Fans of historical anime are in for a treat as the new anime series, The Apothecary Diaries, was announced with a new trailer that features a beautiful recreation of ancient China.
This upcoming anime was announced today by TOHO animation, and it is based on the light novel series of the same name that has quite the following.
While many anime with ancient civilization settings often feature heavier topics like violence and war, this new series is a bit different.
The Apothecary Diaries Light Novel
The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto in Japanese) is a light novel series by Natsu Hyuga that began in 2011. As its title implies, the series follows Maomao, a young pharmacist in an eastern kingdom (heavily implied to be China).
Soon, Maomao is kidnapped and sold as a servant to the imperial palace. There, her inquisitive nature and knowledge of medicine help her solve a mysterious illness that has befallen the emperor’s children.
This catches the attention of an influential eunuch named Jinshi, who makes her the lady-in-waiting for the emperor’s favorite consort.
You can check out the new trailer here:
Aside from its interesting premise, what makes the show something that many fans are looking forward to is the animation.
Based on the trailer, The Apothecary Diaries recreates ancient China in impressive detail.
Handling animation duties for the series is OLM, a storied anime studio that may be best known by modern anime fans for working on shows like Odd Taxi as well as Komi Can’t Communicate.
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The Apothecary Diaries Cast, Release Date
Alongside the announcement and the trailer, TOHO and OLM revealed that Maomao will be voiced by popular Japanese VA Aoi Yuuki.
Yuuki is a prolific voice actress with lots of popular roles. She is best known for voicing Tsuyu Asui in My Hero Academia, Lucy in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Madoka Kaname in Madoka Magica, and Mami Nanami in Rent-A-Girlfriend.
While Yuuki has a wide vocal range, she is known by many for voicing younger or smaller characters while still maintaining a slightly deeper register. This makes her a great choice for Maomao.
Along with Yuuki, some staff members were also revealed, including director Norihiro Naganuma (The Ancient Magus' Bride) and character designer Yukiko Nakatani (Tropical-Rouge! Precure).
The Apothecary Diaries anime is set to release sometime in 2023, though there’s no word yet on a release window, nor is there info on a streaming platform release outside Japan.
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