(CR) Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries)

[blakstealth]

Full OP

[Kanon]

This episode was a gold mine of Maomao's reaction faces (and funny Aoi Yuki acting).

Given that Maomao seems painfully aware who Lakan is just from the description, his interest in Maomao, and the fact he used to be in love with a courtesan whose description is a match for Maomao, it's easy to jump to the conclusion he's her biological father. Decreasing the value of Maomao's mother to me means he impregnated her. No one would buy a courtesan who had another man's child. I wonder why he never ended up buying her in the end though. It should also be noted he's remained single all this time which is highly unusual for a man his rank. Could be he isn't the father and he is actually seeing Maomao's mother in her and he wants her for himself.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Kanon

This episode was a gold mine of Maomao's reaction faces (and funny Aoi Yuki acting).

Given that Maomao seems painfully aware who Lakan is just from the description, his interest in Maomao, and the fact he used to be in love with a courtesan whose description is a match for Maomao, it's easy to jump to the conclusion he's her biological father. Decreasing the value of Maomao's mother to me means he impregnated her. No one would buy a courtesan who had another man's child. I wonder why he never ended up buying her in the end though. It should also be noted he's remained single all this time which is highly unusual for a man his rank. Could be he isn't the father and he is actually seeing Maomao's mother in her and he wants her for himself.

That "welcome home" sounded like a completely different character. I forgot Aoi Yuki could sound that sweet .

Maomao's mom being a courtesan actually explains a lot about her background and character, though she was pretty concise with the "I don't have a mother" so you have to wonder what happened...

[Decel]

Originally Posted by Frontier

That "welcome home" sounded like a completely different character. I forgot Aoi Yuki could sound that sweet .

Maomao's mom being a courtesan actually explains a lot about her background and character, though she was pretty concise with the "I don't have a mother" so you have to wonder what happened...

When was that? I don't recall..

Yeah at first blush Maomao knows Lakan. From what I've seen I was thinking that he was describing the old hag running the Verdigris, though age-wise I'm not sure if it works out, or Maomao's mother.

From this episode I feel like Gaoshun is more critical to the series than Jinshi

[grecefar]

jinshi is lucky that gaoshun is an eunuch, gaoshun would've won maomao from the beginning.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Decel

When was that? I don't recall..

Yeah at first blush Maomao knows Lakan. From what I've seen I was thinking that he was describing the old hag running the Verdigris, though age-wise I'm not sure if it works out, or Maomao's mother.

From this episode I feel like Gaoshun is more critical to the series than Jinshi

I think it was maybe two episodes ago? Like the episode where they debuted the new OP?

[frubam]

Still this:

What was the implication of Jinshi saying that Lakan was looking for a courtesan? No spoilers, obvs =0v.

Lakan snickered when Jinshi said that and it gave the impression that it was a bad thing. Figured there is some context I am missing....

Originally Posted by grecefar

jinshi is lucky that gaoshun is an eunuch, gaoshun would've won maomao from the beginning.

I was under the impression that him and Jinshi(or really just Jinshi, with Gaoshun being granted exception because he is Jinshi's personal servant) were some sort of special envoys sent by the emperor to keep order in the back courts, and thus didn't have to succumb to the treatment.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by frubam

Still this:

Lakan snickered when Jinshi said that and it gave the impression that it was a bad thing. Figured there is some context I am missing....

Lakan wants to kill time with small talk. Jinshi wants Lakan out of his office as soon as possible so he can get back to his work. Lakan snickered because Jinshi made a critical mistake and he'll be able to talk Jinshi's ear off.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Lakan wants to kill time with small talk. Jinshi wants Lakan out of his office as soon as possible so he can get back to his work. Lakan snickered because Jinshi made a critical mistake and he'll be able to talk Jinshi's ear off.

Oh I see. I was settled into thinking it may have been that Lakan smirked because Jinshi "knew" about the brothel, but that didn't make much sense as that other guy, a military official, went to one, so it shouldn't be too far-fetched to know, but your explanation makes more sense and is simpler. Appreciate the clarifications =03.

[Frontier]

You can tell how unenthusiastic Jinshi is about asking for Maomao to get involved in a case brought to his desk from another man .

A metalworker, three sons he never passed on his full skills to, three different and varying quality of mementos, and a desire for a tea party...how does it all come together? It doesn't involve poison, but Maomao can't resist the intellectual challenge .

What does Basen have against Maomao? Though when it comes down to it they seem to work together well enough. And he reminds her of Gaoshun? I doubt that's a coincidence .

Well, there's definitely some tension in this family. The two older brothers are outspoken and resentful towards their father and what he left them, the younger brother is trying to hold the family together but isn't confident enough to speak up against his brother, and the mother is doing her best to manage things. But this definitely isn't an ideal happy family .

But Maomao is able to at least put the pieces together and realize the fathers' lasting legacy...a trick to create a key that opens up desks filled with different metals, all meant to work in tandem in their own way. The younger brother, understanding metalwork like their father, realizes it was his last message to his sons: to make them realize he understood and respected their individual vocations and talents and that they would be at their best working together. And this was enough for the younger brother to finally be honest and speak up to his siblings .

And all's well that ends well. The brothers are close again and working together and Maomao even gets to advertise her dad so the younger brother takes better care of his health than his father did .

Fathers' intentions towards their children...I wonder if there was more to Maomao being involved in this case than just resolving the family situation ?

Lakan is a shrewd and cunning man and used to being the smartest man in the room, and he knows far more than he's telling, and Jinshi feels like he's dancing around his finger. It was also probably deliberate that he left the mystery of what happened to the courtesan he fancied to be answered by someone with experience in that world (likely Maomao) and left a drink that Jinshi would likely offer Maomao .

I never thought Jinshi and Maomao's relationship would progress to the point where she's helping him with his makeup. Wait...are they going on a date outside the palace next week !?

[SeijiSensei]

So is Maomao going to become the Sherlock Holmes of this world? Little about this case drew on her knowledge. The lead poisoning that killed the father wasn't especially relevant to the solution. Let's hope Lacan doesn't have a never-ending supply of these one-off mysteries.

[ryllharu]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

So is Maomao going to become the Sherlock Holmes of this world? Little about this case drew on her knowledge. The lead poisoning that killed the father wasn't especially relevant to the solution. Let's hope Lacan doesn't have a never-ending supply of these one-off mysteries.

It seems more like Lakan is testing Jinshi's little "pet" who there are so many rumors about. It's not that different than what Jinshi did to Maomao when he first tricked her into revealing her skill levels.

Lakan seemed to know the solution immediately without even seeing it. Maybe he's the one who even helped set up the puzzle with the father.

[grecefar]

It wasn't that hard to solve the mistery since the place were the fishbowl was, you could see the clean square in the center with all the dust.

But she figure it out the secret technique too, she is really smart. Too smart I think.

I didn't expect a date chapter to be honest.

[Nachtwandler]

I really hope we will get another season. Because while this one will have a bunch of things related to MaoMaos family, it will only start revealing the actual plot that will take another two LN volumes and will affect the further story.

[Kanon]

The puzzle was a bit much, it felt like it came straight out of a video game. It was super easy to figure out too, I'm surprised it took Maomao this much thinking. Anyway, everything ended well for this family, save for the poor youngest son who will most likely die of lead poisoning. I'm assuming the father only started using lead fairly recently if Maomao believes the son will need a doctor soon.

Next episode looks interesting, with Maomao and Jinshi getting all dressed up for a date.

[Decel]

So, Basen might be Gaoshun's son.

And with Lakan's interest in Maomao and being super-smart himself... Is he maybe Luomen's brother? Thus Maomao's uncle?

I don't think Maomao has seen/met Lakan since she came to the outer-palace, right?

Plot-wise this is currently uber-slow. At least in the rear palace the plot unearthed the story and character development along, most of the time. Here they're just mystery-of-the-week.

[SeijiSensei]

This episode cribbed a bit much from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/J_SGlGHF_XQ

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[Thor's Hammer]

My main takeaways from Episodes 14, 15, and 16 are that Lakan talking about how he did what he could to lower the price of the courtesan he fancied since he couldn't compete fairly with the two rich men who endlessly tried to outbid the other on her is that he either got her pregnant (I lean towards this interpretation) or ruined her face and that Basen had a poor opinion of Maomao not because she revealed that Kounen was murdered but for some other reason (I'm guessing it was 'cause of her commoner origins like most others) because Kounen's murderer has blue eyes while Basen has yellow eyes, and a series that focuses on small details like this one wouldn't play loose with historical accuracy, meaning that contact lens should not exist in this society. Maomao revealed in Episode 16 that Basen reminds her of Gaoshun in how they sigh, so in addition to sharing similar looks, they also have similar mannerisms, so Basen is probably Gaoshun's son. I also went back to an episode with Luomen in it, and his eye colour doesn't match Maomao's, so it checks out that Lakan could be her real flesh and blood father.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The puzzle was a bit much, it felt like it came straight out of a video game. It was super easy to figure out too, I'm surprised it took Maomao this much thinking. Anyway, everything ended well for this family, save for the poor youngest son who will most likely die of lead poisoning. I'm assuming the father only started using lead fairly recently if Maomao believes the son will need a doctor soon.

Next episode looks interesting, with Maomao and Jinshi getting all dressed up for a date.

Good thing Maomao directed him towards her dad .

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Good thing Maomao directed him towards her dad .

She's been shilling her dad as much as she can lately

She could have just warned the guy that lead is dangerous, but then her dad would have lost a potential customer.