Title: The Apothecary Diaries

Creator: Natsu Hyūga (original novels), Itsuki Nanao (adaptation), Nekokurage (art/illustrations)

Demographic: Seinen

Themes: palace intrigue, historical fiction, (very early) romance, casefic/mysteries, medical drama, NO romance

Status: Ongoing (11 volumes, Japanese; 8 volumes, English)

Published By: Square Enix

LINK

Official Summary:

Maomao, a young woman trained in the art of herbal medicine, is forced to work as a lowly servant in the inner palace. Though she yearns for life outside its perfumed halls, she isn’t long for a life of drudgery! Using her wits to break a “curse” afflicting the imperial heirs, Maomao attracts the attentions of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and is promoted to attendant food taster. But Jinshi has other plans for the erstwhile apothecary, and soon Maomao is back to brewing potions and solving mysteries?

Thinky Thoughts

The Apothecary Diaries is one of my favorite series out right now. It’s a seinen case-fic set in the inner and outer palace of a Chinese palace starring Maomao, the tiny and sharp-minded servant who enters the palace as a simple servant but becomes integral to understanding and solving the problems that plague the palace. Maomao is such a refreshing protagonist. Smart and single-minded in her goals, Maomao has no time for foolishness and she is one of the snarkiest protagonists I’ve seen in the genre so far. Palace intrigue series are always fun because of the relentless doublespeak and nuances that the characters in these narratives utilize to protect themselves and guide their goals forward. With Maomao as the primary protagonist, however, we’re subject to a female lead that is whip-smart, blunt, and absolutely ruthless when she needs to be. Maomao also constantly takes advantage of other people’s preconceptions of her and weaponizes her looks (she’s small, cute, and used to draw on freckles as they were seen as a blemish in that era) to get around the palace and into all kinds of trouble.

Her partner in crime, the incredibly attractive eunuch, Jinshi, is… complicated. He’s mysterious and an open book at once, the kind of character that talks a lot to hide the fact that he’s not revealing anything about himself and his motivations. He’s almost an expected character – eunuchs gained great power as managers of concubines and had access to the depths of the palace – but how he’s portrayed is… kind of unexpected. No spoilers, of course, but there’s another reason why he has the access and power he does and the series is coming closer and closer to being explicit about it in the English translation.

Th Apothecary Diaries utilizes Maomao’s natural curiosity and Jinshi’s willingness to throw a pawn into the fire to set up and solve smaller mysteries or problems in the palace. These issues range from things like poisonings to the emperor’s concubines getting uh… a decidedly erotic education from Maomao, who grew up in the red light district and considers three of the most well-known women in the district as big sisters/surrogate mothers.  There are larger, overarching mysteries as well. These includes the behavior of Maomao’s monstrous biological father, a plot to kill the crown prince/heir to the throne, and a bunch of other conspiracies that threaten the stability of the palace and the emperor’s rule.

One thing that’s mostly absent from The Apothecary Diaries? Romance. Now, that shouldn’t stop you from shipping wildly as you want, but we really do not even get crumbs of a deepening (romantic) relationship between Jinshi and Maomao. I’m torn between feeling refreshed at that and frustrated because I actually want to add tons of fuel to what’s clearly the slowest slow burn possible. Jinshi and Maomao have such a great dynamic and they play off of each other so well across the series. It’s the shipper in me that means I crave seeing them smash mouths, but… the platonic relationship that develops, one where trust is going to be mutual, is pretty good on its own. But yes, this is another no/low romance series that’ll hold your attention and your wallet hostage.

Also: if you have read this series and you liked it, this series is comparable to Miri Mikawa’s light novel series Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, another palace intrigue/court drama series that centers an outsider to a Chinese palace (this time a low ranking concubine, not a simple servant) who uses her culinary abilities and her home recipes to save the day.