Anime 54492 Kusuriya No Hitorigoto Suggestion

Alternative Titles

Synonyms: The Pharmacist's Monologue, Drugstore Soliloquy

Japanese: 薬屋のひとりごと

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 24

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 22, 2023 to Mar 24, 2024

Premiered: Fall 2023

Broadcast: Sundays at 01:05 (JST)

Producers: Dentsu, Square Enix, Nippon Television Network, TOHO animation, Shogakukan, Imagica Infos

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: OLM, TOHO animation STUDIO

Source: Light novel

Genres: Drama, Mystery

Themes: Historical, Medical

Duration: 22 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 8.92¹ (scored by 172,033 users)

¹ indicates a .

Ranked: #18²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #621

Members: 376,529

Favorites: 9,422

Available At

Official Site

@kusuriya_PR

Resources

AniDB

ANN

8.92

Ranked #18Popularity #621Members 376,529

Fall 2023TVOLM, TOHO animation STUDIO

PV 2

play

Synopsis

Maomao, an apothecary's daughter, has been plucked from her peaceful life and sold to the lowest echelons of the imperial court. Now merely a maid, Maomao settles into her new mundane life and hides her extensive knowledge of medicine in order to avoid any unwanted attention.

Not long after Maomao's arrival, the emperor's infant children inexplicably begin to experience grave symptoms—almost as if a curse has been cast. The curious Maomao easily solves the mystery and, to remain out of the limelight, attempts to leave an anonymous tip. Unfortunately, the dashing and perceptive eunuch Jinshi sees through it and manages to single her out.

In recognition of her talent, Maomao is promoted to lady-in-waiting for the emperor's favorite concubine, Gyokuyou. As Maomao continues to remedy the numerous ailments afflicting the imperial court, her pharmaceutical expertise quickly proves indispensable.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Background

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto was released on Blu-ray in four volumes from January 24, 2024, to July 17, 2024.

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
Other:	Maomao no Hitorigoto
Sequel:	Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 2nd Season

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Maomao

Main

Yuuki, Aoi
Japanese

Jinshi

Main

Ootsuka, Takeo
Japanese

Gyokuyou

Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi
Japanese

Kan, Lakan

Supporting

Kirimoto, Takuya
Japanese

Gaoshun

Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki
Japanese

Meimei

Supporting

Han, Megumi
Japanese

Lihua

Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui
Japanese

Loulan

Supporting

Ah-Duo

Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko
Japanese

Lishu

Supporting

Kino, Hina
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Producer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Opening Theme

	1: "Hana ni Natte (花になって)" by Ryokuoushoku Shakai (緑黄色社会) (eps 1-12)
	2: "Ambivalent (アンビバレント)" by Uru (eps 13-24)

Ending Theme

	1: "Aikotoba (アイコトバ)" by AiNA THE END (アイナ・ジ・エンド) (eps 1-12)
	2: "Ai wa Kusuri (愛は薬)" by wacci (eps 13-24)

Reviews

Apr 19, 2024

Longnines

Recommended

The daughter of an old apothecary serves a brothel in a pleasure district, acting as their own apothecary. She is soon kidnapped and sold off to the imperial palace, contracted there as an expendable servant. Through her wits, street smarts, and the connections she makes along the way she begins to navigate the complexities and dangers of court life.

The story follows a young apothecary that has a knack for finding herself at the heart of important affairs. The series is full of drama, making good usage of its feudalistic hierarchy, and is lined with a fair bit of mystery. There are several subplots that quietly ... develop in the background, spanning across multiple character perspectives, that only compound with interest as the season goes on. The setting itself is imperialistic feudalism - there is a strict social hierarchy, and it will be your head if you try to go against it.

The animation is good throughout the show. The horse-drawn carriages are the only notable instances of CGI usage in the show, and even then they are well-done and only end up standing out because they do clash a touch with the splendid background art and animation done throughout the anime. The composition throughout the series is great and does an outstanding job at creating atmospheres humble, opulent, and occasionally eerie.

The characters are dynamic, interesting, and likable. The writing is decent, though it is the weakest component of the anime, and even then it is well above average for the number of narrative elements the series manages to juggle. Some of the resolutions that occur throughout the series lack finality - these are narrative points of interest that simply vanish once addressed. There are some particularly vacant follow-ups concerning what is perhaps the dramatical climax of the series, and there is no indication thereafter if they will be expanded upon in the future. The story very heavily centralizes its main character to many critical moments that occur throughout the series in the form of the confidant - the character in which the rest of the supporting cast confides, which enables her to more effectively speculate and make deductions that are seemingly out of reach for the rest of the cast, despite their own higher social statuses giving them a significant advantage for the role of information gatherer.

All that aside, this is an excellent anime and does what it can to keep track of its own timeline. I strongly recommend this series to anyone seeking a more serious drama with aspects of mystery, as there is certainly enough of both to keep you occupied alongside the web-like network of characters, and it also works effectively as something of a slice-of-life too.

* * *
Addendum: a second season has already been forecasted and so it is entirely plausible that the threads of some of the more unsatisfactorily wrapped-up items are picked up in the continuation of the series and may be given full closure then and there.

Mar 30, 2024

JackHallowz

Mixed Feelings

Positive:
The show's the theme(clothes, building design,...), art (aesthetic characters) and sound design are on point
The plot is coherent, good pace, well connected from the beginning to the end.

Negative:
The characters are not well-written. Every single side-character in the show is just there to support the main character. They exist to create problems and ONLY main character seems to have ability to solve it.
The flaws of main character have no or little impact on her surrounding. For example: Despite being an unattractive girl she still gets the most attention from the most attractive male in the show and there's no punishment for her being unattractive. So ...

Apr 10, 2024

Legolaspt

Not Recommended

Funny

Kusuriya has a solid start, but it loses itself halfway through, when both character development and plot progression come to a halt.

The show has some elements of a historical drama and of romance, but it focuses mostly on the genre of mystery. Regarding drama and romance: the show is not great, as the personality of the protagonist doesn't suit the genres well, because she is content by just being left alone and she is quite unemotional as well (both genres prefer emotional protagonists who want to have strong connections), and this has the effect that the show lacks a bit in both stakes and hooks ...

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The 24th and final episode of the Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) television anime announced a second season on Sunday, revealing a teaser visual (pi...read more

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Anime 54492 Kusuriya No Hitorigoto Suggestion

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Synopsis

Background

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Maomao

Jinshi

Gyokuyou

Kan, Lakan

Gaoshun

Meimei

Lihua

Loulan

Ah-Duo

Lishu

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

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