The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 09

The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 09

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!

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?

Series Overview: 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!

Biographical Notes:

Natsu Hyuuga is the author of The Apothecary Diaries light novel series.

This is Nekokurage’s first manga adaptation of a light novel series.

Title Notes:

TOP MANGA FANS WANT ANIMATED: At Anime Japan 2021, The Apothecary Diaries was voted into the Top 10 Manga We Want to See Animated Ranking at #10!

BIG SELLER: The first volume of this manga adaptation has sold over 600,000 copies in Japan!

BASED ON A HIT WEB NOVEL NOW BEING PUBLISHED IN THE NA MARKET: This series is an adaptation of a popular web novel that was serialized in 2011 on one of Japan’s main open-source creator platforms. From there, the novel was published as a single volume, before being republished as an ongoing light novel series due to its popularity. The novel is being digitally released in English by J-Novel Club, with Vol. 5 going on sale in May 2022.

STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST: Palaces might normally come with princesses, but an eccentric, pragmatic servant with a face full of freckles and her wits about her takes center stage in this series! Forget Sherlock; the great detective of the inner palace is born…and her name is Maomao! Female-fronted fantasy manga with sprawling ensemble casts and lots of political intrigue have gained a bigger audience in recent memory.

FAN FAVORITE: This series generated a lot of buzz following Square Enix’s new manga title announcements at Anime NYC 2019, and it continues to be brought up in social media conversations about new manga in 2020.

SERIES LENGTH: Series is currently at 10 volumes and ongoing.

AGE RATING: Teen – This material is suitable for readers ages 13+.

More details on Nekokurage & Natsu Hyuuga:

Natsu Hyuuga’s Twitter Page

Nekokurage’s Twitter Page

More works by Nekokurage

More works by Natsu Hyuuga