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My wife and I watch a lot of anime, and while we normally stick to shows that have long since stopped airing, we occasionally pick up current shows and watch them week to week. I do think that there’s a difference in the experience between watching shows one episode at a time and binging it in chunks, but that’s not what I really want to talk about here.
I want to talk about Apothecary Diaries, which (as of this writing in April 2024), recently finished up. It was good, but I find myself somewhat out of step with the current adoring consensus I’ve seen around the internet.
The general premise is that Mao Mao, an apothecary, is abducted by some men and sold into servitude in the Emperor’s Palace. Despite trying her best to avoid standing out, she saves the life of the Emperor’s infant daughter by recognizing that the makeup worn by several of the Emperor’s concubines is actually poisonous. Sadly, the mother of the Emperor’s son doesn’t listen to Mao Mao’s advice to stop wearing the makeup, and the son dies.
After this, Mao Mao becomes an increasingly important servant within the Rear Palace (though she never rises above the level of servant, as might happen in other shows). She “peaks” as a food taster for one of the concubines, which allows her to utilize her knowledge of various poisons and concoctions.
There’s a lot of seemingly small palace politics at play, and Mao Mao gets called in to help solve various cases by Jinshi, a eunuch with lots of power and influence. Mao Mao always solves the case, often with a good deal of sass and zingers along the way. I didn’t think that was overdone by any means, and I like Mao Mao a lot, but I kind of wanted the cases to matter more during the main show. There is an attempt to tie things together towards the end of the season, but it felt kind of forced and weird.
My biggest issue with the show is that some of the characterization falls apart toward the end. One of the side characters is built up as this scheming villain who Mao Mao dislikes, only to be revealed as a generally good dude who fell into a crappy situation and does the right thing when given the chance to do so.
Week to week, I definitely felt like it was a “fine” watch, and while I’ll probably check out the next season(s) if I remember them when they come out, I’m not mourning the show’s end like many people seem to be.