The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries is a Japanese light novel series written by Natsu Hy?ga and illustrated by Touko Shino. In the following year, it was acquired by Shufunotomo, who initially published the series as a novel with a single volume in 2012, and then as a light novel series in 2014. The series is set in a fictional country modelled after ancient China. It has been adapted into two manga series in 2017, with one published by Square Enix in Monthly Big Gangan, and another one published by Shogakukan in Monthly Sunday Gene-X. The light novel is licensed digitally in North America by J-Novel Club and in print by Square Enix, and the manga illustrated by Nekokurage is also licensed by Square Enix. An anime television series adaptation produced by Toho Animation Studio and OLM premiered in October 2023. In a certain country in the East, Maomao, a young girl who works as a pharmacist in the red-light district, is kidnapped and sold to the imperial palace as a servant. One day, after hearing the rumors that the emperor's children are critically ill, she begins to investigate the cause, using her experience as a pharmacist, and successfully solves the mystery of their illness. Even though she intends to remain anonymous, her actions eventually catch the attention of an influential eunuch, and soon finds herself solving various mysteries in the imperial court. Originally, the series was only published by Natsu Hy?ga on the user-generated web novel site Sh?setsuka ni Nar? in October 2011. The publisher Shufunotomo acquired the series and then published it on their Ray Books imprint as a novel with a single volume on September 26, 2012. In 2014, Shufunotomo began to publish the series again. Since then, the series continued to get more volumes with the story continuing, unlike the previous novel version which had just only one volume. It is produced by Toho Animation Studio and OLM, with Norihiro Naganuma directing and supervising the scripts, and Akinori Fudesaka serving as assistant director.