Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Apothecary Diaries
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Andrew Cunningham
 Posts: 444 Location: Seattle |
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Hyuga Natsu answers a lot of questions on Twitter about details the novels don't actually dig into; I think most people would assume that stuff was fair game to talk about since the time to actually put in the book has come and gone. It's not spoilers, it's just liner notes. (That said, certainly people should mind the timing of that versus where the anime has got to.)
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 363 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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Your comment prompted me to look into it (as safely as I could without spoiling more) and no, it hasn't come up in the LN yet, but yes, the author has confirmed it. So still spoiled 
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2123 |
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Looking further, this may be a translation issue. J-Novel Club's translation of LN2 renders this line as "The madam is looking to clear out those who are getting on in years. I won’t stipulate who you must buy out." Crunchyroll's subtitles say "I won't say who, but the old lady wants to get rid of an aging courtesan." Anyone who has the Netflix or manga translations available, feel free to add those. |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9841 Location: Virginia |
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@Shay Guy
The manga text is: "I won't name any names... But I know the old madam is itching to clear out one of the girls getting long in the tooth." It sounds like she wants him to take one of the three princesses. But... |
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shosakukan
Posts: 292 |
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To get straight to the result, spoiler[Lakan has ransomed Fèngxiān. The words in the text of the Apothecary Diaries in the original connote that in her detached and cool way Māomāo expects Lakan to choose Fèngxiān. And at the Verdigris House Méiméi has helped Lakan to find and choose Fèngxiān.] |
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Shay Guy
Posts: 2123 |
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Episode 24
Back when episode 4 aired, I wrote this:
To me, the saga of Fengxian feels like the culmination of this idea. Lakan implies to Jinshi in episode 15 that he deliberately "lowered her value" by impregnating her. This is very, very easy to believe, not just because the camerawork and sound design make us deeply uncomfortable with him, but because this has been painstakingly established as the kind of story and the kind of world where that sort of thing absolutely happens. Maomao has a daily habit of using makeup to make herself less eye-catching so she doesn't get dragged off into a dark alley. The empress dowager was raped by a pedophile as a child and forced to give birth to his baby. Sexual violence, male-on-female violence in particular, is a part of this world. And the way those men can long to "degrade" women with the sort of beauty, talent, and pride that Lakan ascribes to Fengxian? It's very much a real thing, and it's natural to see Lakan as an embodiment of that violence and its menace. Except… The Apothecary Diaries has never been interested in telling that kind of story. This is a story about patriarchy, but above all about what girls and women think, feel, and do in it. Remember, our first sight of that pedophile's victim was her cradling her infant granddaughter with a loving smile, the child of the boy she was forced to bear -- that is, even an undeniable victim like her has more to her life than victimhood. (Ask Samantha Geimer what she thinks of the US justice system and media sometime.) The image of Lakan as predator and Fengxian as prey resonates, but it gives no consideration to Fengxian's own agency, her role as anything but a passive object that he acts upon (and ignores that he didn't get what he says he wanted -- as dm caught on to, he clearly didn't buy her out). The flashback's reveal that Lakan had no idea she was pregnant until it was far too late, and our brothel apothecary's explanation that any courtesan worth her salt can get contraceptive and abortifacient drugs easily, and pays attention to the timing of her period -- in sum, the realization that it was Fengxian who wanted the pregnancy, not Lakan -- creates something more nuanced, and more in keeping with how TAD likes to do things. And there's one extra layer of tragedy to that. She wanted to bear the child, but… it seems to me she wanted Maomao only as a means of getting with Lakan. She mutilated her own baby in a desperate attempt to appeal to him. In episode 18, Maomao says Fengxian used to chase her out of the annex in hatred, back when she had the strength. And Maomao in turn clearly has little love for the "stupid woman", when she has a great deal for the Three Princesses, her father, and even the madam. Fengxian was capable of romantic love, but seemingly not parental love -- and we can see what that led her to do to Maomao. A rabbi I respect once said on Twitter that “seeing someone as capable of sinning in ways that matter is a fundamental part of seeing them as human”, and if feminism is the radical notion that women are people, The Apothecary Diaries is a deeply feminist work. And now we get to rewatch the show and see just how many times the camera focuses on Maomao's pinky, all the way back to at least episode 3 -- especially when she's brooding about romantic love! |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9841 Location: Virginia |
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@shosakukan
And yet Maomao admits to herself that she would have preferred that Laken take Meimei, who was willing to be taken. However both Maomao and Meimei felt it necessary to inform him of Fengxian's continued existence. Fair play I guess. In the manga version when Meimei says she wishes Fengxian had spoken up sooner, she adds "before I ever had a chance to get my hopes up." which adds a sad little twist to the scene. |
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remuremu
Posts: 1 |
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hi how do I block ep reviews on the ANN frontpage?
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 363 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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When Lakan goes from telling the madam that 100,000 would be a stretch - even for one of the Three Princesses - to offering 100,000, 200,000, or any price she names for Fengxian......
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Akcoll99
Posts: 229 |
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I knew it was coming from having read it in the manga, but the scene of Lakan being reunited with Fengxian had me straight up crying. This whole episode was just perfect from beginning to end, but the way that whole moment played out was as good as anime, or any kind of storytelling, can get.
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Cryten
 Posts: 987 |
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I loved the series, and for me it was the greater of the duo of Frieren and Apothecary Diaries (I did love both). I am very glad that in the next few years we will get more. The question now become should I only buy the novels that the anime covered and experience season 2 fresh or should I indulge in all the novel reading I can get. I fear for the new season of Ascendance of a Bookworm given how I have adored reading the Light Novels.
I would like to offer my thanks to Rebecca for the reviews and how careful she was not to imply too much about proceedings. It is impossible to be totally neutral to the knowledge you gained but I think you did a fine Job. As always I am appreciative of the work of the reviewers and of the website as a whole. Good Show. |
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njprogfan
Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1161 Location: A River Named Toms |
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Boy, talk about what a good season Winter was, with this series, Frieren, The Dangers in My Heart, Delicious in Dungeon, Gushing Over Magical Girls, (yeah, it was that good) and the surprise for me, the comedy 'Tis Time for Torture, Princess, but I would chose The Apothecary Diaries for my favorite when it comes to it's sheer beauty and thought provoking story lines. But what makes me care so much about this anime is MaoMao, my fav female protagonist; she's feisty, intelligent, rambunctious, reckless and when she wants to be - beautiful and THOSE eyes! I would be lost in them. Jinshi's one lucky guy to have her in his corner. What I'm enjoying and will continue to enjoy is the slow moving eventual romance between the two. It may be one-sided and Jinshi won't admit it, but he's carried her now twice and they were two of the most romantic I've seen. I'm happy to see this anime will continue sooner then later.
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MFrontier
Posts: 11224 |
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Say what you will about Lakan, the love he feels for Maomao and Fengxian is genuine, so much so that he would run barreling towards Fengxian the moment he realizes she's still alive and there and immediately purchase her. No matter how decayed she is, she's still as beautiful as the day he last saw her.
Man, how different would things have been had Grams not made him think Fengxian had left or passed away? At least Meimei made sure Fengxian got her Happy Ending. Maomao has more self-awareness regarding her biological parents than you'd expect (though Luomen helped inform her about Lakan too) and her own mothers' culpability in what happened...but because she was never raised by him and Lakan is, well, Lakan she can never see him as much more than a sperm donor. Still, the way she holds him accountable for being too lazy to catch Suirei (and how that would've benefited Maomao) felt a bit like a daughter scolding her father. Maomao may not view them as parents but the least she can do is do a beautiful sendoff dance...to an audience of Jinshi. Jinshi thinks they're in a romance, Maomao basically sees him as her best source for herbs and interesting cases. But they do have a good working relationship and I'm excited to see that continue into season 2! |
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yeehaw
 Posts: 423 |
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When I saw that "S2 confimed endcard", I hootered and hollered. Finally some good news
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MPAndonee
 Posts: 23 |
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I finally finished this amazing series today and all I can say is "wow". To be clear, I only reserve "wow" and 5 stars for things that blow me away, just like this series did.
I know I have to go off and order the source material, something I've been doing a lot lately. |
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