Welcome back to Manga Unmasked! In this series, we take a deep dive into the various manga series available in our collection. So, whether you're already a fan of manga or just a curious reader, we hope you might learn a little about your next potential reading obsession. In this edition, an inner palace food taster with a penchant for poison is thrust into the middle of mysteries, scheming, and poisonings in The Apothecary Diaries.
Check out more manga explored with the Manga Unmasked series—My Hero Academia, Spy x Family, Sailor Moon, Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki, One-Punch Man, One Piece, and Delicious in Dungeon.
Into the Palace
The Apothecary Diaries is a series written by Natsu Hyūga. The Apothecary Diaries started as a digital novel series in October 2011 and was published on Shōsetsuka ni Narō (meaning: Let's Become a Novelist), an online user-generated novel publishing website. It went on to become a novel in 2012, a light novel series starting in August 2014, two seinen* manga series starting in 2017, and a successful anime. The first manga series was first published by Square Enix in May 2017 and illustrated by Nekokurage. The second manga was first published by Shogakukan in August 2017 and illustrated by Minoji Kurata.
*Seinen manga is generally marketed to young adult men but can be enjoyed by anyone.
In addition to The Apothecary Diaries, Natsu Hyūga has also written Kami-sama Gakkō no Ochikobore "Dropout in God's School" (2021) and Seijo ni Uso wa Tsūjinai "Lies Don't Work for a Saint" (2022).
The Apothecary Diaries anime is produced by Toho Animation Studios and Oriental Light and Magic (OLM), Inc. and is directed by Norihiro Naganuma. Season One was split into two cours and began airing on October 22, 2023, and streamed on Crunchyroll.
A Life-Altering Encounter
In a fictional land inspired by Imperial China, a girl named Maomao works as an apothecary in the red-light district. One day, while out collecting herbs, she is kidnapped and sold to work as a servant in the Imperial Palace. Maomao is surprisingly accepting of the cards dealt to her. She is determined to work off her set years of servitude in the palace without drawing too much attention to herself and eventually return home. It's a simple plan... but life in the Inner Palace is anything but simple.
A few months into her time at the palace, Maomao hears rumors that the emperor's children born of his consorts are cursed to become ill and die. Maomao, ever curious, uses her skills as an apothecary to determine the cause of the strange illness and attempts to anonymously warn the two consorts. Her actions save one of the babies—and also catch the attention of an influential eunuch, Jinshi.
Maomao is brought into the Jade Pavilion by the mother of the saved child and one of the four favored consorts, Gyokuyō, and is hired as her attendant and food taster. Maomao's apothecary skills come in handy in her work attending to the emperor's consorts, and when she is swept from mystery to mystery by the ever-handsome—and ever-meddling—Jinshi.
The Inner Palace
Maomao
Protagonist. Maidservant, Lady-in-waiting, poison taster, apothecary.
Raised and taught by a talented pharmacist near the red-light district, Maomao is a clever but practical and cautious girl. She has a useful working knowledge of medicinal herbs and poisons, though many find her intense fascination with poisons and experimentation on herself with poisons creepy.
Despite her cautious nature, she is kidnapped and sold into service at the emperor's palace. There, she befriends fellow maidservants and learns of a mysterious illness afflicting the emperor's infant children born of two of his consorts. It doesn't take her long to work out the cause and anonymously warns the consorts, saving one of the infants. When she is discovered to be the source of the warning, she is rewarded with a position in the Jade Pavilion.
The Jade Pavilion
Residents include "Precious Consort" Gyokuyō, headmaid Hongniang, and attendants Yinghua, Guien, and Airan.
"Precious Consort" Gyokuyō is a consort and mother of an infant girl fathered by the emperor. She brought Maomao into the Jade Pavilion after she saved her daughter. She is kind and wise with a mischievous side, teasing her attendants and Jinshi.
Headmaid Hongniang is friendly and is often seen carrying baby Lingli in the Jade Pavilion. Attendants Yinghua, Guien, and Airan are caring and diligent. They take a liking to Maomao and, like many of the other women in the Inner Palace, swoon over Jinshi when he visits.
Jinshi
Deuteragonist. Works as a eunuch and seems to be involved in all the mysteries of the Palace.
Beautiful, charming, and surprisingly childish at times, Jinshi works as a eunuch—a man working around the women of the Inner Palace—in part to observe the goings on in the Inner Palace. Women swoon over him, so when Maomao shows no interest in swooning over him, she catches his interest.
Jinshi ropes Maomao into solving the various mysteries that pop up in the Inner Palace when he isn't trying to get a rise out of her.
- The Apothecary Diaries Volumes
**This list includes a brief summary of the events in each book. Here there be spoilers, so read the later summaries at your own risk.
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 1 by Natsu Hyuuga
Maomao, a young woman trained in the art of herbal medicine, is forced to work as a lowly servant in the inner palace. Though she yearns for life outside its perfumed halls, she isn't long for a life of drudgery! Using her wits to break a 'curse' afflicting the imperial heirs, Maomao attracts the attention of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and is promoted to attendant food taster. But Jinshi has other plans for the erstwhile apothecary, and soon Maomao is back to brewing potions and... solving mysteries?!
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 2 by Natsu Hyuuga
After breaking a "curse" on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated historical mystery series!
When word of her accomplishments falls on the ears of His Imperial Majesty, Maomao finds herself tasked with a direct request from the throne. Turning down the emperor is out of the question for the former apothecary—if she wants to keep her head! But while acquiescing to the emperor is expected of all subjects, Maomao is about to discover that ladies-in-waiting have still more taxing duties to which to attend, as preparations for the garden banquet get underway! Concocting an aphrodisiac might be second nature to Maomao, but smiling prettily for the officials of the court could prove far more difficult...
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 3 by Natsu Hyuuga
After putting on a successful and sensual(?) show of food tasting at the garden banquet, Maomao is the talk of the palace! But she soon discovers that notoriety isn't the only thing the party has granted her! Her collection of hairpins from the event brings the young herbalist a brief window of freedom beyond the palace walls, as she returns to the pleasure district for the first time in ten months! But while reunions with her father and her friends await, so too does another mystery...
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 4 by Natsu Hyuuga
Though Maomao has left the palace behind and returned to her home in the pleasure district, it seems the Inner Court can't do without her! Jinshi comes to the erstwhile food taster with a request involving the attempted poisoning of the Virtuous Consort during the garden banquet and the identity of the mastermind behind it!
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 5 by Natsu Hyuuga
Forced to leave the Inner Palace, Maomao finds herself in the employ of none other than Jinshi, the seemingly ever-present thorn in her side! Immune to his charms, Maomao sets about learning the ways of life in the Outer Palace, where government officials and military officers go about the daily business of running the country. Far from being fearful of her new surroundings, however, Maomao has her insatiable curiosity piqued by the soldier-occupied eastern wing, where she's been forbidden to go but where it seems further mysteries await...
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 6 by Natsu Hyuuga
Maomao has proven her worth to the denizens of the palace time and time again, but she's got her work cut out for her on this occasion! When the ever-luminous Jinshi asks for Maomao's help in disguising himself to take care of business outside the palace walls, Maomao must dig deep to mar her employer's heavenly charms! And to make the ploy believable, Maomao herself is roped into a spot of theater as Jinshi's companion. But Jinshi's "business" takes him right to the gates of the pleasure district! Has all Maomao's hard work been for a mere assignation, or is there another mystery afoot?
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 7 by Natsu Hyuuga
Proving herself indispensable yet again by saving Jinshi from a horrific fate. Maomao is given the chance to explain her rash behavior during the holy ritual. But when she continues her investigation into the foiled plot, a bizarre outcome awaits, leaving the plucky apothecary impressed by the sheer nerve of the culprit behind it. But admiring the exploits of another won't get Maomao very far when Jinshi tasks her with a feat of her own—to present him with blue roses at the needling of the eccentric La Kan! How will Maomao respond to this provocation from the man she despises the most?
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 8 by Natsu Hyuuga
The truth of Maomao's birth is revealed?! Sly tactician Lakan's attempts at provocation lead to his own downfall when Maomao challenges him to elephant chess, only to outplay him in a game of wits! In a stupor from drinking "poison" as punishment for his loss, Lakan dreams of a long-lost past, his affair with a beautiful courtesan, and meeting her daughter for the very first time. Upon waking, he finds himself at Verdigris, where he is pressed to buy the freedom of a girl of his choosing and take her home as his wife! But will any of the flowers there catch his eye when his heart is in love with a memory?
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 9 by Natsu Hyuuga
A festive atmosphere descends upon the Inner Court with the arrival of a long-awaited merchant caravan and its myriad wares. Though the excitement is contagious and even Maomao looks forward to making purchases of her own, she soon cottons on to something potentially sinister about the innocuous goods for sale. Before Maomao can tease out any evidence, however, her attention turns to mushrooms when Jinshi asks her to root out any poisonous varieties on the grounds. But is this request just a bit of landscaping or does it have anything to do with the rumors making the rounds about a court lady who has gone missing?
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 10 by Natsu Hyuuga
When two beautiful foreign envoys with designs on the Emperor come calling with a tale of old about a spellbinding courtesan who captured the imagination of their family patriarch, it's up to Maomao to concoct a theatrical scheme to give the ladies a whopper of a story to take home! Later, Maomao goes back to sniffing around the Inner Court to find out the truth about the troubling prevalence of those foreign perfume oils that could spell disaster for the throne's future heirs...
Image
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 11 by Natsu Hyuuga
Having figured out the trick to navigating the corridors of the ancient mausoleum found within the Inner Court, Maomao does an admirable job solving the current mystery in front of the emperor and Jinshi. And then the Empress Dowager comes to Maomao, asking her to investigate the late Emperor's curse. Jinshi's past and parentage are revealed!
Check out the trailer for the anime available on Crunchyroll.