The Apothecary Diaries Volume 1 – Manga Librarian
Title: The Apothecary Diaries 薬屋のひとりごと Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, “Apothecary’s Soliloquy”
Volume: 1
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: Infant death, poisoning, references to aphrodisiacs, human trafficking.
Publisher Synopsis: After breaking a “curse” on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster…and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated period mystery series!
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?!
Review:
Note: Originally I intended to bundle this series up into a whole bulk review, but I was informed by Florida librarians in particular that individual reviews per volume are more useful. For index and searching, that means I’ll be putting them into individual entries. I’ll be slowly releasing them daily so as to not overwhelm inboxes!
Based on the light novels that inspired the hit anime, this manga adaptation of The Apothecary Diaries is one of two manga based on the wildly popular series, and the only adaptation currently available in English.
In this first installment of a mystery series set in a world based on the courts of Imperial China, a young woman named Maomao must use her wits and knowledge of plants and poisons as an apothecary to unravel what at first seems to be a scheme to murder the heirs to the throne. But her quick brain and knack for medicine soon see her promoted and solving mysteries for the sly Jinshi, who sets Maomao to solving mysteries in the palace.
With a quick-witted and quirky heroine, this mystery series is quick to capture readers who love a good dose of intrigue and deduction. Set in the complex and political world of an inner palace, Maomao is navigating a world of scheming and envious concubines and complex social structure. Single-minded in her love of her craft, she shares characteristics with many great detectives in her obsessive nature and natural drive toward justice. Her single-mindedness, when paired with the vain and calculating Jinshi, makes for a dynamic pairing for deduction.
As a first volume, this is a solid introduction to the series and a good adaptation of the light novel series. It is exciting and well-illustrated. Readers who enjoy the anime series will find this to be a satisfying read.
Readers who enjoy this series may also enjoy The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court.
