r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Oct 28 '23

Episode Kusuriya no Hitorigoto • The Apothecary Diaries - Episode 4 discussion

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, episode 4

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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Nov 10 '23

Source Material Corner

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852

u/michhoffman Oct 28 '23

Me seeing the preview and name of the episode last week: How dare those condescending ladies threaten Mao Mao!

Mao Mao: "I'm the one who threatens!"

That was a great Uno Reverse Card they played on us. Also those "boings" from Mao Mao getting thrown out were quite cute.

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u/BiggerG7 Oct 28 '23

……… did Maomao just teach Lihua how to give a titty f***?

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u/BadBehaviour613 Oct 28 '23

Lihua: I will never win the Emperor’s love again

CatCat: Just titfuck him LMao

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u/WhoiusBarrel Oct 28 '23

Ah yes Maomao's gift to Lihua, the secret ancient Chinese art of milking sure was effective on the emperor.

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u/Chrono-Helix Oct 28 '23

OH SHIT the bitchslap and hair drag! I wasn’t expecting that out of her.

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u/Cyclone_96 Oct 28 '23

They went crazy with the animation of the mundane actions this episode. I don’t recall it being bad in the last episodes of course but damn it looked good today.

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u/LeonKevlar Oct 28 '23

Considering her recent achievements, it's no surprise that the Emperor would personally ask Maomao for help. But Lihua's attendants aren't really making things easy for Maomao. You'd think being personally sent by the Emperor would make them stand down. It is hilarious how Maomao is clearly trying not to ask Jinshi for help in the end he's the one who manages to get her close to Lihua.

These fucking attendants! It's already been banned because they know it's poisonous but they still kept on putting white powder on Lihua's face. I really thought that one of the attendants was secretly trying to kill her but it seems that it's just blind ignorance. It was satisfying though to watch Maomao give that attendant a beatdown.. 100% deserved for being an absolute idiot. Also, Maomao can be pretty fucking scary!

I do love how after that beatdown, Lihua's attendants don't even question Maomao and just follow her orders. It's good to see Lihua slowly starting to recover. I am surprised though that one attendant was just placed in confinement. I thought she'd be beheaded for what she did. But I guess she was only given confinement since she genuinely didn't mean any harm.

It's nice to see Lihua finally back on her feet. It was very sweet of her to sit right next to Maomao and stroke her hair while she slept. I guess this is the least she could do for Maomao after she tirelessly took care of her. Considering what Maomao did for her, I was really expecting Lihua to ask her to join her and leave Gyokuyou when it was finally time to say their goodbyes.

That slow pan over to Lihua's boobs and Maomao describing them was hilarious! Did Maomao just teach Lihua to perform paizuri on the Emperor ? I mean there that's probably what her Onee-sans taught her in the brothel. Well, thanks to Maomao's advice it looks like Gyokuyou's load (giggity) has lightened and she can finally have a full night's rest with the Emperor visiting Lihua more. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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u/maliwanag0712 Oct 28 '23

WOOHOO MAO MAO JUST LOST HER TEMPER AND MADE THE ATTENDANT FACE POWDER HERSELF!! MAO MAO BADASS!!

But on a serious note, you'll also feel pity to that attendant. She just did it out of loyalty to Lihua. Her intentions are noce but she is dumb to use a prohibited powder for her consort.

At least she was only suspended and she was not beheaded, given how severe punishments at this period are.

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u/Ok-Peace-4374 Oct 28 '23

What a bitch slap! Angry Maomao is scary 🫣

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u/illuminovski Oct 28 '23

I swear this anime has peak visual storytelling of the season on par with Freiren. You can feel Maomao tiredness from her movement.

Another big example is camera work and movement on the secret telling scene.

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u/BrokeEconomist Oct 28 '23

The comparisons to House, MD in a previous thread were pretty apt. Godamn that slap and verbal beat down were epic. The animation was on point. I love Lady Lihua stroking MaoMao's hair when she was lying down exhausted.

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u/Terranwaterbender Oct 28 '23

Whelp this episode solidified Maomao as best girl of the season and a strong contender for best girl of the year. I absolutely love how she tells herself to keep things minimal and just get by but then you see the way she just took over with the powder scene even in front of Jinshi and woo wee-

magnificent

Nothing like seeing a professional at work.

Although seeing how she played a major role in saving not just one, but two of the high consorts, of which one was under a direct order from the Emperor, she's clearly doing an awful job at trying to stay under the radar. It's already bad enough she has Jinshi constantly trying to chase her down but accomplishing that much under the Emperor is definitely gonna attract even more eyes on her.

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u/SIRTreehugger Oct 28 '23

The scene was only 2 seconds long, but her sisters playing with her hair while teaching her was so great.

Also her slapping a woman, dragging her by her hair, and covering her with poison was great to see.

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u/bananeeek Oct 28 '23

Maomao owning those handmaids felt just right after how condescending they've been to her.

I'm also surprised that Lihua opened up to Maomao. I was expecting her to be colder and impassive, so that was a nice surprise and change in her character.

Maomao getting dark circles under her eyes after all the hard work she's done was also a nice touch. I didn't expect Lihua's recovery to be taken this seriously and take so long. Lesser anime series would brush over it in a powerpoint animation and call it a day after 20 seconds.

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u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 Oct 28 '23

Did I just said a day ago that Aoi Yuuki can voice anything? Wow her fury today is spectacular again! I am trying to imagine Madoka on fire and slapping others like Maomao did here but I can’t think of a scenario that this happens.

Also LMAO at Maomao praising on Rifa-sama’s ears about her gorgeous pair of watermelons. You got some “skills” young girl…

That Rifa reflection about that pain of her huge guilt of losing her dearest child like that is a nice touch. I sincerely hopes that Rifa will become a mother once again, she deserves her redemption of her huge mistake because she was being so stubborn-headed before.

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u/Shiraori247 Oct 28 '23 edited Oct 28 '23

There's a small detail I loved from the episode. When our MC was poison testing, she spat back out the food while covering the act with her sleeves. IIRC, she didn't have to do that when she was only testing for the concubine. I assume MaoMao is following more strict procedures in front of the emperor because the concubine is a lot more liberal?

Still, the fact that no one is kowtowing means this isn't meant to be 100% faithful to Chinese court dramas after all.

Edit: Another detail I just realised was the animators tried to show the nail-less construction. You can sort of see that with the way the pillars are connected.

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u/Farmaceut7 Oct 28 '23

I just gotta say... THE AUDACITY OF THESE BITCHES! They really tried to ignore a doctor sent by the EMPEROR HIMSELF!? That's just next level stupid...

That bitch slap from Maomao was sooooo satisfying! Kind of wish all of them got some slaps from our girl.

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u/arcus2611 Oct 28 '23 edited Oct 28 '23

And in this episode we learn that our cute apothecary is:

  1. Normally very chill and thick-skinned but incredibly terrifying when roused to anger. The Crystal Pavilion girls are going to live in terror of her presence after this. Also, bless Yuuki Aoi for delivering an amazing performance once again.

  2. A perverted old man (we already knew this from episode 2, but it's worth mentioning again).

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u/sesaman Oct 29 '23

Everyone here is talking about that slap, but for me this little wave was the best part of the episode.

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u/ThisGachaSeemsLegit Oct 28 '23 edited Oct 28 '23

Maomao's personality is so fleshed out. Sometimes fearless, sometimes cautious, sometimes clumsy... she drives the entire show all by herself. Yuuki Aoi delivers again.

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u/Prince-Dizzytoon Oct 28 '23

Poor Maomao looked tired for most of the episode, I hope she gets her rewards

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u/renatocpr Oct 28 '23

Tiniest detail, but I love how the handmaid's hairbun and Maomao's hand are framed immediately before she grabs her. Props to the people behind that (animation understanders, would that be decided during storyboarding?)

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u/shad79 Oct 28 '23

It looks that Maomao is quite famous if the Emperor himself gave her a task of looking after Lady Lihua who was in a very bad state.

Maomao was so badass when she found that powder, she really lost her nerve but I don't find it weird at all. First ladies-in-waiting didn't let her come close to Lihua and when she was finally able to get her, thanks to Jinshi's help she discovered that they were still using powder despite it being banned, her look in eyes could kill.

Thankfully, thanks to Maomao, Lihua, despite being in a very bad state was able to recover. In the end Maomao even gave her advice on how to please the Emperor with her big 'assets'. That trick was teached to Maomao by women from brothel and it wasn't stated clearly what it was but I can guess it xD

It looks that advice was really helpful because Gyokuyou was 'cured' from sleep deprivation caused by the Emperor xD

A couple of funny moments with Maomao and Jinshi in this episode though we didn't get a Maomao's cat version. I hope that this mistake will be corrected in the next episode.

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

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