One notes an interesting quirk in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto. To wit, many if not most of these cases never really get resolved. Maomao solves them – though usually only to the “probably” point. But often we never get a firm resolution, and almost always there’s no consequence for the culprit. The entire series has a pretty flexible moral compass, which the protagonist personifies. Maomao seems to feel no strong impulse to “do the right thing”, or see those who commit crimes be punished. In point of fact she admits in this episode that she doesn’t want to be directly responsible for getting anyone punished (and probably executed) – though this week she’s happy to indirectly indict someone and put the responsibility on Jinshi’s shoulders.
That’s not to say all that makes me like Maomao less, because if anything I think it makes her a more interesting character. But it does seem like she’s more interested in the challenge of solving a mystery than the personal circumstances behind it. There are two cases this week, and both fit that bill. First we have the death of the aging soldier Lord Koumen, who dies after drinking excessively at a party. A man in his fifties who’s known to be a heavy drinker dying from that habit certainly doesn’t seem mysterious in itself, but Jinshi feels there’s more to this (and he’s right).
Through this case we learn that Maomao is very fond indeed of alcohol, which gives Jinshi a rare bit of leverage against her. The striking component of the mystery is that the booze was heavily laced with salt, which Koumen had lost the ability to taste. We literally get no resolution to this one – Maomao suggests at what sort of person might be responsible, but she leaves it to Jinshi to connect the dots offscreen. It’s also notable that Maomao is given pause by realizing Jinshi is obviously quite distraught at Koumen’s death – for her this academic exercise concerned the death of a real person, and one who was deeply respected by someone close to her.
Next up a servant is found dead in the moat, and because she was dressed like a Rear Palace attendant Maomao and the quack doctor are called in. He’s terrified of corpses, she’s not – but Oyaji had admonished her never to touch them for fear she would become addicted to the idea of using them as ingredients. Through clues like the woman’s bound feet (an ugly subject, should the series choose to pursue it more deeply) and bloodied hands, Maomao concludes that the woman could not have climbed the wall to jump in as a suicide, and likely tried to climb out of the moat.
Again we get no firm resolution here, though Maomao makes it pretty clear this was not a simple suicide. Maomao reflects on the fragile nature of a commoner’s life, and tells Jinshi she’d like to be poisoned if he ever has to order her execution. She’s right of course – his denials are meaningless, because if she made a significant mistake in the line of duty her life would hang by a thread. And oh by the way, that matter of the secret messages and attempted poisoning of Lishu is still unresolved too, though Gajun has finally brought Jinshu evidence that casts suspicion. And it falls on Ah-Duo, the Pure Consort, last seen in Episode 6 where her poor relations with Lishu took center stage.
Nellie
December 3, 2023 at 5:41 pmI agree that it doesn’t seem like Maomao as a lead is interested in making moral judgements. Considering what she said today it’s a wonder she didn’t get into any trouble for getting rough with Lihua’s lady-in-waiting a few episodes back. Or maybe not- she’s had Jinshi’s blessing back then (so if anyone complained, he could step in to explain), and has since earned the gratitude of Gyokuyou, Lihua and Lishu. Considering her status as an apothecary brought up in the brothels she’s been given extraordinary leeway so far.
Really makes me wonder about authorial intent.
With how emotionally closed off she still seems to be, I don’t think Maomao is at the stage where she’d consider Jinshi “someone she’s close to”. It’s more like “superior who for some reason won’t chop off my head if I mouth off a bit more than usual”. I wonder about the kind of person the Emperor is. If we don’t get to know in this season, hopefully, we’ll know in the (probable?) next.
On a more minor note, we get more clues that Jinshi isn’t a mere eunuch- he’s got to be exceptionally high-ranking if he’s dealing with legislative work and not just consort-related cases- maybe a minister or something who obtained permission to enter the inner palace and converse with consorts. And with all the “person called Jinshi” stuff at going on at the beginning- is “Jinshi” even his real name?
People were comparing Kusuriya to Koukyuu no Karasu and Saiunkoku Monogatari for a while before the anime aired. I actually gave Kusuriya a chance because I ADORED the heck out of Koukyuu and have fond (if vague- I watched it a decade ago) memories of Saiunkoku Monogatari. I think the similarities are only skin-deep- female lead, mysteries ahoy in a land inspired by Imperial China. Kusuriya seems less hopeful than either, and Maomao is definitely emotionally hardened in a way Shouxue and Shuurei weren’t. Comparing Jinshi to Gaojun and Ryuuki might be harder task (he’s had less character work than either of them at this point)- but interesting things are definitely afoot with him, and I wonder how long the series will take to draw them out.
Guardian Enzo
December 3, 2023 at 7:40 pmWell, I don’t think he’s a eunuch at all, but that’s just my perception of it.
I think Jinshi is absolutely someone she’s close to, in the sense that she works closely with him and he holds great sway over her daily existence. Maybe not close in the emotional sense (if indeed she’s emotionally close to anyone), but close nevertheless.
I was just thinking about that Koukyuu comparison, and they do make interesting bookends. Similarity is skin deep I agree.
say
December 4, 2023 at 2:47 amThis series is my favourite one this season. What I appreciate the most is that there are some mysteries which are there for the long run, even if this means that we won’t get the answers as soon as we would like to. The characters are growing on me. Thank you for covering it.
Panino Manino
December 4, 2023 at 4:14 amI didn’t liked this episode, it’s becoming a bit repetitive.
Where is that smart Jinshi from the first episode that discovered Maomao? For a few episodes already it seems that it all boils down to Jinshi calling Maomao to a room to hear she explaining everything that happened, and why. She just knows everything about human nature. Shouldn’t he be the one who knows how people behave inside the palace and only asks help about her pharmaceutical knowledge that he lacks? But instead Maomao is pointing things that should be obvious not only to Jinshi.
I’m really not liking these room explanation scenes that get’s increasingly dark to “set the mood”.
I also disliked a lot that musical flashback.
I hope this series is more than just this.
Nicc
December 4, 2023 at 9:32 amIndeed, there’s quite a bit of moral ambiguity when it comes to Maomao and this episode does show that in the two mysteries in this episode. There seems to be tenuous connection between both cases in the end, but neither one is really resolved.
The first case is about an old bureaucrat, Koumen, who was a mentor for Jinshi. A known heavy drinker, it seems that he had a few too many this time around and drank himself to death. Jinshi doesn’t believe that it’s the simple and asks Maomao to look into it. It turns out to be a case of salt poisoning. This can happen from drinking too much seawater, but I’ve never heard of it like this before. Somebody or some people put enough salt into his booze until it killed Koumen. He lost his sense of taste due to illness or stress and he couldn’t taste the excessive salt in his booze. She drops enough clues on what kind of people may have done it, but leaves finding the actual culprits to Jinshi. She’s not interested in playing the hero and like you said, doesn’t want to take the responsibility for anybody getting punished or worse.
The next case is an apparent suicide as a servant is found dead in a moat. It looks like servant from the palace and so the scaredy Doc is called in. Maomao is certainly interested in looking at the corpse, but holds herself back. As you said, her dad knows her too well and believes it will inevitably lead to her digging up graves for ingredients. She still learns some important clues from observing the body. Ah, foot binding. From what mom told me before, his was still practiced as recently as my great-grandma’s time. Maomao also believes that the servant was still alive as she went into the moat and that the clues on her hands showed that she tried to climb out. Just like with the first case, there’s the implication of foul play, but there isn’t a resolution.
Both cases are solved quickly and the episode takes a contemplative turn over an insert song. Even with the many connections she’s already made, she’s still a commoner and her life does hang by a thread. It looks like we’re getting back to the case of the Lishu and we’ll finally get an introduction to the last of the Big Four consorts, Ah-Duo.