Housecleaning first. Another season of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto was announced along with this finale. Date indeterminate, but there’s already like 16 novel volumes worth of material and only four have been covered so the only issue will be the production schedule. Of course announcement or no, that we’d get more anime was never remotely in doubt. This is an adaptation that’s going to be with us for a long time. And make a lot of people a lot of money.
Now, on to the episode itself. As I noted last week the way the show handled the aftermath of the battle could move the needle a fair bit (in either direction) for me after a very underwhelming performance. It didn’t, frankly. This was okay – and at least it wasn’t a partial recap ep as the preview seemed to be hinting at. But it didn’t add a whole lot of value. Everything was pretty by the numbers, no surprises. Boxes checked. It also annoyed me, though not quite as much as its predecessor. Taking the road more traveled here robbed the arc’s denouement of about 90% of its potential pathos.
The best part, for me, was Maomao and Jinshi’s conversation about scars. That was both interesting as a character study and an acknowledgement of reality – both by the writing and the characters. Scars matter for princes – yet Maomao made a salient point about a scar or two maybe doing something for Jinshi. She’s fully acknowledged that he’s not just a pretty face but quite a formidable man, and deserves to be recognized as such (even by her). As a woman in this setting, of course, Maomao is going to be assessed by appearance anyway, so a scar in theory is a big deal for her (though she won’t have one). But each of them assert that to the other, such things would be trivial.
We’ve seen some real movement for Maomao here, which is good. If she’s capable of unapologetic (well, barely apologetic) compassion for children and shedding a tear of regret, maybe she’s capable of romantic love? Just because she hasn’t demonstrated something doesn’t mean she never will. The cards are on the table here – Jinshi has made it very clear that he desires Maomao, and I don’t think she can have any doubt that he respects her. That the pair of them are going to be interrupted (twice) is a given – that’s the tropey thing to do, and unfortunately The Apothecary Diaries is prone to that. But you don’t get the idea that she rejected him, by any means. “Continue” can have multiple meanings…
Jinshi has had major character movement too, and that’s another feather in this season’s cap. He had his (very) rough moments in S1, and as for Maomao it’s taken a while for me to come around on him. But he’s a pretty fascinating guy. And living in a fascinating situation. His perception and his reality are very different on multiple levels. Whether as the ikemen “eunuch” or a prince of the realm, he’s objectified by most people. He rejects both personas, but that means he’s never really found one he wants to accept. What he is certain of is that he’s in-love with Maomao, and he’s prepared to act on that now.
But, alas, there were huge problems here too. The way the Shi situation was tied up was way, way, too neat and tidy. The children being alive, at this point I think everyone knew that. But Jinshi just laughing and acknowledging Loulan tricked him, and looking the other way? Nope, sorry – would never happen. We know Jinshi resisted his role in the Empire, but there’s never been any indication he’s cavalier about the responsibilities implicit in it. Just smile and let the kids be adopted – mostly into the palace itself? Spare Suirei, who murdered people in the Rear Palace (and tried to assassinate him) in support of a revolutionary plot? Absolutely ludicrous on every level.
Everything leading up to Loulan’s “death” was theatrical and absurd. There was stuff I could have talked about last week and left off just for the sake of not piling on, like why the guards would have shot her rather than take her prisoner for interrogation and torture (or at least stab her). Her surviving was the logical asinine way to plop a cherry on top of that sundae. And then we have Chou-u, the one Shi child who was damaged (memory loss, paralysis) from the resurrection drug’s effects. I wanted him to remain in the story, but this way was absurd (that word again). A male her to a rebellious clan that tried to overthrow the Emperor? Just allowed to happily reside a stone’s throw from the palace?
Nope. Far more compelling would have been Maomao having to use her considerable brilliance to save him without Jinshi knowing about it (which, realistically, is the only way she could have). Hiding Chou-u at Verdigris under an assumed name would have been an option, for sure. Especially with Maomao moving back there herself, her role in the Rear Palace having sort of disappeared. But it would have been a tense and dramatic thing, especially if he’d retained his memories and she had to make him understand why he had to surrender his name and identity. This was just – again – the road more travelled, the easy way out.
I don’t know if it’s a matter of Apothecary reverting to the mean as a light novel, or just some unfortunate missteps. Either way it doesn’t change my view of the series on the whole or of this season (much) – they’re mostly outstanding. Endings are important, though. And it should also be noted that however it got there, this seems to amount to a total reset for the story. Jinshi’s identity is out in the open, and so are his feelings for Maomao. The conspiracy that drove all the coincidences of the first 48 episodes is seemingly resolved, so whenever the show returns something new is going to have to drive the action from here. And in simple logistic terms, Loumen and Maomao have switched places. Both on the character and plot fronts, the game has been changed in an elemental way.
Collectr
July 6, 2025 at 8:11 amShoujo historical anime usually choose one of two modes: romance (Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii) or power politics (Saiunkoku Monogatari, Akatsuki no Yona). Kusuriya seems to be trying to have it both ways, but the result is that the romance plot (Maomao and Jinshi) is dragged out endlessly, while the power politics side is underdeveloped and given arbitrary twists (the Shi conspiracy). And of course, the author has to create reasons/excuses for Maomao to be present at major developments. I’m concerned this will just go on (and on) in future seasons.
Yukie
July 6, 2025 at 4:28 pmAgree that the ending was contrived to the level of absurdity, despite it having a pretty good set-up. I thought the rails laid out were pretty clear: the Shi clan clinging onto its ancestral ties with the imperial family tries to usurp by sabotaging both the rear palace, meanwhile arming and increasing its military might with foreign aid. But then it all devolved into a pretty sappy end. The author must really like Shisui, she even has Shisui announce at the end that her name will now be Tamamo and she’s traveling from in-verse “China” to “Japan” simply (continuing the lineage of the foxes).
proper1420
July 8, 2025 at 4:08 amI’m also worried that the story is regressing to the mean.
I think this season started going sour when Maomao was kidnapped. At that point the story started (to paraphrase Collectr) to create contrivances that put Maomao at the scene of major events. Some circumstances of the kidnapping were unexplained: how did Shisui/Loulan come to be at the clinic with Suirei, and why didn’t Loulan return to the rear palace after they got Maomao off the palace grounds? Perhaps Shishou decided to evacuate Suirei and Loulan from the palace before his meeting with Lakan, but there’s no confirmation of this in the story, and having to make up an explanation of the event leaves the impression that the author was more focused on what it led to rather than what caused it. Later, Maomao’s decision to sneak out of her house arrest to investigate the building in the rice field seemed out of character with her usual risk aversion. It’s hard to say that she was blinded by the prospect of finding Suirei’s workshop since she didn’t mention this possibility until the reached the building, and she showed no excitement until she was in the building. This misadventure ended up seeming like an excuse to introduce Shenmei and move Maomao to the stronghold where more things could happen.
Other contrivances before the last two episodes caught my attention. The two most relevant were in Maomao and Loulan’s scene in the room with the drugged children. Given Maomao’s obvious realization that Loulan intended to die (“Insects never survive the winter…”), her request that Loulan return the hair stick some day was odd, but it could be considered an expression of desperate hope, similar to her wishing Loulan good luck. However, Loulan’s response that she might sell the hair stick was just odd, and I can’t help but see the author awkwardly foreshadowing Loulan’s miraculous survival. Also, why didn’t Loulan tell Maomao plainly that she had drugged the children rather than poisoned them? Her failure to do so is inexplicable, and it seems like a cheap trick to preserve a shred of uncertainty about the state of the children. (Loulan’s failure to communicate here is similar to Maomao’s later failure to tell Jinshi about Loulan, which has no explanation.)
But contrivances aren’t unprecedented in this series. For example, in ep19, Maomao predicted the assassination attempt only after the extremely helpful librarian mentioned his earlier concern about the strength of the rigging in the ceremonial building. In ep23 Lakan got dead drunk ridiculously quickly. And the fact that Fengxian was still alive was kept secret from Lakan for an implausibly long time. Yet I like those episodes. When I think about the difference, I light on this: Maomao was directly involved in their events. In the last six episodes, she guessed the assassination attempt, saved Jinshi’s life, uncovered Suirei’s escape, made roses bloom out of season and dyed them blue, and arranged the reunion of Lakan and Fengxian. On the other hand, in the last eight episodes of this season, Maomao was basically a spectator. This leads me to think the following: Maomao is what’s most interesting about this story. When she’s at the center of it, flaws in the storytelling are easy to overlook. When she’s pushed to the side, the flaws become more obvious.