A new special visual has been released for The Apothecary Diaries, which features Maomao and Jinshi taking care of early summer lotus flowers. The visual is the first in a newly launched series of seasonal plant visuals that will be released on the 22nd of every month.
Earlier this month, a special Tanabata visual and mini voice drama (with English subtitles) featuring the two characters were also released in celebration of the holiday.
The first season of The Apothecary Diaries premiered in late October 2023 and ran for two cours of 24 total episodes. A second season is scheduled to premiere in 2025.
The first season’s production staff included Norihiro Naganuma (The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 1) as director and series screenwriter, 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 STUDIO and OLM are in charge of the animation production.
Other staff include Misato Aida (Eternal Boys) as color designer, Katsumi Takao (Pokemon: Harukanaru Aoi Sora) as art director, and Rumi Ishiguro (Akiba Maid War) as compositing director. Satoru Kosaki (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss), and Alisa Okehazama (The God of High School) are serving as music composers.
The anime’s main voice cast is headlined by Aoi Yuki as Maomao and Takeo Otsuka as Jinshi.
The anime is based on the light novel series written by Natsu Hyuuga and illustrated by Toko Shino. It was first published by Shufunotomo on August 29, 2014 and has released 15 physical volumes as of March 2024. J-Novel Club releases the light novels in English digitally for North America. The series began as a Shosetsuka ni Naro web novel in October 2011. It was later republished by Shufunotomo as a single volume under its Ray Books imprint.
A manga adaptation illustrated by Nekokurage was released in May 2017 and another alternate manga adaptation was launched by Minoji Kurata in August 2017. Square Enix licensed the first manga adaptation for English release.
Crunchyroll streamed The Apothecary Diaries worldwide, outside of Japan. It describes the main synopsis as:
Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. But she wasn’t meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she’s making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!
Source: The Apothecary Diaries Official Anime Twitter
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