The Apothecary Diaries (2018)
[薬屋のひとりごと]
Volume 2
Original Author: Natsu Hyuga
Adapted By: Itsuki Nanao
Artist: Nekokurage
Original Character Designer: Toko Shino
Publisher: Big Gangan Comics
Synopsis:
Maomao receives orders from the Emperor himself to treat the ailing Princess Lihua.
Story/Characters:
Much as Maomao might wish otherwise, her activities have drawn the attention of the Emperor, which brings us to our next case. Naturally, she's attached to Princess Gyokuyou and the rivalry among the concubines is intense, but the Emperor's orders override all that. However, Princess Lihua's attendants aren't going to make things easy for her. Being both a handmaid of a rival concubine and lowborn makes for a double-whammy that makes her work dang near impossible, even with Jingshi's intervention, but when Maomao discovers the reason for Lihua's illness, the gloves come off and we see a side of her we haven't seen before. It's quite cathartic, but more rewarding is watching Maomao and Lihua's relationship develop while Maomao is nursing the latter back to health. We didn't get a good first impression of Lihua, but after being brought down low, we get to see that there is a better nature to her that's largely been suppressed due to her standing and the pressure of trying to win at the great game of the inner palace.
Next we have a big garden party with the four main concubines. We've just seen Gyokuyou and Lihua so far, so this gives us the opportunity to learn about the other two a bit, though our main focus will be on the young Princess Lishu, who was actually the concubine of the previous Emperor, who, shall we say, preferred to partake of unripened fruit. You feel bad for her as a naive little girl whose own attendants treat her with malice and contempt. At the garden party, we learn about the custom of tokens (primarily hairpins) being exchanged as signs of favor and Maomao ends up collecting them like Pokemon cards. For her, however, the main attraction is getting to do poison-tasting in a venue where poison is very likely to be served (her main objective) and if not, at least she can enjoy the finest of fine dining.
As you can probably imagine, we come up positive for poison, but who was the real target? Not to worry. Detective Maomao is on the case, but that's a story for next time.
Art:
Maomao's transformation is something to see. She can generate quite a lot of menace when she puts her mind to it (the reasons for which will become clear later in the story). It's a nice change of pace later to see her all dolled up for the garden party and I think you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who makes poison-tasting look so sexy. There are plenty of great reaction shots, making for a very rich visual experience.
Other:
Under the dust cover, we have a couple 4-koma of Gyokuyou's attendants fooling around leading into a full-page panel of Jinshi trying to get in on the action. We also have a short omake where Maomao tries to share the hand-warmers she designed for the garden party with Lihua's attendants as a peace offering, profiles of the Jade Palace attendants, a special thanks page from Nekokurage, and a second omake from Nanao featuring Xiaolan (which makes it little surprise that there's now a Xiaolan-centered spinoff written and drawn by Nanao).
Conclusion:
We get to see some new sides not only to Maomao but also other characters like Lihua. I really like both of the main sequences in this volume, which means it makes for a strong overall package and one that's well worth adding to the collection.
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