. It felt immersive and well thought out.
The story is fun. I am not big on romance (for the most part), but the bits and pieces of romance spread throughout the story didn't seem forced or tedious. I liked that most of the romance was outside of the main storyline. As far as the story goes, I personally loved it. While we do get occasional inside thoughts from MaoMao, what I liked the most from this anime was the fact that fo…
Read at the sourceKrahe10
The Apothecary Diaries (Season 1), is a constant surprise on multiple levels. Its concept is unusual: a period drama where mystery, conspiracy, science, folklore and romance are combined in a dosage worthy of an apothecary. The narrative structure of every conflict is adjusted with surgical precision, constantly delivering payoffs while carefully weaving a larger overarching plot. The tension management is masterful, keeping us captivated through every obstacle Maomao must overcome.
The Apothecary’s evolution is not only personal or internal — her world and possibilities expand alongside her. The relationships she builds feel real and are never forgotten or diluted throughout the story. They are referenced and used repeatedly in logical ways, enriching each new conflict and strengthening…
Read at the source7boogie
"This is poison."
I genuinely can't think of a line that represents this show any better than that. Not because it's about poison, but because that's exactly what this anime feels like. It slowly gets under your skin, sucks you into its world, and before you know it you've watched five episodes in one sitting wondering where all your time went. It's addictive in the best possible way.
After the first episode I just sat there thinking, wow. The animation quality is beautiful, the voice acting is incredible, and don't even get me started on the soundtrack. Every piece of music fits the atmosphere perfectly, whether it's a tense mystery or a quiet conversation. Then I found out this was TOHO animation STUDIO's first major standalone production, and honestly that just made me appreciate it e…
Read at the sourceANYANYA666
i have a lot of mixed feelings about this show, so this is going to be a long one.
I really like maomao as a character, as well as the setting and the basic premise of the show. HOWEVER, I feel like the show doesn't utilise what they have as well as they could.
i don't really mind that the story take a more of slice of life tone, but at times it feels like it lacks any direction. maomao is just wandering through various random scenarios for no rhyme or reason. I wish there was some bigger goal that she was clearly striving towards. (as in, maybe she wants to make a lot of money for her dad, or needs to pay off a big debt). those themes are vaguely mentioned but don't really matter, which makes me wonder why she's doing all of this anw.
on that note... why is she doing all of this anw? I ge…
Read at the sourcecaclip
I thoroughly enjoyed this. I had heard good things, so I was expecting it to be good, but I was pleasantly surprised. I love the dynamic between the two leads, and that for once it's the man yearning for the indifferent woman. Their relationship feels natural, and all of the other characters feel so human. The humor is great and witty, and there are so many unique personalities, with each episode always having some fun new mystery going on. I was never bored with this show; if anything, episodes would end, and I was sad it was already over. I honestly walk away from this season feeling I have learned something, and I think it brings good attention to perceptions of sex work, gender hierarchies, and confronts that if you do not come from money or noble birth, it is not hard work---like some…
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