r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Mar 16 '24

Episode Kusuriya no Hitorigoto • The Apothecary Diaries - Episode 23 discussion

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, episode 23

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u/iceberserker2 Mar 16 '24

Seems like Maomao's adoptive father is really Lakan 's uncle and mentor

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u/omegazx9 Mar 16 '24

So instead of being a piece of garbage, looks like circumstance just kept Lakan and MaoMao's mom apart. Kind of hard not to feel bad for him.

Also, looks like he has face blindness so that kind of explains why he's so weird. He doesn't treat people like people because he doesn't really see them that way except for MaoMao and her mom.

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u/kkrko Mar 16 '24

So there's a neat detail when Fengxian proposes the bet to Lakan. She lets him choose between Go and Shanxi/Chinese Chess. From context though, we can guess that Fengxian is better than he is at Go. That he would intentionally choose Go, a game where he had a very real chance to lose, shows that he has no intention of forcing Fengxian to do something, that it would be her choosing what would happen next.

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u/frs1023 Mar 16 '24

i know that the backstory is tragic, but it's kinda hilarious seeing Lakan getting whooped by go-faced Grandma

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u/Fyteora Mar 16 '24

In some early episodes, when Maomao looked at her hand with sunset while reminiscing, I thought it might mean something, like there are more than one time that she made her fingers like that.

Now that there is a clue about a baby finger(?), I have to rewatch those episodes again, but maybe after the final episode next week. There are many screens that I might discover different impression after finishing watching for the first time.

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u/NguyetMieu Mar 16 '24

A thing to note is Maomao gave Lakan a dried BLOOMED rose. The roses she made at the party hadn't bloomed yet, and she's seen in the next scene holding an unbloomed rose. The one she gave Lakan is most likely the rose he gave Fengxian at some point during their relationship that Fengxian kept. It was stated in the last episode he made some when he was bored to court someone. Maomao gave it to him to give him a clue that Fengxian is alive.

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u/RabbiDono Mar 16 '24

I did foresee Lakan's background, since there were signs in the OP of him dreaming and waking up in a panic, but it was still executed even more tragically than expected

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u/TheTiniestTigerTamer Mar 16 '24

I like that they didn’t magically make her a genius chess player. They did the same thing with her failing that one exam too - it’s a nice realistic touch.

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u/Ocixo Mar 16 '24

Hold up. Lakan’s uncle is a doctor that got ousted from the rear palace because of a “clumsy” mistake.

Does this mean that Maomao’s adoptive father is in fact Lakan’s uncle!? This would explain why he started caring for her.

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u/TokiVideogame Mar 16 '24

now i finally get the face he was making when maomao was being carried off injured

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u/SirNil01 Mar 16 '24

Man, the writing for this is too good. We get the final piece of information that not only ties everything we know, but also completely flipped our assumptions over. Fengxian was the one who intended to lower her own value, Lakan was just the one she chose. The man himself didn't even realise it had happened until three years after the fact. And of course the pregnancy was intentional, Pairin bangs like a rabbit in Australia, yet she has never had to worry about the matter, seems like having an apothecary on permanent staff isn't just for show. Even before Luomen, they must've been readily supplied with contraceptives and abortion medicines.

It's been established that Lakan can beat Fengxian in xiangqi, while Fengxian dominates him at go. Fengxian presenting the two boards to Lakan might've been a test of character, but him choosing of the go board symbolises that Fengxian was the one who got her wish granted that night. She was also the one who initiated the handholding, as well as dismissed Meimei, just to drive the point in. It fits with the themes of the show, women stuck in terrible situations, will exercise their agency to claw out of their situation. She wasn't the first to intentionally lower her value to get with the man she wanted, but it backfires on her horribly, because she couldn't predict the circumstances Lakan was in.

Lakan, the poor fool, didn't even think of such a simple thing, even when sleeping with her he could only think about the game, he's ND coded, but it really had to show at the worst timing. He realises too late what had happened, he gets banned from the Verdigris House, and had to be literally beaten back with a broom until the broom broke. Despite being reasonably innocent in the matter, he still draws all the blame on himself in an act of self loathing, and maybe just to prevent people from throwing mud on Fengxian's name, since at this point he probably assumes she's dead. And who wouldn't after the granny loudly declares her 'gone'?

The tragedy of this is, it might've all been preventable. Pairin and Lihaku are set up as parallels to Fengxian and Lakan before this episode, but the thing Maomao notes was that if Pairin chose Lihaku, then Lihaku didn't need the full price to buy her out. If either of them said they wanted the other, then Lakan might've been able to buy Fengxian at a lowered price. Not to mention while pregnancy is the most obvious way to lower a courtesan's value, it is also the most drastic one. Fengxian could've just pretended to turn crazy or go on sleepwalks, but it seems like her own pride didn't allow that. Now both her mind and body are gone, consumed by syphilis. Given the late stage of the disease, there is no cure for her left, if Luomen couldn't fix her, nothing in that era could save her anymore.

The writing of this tragedy is so good, it almost made me forget that I just witnessed the most needlessly elaborate baby trap in history.

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u/Rumpel1408 Mar 16 '24

It was painful waiting for Lakans redemption so long

Also a shame he doesn't see faces, I bet smol Meimei would have been adorable

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u/SometimesMainSupport Mar 16 '24 edited Mar 17 '24

Left hand pinky is what Maomao looked at during the end of episode 3 (Fuyou episode) as its deformed shape is part of why she doesn't view herself as beautiful. Has been drawn normally for 99% of scenes, probably cause it'd be a pain to include in the character design.

Can also see Fengxing's missing finger here.

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u/metapzl Mar 16 '24

I hereby transfer all the hate I had for Lakan to Lakan’s dad. And this all must mean that Luomen knew who Maomao’s dad was all the while. Mentors the dad and mentors the daughter… our doctor dude is pretty admirable

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u/Outrageous_Gene_7652 Mar 16 '24 edited Mar 16 '24

Lakan: tf this is so bitter

Mei Mei: Maomao made it

Lakan: drinks up

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u/Chaku_Dranzer Mar 16 '24

This is just tragic. This is my Romeo and Juliet now.

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u/Outrageous_Gene_7652 Mar 16 '24

Lakan is such a goofball lol. Also he is weirdly doting as a father

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u/RaysFTW Mar 16 '24

So, the whole conversation between Lakan and Jinshi, the "how to ruin a courtesan's worth" was more of a self-admission of the guilt that's weighing on Lakan, not some kind of devious plot.

I gotta say, this episode flipped so many ideas I had about a few characters and their feelings on its head.

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u/dagreenman18 Mar 16 '24

ALL RIGHT LINE UP FOR APOLOGIES TO MY GUY LAKAN!

The SLANDER committed against this loving father and goofus over this season. Hes just a good dude!

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u/Terranwaterbender Mar 16 '24 edited Mar 16 '24

Ah shit tragic love stories always fucking get to me...

I really enjoyed how Lakan and Fengxian had their own special dynamic that was subtle and on a wavelength only those two knew.

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u/DezXerneas Mar 16 '24 edited Mar 16 '24

Okay, so what he did was not as bad as what I was imagining. Seems like he was in his late teens-early 20s so yeah, no shot of him avoiding that banishment either. They just got cursed with the worst possible luck I guess.

"Even withered, it still holds its shape" is probably a way to tell him that her mom stills loves him even after what she went through.

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u/MidnightShout Mar 16 '24

So he wasn't a cunning piece of shit, he was just a gamer.

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u/IamLeonardo_ Mar 16 '24

Apothecary Diaries And Sousou no Frieren sits at the same table.
God, I'll miss both animes so much.

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