The Apothecary Diaries Volume 5 – Manga Librarian
Title: The Apothecary Diaries 薬屋のひとりごと Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, “Apothecary’s Soliloquy”
Volume: 5
Mangaka: by Natsu Hyuuga (Author), Nekokurage (Author), Itsuki Nanao (Compiler), Touco Shino (Designer)
Translator: Julie Goniwich
US Publisher: Square Enix Manga
Age Relevance: High School & Up
How Essential Is It?: Essential
Curricular Connections?: Medicine, Critical Thinking
Reader’s Advisory Tags: Mystery, Romance, Based on Imperial China, Seinen
Anime: Crunchyroll (Second Season Confirmed!)
Content Warnings: Allusions to sex, poison
Publisher Synopsis: Forced to the leave the Inner Palace, Maomao finds herself in the employ of none other than Jinshi, the seemingly ever-present thorn in her side! Immune to his charms, Maomao sets about learning the ways of life in the Outer Palace, where government officials and military officers go about the daily business of running the country.
Far from being fearful of her new surroundings, however, Maomao has her insatiable curiosity piqued by the soldier-occupied eastern wing, where she’s been forbidden to go but where it seems further mysteries await…
Review:
In this volume, Maomao is now working directly for Jinshi in the Outer Palace. Now working as Jinshi’s maid, she finds herself solving first giving an education to the consorts of the Inner Palace, then solving a few small mysteries of the Outer Palace. Most notably, a noble named Lakan comes calling, and offers a bit of a tricky mystery for Maomao to solve.
In all, this is a fairly low-action volume, as it’s setting up the next arc. Lakan is an important character, and he alludes to having devalued a courtesan from Verdigris who was beautiful and had sharp wits enough to beat a tactician at go and shogi.
The education of the four consorts is perhaps the best illustration of how deftly this series handles innuendo without ever delving into being explicit. Maomao is clearly instructing the consorts in techniques used by courtesans to please men, bringing in materials provided by the madam of Verdigris, but it’s never explicit what it is she’s conveying to them. Instead, we see the consorts’ varying reactions, creating a humorous edge and never pushing the content too far. It’s a very delicate balance to have a setting like this and maintain it as a young adult setting.
