The Japanese film company Toho Animation Studio and OLM are bringing author Natsu Hyūga’s fantasy romance series ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ to life as an anime. Norihiro Naganuma is serving as both the director and the writer of the show, with a planned release sometime in 2023.
Yukiko Nakatani has joined the project as the character designer, Crunchyroll reports. Kevin Penkin and Alisa Okehazama are working on the music for the animated series.
Toho and OLM also released a trailer for the series,
The series began as a 2011 web novel by Natsu Hyūga before being picked up as a 2014 light novel series published by Shufunotomo and illustrated by Touko Shino.
‘The Apothecary Diaries’ Fan Wiki describes the synopsis as follows,
“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?”
There are two manga adaptions. The first is published by Square Enix since May 2017 and illustrated by Nekokurage. The second began publication in August 2017 released by Shogakukan titled ‘The Apothecary Diaries: The Palace Cloister Mystery-Solving Notebook of Mao Mao.’
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