The Apothecary Diaries takes place in the Inner Palace of a historical kingdom, which means there’s plenty of drama on a daily basis. Fans have come to love the unique setting and the politics between the concubines, as well as Maomao, the protagonist.
This curious little apothecary began as a servant in the Inner Palace but soon rose to an important position, solving mysteries left and right. However, Natsu Hyuuga didn’t always plan for her to be a palace servant. Instead, she was supposed to be a mother of three!
Natsu Hyuga’s original plan for Maomao is shocking
Maomao wasn’t always supposed to be this flippant girl who is obsessed with medicinal herbs. In a recent episode featured on NHK World-Japan, author Natsu Hyuuga revealed that she had first planned for Maomao to be a mother with three children. The protagonist was supposed to work for a wealthy family whose children were dying from toxins since they lived in a rural mining community. Thus, Maomao would have been a housewife solving cases related to poisoning.
However, Hyuuga realized that online readers actually favored a more fantasy setting. This made her decide to change the setting entirely.
I set it in the city to make it flashier. A city full of poison is scary. But where there’s power, there’s poison.
-Natsu Hyuuga
Rather than setting the story in a rural community, Hyuuga ended up choosing a city to make everything seem more flashy. With a more developed area as the background, crimes are more sneaky and happen between people who were hiding behind masks of sophistication. Since they have more to lose, the characters in the new setting might be more vicious.
Thus, the story transformed into a political drama that was teeming with danger and poison-related conspiracies. Maomao was also recast as a genius apothecary and became the poison tester for a concubine.
Jinshi’s fate was the worst in the first draft of The Apothecary Diaries
Some fans might think that Natsu Hyuuga made a huge positive change to Maomao’s character. But the one who profited the most from the redrafting procedure is Jinshi. According to the author, she was originally planning to kill off Jinshi, and he didn’t have as big of a role as he does now.
The worst part is that Hyuuga had actually planned for Gaoshun to be the killer. Jinshi didn’t have a high standing in the original draft, and Gaoshun was ordered to get rid of him. Thankfully, the author realised that fans had become really attached to the chemistry between Maomao and Jinshi.
Thus, she abandoned the original plan and let Jinshi become a central figure in the story. She also admitted that she doesn’t usually change plots drastically, but she also doesn’t see the need to write things that readers won’t enjoy. Thus, her resolve to make a story that connected with the audience brought forth the current version of The Apothecary Diaries.
The Apothecary Diaries anime is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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