The Apothecary Diaries is back, and now’s the perfect time to catch up

The Apothecary Diaries wasn’t just my favorite anime of 2024, but my favorite show altogether. Based on the light novel series of the same name, The Apothecary Diaries is a perfect blend of medical procedural and period drama, sprinkled with a delicious slow-burn romance between one of my favorite tropes of grumpy girl and flirty guy. It’s so damn good, and every episode immediately made me want to queue up the next one. Fortunately, the second season kicks off this week. Unfortunately, because the episodes drop weekly, I can’t binge them all at once. But if you haven’t seen this anime yet, you have the perfect opportunity to catch up on all of season 1 and have a nice backlog of season 2 to dig into. I envy you! [Ed. note: This essay contains some setup spoilers for The Apothecary Diaries.] [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25258686/theapothecarydiaries_teaserpvscreenshot.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] The Apothecary Diaries takes place in a fictional country that’s basically patterned after Tang dynasty China and follows Maomao, the adopted daughter of an apothecary, who studies medicine herself. She works in the red-light district, often helping courtesans and other brothel workers. After being kidnapped, she’s sold into indentured servitude, working in the Imperial Palace’s rear palace, where the emperor’s concubines live. Initially, she keeps her head down, but when a medical mystery arises, Maomao can’t help but poke her nose into solving it. She catches the attention of Jinshi, the eunuch who runs the rear palace’s administration, who ends up promoting her to a lady-in-waiting and taste tester to one of the emperor’s favored concubines. For the most part, the show takes on a new mystery every episode, usually focused on some sort of medical malady or mysterious death. Since it’s a period piece, those medical puzzles often have compelling twists that modern viewers might not expect (for instance, Maomao uses cocoa beans to brew a powerful aphrodisiac, which definitely would work on people who haven’t tried chocolate before). The mysteries themselves are intriguing, and Maomao’s particular approach — morbid fascination combined with tenacious curiosity — makes them even more fun. She’s all too eager to experiment with poisons and examine sick patients and dead bodies. [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/apothecary.webp?quality=90&strip=all] Slowly, the medical mysteries build up to political intrigue. Through Maomao, we learn more about the drama going on in the emperor’s palace, from the rivalries between concubines to military geniuses with secret motives. That intrigue extends past the palace and into Maomao’s previous life, especially after she learns about her father’s secret connection to court life. It’s the sort of plot that comes to a shocking head in the first season’s finale, but looking back it’s evident that it was all seeded in from the beginning. All of those seemingly disjointed medical puzzles weave into greater mysteries and political plots at hand. But what really makes The Apothecary Diaries so dang wonderful is Maomao herself. She’d rather not get caught up in court politics, thank you very much. But nothing gets her going like a good medical mystery and a chance to test out new medicine and poisons. She swoons over the prospect of getting her hands on rare healing ingredients, but bristles when the concubines try to dress her up. She’s also incredibly intelligent, and when she isn’t gushing over poisons and remedies, she’s coolly analyzing her surroundings and calculating her next move. Maomao is a gem of a character, and because she’s so distinct, her relationships with the other characters shine even more. She talks candidly with the concubines about their lives (and even gives a sex talk to two of the newer ones). She understands the order of the Imperial Palace means that she needs to keep her head down and be respectful of her superiors, but at the same time, she’s not afraid of them when it comes to voicing or defending her findings. [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/the-apothecary-diaries.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] But the juiciest relationship is the one she has with Jinshi, who’s just as cunning as she is. He maintains a flirtatious and carefree demeanor, but in reality, he carefully schemes behind the scenes to advance his own position and balance some secret duties. He’s also completely smitten with Maomao, even though she thinks he’s silly. But every time she glares at him, he melts a little. They have wonderful banter, both of them hiding bigger secrets from each other. The first season ended with some of those big secrets coming to light, setting up some rich ground to dig into for the next season. The Apothecary Diaries is the type of show where each episode answers a bunch of questions, then immediately asks a dozen more — which is what makes it the type of show that had me eagerly clicking “next episode” the moment the end credits rolled. And there’s no better time to watch it than now, with a whole season to dive into and more coming out week by week. I can’t wait for more medical mysteries, more political intrigue, and more Maomao. The Apothecary Diaries is available to stream on Crunchyroll. The first episode of season 2 is out now, with new episodes premiering on Fridays.