There are two extremes to The Apothecary Diaries. On one hand, there are themes that are soft and trivial. They tackle with love and the blissful unawareness that basks Maomao. The anime dives into Jinshi’s adoration for her and how he would stop at nothing to express his feelings. On the other hand, this show would hit you with the darkest themes on a bright summer’s day as if you didn’t just spend the last episode squealing over something as adorable as a third-wheeled date.
So, yes, now I find myself finally facing the one arc I was dreading. The former emperor is here, and I have no good things to say about him. Some who were unaware of his deeds would pity his reputation and how easily he was regarded as a lousy and weak ruler. Others saw him for who he was, especially his concubines, who suffered his wrath on an occasional basis.
The Apothecary Diaries isn’t afraid to explore the dark
For the most part, The Apothecary Diaries can be viewed as a cute little show that deals with Jinshi and Maomao, who struggle with their feelings for each other in a world divided by class and society. These themes, on their own, feel heavy to deal with. However, what this show does best is exploring the other sides of the dark world we live in.
There are different spectrums to the dark just as much as there are different spectrums to the light. We can appreciate the glory that may befall a warrior as skilled as Jinshi or the appreciation of Maomao’s skills as an apothecary, but what hides in the shadows is deep-rooted politics that are all but inescapable.
The themes tackled by this episode were also something that the anime didn’t warn us about. Every single time it dives into deep themes, it does so with little to no warning because that is exactly how the world works, and that is also how Maomao is dealing with those situations.
Maomao is tasked with investigating the old palace where the former emperor passed away. It may not strike anyone differently, but things take a turn when the Empress Dowager admits she believes she cursed him before his passing. If this was a supernatural series, I would have been ecstatic to see that gross man getting what he deserved because he did deserve any curse coming his way.
All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid…
At first, we get to learn that the Empress Dowager had a big hand in abolishing slavery and ill treatment towards humans, but it is through Maomao’s monologue that another reality comes out. Disguised slavery still exists in the form of courtesans who get treated like collateral objects, getting traded for money as if their lives are valued at nothing. The former emperor was given an array of noble ladies, but his eyes only met those who hadn’t even come of age yet.
The disgust and trauma in Empress Dowager’s voice hit me in ways I hadn’t expected. This was a woman who wept nightly after a man over twice her age did unspeakable things to her. She cursed him on a daily basis because of how disgusted she felt. I can only pretend to understand how she must have felt. Now, she holds the responsibility of an empire, her son ruling but barely younger than his own mother.
Her fate is so twisted and painful that the only thing that brought me peace was the fact that he was already dead. The mystery of why his body hasn’t decomposed yet will only be tackled later, but it was important to set up the premise for one of his victims before trying to understand the man himself.
There are always two sides to the same coin, and one mustn’t judge the book by its cover, but nothing can make me defend the former emperor, no matter how weak-willed he was. His mother protected his behavior rather than going against it, and he hid in her shadow till his final breath.
Rating: 9/10
The Apothecary Diaries is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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