Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Apothecary Diaries Season 1, and the Apothecary Diaries manga and light novels.
Since its October 2023 premiere, historical mystery anime The Apothecary Diaries (also known as Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) has become a bona fide hit, building on the success of its light novel source material. In February 2024, Maomao, the anime’s poison-obsessed teen protagonist, became the first fictional character to grace the cover of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare’s monthly magazine. Later that year, U.S.-based entertainment outlets like Polygon, IGN, and Vulture named it one of the best anime series of the year. Now, The Apothecary Diaries’ first season is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S., launching a new era in the anime’s global takeover.
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Set in a fictional country loosely inspired by Imperial China, The Apothecary Diaries introduces us to Maomao, the adopted daughter of an apothecary who has taught her the art of medicine. She uses her growing expertise to treat the brothel workers in the red-light district where she was raised, until she is kidnapped by bandits and sold into indentured servitude at the nearby Imperial Palace.
Maomao is placed in the Rear Palace, where the Emperor’s hierarchy of concubines live. What begins as a laundry maid position soon morphs into a greater responsibility when Maomao figures out the mysterious illness that’s ailing the children of the Rear Palace. Her cleverness catches the eye of Jinshi, a beautiful eunuch who oversees the Rear Palace’s operations, and Maomao is soon promoted to lady-in-waiting and taste tester to one of the Emperor’s favorite concubines. The first season sees Maomao solving a series of medical mysteries that are revealed to be part of a larger, murderous conspiracy at work within the palace walls.
Season 1 of The Apothecary Diaries was originally simulcast on Crunchyroll from October 2023 to March 2024, but its arrival on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, and other regions has made the anime accessible to an even wider audience. For those who have just found the show, let’s break down the twisty ending and major mysteries of Season 1.
Who wants to kill Jinshi?
Much of The Apothecary Diaries’s ongoing mystery comes to a head in Episode 19, “Chance or Something More,” when Maomao uncovers and narrowly stops an assassination attempt on Jinshi, who is clearly hiding some major details about his true identity. The plot was instigated by court lady Suirei, with whom Maomao has crossed paths a few times in the palace. Like Maomao, Suirei has an interest in herbal medicine and grows plants that can be used for various recipes in the palace. Unlike Maomao, though, Suirei has not been using this medical knowledge chiefly to help people, but rather to take out a series of officials and workers associated with the Board of Rites.
The Board of Rites is tasked with making sure the ceremonies performed by the imperial nobles go off without a hitch, and its members have been dying throughout the series. Master Kounen’s death by salt poisoning—a murder Maomao solves in Episode 9, “Suicide or Murder?”—and the food poisoning of his successor is suspicious, but Maomao’s Sherlock Holmes-like skills of deduction are triggered when military official Lihaku tells Maomao about the recent theft of some ceremonial tools. The tools were stolen during the warehouse fire seen in Episode 14, “The New, Pure Consort.”
In Episode 16, “Lead,” Maomao solves a case involving the will of a court metalworker who left a mysterious trilogy of inheritances to his three sons. The late metalworker specialized in the use of a lead alloy that melts near an open flame. In Episode 19, Maomao speaks to an archivist who was demoted after he raised concerns about the safety of a heavy pillar in the Altar of the Sapphire Sky, a building used for important ceremonies. She theorizes that the fixture holding the heavy ornament in place, one of the ceremonial tools stolen, has been replaced with one made from the metalworker’s lead alloy. Maomao puts this all together just as the next ceremony is about to begin.
How Maomao rescues Jinshi
While Maomao doesn’t know the noble target, she races across the palace to the Altar of the Sapphire Sky to do what she can to stop the plot. Her efforts are met with resistance. A guard nearly knocks her unconscious with a punch to the head. Bleeding and swollen, Maomao still doesn’t give up and, with the help of court tactician Lakan, manages to make it through. Maomao tackles the target just as the massive pillar hanging over the altar crashes to the ground. Her leg is cut open in the accident, but before she passes out from blood loss, she realizes the person whose life she saved is Jinshi. “Why is Master Jinshi here? And why does he have such a sad look in his eyes?” she thinks before losing consciousness. Jinshi carries Maomao in his arms out of the Altar of the Sapphire Sky and to medical care.
While it’s unlikely court lady Suirei was acting alone, she is the only person with a clear tie to the plot. Maomao first suspects Suirei when Lihaku tells her that the warehouse fire was started by an ivory pipe gifted to a guard by a tall woman who smelled of medicine. Before she can be arrested, Suirei is found dead. However, when her body goes missing, Maomao suspects that Suirei actually used a “resurrection drug” that allowed her to fake her own death. Maomao is desperate to find Suirei so she can find out more about this thornapple poison.
Jinshi’s true identity in the Imperial family
Jinshi becomes a much more important figure than simply a high-ranking official courting palace intrigue in Season 1. We learn in the season’s conclusion that Jinshi is not actually a eunuch, but has been taking a medicine that leads to impotence while he works in the Rear Palace. Uncastrated men are forbidden from entering the Rear Palace, unless they are a part of the Imperial family.
Jinshi is hiding his true identity, but Season 1 does not reveal why. Earlier in the season, it’s implied that Jinshi has a familial connection with Lady Ah-Duo, a concubine who has retired in the Rear Palace. In Episode 11, “Reducing Two to One,” Ah-Duo’s departure from the palace hits Jinshi particularly hard. Before Ah-Duo leaves, Maomao notices Ah-Duo and Jinsi’s strong resemblance to one another. But it’s also implied that Jinshi is the son of the former Emperor and Empress Anshi, which would make him the current Emperor’s younger brother. The secret of Jinshi’s Imperial identity is one of the biggest mysteries heading into Season 2.
How Maomao’s mother and father are reunited
Maomao, too, begins the season with a somewhat mysterious parentage. We know she was raised by Luomen, and that she has a connection to the Verdigris House, a high-class brothel in the red-light district, but it’s unclear who her parents are. By season’s end, we discover she is the child of a courtesan named Fengxian and court tactician Lakan. The two brilliant young people fell in love over a Go board.
Fengxian wants her contract to be bought out by Lakan, but he does not have enough money. In an attempt to lower her “value,” Fengxian has sex with Lakan, conceiving Maomao. However, Lakan is unexpectedly sent away by his family before he can buy out Fengxian’s contract or learn of baby Maomao. In his absence, Fengxian is forced into more precarious sex work and contracts syphilis. By the time Lakan returns three years later, Fengxian is very sick and the Madam at the Verdigris House leads Lakan to believe that she has died. Actually, the Madam and other women at the brothel have taken on the responsibility of caring for an ailing Fengxian, who is unable to take care of herself let alone a child.
Maomao is raised by the women at the Verdigris House, and then by Luomen. She grows up knowing who her father is, but dislikes him for abandoning her ill mother. Lakan later earns enough money to buy out the contract of even the most expensive courtesan at the Verdigris House. When Maomao wins a bet with Lakan by beating him in a game of Go, she asks him to redeem a courtesan from the Verdigris House. When Lakan goes to the brothel, he is allowed to hear the sound of Fengxian’s lullaby from the annex where she is kept. The lovers are reunited, and Lakan spends an exorbitant amount of money to redeem Fengxian from the brothel. The two marry, and Maomao dances for her mother on the palace walls.
How The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 end?
In the final scene of The Apothecary Diaries Season 1, Jinshi finds Maomao dancing. When the leg wound she suffered during the incident at the Altar of the Sapphire Sky opens up, he insists on carrying her off of the palace walls. The next day, Jinshi gives Maomao the ox bezoar he promised her for investigating the palace plot. She is overjoyed, and Jinshi tells Maomao he has another mission for her—adventures we’ll see in Season 2.
Does Maomao like Jinshi?
Jinshi develops romantic feelings for Maomao quite early in the Apothecary Diaries story, but it is less clear how Maomao feels about Jinshi. As a character, Maomao is sardonic and emotionally reserved. While she rarely expresses affection for the people she cares about, Maomao’s deep feelings tend to be revealed through her actions. Their romance will unfold, along with more palace intrigue, in more installments of the series.
How old are The Apothecary Diaries characters?
Maomao is 17 years old at the start of the series, and 18 by the end of Season 1. Jinshi is 18 when the series begins, and 19 by the end of Season 1. However, as with other aspects of his identity, Jinshi obscures his true age, pretending to be older.
Where can I watch Season 2?
The Apothecary Diaries is currently being simulcast on Crunchyroll. Season 2 begins with Episode 25, “Maomao and Maomao.” The streamer is currently gearing up for the second cour of Season 2. A cour is an anime term for episode runs that last roughly a quarter of a year, or three months. This typically equates to 12 or 13 episodes.
At the time of this writing, new episodes of The Apothecary Diaries were being released every Friday at roughly 12:15pm EST on Crunchyroll. The second season will continue through the spring anime season, wrapping up at the end of June.
Is The Apothecary Diaries based on a manga?
The Apothecary Diaries actually has two ongoing manga adaptations, but the source material for both the manga and the anime is the Apothecary Diaries light novel series, written by Natsu Hyuuga. The first season of The Apothecary Diaries adapts the first two light novel volumes.
Hyuuga actually began the story as a web novel, posted on Japanese self-publishing platform Syosetu beginning in 2011. The web novel acts like a draft for the light novel, which Hyuuga began publishing in 2012. Light novels are books traditionally aimed at younger audiences that make use of frequent illustrations.
Where can I read the Apothecary Diaries?
The first 13 volumes of the Apothecary Diaries light novel series are available in English via ebook or paperback. The English-language edition of the 14th volume will be published on May 30, 2025. The web novel is not easily accessible to English-language readers, as it is posted on Japanese self-publishing platform Syosetu.
Will there be a Season 3?
While there has yet to be an official announcement confirming a third season of The Apothecary Diaries, given its immense popularity globally, a third season seems like a safe bet. The second season is expected to get through Volumes 3 and 4 of the light novel source material. If the anime continues at this pace, it will have many more seasons of source material to adapt.