Image courtesy of J-Novel ClubJ-Novel Club announced at Anime Boston on Saturday that it will release an English audiobook adaptation for Hyuganatsu’s The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) light novel series. Audiobook publisher RB Media is overseeing production of the audiobook. The first volume is slated for release later this year.
Hyuganatsu is attending Anime Boston this weekend.
Hyuganatsu began serializing the story on the “Shōsetsuka ni Narō” (Let’s Become Novelists) website in October 2011. Shufunotomo began publishing the novels in print volume with illustrations by Touko Shino in August 2014.
J-Novel Club began releasing the novels digitally in English in November 2020. The company describes the story:
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?
Nekokurage launched an ongoing manga adaptation in Square Enix’s Monthly Big Gangan magazine in May 2017. Square Enix Manga & Books is releasing the manga adaptation in English. The company is also publishing the novels in print.
Minoji Kurata launched a separate manga adaptation titled The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Mao Mao no Kōkyū Nazotoki Techō) in Shogakukan’s Monthly Sunday GX magazine in August 2017. Shogakukan’s Sunday Webry manga website started publishing the manga online in December 2018. Viz Media announced in February it has licensed the manga, and will release the first volume this fall.
The first season of the anime adaptation premiered in October 2023 with the first three episodes, and aired for two cours (quarters of a year). The anime has a second season that premiered in January 2025.
The anime is getting a third season, which will debut in October 2026 for its first cours (quarter of a year), and its second cours will debut in April 2027. A separate anime film will open in December 2026, featuring a new original story by Hyuganatsu.
Source: Press release
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.
