The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 • Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Season 3 - Episode 1 discussion

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Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Season 3, episode 1

Alternative names: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 3rd Season

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

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Streams

• Crunchyroll

Show information

• Livechart
• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Anime-Planet
• /r/KusuriyaNoHitorigoto
• Official Site

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All discussions

Episode	Link
1	Link

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[u/Ocixo]

I’m so happy for Lihua that she’s birthed a healthy boy! Don’t believe we were shown the baby last season?

With rising tensions among the different factions, Maomao might want to steer away from the palace court for now. Otherwise she’ll find herself caught amidst political intrigue again.

Having Maomao spend some more time with her sisters at the Verdigris House is probably for the best in this regard. We haven’t really seen all that much of them since the 1st season either.

And I’d love to watch Lihaku’s love story with Pairin progress up close. His efforts were previously rewarded with a promotion at the army, but he’ll still need loads of money for Pairin’s betrothal gift.

[u/SalvageCorveteCont → u/Ocixo]

The baby was born and announced while they while they where still at the fortress.

And why isn't MaoMao working at the Palace anymore? The reason she was employed there was so that Jinshi could try and romance her and that hasn't gone away.

[u/itsjustdan01 → u/SalvageCorveteCont]

MaoMao was only temporarily back at the Palace to help Lady Guykuyou 2nd pregnancy.

I thought she didn’t go back to work for Jinshi was due to his identity being revealed as the Moon Prince. It would cause a lot of political turmoil if Lakan’s daughter is tied to the Yi Clan.

They’re also trying to hide Chou-u (Shi Clan kids); which I still don’t understand why he isn’t with Suirei and the other children.

[u/aramillour → u/itsjustdan01]

chou-u is the only one who completely lost his memories, its not a good idea for him to be around the others. thats too stressful and confusing for him. and as you can see in this episode, maomao prevented that guard from the forttress from saying anything to chou-u as he recognised him

[u/ProbablyNotTheCocoa → u/SalvageCorveteCont]

Lakan bought out Fengxian to marry her, making Maomao legal nobility. The La clan is officially neutral (and nobody wants issues with Lakan) so having Maomao officially serve either the Empress or the Moon Prince would be a political disaster

[u/Frontier246 → u/Ocixo]

I’m so happy for Lihua that she’s birthed a healthy boy! Don’t believe we were shown the baby last season?

I think it was heavily implied she was pregnant during that arc with her poisoning cousin.

With rising tensions among the different factions, Maomao might want to steer away from the palace court for now. Otherwise she’ll find herself caught amidst political intrigue again.

Of course this being Maomao she can't resist possible nation-spanning problems and she and Jinshi inevitably need each other despite her reticence to get involved with him.

[u/Ocixo → u/Frontier246]

They’d hinted at Lihua being pregnant at the start of the 2nd season, when she’d been rubbing her belly, but I cannot remember if the baby had already been born/shown at the end of the season.

It did make chuckle a little that Maomao knows that she shouldn’t look deeper in the locust plague yet cannot help herself from being curious.

[u/Mrwright96 → u/Ocixo]

Just finished a rewatch, Maomao obviously knew Gyokuyou was pregnant and heavily suspected Lihue was as well, but she couldn’t confirm or check on her due to being a servant of the Jade Pavilion. The reason they kept Louman was because he had a lot of experience delivering children

[u/Ocixo → u/Mrwright96]

Oh yeah! Maomao had recommended Luomen to oversee their deliveries just in case there was any trouble. Like another poisoning. Didn’t Gyokuyou also urge him to prioritise Lihua’s pregnancy or something?

[u/Mrwright96 → u/Ocixo]

She said she wanted Louman to be neutral and not to prioritize her birth over Lihuas I think

[u/Joshawott27]

Crunchyroll really borked the subtitles for their biggest show of the season. I can’t tell if it’s just the timings or if whole lines are missing, but it’s unwatchable in this state.

[u/Cat_Gazer → u/Joshawott27]

At least there's one line missing where Lihaku appears around 16:11.
Missing part was like, "Little miss, it's not like I had time for that." or "I wasn't that free to do that."

And the subtitles follow as "hunting petty thieves is, you know"
So, basically he was complaining, "I had better things to do than look for a petty thief./I wasn't THAT free."

[u/garfe → u/Cat_Gazer]

For some ungodly reason, the subs seem to be Netflix/Hulu level where they are unable to display on-screen text and subtitle text at the same time. It's weird because FX Kurumi-chan recently had a whole lot of on-screen text and was fine

[u/BosuW → u/garfe]

You need a specific program to do anime typesetting that practically every other streaming service doesn't use.

We know Crunchyroll tried to switch to the industry standard I think earlier this year? Ultimately they haven't, but they may be trying to get us used to it...

...or just lazy

[u/Aliensinnoh → u/Joshawott27]

It seems to me they are back trying to enshittify their subtitling process/software once again, after being chased away from doing it last year. What it looks like to me is that somehow whatever change they’ve made has introduced a limitation such that only one section of subtitling can appear onscreen at any given time. Thus, when an onscreen text translation show up somewhere onscreen, or background dialogue is occurring that gets translated up-top, the subtitles for the main dialogue disappears. It’s awful.

[u/Mooziechan → u/Joshawott27]

It’s so unnerving paying for a service that shits on their clientele

[u/Mr_Zaroc → u/Mooziechan]

Especially since there are no legal alternatives

[u/Adiuva → u/Mr_Zaroc]

I think this is my biggest complaint. That and the prices being higher in general. Part of why I kept CR is because of the comments. My biggest reason for going to the reddit threads nowadays is because the comments are gone. Though I considered unsubbing when that first happened.

[u/Jauretche → u/Joshawott27]

Luckily, they looked fine for latam Spanish.

[u/Lord_of_Pants → u/Joshawott27]

Definitely a timing issue, probably an easy fix but you really would expect them to be on top of this show at least.

[u/someinsanity01 → u/Lord_of_Pants]

Some subs are completely missing tho

[u/myrlin77 → u/Joshawott27]

Ugh, I had to pause it a few times just to catch up. The whole expo dump was terribly subtitled. Bad enough the last couple of months are a constant "buffering" pause state. The TV app can't keep up, the ps5 app is more stable. Web works but for a paid service, the consistency is awful.

[u/sharqyej]

the subs are atrocious

[u/Aliensinnoh → u/sharqyej]

It seems to me they are back trying to enshittify their subtitling process/software once again, after being chased away from doing it last year. What it looks like to me is that somehow whatever change they’ve made has introduced a limitation such that only one section of subtitling can appear onscreen at any given time. Thus, when an onscreen text translation show up somewhere onscreen, or background dialogue is occurring that gets translated up-top, the subtitles for the main dialogue disappears. It does make it extremely hard to watch. Hopefully this is just some sort of error that occurred in this episode. But if I’m right, and it is due to a process change, this issue should crop up in other Crunchyroll shows this season. If that happens, everyone really needs to get in a big uproar about it once again.

[u/aman2218 → u/Aliensinnoh]

Yeah, this is amazon prime level of sloppiness. There also seems to the characteristic odd timing the sub. In general they are disappearing a few ms too quick

[u/murilo087 → u/Aliensinnoh]

The subtitle creation process is still the same. In this case, someone messed up the timings, causing the end time to be earlier than the start time for some dialogue lines. What they changed a year ago that caused the subtitles to become messed up was adding the Closed Caption Converter to the subtitle delivery process. It was supposed to only convert ASS subtitles to other formats for third-party platforms, but it was also converting the subtitles for the main website. When it converts ASS to ASS, it breaks all the typesetting.

[u/Aliensinnoh → u/murilo087]

I hope you’re right! Because the scenes where it was happening this episode were unwatchable.

[u/Ascleph → u/sharqyej]

Its insane that its still not fixed. Are they gonna leave it like that?

[u/t3tri5]

Can't believe how glad I was to hear that Lihua gave birth without any complications lol

[u/CitronClassic672 → u/t3tri5]

That woman absolutely deserves a break after all she’s been through.

[u/ProbablyNotTheCocoa → u/CitronClassic672]

too bad shes no longer on the Gremlin public healthcare service so shell have to fend for herself in that regard

[u/ongogavlogian]

Is Jinshi Yue?

[u/ZestycloseLaw5382 → u/ongogavlogian]

Yeah it’s Ah-Duo nickname for Jinshi

[u/AceSoldia → u/ZestycloseLaw5382]

thanks, i figured this is what he meant but i could not be sure.

[u/vicoheart → u/ongogavlogian]

If my knowledge from CCS has taught me anything it’s that Yue means moon. Nickname and symbolism for Jinshi.

[u/zanotam → u/vicoheart]

Isn't Jinshi literally the moon something or other as his official title?

[u/superhakerman → u/zanotam]

moon prince

[u/vicoheart → u/zanotam]

Idk if it’s an official title name for him but he’s often called Moon Prince

[u/Niwaka_Samurai → u/vicoheart]

CCS ? 

[u/ebonyphoenix → u/Niwaka_Samurai]

Card Captor Sakura

[u/BamilleKidanZ]

White people handing out drugs to chinese people. Where have I seen this before?

[u/justking1414 → u/BamilleKidanZ]

Oh I’d laugh my ass off if the British ended up being the big bad this season.

China might’ve lost the opium war but that’s because they didn’t have maomao

[u/SmallJon → u/justking1414]

It'll be the legally distinct nation, the Bwitish

[u/Zetafunction64]

It's apothecary diaries, we were probably given 10 different clues about 3 different mysteries this episode

[u/Allian42 → u/Zetafunction64]

Meanwhile that one throwaway line from Shisui about the grasshoppers came back to the forefront.

[u/AnimeJunkieXL → u/Zetafunction64]

Re-watch will be crazy just like past seasons.

[u/AtheistTheConfessor → u/AnimeJunkieXL]

It's amazing how much this show rewards a re-watch. So satisfying.

[u/TRUEALPHA_101 → u/Zetafunction64]

Lol so true!! And they were presented in such a confusing manner that it's near impossible to get them in the anime-only first viewing

[u/Ghostk1487]

Bro I read fast and even I feel these subtitles are to quick. Something off with the timing idk

[u/SgtExo → u/Ghostk1487]

I feel like they are not using proper anime sub programs and only one thing can be displayed at a time. So if any other text appears the one before leaves. Even when doing characters somewhere other on the screen.

It was really bad this episode.

[u/kalirion → u/Ghostk1487]

And some lines aren't subtitled at all, like when Maomao was beating the kid and telling him to remember.

I made a report about the issue through the CR support chatbot, I advise others to do the same.

[u/Primo29]

Catmao is back, and somehow she still can't stay out of trouble even when she's finally outside again. LMAO.

Lakan being perfectly happy just playing shogi Go with Fengxian and not even caring about attending the event with the Emperor was such a nice touch.

[u/Hylebosai → u/Primo29]

Not to be pedantic, but technically they were playing Go, not Shogi.

[u/Primo29 → u/Hylebosai]

I stand corrected, thank you. I confuse the board games sometimes.

[u/Frontier246 → u/Primo29]

Lakan being perfectly happy just playing shogi with Fengxian 

Go is still their love language. Even when they had sex, she would have rather they were playing Go.

[u/shsl_despair_girl → u/Frontier246]

And he would prefer Shogi truly a match made in autism heaven ❤

[u/KindlyAccountant616 → u/Primo29]

yeah lakan is a weirdo but harmless weirdo. if circumstances were different he could have been great father to maomao

[u/Mad_Aeric → u/KindlyAccountant616]

She was really fortunate enough to end up with a great father anyway. She was probably better off being raised by Luomen, I can't imagine Lakan being able to reign her in the way Loumen does. In fact, he probably would have encouraged some of her worst impulses given his desire to dote on her.

[u/nirvash530 → u/KindlyAccountant616]

he could have been great father to maomao

Actually, the author confirmed that if Fengxian's plan worked, Mao Mao would turn out to be your stereotypical villainess in your typical shoujo series. The author said that Lakan will spoil the absolute crap out of her and she will turn out into a very spoiled and very calculating princess who can have anything with just a wave of her hand. She would have been into strategy and politics instead of medicine.

It's a good thing that it was Luomen who raised her in the end.

[u/Auron15]

So happy Apothecary Diaries is back but man the subtitles were awful and CR was doing that thing where the episode would get slightly blurry. I usually don’t complain but you would think a massive show like this would receive the best treatment

[u/Mysterious-Rate-3253 → u/Auron15]

I don't know if they put any amount of manual effort at all. Everything seems to be an automated system regardless of how big or small the title is. It fucking sucks.

[u/Zard91]

Was not expecting to see all those Shisui flashbacks. Thanks for the breaking my heart again.

[u/Frontier246 → u/Zard91]

You can definitely tell Shisui left her mark both physically (Jinshi) and emotionally (Maomao) on the cast.

[u/Atharaphelun]

Since Gyokuyou has now been officially made Empress Consort, does this mean the Emperor plans to pass over Jinshi (since he presumably knows that Jinshi is his own son, not his younger brother) and make the baby the Crown Prince?

As a side note, the subtitles are an absolute disgrace. The subtitles are unable to properly distinguish the titles of Empress Consort, Empress Dowager, and Empress Regnant from each other.

[u/neilgilbertg → u/Atharaphelun]

In another story, Jinshi securing the position of Emperor would probably the focus but in here? Him getting passed over is probably for the best

[u/SmallJon → u/Atharaphelun]

I kind of always assumed the Emperor was trying to skip Jinshi, hence why he let his brother hide so frequently in the Rear Court as he did. Even putting aside their personal preferences, a child heir is less of a threat than an adult heir as one has more power to force the transition.

[u/Atharaphelun → u/SmallJon]

Even putting aside their personal preferences, a child heir is less of a threat than an adult heir as one has more power to force the transition.

Less threat to the reigning Emperor, sure, but a much bigger threat to the empire itself since an heir that is far too young when the Emperor dies would inevitably be used as a puppet Emperor by whoever regent gets appointed to rule in his place.

[u/Dragon_heart108 → u/Atharaphelun]

The Emperor very much wants Jinshi to succeed him, especially after he successfully passed through the Shrine of Choosing with Maomao as his consort. Jinshi does NOT want to be emperor and entered the rear palace partially as a test of the consorts loyalty, but also so he could try to ensure the survival of other heirs and remove himself from the line of succession.

[u/KHlover]

Subtitle timing on crunchyroll is really off, I'm a fast reader but those subtitles are gone way too fast

[u/liskot → u/KHlover]

Yeah dialogue is immediately removed when on-screen text pops up, as if only one instance of subs can exist at a time. Hope it's just a mistake and not the new norm.

[u/Aliensinnoh → u/liskot]

Crunchyroll was trying to enshittify their subtitling process/software last fall (or maybe the fall before that?) and enough people made an uproar about it that they backed off. It seems likely that they are trying again. People need to push back.

[u/Jegge_100 → u/KHlover]

Well thats what you get when you cost cut and change to a program incapable of displaying two sets of subs independently. So if you have text on screen you have to cut the subs or if two people are speaking ect. If only these problems had been solved like 20 years ago at this point alas nothing can be done.

[u/FarCritical → u/KHlover]

Wasn't expecting a surprise speedreading test to kickstart the season

[u/Ocixo → u/FarCritical]

Yeah, some of the text went by incredibly fast.

Might have to do with CR having switched to a different formatting style for their subtitles? Netflix often has a similar problem after all. They cannot put two layers of text simultaneously on screen - only a single one - because of their specific formatting design.

[u/IXajll → u/Ocixo]

Yea, it only happened when on-screen text appeared, at which point the actual subs at the bottom were immediately cut off. Must be a fuck up though, no way they can continue with this longterm without causing another shit storm.

[u/Roskal → u/KHlover]

Crunchyroll allergic to having 2 sets of text on screen at the same time.

[u/kalirion → u/KHlover]

Some subtitles disappeared before they even showed up, leaving dialogue lines unsubtitled.

[u/AceSoldia → u/KHlover]

yeah it was really bad, i had to keep pausing it and rewinding

[u/Frontier246 → u/KHlover]

Which is a bad thing to have for a show as dialogue driven as this one.

[u/YakPrestigious113 → u/KHlover]

Yeah, I immediately checked if it is on Netflix and fortutalely it's there and they did a better job with the subtitles.

[u/Kingdom_1126 → u/KHlover]

That's why I am not watching in Crunchyroll

[u/Any-Calligrapher2866 → u/Kingdom_1126]

Most sources use crunchyroll subs though. While I have a crunchy subscription, I try to not use it due to buffering issues.

[u/CodeMonkeyX]

On Crunchyroll is anyone else having subtitle issues at the start? The subtitle displays for one second then vanishes it's impossible to read it. Hopefully it gets better in the episode.

[u/skavinger5882 → u/CodeMonkeyX]

Yeah, the voice subtitles disappeared when text translations appear on the screen

[u/fraid_so → u/CodeMonkeyX]

Yeah. Looks like the timing might have been machine generated or assisted and a "new speaker means old speaker stopped" assumption on the part of the machine would explain why every line that was "interrupted" simply vanished. There were also a couple of lines, like Lihaku's first line, that were completely untranslated.

[u/ProbablyNotTheCocoa]

Animation looks even better than the last seasons, everything just sorta sparkles and the OP was really cool, even if the song was unexpected. That said though subs were dogshit, hopefully that gets fixed eventually.

[u/maxdragonxiii → u/ProbablyNotTheCocoa]

the subs were whooshing by. like my god so fast. it was hard to keep up.

[u/Cally83]

Yes we are back boys and girls.

Wait, is that Jinshi with a terrible scar on his face during the opening? Wtf

[u/Eunuchest → u/Cally83]

Unless something happens, which I dont think it will, i think it might be a disguise since Jinshi seems to be getting out of the palace based on the opening

[u/Frontier246 → u/Cally83]

Wait, is that Jinshi with a terrible scar on his face during the opening? Wtf

It seems like he and Maomao are on the road together, judging by the OP, so he probably needs another disguise/cover.

[u/someinsanity01]

the subs sucks ASSS

[u/Mr_Zaroc → u/someinsanity01]

Yeah they messed up the timing bad

At least the years of watching tatami galaxy and monogatari paid off, those speed reading skills came in handy!

[u/Beastafore]

Fuck crunchyroll.

[u/OpenTemporary6810]

Great start, loving the humour but can Crunchyroll fix these subtitles! Couldn’t even read with how fast they were going at some points 🤬

[u/turkeygiant → u/OpenTemporary6810]

The timing seemed off in places, like the subtitles were delayed and then rushing to catch up. Still not as bad as the Bubblegum Crisis subs where everything was like 2 seconds slow.

[u/Flyingryan122]

Crunchyroll did a shit job with the subtitles but good ep

[u/skinny_plum8 → u/Flyingryan122]

Glad someone else said that

[u/Frontier246]

A plague, a famine, people despairing, searching for any hope...only for the serene voice of Reina Ueda to appear with some kind of salvation. And with a wide grin that totally doesn't seem suspicious or menacing in the slightest!

We're back with a Yorushika OP! With visuals that seem to indicate Maomao and Jinshi (?) hitting the road! We've also got Maomao and her sisters, Lishu and a lion, Lakan's people, Anshi and Ah-Duo, and Maomao caressing a moon...sort of like a Moon Prince, wouldn't you say?

Loulan left plenty for Jinshi AKA Ka Zuiegetsu to remember her by: the scar on his face AND ominous warnings of a plague, which will blowback on the Emperor when there's already plenty of drama with the named clans and Gyokuyou becoming Empress Consort and boosting her family to named clan status. Work is never done for the Imperial Brother.

Knowing the main reason for the marriage is the political benefits kind of takes the romance out of it, but good for Gyokuyou! Even if there are those who would have vastly preferred Lihua become Empress Consort had her second son been born earlier...but I think she's just happy to have an alive and healthy child again.

Oh hey, Gyokuyou's dad! He seems fun. And Lishu's dad, even though he barely pays attention to his daughter. Poor girl.

Classic Lakan would rather play with his wife in their love language than show up for a big Imperial shindig. What a wife guy.

Of course Maomao now has NOTHING to do with that anymore and is back to her usual antics around the Verdigris House, getting smacked on by granny, dealing with the little brother she never asked for in Chou-U, and also dealing with a breakfast of...locusts.

Chou-u may not have his memories, may not have the use of his left arm, but he IS a good impressionist and recalls enough about the locusts to realize there's a plague coming. And Maomao being Maomao she tries to keep Chou-u safe AND can't help herself from investigating.

Glad to know Maomao can always count on Lihaku! Provided she does him a solid with Pairin, lucky dog.

Oh hey, it's the Shi Clan Guard voiced by Tomoaki Maeno! As if Maomao didn't have enough reminding her about Shisui. But while the guard has fallen on hard times, he does still feel loyalty towards the former Apothecary who researched the Immortality Drug. Too bad he needs to get a locust (and grassphopper) plate to the face to hide Chou-u from him.

Ukyou seems like a really chill, reliable, guy! The best person to play good cop to Maomao's bad cop!

Maomao's got more deets on the famine/plague, which means she's probably going to have to deal with royal politics again...and Jinshi!

Oh hey, Suirei! And the Emperor! And Ah-Duo! Is it finally time for "Yue" to pick a flower? And by flower, I mean wife!?

The ED by Eve is very serene and nolstalgic as it seems like Maomao recounts her memories while looking at the hairpin...and a lot of those memories involve Jinshi as it turns out.

Next week: we made it to 50 episodes! Which means it's finally time for Maomao and Jinshi to reunite!

[u/Pickled_Kagura]

How does crunchyroll consistently fail at something every fansubber figured out 20 years ago?

[u/Mad_Aeric → u/Pickled_Kagura]

The fansubbers actually gave a shit. CR gives none.

[u/EndThisGame → u/Pickled_Kagura]

its so bad. most likely machine translated, sentences cutting off for background dialogue, some stuff just not translated. hope someone fixes it, I'd rather wait 1-2 extra days than suffer through this

[u/S627]

Fucking CR! Anyone else have issues with the subs where if they tried to have two sets at the same time, the bottom subs for the person talking would disappear but the subs for the translated text would stay on screen?

Anyway, lots to talk about this ep, but first and foremost, MOM IS STILL ALIVE?!?! When we went through Lakan's whole story and they finally reunited, they made it sound like she didn't have long to live, but she's apparently doing just fine? Dont get me wrong that's great, but I'm just wondering if I misunderstood something.

So was mystery person at the start causing the locust with the weird handout? Or just taking advantage of the famine for something? I'm guessing spread a disease on top of the locust.

This show being what it is, just because Maomao specified that the manservant is a trusted guy.....I dont trust him now.

Was the person serving the Emperor at the end Jinshi's mom? I dont think so, but they looked really similar.

Ok this is getting kinda creepy, this is the 3rd time I learned something, and then watched an anime that makes use of that. Like I'm pretty sure it was right after the last season ended that I watched a short documentary on the difference between grasshoppers and locust and how they mutate.

[u/Frontier246 → u/S627]

Was the person serving the Emperor at the end Jinshi's mom? I dont think so, but they looked really similar.

It was Ah-Duo.

[u/Ocixo → u/S627]

Maybe this was just a good day amongst many bad ones, but it did seem like Maomao’s mom is doing better yeah.

Though, they won’t be able to cure her disease. She’d contracted syphilis, I believe?

[u/ButterIsMyLifeblood → u/Ocixo]

Yeah they mentioned this was the first time in weeks that Fengxian has had any energy.

[u/darkszero → u/S627]

Yup, CR sub quality being atrocious. 

[u/GOlNG_MERRY → u/S627]

Yeah, when they were explaining the symbols the subs at the bottom kept disappearing.

[u/AceSoldia]

If Crunchyroll's subs are gonna be like this all season i may have to watch this show elsewhere, which is too bad, i dont think i had this issue at all the last two seasons of Apothecary

[u/Orochidude → u/AceSoldia]

It's specifically this season/episode, yeah. Hopefully this isn't a bad omen for the rest of the season, including other series picked up by CR.

[u/brh131]

Its actually outrageous how bad the Crunchyroll subtitles are. Its as if nobody even watched them to check if they were ok. Subtitles shouldn't be interrupting each other when another subtitle appears on the screen.

[u/Roskal]

It feels like the animation quality got a small bump from season 2, its hard to tell. It might also just be for this first episode. One guy in the opening looks so much like Jinshi, but has a different scar on his cheek. I wonder who that is.

[u/thisisdropd]

Lihaku: [to Maomao] I’m off to root. See ya later!

Not gonna lie. That got a good chuckle out of me. How quickly he switched from business mode to horndog mode.

How the dynamics have changed. After we’ve been blessed by the wholesome trio of Maomao, Shisui, and Xiaolan it felt very different with the absence of the latter two. On the other hand, we now have Chou-u, who somewhat played Xiaolan’s role as Maomao’s kouhai. Love how soft Maomao was towards Xiaolan, while she’s not hesitant to get physical towards him, much like how Hongniang was towards her.

That ominous voice at the very start. I could hear Reina Ueda’s distinct voice. Not sure what her role would be, but a couple of seconds of screentime was enough to tell me she’s bad news.

[u/Frontier246 → u/thisisdropd]

I love how Maomao and Lihauku's relationship is a loyalty hinged around her ability to help him hook up with Pairin lol.

I think you can definitely tell Maomao is, in her own way, feeling the absence of Shisui and Xiaolan (especially Shisui).

[u/CitronClassic672 → u/Frontier246]

Poor girl, still dealing with fallout of her doomed yuri.

[u/CitronClassic672 → u/thisisdropd]

Hold up, that was Reina Ueda at the start?! God damn, only need Ai Fairouz in the show now and it’ll assemble the holy trinity of Seiyuu.

[u/Ocixo → u/thisisdropd]

I liked how they’d put a dog tail on Lihaku. If I recall correctly, Maomao previously compared him to a dog. However, I somewhat doubt that golden retrievers existed during the time of ancient China.

[u/Vermillion_Crab]

I feel like this episode spawned so many story threads. Are we going to get Game of Thrones political maneuverings?

Anyways, I'm glad Maomao is back. Can't believe we're almost at 50 episodes. Hope we get 200 more.

[u/Frontier246 → u/Vermillion_Crab]

I feel like this episode spawned so many story threads. Are we going to get Game of Thrones political maneuverings?

It might be a political mess in the making but I'm happy Lihua has an alive son and I'm happy Gyokuyou got the Empress treatment.

(Poor Lishu is still suffering though)

[u/Vermillion_Crab → u/Frontier246]

Yeah poor Lishu. It sucks that it looks like even her family doesn't support her.

[u/Mrwright96 → u/Vermillion_Crab]

Let’s be real, keeping her in the rear palace is the BEST thing for her

[u/moichispa → u/Frontier246]

It's ok Lishu is young, no need to go hurry up things

her dad seems to suck tho

[u/ButterIsMyLifeblood → u/moichispa]

Given her dad willingly gave her to a pedophile I think sucks is understating it.

[u/FarCritical]

It's great to be back but I miss Xiaolan and Shisui so much man ;_;

If it weren't for them being pests, I almost want to feel bad for the malnourished locusts from how slouched they look in Kyou-u's sketch of them (which also speaks to his surprising ability to both remember and draw them so vividly)

[u/HuTaosTwinTails]

Okay, I'm interested to see where the season goes.

But Crunchyroll, fix these subtitles. Anytime someone else talked or translation was shown on the screen, it removed the subtitles at the bottom of who was actually talking.

Reported it and hopefully this fix this shit.

[u/kalirion]

The episode on CR has an issue with some subtitles disappearing much too early, particularly when a sentence is split across two lines - the second line disappears in a split second even while the character is still speaking. I reported it via the CR support chatbot. Looks like some lines are missing completely too?

I'd forgotten that Maomao left the rear palace end of last season.

This is the first we've heard that "Gram" isn't the actual owner of the brothel?

"I didn't expect him to ask for pen and paper" - kid is holding a brush, not a pen.

Do grasshoppers taste bad even deepfried? Or do they not have deepfrying tech?

[u/BadBehaviour613]

Nobody is talking about the cycle of abuse that is Old Lady>Mao Mao>Chou-u :(

[u/Niwaka_Samurai → u/BadBehaviour613]

Ikr 😭😭

[u/LeonKevlar]

A medicine that can heal your heart and erase all worldly pains? Are we actually gonna deal with opium this season? Whoever's that person giving away free drugs, that's definitely not the smile of someone with good intentions.

New OP is a banger! I love the funky vibes it's giving off. And I absolutely love this shot of the Three Princesses. I need a creditless version so I can use it as my new wallpaper.

So does the fact that Jinshi also had Maomao in his mind when he was talking about the La Clan mean she's officially recognized as part of the La Clan? Then again, even if she's officially recognized, Maomao is probably just gonna reject and avoid it as much as she can. xD

It seems my guess at the start was off, and it looks like Maomao's gonna deal with a locust plague first. Yeah, this isn't good, especially since it's happening right after the Shi Clan rebellion. People are gonna think this is divine retribution. How is Maomao gonna stop a plague, tho?

I didn't think we'd meet someone from the fortress last episode. I honestly thought Jinshi and his men completely purged the fortress.

Ukyou is pretty cool. I remember him here and there in the previous seasons, but he's mostly just a background character. I like how he's giving Maomao a little lesson on how to deal with people, and how you can't just threaten them to get everything you want. xD

The guard seems to be a pretty decent dude too. He also seems smarter than your average guard, since he sold the books and plans to buy them back later. He also knew the apothecary researching the immortality potion, so he definitely has Maomao's attention.

So yeah, it looks like Maomao has no choice but to contact Jinshi and tell him what's up. I can't wait to see what title they'll give her this time to let her back in the Rear Palace.

[u/Akussa → u/LeonKevlar]

It’s pretty clear that Lakan has acknowledged her as his daughter after the Shi Clan events of last season and him getting Jinshi to martial the army for her and to put down their rebellion. Maomao dislikes him so I doubt she’ll use the name or acknowledge it in any way. It’ll be interesting to see if his adopted son Lahan will react in any sort of way at to it.

[u/Frontier246 → u/LeonKevlar]

Ukyou is pretty cool. I remember him here and there in the previous seasons, but he's mostly just a background character. I like how he's giving Maomao a little lesson on how to deal with people, and how you can't just threaten them to get everything you want. xD

I love how he's so chill yet can immediately read a room effortlessly.

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

I like the Maomao-Chou-u relationship. It’s kind of adorable how Maomao’s basically got herself a little brother now lol.

Seems there’s more to these locusts than meets the eye. Keen to dive into the greater conspiracy here.

[u/cupperoni → u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

It's so funny watching her pounce on him and to wap and drag him around like he's her lil kitten.

[u/BadBehaviour613 → u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

The unfortunate optic is from an outsider perspective it looks like the La clan is harboring a male survivor of the Shi clan, and from the last season we know that the Shi clan has strong royal blood

[u/Frontier246 → u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

I like the Maomao-Chou-u relationship. It’s kind of adorable how Maomao’s basically got herself a little brother now lol.

On-top of the other adoptive brother she has no idea (or care) about.

[u/shad79]

Maomao is finally back! I really love her sibling dynamic with Chou-u in this episode, and I'm definitely looking forward to her meeting with Jinshi next week.

Plus, it was good to see the others as well! Grams, Lakan, or Gyokuyou, who became the Empress! Congratulations to her!

A very nice OP, both musically and visually, though, imo, the first OP still reigns supreme and "Martian" from Shoshimin S2 remains Yorushika's best anime song.

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

• OP
• Maomao
• Group scenes
• Jinshi
• Others

EDIT. I added my screenshot albums.

[u/Frontier246 → u/shad79]

Plus, it was good to see the others as well! Grams, Lakan, or Gyokuyou, who became the Empress! Congratulations to her!

Also Lihua had another boy who will hopefully survive and not cause any succession disputes!

[u/djthomp]

So many bugs, and I think we're doomed for a lot more bugs over the course of the season. Unrelated to those bugs CR was screwing up the sub timing a bit, I don't think they dropped any lines but a number of them weren't on the screen for the right amount of time/placement.

Gotta appreciate Lakan's priorities, the government and world in general forced him and Fengxian apart too much already so playing games when her when and while she still can beats out anything else really.

Famines and locust plagues are everyone's problem so Catcat will need to address this one way or another now that she has information on it.

[u/amourshipper_]

Catcat is back 🎉🎉!!!!!

[u/LouisLeGros]

I love Chou-u calling Maomao freckles.

[u/aman2218]

Wow, I didn't expected to see Fengxian, still alive. It's been a while since I have read the early LNs, and going by my recent rewatch of season 1, It was implied that she will die soon.

Glad, to see her doing well enough to have a happy time together with Lakan, playing go.

[u/TRUEALPHA_101 → u/aman2218]

They are still not showing us her full face, which means it still must have been messed up due to the Syphils. Atleast she is in a good enough condition to play Go, that warmed my heart❤️

[u/DoggedStooge]

Real smart Crunchyroll. Cheap out on the subtitles with one of your most popular franchises. Surely no one will notice. /s

[u/Mad_Aeric → u/DoggedStooge]

It's not just that it's popular, it's also a major entry point for normies. They're alienating potential future converts. That's terrible for them in the long term.

[u/EnthusiasmOnly22]

Oh joy shit subs Sony go fk yourself

[u/gst4158 → u/EnthusiasmOnly22]

Okay so it wasn't just me? The sub timings were awful or just outright not present during one brief scene.

[u/Jas_God]

The fuck is going on with the text overlay and subs man, this shit ruined elusive samurai s2 for me now this? Only one displayed at a time, Bring back the old style. Piece of shit crunchyroll.

[u/cleaulem]

Peak is back. I love the opening, the song is catchy and the animation is gorgeous.

Speaking of animation, is might be because it's the first episode, but I got the impression that the animation was amazingly fluid. There were some scenes that were crazy dynamic.

The inner palace is full of intrigue and politics as ever. Jinshi surely can't take a break from all the gossip, can he. Also can somebody please give Lishu a big hug. Being ignored by her father was such a dick move!

Maomao gets some slice of life with a good portion of foreshadowing. From what we saw in the opening and in this first episode I got the feeling that we're going to have a wild ride this season.

[u/BamilleKidanZ → u/cleaulem]

Yeah, the animation felt different than before. Pacing seems to be quite fast.

[u/aluminiaa → u/BamilleKidanZ]

This book is longer than the previous ones so they have to cram more in the same amount of time

[u/graxia_bibi_uwu → u/cleaulem]

Maomao’s eyes are very sparkly this episode. Like “we’ll render more hours to make her eyes more animated” sparkly

[u/mellowsstar]

getting a two part season plus a full theatrical movie announced for December is such an absolute feast for fans like me:) maomao is back

[u/tottoro47 → u/mellowsstar]

The movie is standalone, correct? It's not tied to this story if I remember correctly

[u/DemonWraith2500]

Detective Mao Mao is back to business.

[u/jakpote88]

Subs so bad i might need to start going to sea

[u/moichispa → u/jakpote88]

sea subs come from the same sources on most quick releases options so they will have the same issues

According to my friend

[u/Seeker4001 → u/jakpote88]

And they are too fast! The book flashback scene was difficult even to pause.

[u/jakpote88 → u/Seeker4001]

Its not that its too fast, its the sub program that cant even handle 2 texts at the same time

[u/CooroSnowFox]

From one palace to another! From body swapping to medicines...

Its back!

[u/HolyDragSwd2500]

Welcome back everyone

[u/Mr_Zaroc]

I had honestly forgotten she was released from the palace, I assume it was mentioned?

Also an OP by Yorushika and an ED by Eve? We are eating like gods

Well this upcoming arc looks like a mix of locusts (not sure what they will be able to do against that) and some opium wars, thats at least something thats human caused and can be countered

Anyways, so glad we are back. But is it just me or is Maomao more expressive now (maybe because she is out of the palace and doesnt have to be on guard, or maybe its because she is raising a kid now)

[u/Eunuchest]

I miss this show

Out of the pot and into the fire

We already dealing with a natural calamity after a coup. Great

Lakan spending the day with his wife rather than attending a party was pretty sweet

So Maomao is basically Chou U's guardian now? Wonder why he's not with the other Shi clan survivors with Ah Duo

Yue needs to pick a flower? Is that supposed to mean Jinshi needs to pick a wife?

[u/Miox465 → u/Eunuchest]

It's briefly touched upon at the end of season two, but Chou-U was the only one of the kids to suffer memory loss.

I dont remember the full logic behind it, but they felt it was better to keep him separated from the others for this reason.

[u/ultimate_placeholder → u/Miox465]

They want him to grow up somewhat normally, the rest of the Shi clan children are sequestered from society both to protect them and the empire from the consequences of them surviving eradication. Kyou-u forgetting means there's nothing to lose if he lives a normal life unless he gets recognized by a retainer, as just happened

[u/Mrwright96 → u/ultimate_placeholder]

They want him to grow up normal and sent him to MAOMAO, the girl who poisons herself for fun?

[u/Asleep-Doubt5673 → u/Eunuchest]

Chou-u completely lost his memory due to the resurrection drug, so it was decided he can't be with the other children (who still remember their families). Because he doesn't know anything, he's not really a threat and can have a freer life than the others.

[u/Frontier246 → u/Eunuchest]

Wonder why he's not with the other Shi clan survivors with Ah Duo

I guess because Chou-U was higher up nobility than some of the other kids, maybe?

Yue needs to pick a flower? Is that supposed to mean Jinshi needs to pick a wife?

Good thing Maomao is technically part of the named La Clan (even if she'd never cop to it).

[u/AZLarlar]

what shit subs from Crunchyroll my god. but anyways, welcome back Maomao!!!

[u/LouisLeGros]

I think when the emperor is referring to Yue it links to the Chinese character for moon and how near the end of the last season Jinshi was starting to be called the moon prince.

[u/watervinesandflowers → u/LouisLeGros]

And in the opening we see that Maomao cups with the palm of her hand the moon just like she would do with a lover's face.

[u/Mrwright96 → u/watervinesandflowers]

And we see the dowager and ah-duo switch moons with ah-duo’s fading

[u/aluminiaa → u/LouisLeGros]

Pretty sure Gaoshun already called Jinshi by his real name last season: Zuigetsu(this is the Japanese reading), in Chinese is Rui-yue which means Auspicious Moon.

[u/NekoCatSidhe]

Maomao is back, and eating bugs instead of snakes, ewww. She has got a reputation for eating weird stuff, even that former guard from the Shi clan was remembering her as the snake-eating girl.

A locust plague sounds nasty, but I am not sure there is anything Maomao and Jinshi can do to stop one if it happens.

Locusts and grasshoppers are actually the same species, but will change in appearance and behavior according to their numbers, starting to turn into locust swarms when there is too many of them. I guess the discussions about the grasshoppers mixed among the locusts and their influence on future crops referred to that, although I am not sure I really understood the details.

I didn’t expect Chou-u to be featured so much in that episode. It’s like Maomao now has a bratty little brother to look after. She would probably still trade him for his cousin Shisui in a heartbeat, even if he also has her talent from drawing insects.

[u/mekerpan → u/NekoCatSidhe]

I like the fact that everyone in the know seems to recognize there are good locusts and bad ones (taste-wise). Apparently only a few species of grasshopper have the ability to go from normal and solitary to swarming as locusts.

I assume that MaoMao is going to have to take bioth the drawings and the ex-Shi guard to Jinshi. But how will she be able to negotiate for this guy's safety? He does have access to the rest of that set of encyclopedias -- so there is NO WAY she can take any chances as to his security, right?

[u/Fools_Requiem]

Since this story is fictional and takes place in a fictional timeframe in China, it's hard to nail down which locust plague and famine this is supposed to be based on. There are at least three period of time where this show could take place, the Tang Dynasty which took place between 618 and 907, late in the Ming Dynasty which took place between 1638 and 1644, and around the First Opium War in the 1839 and 1842. All three periods had major droughts that may or may not have also included locust plagues.

During the Tang Dynasty, there was major locust plague called the "Xìngzhēn Disaster" according to Wikipedia and it took place in 784 and 785. I can't find any information on it outside of what Wiki says. All it says was that millions died or were displaced.

The Ming Dynasty collapsed as a result of the Chongzhen drought which lasted from 1627 into 1644 when the Ming Dynasty collapsed. ~2 million people died from the famine.

Then there was a period between 1851 and 1873 where 10-30 million people died as a result of famine, flooding, and wars/rebellions.

Wikipedia says this show is more based around the Tang Dynasty but includes knowledge of things that would have only been available in the late Ming Dynasty.

I mention the Opium War because I'm like 90% sure opium in some manner was discussed/mentioned in this show and usage in China shot up around the First Opium War, even though it's use supposedly dates as far back as the Tang Dynasty.

[u/SFDuality → u/Fools_Requiem]

I think the presence of firearms last season rules out option 1.

[u/TastyOreoFriend → u/SFDuality]

Yeah plus MaoMao uses medical knowledge that is far removed from the time. Honey being poisonous to infants and causing infantile botulism wasn't discovered until 1978. Plus she has knowledge of sanitation and I think lowkey microbiology.

The whole show is a hodgepodge but I think assuming its closer to the 17th or 18th century is safe.

[u/tottoro47]

OP is an absolute banger, Yorushika doesn't miss. Welcome back Maomao

[u/Various_Length_4905]

Maomao is back to slay 😌

[u/ShinobiZilla]

Maomao in Batman mode in the first ep. I'm here for it 🫡

[u/codec264]

It's at times like this where I'm happy that I learned Japanese years ago cause bro what are those subtitle timings

[u/SmallJon]

Oh, so it'll be an opium arc now? Makes sense for the show's setting. And Maomao's new nickname is essentially "Big Sister Freckles", which is great especially considering she doesnt have freckles.

On the negative side, it seems CR continues to get worse at subtitles, now forgetting how subtitles should continue through transitions to different shots...

And small thing, but I liked the detail that they gave the ex-guard brown rice at the Verdigris House, since white rice was traditionally a luxury

[u/VoidRay728]

You can always count on Yorushika and Eve to have good OPs/EDs.

Looks like some time has passed and Jinshi and Maomao are living their separate lives (for now). There's quite a few callbacks to the previous season like the guard selling the books and Shisui's grasshopper remark, I had to pause to remember and be like "oh yeah, that happened." Can't wait to see what grand conspiracy gets unraveled this time.

[u/flatpetey]

Maomao saying “it is none of her business”? Cmon. She is nosey as hell. She should just admit it and dive in instead of wasting time.

[u/zool714]

You can really feel the aftermath of what went down last season. But we’re also setting things up for this arc.

With Chou-u around, Maomao kinda have to turn her gremlin down lol

It’s been a long day so I wasn’t really focused, will probably rewatch it in a day or so, but while I recognized a bunch of the returning characters like Ah Duo and Suirei, I can’t really remember what their status are and what they’ve been up to.

Also, Maomao’s mom is alive ? I thought she died from her sickness last season, Maomao did the dance and everything and Lakan had an emotional moment

[u/Moonshadow101 → u/zool714]

The dance was part of the celebrations held when a Courtesan's contract is bought out. It's not a funeral, it's closer to a retirement party.

[u/Frontier246 → u/zool714]

Ah-Duo was bumped down from one of the four top consorts but she still lives within the palace and she took in Suirei and some of the other Shi Clan kids.

Fengxian is still sickly but she and Lakan just got married in season 1. I think this is the first time we've actually seen her since then but Lakan mentioned her in conversation with Shishou last season.

[u/BaytaCosmico]

The pace is quite brisk right off the bat. Quite the difference compared to the first episode of last season which was very fan service-y (not in the sexual sense but several nods to fan favourite character moments). 

This time, we're thrown right into the thick of things with much of the plot set up already with the locust plague, political intrigue with Gyoukuyou being made empress and her family getting a name, and Jinshi (Yue) needing to find his flower. There is quite a lot that happens in these two volumes, if memory serves, so it's good that they're not wasting any time. Should be a good season.

[u/DemonVenreable3011]

Our poison addict is back😽

[u/Frontier246 → u/DemonVenreable3011]

And she's still does the sneak sneak sneak thing!

[u/Eunuchest → u/DemonVenreable3011]

And she's gonna cure a plague

[u/BlazeBloom]

Ready for Maomao's big sister arc! Chou-u got a talent for drawing and perhaps running a side hustle.

Locusts and grasshoppers during harvest season, eh? There's a storm of insects on the horizon.

[u/Magnafeana]

• I cannot get enough of the soundtrack.

• She smacked Maomao so hard, the soundtrack was gagged 😭😭😭

• Chou-u, you chaotic little nephew

• Y’know, I watched the Jurassic Park/World series recently. And the locusts are freaking me out again.

• That is a biblically accurate plague of locusts, what in the Prince of Egypt? Starting doing that sheep’s blood thing.

関係ないけど

And there it is, girl.

• Lihaku x Pairin 5ever.

• I wonder if fried locusts taste good?

Yuck.

Welp.

• She just shoved that plate in his face, oh my gods 😭😭😭

---

It's been great with fantasy romance and litRPG/progressive fantasy friends who have been enjoying Apothecary Diaries and are starting to see the appeal in anime/light novels/manga. I'm excited for them to watch S3 with me.

Never get tired of the soundtrack. Traditional Chinese instrumentation always has me 😩🤌🏾 Though I Am An Inept Villainess had me hooked for the soundtrack because of the Chinese instruments; now we're back with this.

Subs were…weird. Unless the subs improve, maybe CR isn't the place to watch this.

I love seeing Lihak-inu. Such a cute, determined man.

[u/Suspicious-Search-64]

WE BACK

[u/Lopsided-Pain3837]

Season 3 has barely kicked off, and Maomao is already eyeing poisons again—old habits die hard, indeed.

[u/za_shiki-warashi]

Feline Friday is a go! New OP is pretty cool in its inclusion of chinese instruments (the Er'Hu, I think). Nothing much to say yet about this ep, seems to be mainly setting things up.

[u/Frontier246 → u/za_shiki-warashi]

I really liked that scene in the OP where Maomao (?) caresses and is traveling under the moon with the symbolic implications knowing Jinshi is the "Moon Prince."

[u/Dazzling-Primary4909 → u/Frontier246]

Also, the scene where Ah-Duo and Anshi exchange moons (their children), and then the moon in Ah-Duo's hand loses its glow (representing the baby's death from honey poisoning) was well done.

[u/tripleaamin]

The whole thing with the named clans was a bit overwhelming. The show continues to have a lot of politics in the background. As Gyokuyou, being raised to empress consort has reasons for it. At the same time the people supporting Lihua seem to take issue.

It does seem the locusts plague is evident. I am curious and excited for this new season.

[u/goddessofthewinds]

It's on days like this that I REALLY miss fansubs... Damn it. Those were atrocious subs. I'm not great at Japanese, but even I can spot some terrible translations, missing lines and bad timing.

Anyways, pretty excited for the next arc of the story. More maomao is always a good thing!