The Apothecary Diaries 2x24 "The Beginning" - reaction & review
Added 2026-01-01 13:22:42 +0000 UTCComments
Aww this is such a lovely wrap-up comment — I totally agree, it just feels right that the finale aired around the holidays! Shisui really is best girl; the fact that she acted knowing she might not survive says so much about her heart. And that's a good point, I hadn't thought of that — the hairpin detail actually works within the world’s logic, especially with the old-style feifas and that snowy landing! I thought it was a little far off at first but I guess it does make sense! And omg yes, her name choices are so thoughtful! I heard some of the references in there as well, as she was saying it! She really does pay homage to the people she loves in everything she does. Clever little tanuki indeed ^_^ LMAO “Jinshi's manhood awoken strongly” might be my favorite phrase ever 😂 The “Pesticide” and “Cargo” fun facts are also great, those ship names are too perfect. And I agree, this arc really hit differently. The emotional payoff, all the reveals, everyone finally showing their true selves - it’s such a satisfying end to a beautifully layered story. Absolute chef’s kiss. So in response to your question, yes I think the payoff really exceeded my expectations!!! If I had one complaint, it was just that I didn't keep up with all the mystery as well as I did last season, which is more on me than the series. But I do feel like they managed to top themselves in terms of the story this time around!!!
Melissa Moore
2026-01-05 16:19:48 +0000 UTCThat still is just crazy to me!!! Like that thing is not much thicker than a chopstick....what are the odds?! Snow saving her from the fall makes a little more sense, but wow....do tanuki also have 9 lives like cats or something? Lol. That's kinda sad about the moms! At least the kids made it out!! HAHAHA so glad frog blocked is catching on!! You're so welcome!!
Melissa Moore
2026-01-05 16:16:05 +0000 UTCHappy New Year to you too!! 🐸✨ I’m so hyped hearing that Season 3 is coming in October (and possibly a movie?? let’s gooo!). You’re totally right — Jinshi had about 0% brain space for dead-kids trauma in that scene, he was way too busy being hopelessly frogged up for Maomao 😭. And omg, the Shisui survival thing is crazy!! The hair stick detail actually blew my mind a little — that totally tracks with how sneaky and clever she’s been all along. She really outplayed everyone this season. Also thank you for the little production fun fact — knowing the author’s a real pharmacist makes the whole world of the show feel extra authentic! 🧪💚 I’m gonna miss this series like crazy, but October can’t come fast enough. Until then… we’ll let Jinshi sleep (he’s earned it) 🐸💤
Melissa Moore
2026-01-05 16:14:55 +0000 UTCHaha yes, Maomao’s “yeah, whatever” energy in that scene absolutely killed me — she’s so done with Jinshi’s persistence at this point 😭 it’s like she’s hit her limit of frog-level antics. Totally agree that the whole “resurrecting the children” moment just outweighed everything else for her right then. Oh, and that bit about Xiaolan’s letters! I remember hearing that too — it’s such a bittersweet detail. The idea that the letters did reach Maomao, but she couldn’t write back because of something as simple as a missing address… it really fits the tone of this series: all these tiny, human miscommunications with emotional weight. As for Maomao returning to the district — I think part of it ties to her wanting to step away from palace politics for a bit. It’s such a Maomao move — practical, emotionally repressed, and lowkey self-sabotaging at the same time. OMG, you're totally right about the unintentional threat Jinshi poses now! I hate thinking of him and Gyokyuou at odds, other than their friendly back and forth banter/rivalry when it comes to Maomao lol. And omg, your Tamamo theory is so cool! The parallel with Tamamo no Mae makes so much sense — the “beautiful deceiver” motif fits perfectly. Love that you connected it to the real myth and that bit about the rock! I didn’t even know the seal had been destroyed in real life — that’s such a neat detail!
Melissa Moore
2026-01-05 16:12:03 +0000 UTCFrom my POV, it's like Maomao is so tired of Jinshi being 🐸 and his persistance of being 🐸. And that resurrecting the children came first. So she's just said that like "Yeah, whatever." Quite hilarious LOL. According to what I know, Xiaolan did frequently write letters to Maomao. But she forgot to write her address, so Maomao is unable to write back. It's as if the letters never reached Maomao, but it reached. There was another anime where the older sister saintess write letters to her younger sister saintess. They love each other, but her parents doesn't like her and what her away. So the letters never reached the younger sister until the younger sister write to her, that the older sister realized the problem and asked one of her servant who is a ninja to personally deliver her by herself. Ok, I never read anything beyond this point, so all of this is what I have heard plus my assumption for what woild happen next. Jinshi existances is now a threat to Gyokuyo even through he doesn't mean it. As he was a crowned prince, if something happening to Gyokuyo's son, the crown is likely either passed to either Lihua's son (if she has one) or back to Jinshi, which Jinshi trying to avoid, and he sure doesn't want that. So we have to see what will he able to do to avoid that. I still don't know why Maomao needs to go back to the district. Couldn't she remain Jinshi's servant? That's her original position since the later half of the first season. Someone please tell me. Fun Fact: Shisui's new name, Tamamo, may be inspired by Tamamo no Mae, one of the greatest nine-tail fox in Japanese myth, a mythical fox who 'Henshin' into an other worldly beautiful lady and deceive the Japanese emperor, and later get sealed by the Shaman. Since Tamamo going to the other side of the ocean from a country that is fictionally China, she may going to a fictional Japan! Also, the rock seal of Tamamo no Mae did exist in real world! It look like the rock Tanjiro slice after his training with Sabito before going to the final selection. And for a deeper fun fact, the Tamamo's seal is now destroyed due to natural event a few years ago, maybe a lightning.
ABHB Ya-iba
2026-01-02 22:58:32 +0000 UTCHappy New Year! 🐸! Housekeeping is, I believe there’s also an anime movie coming at some point but at this point Season 3 is slated for October of this year. 🐸. …I had a feeling I might need to get the hose… 🐸. You asked why Jinshi was behaving that way around dead kids, look considering everything he’s had to suppress and deal with, and having Maomao to himself… that is literally the LAST thing he’s even thinking about. 🐸. Normal guys deal with this, I don’t even want to think about what he’s had to put up with. 🐸. I told you I didn’t want you asking about the kids just because the more you beg us to say something the worse the chance of someone slipping gets. 🐸. The show did a good job of returning to the exact verbiage Shisui used in each scene and how it applied to the current context. 🐸. The kids surviving is a bit of a miracle, as even Suirei said there was no guarantee it would work, even after she survived. 🐸. Ah-Duo taking the kids in makes a degree of sense, especially since she lost her ability to bear children after birthing Jinshi due to unfortunate circumstances. 🐸. Maomao and Xiaolan have moved to other places, she’s working for a concubine’s sister and she took over her old job at the pleasure district, kind of like her dad used to. 🐸. Was she about to cut off her finger? 🐸? When Jinshi visited, Grams and Gaoshun were very irritated when they got interrupted - they’re trying to set them up. 🐸. Maomao knows who he really is now, that’s not a shocker. 🐸. But think about what happened when Chou-u barged in. 🐸. He asked her “did I do okay?” 🐸? It looked like he was asking about something he got her, but it could’ve been precisely to frog block that situation too. 🐸. Maomao’s a little crafty like that. 🐸. Well, Jinshi didn’t leave without marking his territory, though. 🐸. I don’t think he’s on the medicine - guys like him only have eyes for the one they really want - and we all know what that means. 🐸. Okay it’s time to explain why Shisui is alive - she wasn’t riddled with holes, she only got shot one or two times while dancing or she wouldn’t be able to finish. 🐸. Think about what happened when Maomao gave her the hair stick. 🐸. She did not put it in her hair, she slid it in her shirt by her left breast, exactly where she was shot. 🐸. The hair stick took the bullet. 🐸. That’s what was glinting in the bushes. 🐸. To sum up the season: we all got played - because Shisui is one clever tanuki and was playing the audience from minute one of the season. 🐸. Talk about playing the long game. 🐸. But what’s going to live rent free in our heads is when you finally discovered what the frog was… that reaction is gonna live in infamy. 🐸. Fun fact I ran across today: the author of the story is an actual pharmacist in real life. 🐸. I don’t know what will win anime of the year, but rest assured this one will no doubt be in the conversation. 🐸. It’s just so well written. 🐸. But we’re saying goodbye, and we’ll see you in October. 🐸. Until then… let’s let Jinshi sleep. 🤫 🐸.
Tyler Stobbe
2026-01-02 01:18:10 +0000 UTCAnd that a wrap, with a little bow on top, it's good that it's still on the christmas/new year period, that work well ^^. I already said it but Shisui is best girl, she didn't know that she will survive, but still have done everything she could to save people that deserved to be saved. About how she survived, you've seen the hairpin and yeah, maybe it's not too thick and big, but the metal used for and the fact that the feifas, the guns of this universe, aren't as strong as the ones we have now help us believing in it. And for the fall ? Snow + bush might be a big help to that. It is funny that yeah, she choose a name that sound similar to Maomao, just like she took "Shisui" because it was her sister real name before Shenmei ask that she was renamed Suirei, so she really love to pay tribute to the people she like when choosing it and also, the jade being not only where Maomao worked (Jade pavillon), the main color she wear and a reference to the new empress, as they said "gyo" mean jade, just like in Gyokuyou (who is said to have jade eyes). Shisui or rather Tamamo, is a clever little tanuki. I knew the JinMao scene would please you and yeah... Jinshi manhood awoken strongly in this episode lol. Even if I love the JinMao ship and know that it might be the endgame here, I still love the idea than in another world, it would be a Maomao and Shisui love. Fun fact, I just looked, Maomao and Shisui ship name is "Pesticide" because of course, poison and insects lol, another funny one is "Cargo", the ship name for Maomao and... the poison lmao. To finish, I think I remember saying that the last arc of this season was stroger that the Lakan's one in season one. They're not the same of course and you might like one better than another, but for me, the whole arc since Maomao is kidnapped to this final, is chief kiss with a lot of reveal and emotional moment, an arc where everyone show their true face not just one, and for that, it's my favorite. So what do you think ? Does this last arc was worth the wait and the hype ?
Spadeas
2026-01-01 14:26:04 +0000 UTCMaomao put the hairpin in the collar of her dress which was at her chest. The hairpin blocked the bullet, and if you watch the trade she made again you will notice the mark the bullet made on the hairstick. The bullet was most likely what that guard saw in the after credit scene in the last volume, and I guess the snow saved her from the fall. Oh and the children's mothers were most likely executed. 1 more thing..Being flogged blocked is now my new favorite saying. Thank you for that.
JAMES D'ALESSANDRO
2026-01-01 14:15:56 +0000 UTC
