posted on by Joanna Cayanan
TOHO animation started streaming the English-subtitled main trailer for the second anime season based on Natsu Hyūga and Touko Shino‘s The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) light novel series on Tuesday. The trailer announces that Asami Seto has joined the cast as the maid Shisui. It also announces and previews the opening theme song “Hyakkaryōran” (Splendid Bounty) by Lilas Ikuta (BELLE, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction).
This is the first opening theme song for a television anime in Ikuta’s solo career. (She also performs as the YOASOBI unit’s vocalist under the name ikura.)
© 日向夏・イマジカインフォス／「薬屋のひとりごと」製作委員会
The season will premiere on January 10 at 11:00 p.m. JST (9:00 a.m. EST) on Nippon TV‘s FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT programming block, and will air for two consecutive cours (quarters of a year).
Crunchyroll will stream the second season.
The first season premiered in October 2023 with the first three episodes, and aired for two cours (quarters of a year). Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan and is also streaming an English dub.
The second cours (quarter of a year) of the first season debuted on January 6.
Norihiro Naganuma (The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 1) directed the first season at TOHO animation and OLM, and Naganuma also supervised the scripts. Akinori Fudesaka was the assistant director. Yukiko Nakatani (Go! Princess Precure, Tropical-Rouge! Precure) designed the characters. Shōji Hata was the sound director. Satoru Kousaki (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss), and Arisa Okehazama (ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister!) all composed music for the anime.
J-Novel Club publishes the novel series digitally, and it 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!
Hyūga 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 Shino in August 2014. 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 also started publishing the novels in print, with the first volume released on May 14, and the fourth volume will release on February 4.
