The Apothecary Diaries

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 greatvibe but the actual cases themselves are laughably amateur and tropey. Our protagonist is always in the right place, always has the right knowledge or skill, and always figures out the solution at the perfect time. The show tries to play up the mystery angle but is also too anxious to lose the viewers so they hold our hand through everything. There's only ever like two or three clues that they constantly emphasize (Oh that object has always been here. Oh we don't touch that object. OMG the puzzle needs the object!). Overall Plot: There were a couple (beautiful) scenes and major plot points where it was abundantly clear that the author had the climactic scene in mind and then tried to work backwards to guide the story to that scene. Unfortunately, the plot lacks any actual finesse. As a viewer you pretty much feel like you're being dragged along familiar plot points leading to big reveals that are abundantly obvious. Interestingly, I didn't get the feeling that the writing is lazy; you can really feel the care and the love poured into the setting and characters. I think it really is just a lack of craft. Good writing is difficult. Overall: If you're looking for a mature cast, individual, non-tropey female characters set within the backdrop of a beautifully intoxicating rear court, I really recommend this show. If you're looking for smartly-written mystery and palace intrigue, you will end up disappointed. I give Kusuriya a solid 7.5 for a potentially incredible show held back by very average writing.

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 season 1 and started season 2 only to realize it's never gonna make sense, and it's never gonna be anything more than someone being poisoned, concubines fighting, and something involving the courtesans... That being said, you might like for the historical, or for the investigations. But I've seen better anime with lower scores than this.

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 showa try.

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 forMaomao. 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 that worked as a gardener with her grandpa know more about sex than the Ballond'or league concubines? Episode 16 shows this best. Maomao is tasked with solving a puzzle left by a master craftsman, which involves a locked cabinet that cannot be forced open without destroying the contents. The solution has NOTHING to do with alchemy, poison or anything an apothecary would know, yet Maomao just knows how the solution of the top of her head. Jinshi (The male heroine) is so hopelessly obsessed with maomao you'd think she is genuinely a magician. I understand why this is the case, girls like hot guys, girls want hot guys all over them. His entire character is handsome man wants to fuck Maomao, he only exists to be Maomao's love interest. (These are genuinely the only two characters I remember from this show rest are so irrelevant I don't know their names) - Story. What is this show even about? It's more of a slice of life than anything. So much is said and done but in the end.. nothing really happens. Every arc is just the new thing Maomao uses her record breaking 500 IQ to fix. - Setting. It's very unique but still falls flat, we aren't shown much of the inner palace dynamics and drama beyond info dumping. It's just Maomao's world everyone else only lives in it. Don't watch this if you want to think about what you're watching, it's just tiktok in the form of anime.