The Apothecary Diaries, which will premiere with its first three episodes on October 21 (effectively October 22 at 1:05 AM JST), has received a main trailer and theme song details. The anime will be available to stream on Crunchyroll.
The opening song is “Hana ni Natte” by Ryokuoushoku Shakai, and the closing song is “Ai Kotoba” by Aina the End. Both songs are featured in the trailer, which also shows more of the heroine Maomao’s life as a food taster for a consort.
More of the cast of The Apothecary Diaries were also revealed:
- Katsuyuki Konishi as Gaoshun
- Atsumi Tanezaki as Consort Gyokuyou
- Yui Ishikawa as Consort Lifa
- Hina Kino as Consort Lishu
- Yuuko Gaida as Consort Aduo
- Megumi Han as Mei Mei
- Ami Koshimizu as Pailin
- Hiroki Nanami as Joka
- Misaki Kuno as Shaoran
Maomao is voiced by Aoi Yuuki, while Takeo Ootsuka is the voice of the eunuch Jinshi.
The staff includes Norihiro Naganuma (The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 1) as director and series composer with Akinori Fudesaka (Summer Time Rendering and Komi Can’t Communicate storyboarder) as assistant director and Yukiko Nakatani (Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure) as character designer. TOHO animation and OLM are the studios behind the animation production.
Other staff includes Misato Aida (Eternal Boys) as Color designer, Katsumi Takao (Pokemon: Harukanaru Aoi Sora) as Art director, Rumi Ishiguro (Akiba Maid War) as Compositing director, and Satoru Kousaki (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss) & Alisa Okehazama (The God of High School) as Music composers.
The Apothecary Diaries anime is based on the Shufunotomo-published light novels written by Natsu Hyuuga and illustrated by Touko Shino. J-Novel Club describes the plot as:
In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there. Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That’s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao’s façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor’s favorite consort… so she can taste the lady’s food for poison! At her lady’s side, Maomao starts to learn about everything that goes on in the rear palace—not all of it seemly. Can she ever lead a quiet life, or will her powers of deduction and insatiable curiosity bring her ever more adventures, and ever more dangers?
The light novels began in 2014 and will end in September 2023 with 14 volumes. The Apothecary Diaries began as a Shousetsuka ni Narou web novel in 2011, before becoming a light novel series. In 2012, a single tankoubon volume was released under the Ray Books label (also from Shufunotomo Infos). The light novels inspired a Square Enix-published manga by Nekokurage (also available in English) and a Shogakukan-published manga by Minoji Kurata (subtitled Mao Mao no Kyuu Nazotoki Techou).
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