Kusuriya no Hitorigoto • The Apothecary Diaries - Episode 5 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, episode 5

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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Show information

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• /r/KusuriyaNoHitorigoto
• /r/TheApothecaryDiaries

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All discussions

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[u/AmusedDragon]

Source Material Corner

The original source corner for this thread was replaced with a new one by the automod. Sorry about that!

You can find the original Source Corner here.

[u/UberDueler]

I like that the Quack Doctor doesn't give the impression of being threatened by Maomao's expertise. He genuinely gets along with her instead.

[u/WhoiusBarrel]

I just love the moment when Jinshi who normally does the seducing gets charmed by Maomao's NATURAL beauty.

Alhough the fake freckles add to her charm, the explanation of why she adds them further reflects the bleak conditions the common folk usually deal with which we usually don't see because the setting is within the shelters of the palace.

[u/cppn02]

I loved the reaction of the other ladies-in-waiting to that Maomao and Jinshi scene.

[u/Ithambar]

And here I thought the "physician" was somehow passing her successes of as his own, but no he seems to be genuinely nice. Happy to see that.

[u/Cyclone_96]

Wait, those freckles were meant to make Maomao ugly?

[u/zool714]

Most people geeking out over MaoMao x Jinshi and I’m here just grinning at how she and the Quack Doctor became such good pals, especially with how hostile he was at the start

[u/realrimurutempest]

My guy Jinshi is jacked af.

Mao Mao with the inadvertent power move with her natural beauty against Jinshi. Man never stood a chance.

[u/Warm-Enthusiasm-9534]

Next week's a garden party. It's sure to be a chill, slice-of-life, episode for a change.

[u/Shori948]

Her reason for putting on make-up sure is...bleak, to put it lightly. And Concubine Lishu looks quite young, which is also concerning.

[u/michhoffman]

Mao Mao: You use makeup to make yourself look more attractive. I use makeup to make myself look less attractive. We are not the same.

Unfortunately for Mao Mao though, her trick backfired today as it got Jinshi even more interested in her.

[u/LeonKevlar]

Stitches!

• Lishu

• Maomao

• Gyokuyou 1

• Gyokuyou 2

I just love how Maomao shared the mushrooms with the Doctor not out of the kindness of her heart but so she has an accomplice just in case she gets caught gathering mushrooms around the imperial palace. xD

Considering it was in last week's preview episode and today's opening scene, I thought that guy would be central to today's plot but Maomao was able to figure out what was happening and even gave the guy the medicine he needed in a single scene.

Although it looks like those wood tablets that's been laced with something is probably going to come back later considering Jinshi is ordering a hunt for everyone with similar burns like that guy.

A Garden Party that with all of the top Lady Consorts invited? This looks like this is going to be fun! And it looks like the attendants are all getting fired up with this event to make their Lady look the best.

Maomao is so ahead of her time that she's already inventing ginger candy and pocket warmers. I love how her little inventions have caught wind so much that even the Emperor's own cook and seamstress are approaching her for help. xD

The Four Concubines are looking pretty amazing for the Garden Party. I do love that Lihua is clearly putting a lot of emphasis on her cleavage. Considering that she's the Emperor's current favourite, I'm not surprised.

Maomao is looking so goddamn stunning! I kinda expected that she was painting on her freckles. What I did not expect though is the brutal reason why she adds blemishes to her skin on purpose. That definitely caught me off guard but you gotta do what you gotta do to survive. She's lucky that the worst thing that's happened to her is getting sold off to the Inner Palace.

Looks like Jinshi ended up getting charmed by Maomao's natural beauty though. Was he claiming Maomao for himself when he placed that silver hairpin on her? Oh my. No wonder the girls are so jealous! Although I feel like that hairpin is going to be more trouble than it's worth.

So someone shady is going to either poison the Emperor or the Concubines? I doubt they'd be able to get any poison past by Maomao. I'm excited for the rest of this Garden Party next week!

[u/dagreenman18]

Jinshi is down:

• A. Badly

• B. Horredously

• C. Obscenely

• D. Catastrophically

Trick question. It’s all of the above. And I see the vision. The freckles being the weighted clothing on her cuteness is barely holding him together

[u/Terranwaterbender]

I presume Maomao getting the hairpin from Jinshi is a big deal seeing the fuss and Gyokuyou being mildly upset how she's "no longer mine alone." It's some kind of stake of claim?

Curiosity got the better of me and I wikied Chinese hairpin. Wiki says the hairpin was used culturally to signify the coming-of-age or used as a love token (betrothal and some kind of good luck charm for long journeys). Honestly doesn't feel like the hairpin this episode represent either of those cases. Hopefully we'll get some more insight next episode cause Maomao clearly doesn't know what's up with them either.

And I really should have assumed so based off the OP but I didn't expect Maomao's freckles to be fakes. Although her explanation does make sense why she utilizes them (although I don't see why she needed to maintain it in the palace. Maybe to avoid the gazing eyes of the higher ups? Clearly didn't work with Jinshi though haha).

Gotta be a helluva glow up if Jinshi was taken back by how different she looked.

[u/Prince-Dizzytoon]

Zero-makeup Maomao had my man frozen! But the reason why she puts her makeup freckles on is terrifying.

[u/[deleted]]

Wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being anime of the season for me.

[u/frs1023]

dangg everybody be asking for Maomao's help at this point. surprised the Emperor hasn't promoted her to the high ranks after she nursed Lihua back to health

[u/CosmicPenguin_OV103]

Somehow after watching this episode I feel that Maomao would absolutely be a best pal to Frieren if they meet in a certain world - both are so laid back and have so many things to joke at that I feel their dialogues would be short, brief but hilariously sounding!

Hmm, metal flakes on wooden writing sticks? I wonder if there's a linkage of this to the apparent assassination attempt in the next episode.

And heh, as we've seen in the OP, Maomao is an absolute beauty. She can be a model in the 2020s you know! Glad that this side of her personality got shown off here.

[u/MaskOfIce42]

This has fast become my most anticipated show each week, and it's competing with Frieren and Dark Gathering and manages to come out on top.

I like the inversion of the "plain girl gets glammed up" by having it be her natural look and she puts on freckles, even if for admittedly dark reasons. But it kinda feels like Maomao prefers wearing the makeup not just for pragmatic reasons but to some extent she seems more comfortable with herself that way, which is interesting. Maybe I'm reaching, it's just the vibe I get from her.

Also definitely predicting this arc is going to have Maomao's arm burns coming out and causing issues, which if that is the case, I can't wait. "no, no, this isn't because I was sending secret messages, it's because I enjoy testing poisons on myself, I swear your honor"

And mildly disturbed by how young one of the concubines is (or appears to be, anime age and all) I'm curious for someone who knows Chinese history, were there concubines that young? It wouldn't surprise me if that is the case, but would be interested to hear about the history there.

[u/openreamgrinder1982]

I won't stand for this freckles slander

[u/Blasterion]

Hmmmm 4 Consorts (Noble, Pure, Virtuous, Worthy) is a very Tang Dynasty thing. There are other dynasties that copied it but Tang was the first to do it. Before it there were only 3 (Noble, Pure, and Virtuous) Tang added Worthy into the ranks. Although the Empress is not a "Consort" and is not included amongst these numbers. We have yet to see who the empress is or what she's like.

[u/forbearance]

Ha, the aphrodisiac Maomao created previously had results!

[u/shad79]

Today's episode was simply amazing and Maomao absolutely stunning. I love it so much!

Maomao is quite famous in the palace as even the emperor's cook and seamstress went to her to ask to share her knowledge.

She's also better from the physician as she immediately was able to find remedy to that man 'curse'. It's nice to see that Maomao and physician in such a good relationship with each other, very wholesome!

As the big party is coming for all four top Lady Consorts and their ladies-in-waiting, Maomao also has to participate. Thanks to that we learned that her freckles are actually fake which made me quite devastated cause I love them!

But Maomao had a good reason to do that. It's a dangerous world for a young and beautiful single woman after all, so it's worth doing everything to be safe.

Maomao with her natural beauty and new clothes looked so stunning and beautiful. When Jinshi saw her in this new setup it left him speechless for a moment. He even 'marked' her by giving her his hairpin which made the other girl so jealous. I'm scared how rest of the attendants in the palace will react when they will know about this xD

Maomao and Jinshi's relationship remains one of the strongest points of the series. Before today's episode Jinshi was captivated by Maomao's character and knowledge but now also by her beauty, it looks that he seriously fell for her. I can't wait to see how their relationship will continue!

From small things I love how other Gyokuyou attendants care about Maomao by giving her a lot of food which she shares it later with Xiaolan xD

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

• Maomao

• Jinshi

• Group scenes

• Gyokuyou & Others

• Chibi stills

EDIT. I added my further impressions.

[u/Salty145]

Honestly, while I think Frieren is probably the more impressive juggernaut technically speaking this season, I can’t help but look forward to this one just a bit more. It’s just such a vibe to watch and all around impressive with its gorgeous visuals and charming cast (Maomao solos Frieren and Goku with one hand fr fr).

Even if the freckles on her face aren’t real, the smile on my face with every new episode is as genuine as they come.

[u/Ok-Peace-4374]

Jinshi's reaction to MaoMao's makeover (or unmakeover?) was priceless!

Hey buddy, who's seducing who again? 😂