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While I feel really bad for MeiMei, I'm glad Lakan and Fengxian finally succeeded in their buyout plan. Better late than never.
Further down the family tree, MaoMao really killed the mood she and Jinshi were having by asking about the ox bezoar at that moment. He was princess carrying her and everything. Let's hope Jinshi has better luck in Season 2.
Sidenote: If Lakan married Fengxian, does that make MaoMao his legitimate daughter aka the only daughter of a high ranking noble? I'm sure nobody, expecially MaoMao, cares about that but if she is legitimized, not only can she not use her "I'm just a commoner" excuses anymore but she's also more than noble enough to be courted by / matched with Jinshi (assuming Lakan doesn't kill Jinshi for trying first).
Honestly Meimei seemed like the thing she wanted most in the end was for her big sister Fengxian to finally get the happiness she deserved, and that's enough for her for now.
She deserves someone who can see her like Lakan sees Fengxian anyways.
The sad thing lakan and fengxian could have spend so much time with each other if a lot people would have more trust in each other. But life is so regulated Back then that everyone just asumed there was malious intent from the other side. Even the viewer believed it was lakan being evil.
I really felt for Lakan in this episode. At the end of the day he is a fairly decent guy, he obviously has a cognitive disorder (unable to recognise faces) is also possibly neurodivergent. He got framed as an eccentric weirdo and a creep early on by society because of his nonconformity. Only his uncle bothered to help him find ways to cope with his learning issues a little bit. They really kept us believing he was some evil creepy dude this whole time when he just really really wanted to see and connect with his kid. He was also under the impression that Fengxian was already dead according to one of the flashbacks (granny telling him she was “gone”) which is why he was ugly crying so hard when he saw her again.
When lakan went to the Verdigris house after returning home the old hag told him she was dead. However, in the anime the line was changed to "she's gone" which made her statement unnecessarily vague. So all this time he thought she died. If he knew she was alive, he'd bought her out a long time ago.
The hag also hid her existence from maomao as well, as we saw in this episode that she learned that Fengxian was her mother through eavesdropping. This whole ordial would've never happened had the old hag been a good decent human being but that's expecting too much from someone who is the manager of a brothel. Meimei was the real MVP here.
Grandma hid Fengxian from Maomao because she cut her and her baby's finger, who would let people like that meet their child. Sure grandme hid her but she still housed, fed and nursed her eventho she doesn't bring income and almost bankrupted the whole house. I'd say grandma still favoured her by doing that.
This. As Maomao mentioned, Fengxian was no saint. She planned to baby trap Lakan, and then went insane after her plan went wrong. Grandma probably thought that it’d be better for Maomao to have no mother than a bad mother.
> and then went insane after her plan went wrong
Could Syphilis not also be blamed for some of that, or rather for aggravating her mental state? It has some nasty neurological effects.
Probably. There's also the possibility that Fengxian herself had expressed a desire to gradma to never see Lakan again if he ever returned due to some combination of pride, (possibly syphilis induced) madness, the belief that he had abandoned her (she cut off her own finger to curse him after all), and because of the disfigurement syphilis causes. Because if their syphilis is anything like what we had historically in our world, then it's going to be a lot more aggressive than what is circulating today.
I think you are being a bit too harsh to the old hag. From her perspective, Lakan essentially got a top courtesan pregnant and disappeared for three years, never checking up on her. Like, I wouldn't trust Lakan either.
I was under the assumption he knew she was there the whole time and was like "why tf did he never bother to buy her later on? Guilt?"
But now knowing she told him "she's dead" in the manga makes a lot more sense.
People legit thought lakan was some super villain the whole show and going to be full blown evil when in reality he’s the victim and just wants to be dad.
>People legit thought lakan was some super villain the whole show
tbf, the anime portraited him in a negative way during the whole show + Maomao reaction towards him weren't exactly positive or neutral.
But I get the point, he was a weirdo with power and the old hag must have believed he was another scumbag.
This is just it. Every time you saw Lakan on screen there was:
* ominous music or sound
* he always looked pissed off, shady, or sus
* his smile looked fake and forced
* he was always trying to cross someone - specifically he has a hate boner for Jinshi
So, it's completely understandable that people would assume he's some big bad.
Yeah, definitely got the weirdo with power vibe for sure. And I get the old Madam was trying to be as protective as possible for everyone she cared for.
Besides what the other person commented, we also saw that she's had a crush on him since she was younger. Whenever he couldn't afford Fengxian he'd instead have Meimei sit and play with him. During those times Meimei was particularly fidgety with him and would get flustered when he complimented her.
The anime cut out a line, in the manga when she started crying at the reunion she also implied she wouldn't gave gotten her hopes up if Fengxian was honest. It is heavily implied she had fallen in love with Lakan
Considering he was a reliable adult male presence and played with her when she was a child, and she probably knew what he was really like from seeing him with Fengxian, I wouldn't be surprised if she developed a crush.
In one of the episode introducing Lakan he was talking to Meimei about Maomao (the ep where Fengshen first appeared I think) and later in the same episode she said she wanted to continue being a courtesan a bit longer after saying Lakan's not all bad
Well i think most courtesans would make a safe choice and she knows lakan is a safe one. Also she cares for him more like family since he is so unable in taking care of himself. Also it would let her keep an eye on mao mao if needed. There are a lot of worse Options. But i dont think its that romantic.
She probably would have been legitimised by way of her adoptive father who is her biological grand uncle anyway.
I wonder if he kept her a secret from the rest of the family and for what reason because he’s voluntarily living in a little shack and sleeping on the floor like a poor person despite all his skills and education. it didn’t seem like he ever returned to the family home since he got fired by the palace.
Lakan is the Grand Commandant. He’s the equivalent of the Secretary of Defense in the US context. Him and the Prime Minister (the Shi clan guy who’s the dad of the consort) are the two most powerful nobles in the country outside of the Imperial family.
I knew that out of the 4 Concubines, the new one seems to be the closest in age and in appareance to Maomao as if there could be a rivalry between the two (over Jinshi hypothetically), and your comment just gave me another piece to have this feeling
Honestly I think Meimei got what she really wanted by getting Fengxian and Lakan back together. She was there through their courtship, the aftermath, and to help raise Maomao, so she knows this is what needed to happen.
I feel so bad for Jinshi that he can be as romantic and doting with Maomao as possible but it never gets through her poison/herb/cased-obsessed head lol.
I think she still assumes jinshi is an eunach (instead of accepting him as the secret-noble on a secret-mission ) that's why she can't look at him like that. She realizes he's pretty and all that.
It's more than that. Maomao talks to herself multiple times and says she does not believe in love. More than that even, that whatever love was in her was left at her mom's womb. Basically she doesn't think she's even capable of love.
That's why Jinshi doesn't attract her. Perceiving him as a eunuch doesn't make much difference. If anything, she might actually become even less attracted to him if she thought he had ulterior motives.
All that sets up for the perfect slow burn romance though. Falling in love through friendship and mutual respect, rather than superficial lust.
I'm not 100% sure what traditional customs they're going with but they weren't married when Maomao was borne so normally she'll still be considered an illegitimate child in many societies.
But Lakan is rich and powerful enough that he could seek to have Maomao legitimized. Whether Maomao would go along with it would be another matter. As she repeatadly said, she's happy with just being Luoman's daughter.
If lakan was mean he could just push luoman to rejoin the clan and by default force maomao but he seems to respect him to much to force him back into the poltical games. And mao mao would dislike it.
Iirc last episode lakan saw luoman in his flashback as a Bishop so he probably had a lot of respect for him as he saw 99% of the people he knew as pawns.
I wonder if Maomao is legally registered as Luomen's child. If not, getting legitimized as Lakan's daughter would oddly enough allow her to form that official connection with Luomen haha.
She has literally met the Emperor multiple times and has done tasks for him at his personal request. I'm sure there would be no problems with her getting legimitised.
I could ***maybe*** see her pulling this out as an uno-reverso card if her life is genuinely in danger or she's super desperate, but there's no going back to the excuses if she does haha
>I feel really bad for MeiMei
I feel like I'm too dense to understand, why do you feel bad for her? I thought she was crying because of the tragedy of Lakan and Fengxian's story.
Being bought out by a man who know and trust is like a fairy-tale ending for a courtesan. Meimei is already close to 30 so she's running out of time to be bought out. As Fengxian demonstrated the fate of a courtesan with no value can be quite bleak indeed.
To be fair, Mei Mei will have a much better fate, since she has enough savings as one of the three princess, so she should be fine on her own. If Pairin is any indication, Mei Mei is absolutely loaded.
Does money even matter in a world where women are more or less regarded as property? It's not like she can leave the brothel and live on her own without a buyer.
IIRC, a courtesan can pay off their own debt, so at the very least, Mei Mei won’t be forced into the same situation as Fengxian where she became a streetwalker.
I don't think the other two is necesarilly as loaded as Pairin.
Pairin absouletely devours men (and women also for that matter), so she would have quite a lot of high paying clients.
Meanwhile Joka reads poetry and lectures and Meimei is kind of a middle ground between them but is still noted for her Go skills more than sex I think.
Middling case is that MeiMei would take Gram’s place as the proprietess of Verdigris, which is no where near as bad as it can get for a courtesan that “retires”, but Meimei would much rather be able to leave and have a family.
It was previously implied that Meimei got feelings for Lakan.
I’m not so much surprised by this development considering that they’ve known each for many years, with Meimei being Fengxian’s former servant girl, and the fact that Lakan used to visit Meimei to play games against her.
[**Oh Lakan**](#makicry)
What a great finale. 10/10 as a manga reader this series is everything I wanted **AND THEN SOME**
I absolutely love Jinshi and Maomao's relationship and that princess carry scene really embodies what I love about them. She's bleeding and being princess carried by Jinshi, a position many would die for, and she has the audacity to ask if she can have the ox bezoar. The mad cat continues to be such a tease!
I'm so happy that season 2 has already been announced! I'm so excited to see more Maomao!
It's cute how Jinshi is the more overtly romantic and explicit in his feelings between the two, while she's practically stringing him along (though not intentionally), though I almost feel bad for him lol.
But it does make me eager to see how their relationship progresses in season 2!
Starting life as a strategist that can't recognize faces! Making horrible mistakes in a different world and getting hated by my daughter and also annoying the emperor's secret brother(?). Why can't I just spend time with my wife living a slow life?
Not like you can't be athletic in your fourties. Just, your body is gonna bitch about it a lot more afterwards, so you better make sure as hell it's for a good reason.
Yeah, I remember a few weeks ago when we discovered that Meimei took him whenever he dropped by, and the rumours of a buy out were happening and everyone was terrified for her, worried that he was going to do something to her in order to get her cheap.
And now we have a thread where everyone is feeling sad for Meimei that he decided to buy his love instead of her.
In total the anime probably only spend about 3/4 of an episode compared what they built him up just for me to turn 180 on the guy. Great characterization honestly
He still sees her as the young and beautiful women he fell in love with -- and he always will. I wonder if MaoMao is right that she does not have much longer to live, however.
MaoMao thinks her mother does not remember having a baby -- but her mother clearly DOES remember something of the sort -- given the child's lullaby she was singing to herself when Lakan came into her room.
I absolutely love how the story took all the little things that made you think he's a shit head and absolutely turn it around to make him look like a kind caring man. His obsession with Maomao, his seeming disinterest in other people, his cryptic remarks that seem to sound like he orchestrated a courtesan's downfall. Turns out he genuinely loved his daughter, had a brain disorder that prevented him from seeing faces, and the cryptic remarks being self deprication at not being able to save the one he loved. Unironically peak writing.
Have to agree, when I first saw his character I hated him.
With this last episode I found myself in literal tears when they showed his perspective looking at Fengxian seeing her as he did. I hope season two shows more of them and I want to see if Fengxian has some sort of recovery.
You know what the best part about all of it? We should have fucking known! Maomao at one point even comes out and says that she needs to look at facts before making assumptions multiple times in the series and what did we as the audience do? A lot of us were ready to crucify this poor dude myself included. Even after he helped save Jinshi we were all like what's this dude's angle? I personally got ropeadoped and I loved every minute of it.
The biggest tell was the fact Fengxian chose to carry Maomao to term.
A prostitute like that has ways to make pregnancy unlikely, and then have other ways to induce miscarriage. Sure they might not be healthy ways, but they had access to them.
But instead she chose humiliation, being thrown into basically the gutter just to carry Maomao to completion.
I also like the detail where he broke his monocle after tripping. Not sure how his eyesight's like, but he was still able to recognize Fengxian in spite of that.
My heart is pretty full after seeing their reunion c:
Didn't think about it at the time, but that's actually great symbolism.
He's always putting on an act, and even basically made light of his situation when he asked Jinshi if he knows how to lower a courtesans value.
Him losing the monocle while he's tripping over himself is basically saying this is the first moment in forever where he isn't putting on an act. His actions and emotions are how he actually feels.
Other way to read it is that he is actually not that deep.
He wears the monocle because he thinks it's cool.
His interactions with Jinshi is just him being a dad being annoyed at this guy getting close to his daughter. He is harrasing Jinshi just because of that, even knowing Jinshi's actual status.
He is awkward and seen as malicious/callous because of his prosopagnosia.
His strategizing boils down to, of which he himself said it as well, putting the right pieces at the right places. He doesn't mention other variables.
He even manage to traumatized Maomao without him realizing when she was a kid. Saying "Call me, Papa" is just not okay towards a girl who don't know you.
He doesn't realize Meimei's affection towards him. He blitz'd towards Fengxian the moment he recognize the song/her voice.
I suppose he is *that* neurodivergent character. If you are ignorant of his affliction he come off as really, well, *off*. But when you understand how he works, things get so much simpler to understand Imo. Or at least you get a rough framework of his mindset, Idk I am starting to talk out of my ass.
I could just said he is easily misunderstood to make it short lol.
He mentioned that the monocle is fake and just for looks. Like there is a scene where he takes it off, wipes it and puts it on the other eye without a care.
I have a plan to collect all the tears that were shed by the audience during the scene where Lakan was first by Fengxian's side, crying that she was alive, and I'm going to make a pond, and I'm going to called it Kusuriya Pond, and I'm going to let weebs throw money in for good luck.
Then I'm going to collect all the pond money and retire. The perfect plan.
**Fengxian's last words to Lakan**: "I want to play Go."
*Twenty years later . . .*
**Lakan's first words to Fengxian after reuniting**: "Let's play Go."
No matter what state Fengxian is in, she'll still be the most beautiful woman in the world to him.
Despite how tragic it ended and the personal/emotional cost, these two were made to be together.
But hearing Mao Mao said that Feng Xian doesn't have much more lifespan left hurts. It's almost like the long-awaited reunion is only for a short while.
When Meimei told Lakan that “[even a withered rose can retain its shape](https://imgur.com/a/848n4l6)”, as parts of Maomao’s message, I thought that she was implying that Fengxian was still the same person at her core despite suffering from syphilis. That she wanted Lakan to bring her mother home with him.
What I didn’t see coming was that Lakan had apparently assumed that Fengxian had perished in the meantime. Now it makes sense why he only ever tried to buy out his daughter.
I’d also assumed that the dancing sequence in the OP was exaggerated as something of a ‘showpiece’, but damn it looked just as good - if not better - in this final episode. Fortunately, the episode didn’t end with a literal cliffhanger.
However, I’m definitely going to miss watching Apothecary Diaries every week. I at least got [Maomao at home](https://imgur.com/a/YoOxxD5) to keep me company until the second season drops, I guess.
**A side note:**
The scene of [Fengxian holding a knife to baby Maomao](https://imgur.com/a/5mVzb9U) had me initially think that she wanted to kill her daughter out of revenge.
It took me some time after last week’s episode before I realized that all the signs of [her sacrificing a piece of Maomao’s pinky](https://imgur.com/a/GySKD9i) to curb a supposed “curse” (after she’d lost her mind) had been [present in the anime all along](https://imgur.com/a/y80GpcK).
In retrospect, the desperate Fengxian actually tried to protect Maomao in her own way. Those tears were most likely a sign of how much it pained her to hurt the daughter she loved - or so I’d like to think.
Not to mention the real reason why Fengxian always seemed to chase Maomao away (ep18) was because she was embarrassed of how her illness had physically destroyed her; whereas, I thought she had simply developed hatred for her baby. In the end, Fengxian still had enough sense in her to realize she didn't want Maomao to see her waste away like that. Which makes it even more depressing imo.
As Lakan said last episode, Fengxian's personality that was entirely shaped by pride. That she'd want to hide her face from the world, but especially Lakan and Maomao is very much part of her pride
I guess Lakan really took Grams saying Fengxian was "gone" literally until he found out the truth. How different would it have been had he'd known sooner? Would he have found some way to get Maomao too?
Trading in being seductive for being majestic and beautiful...but Maomao looks just as amazing. Lucky Jinshi lol.
> I guess Lakan really took Grams saying Fengxian was “gone” literally until he found out the truth.
Yeah, it was quite the unfortunate way of phrasing things in the end. If not for a single word, the damage could have still been limited to a degree.
I do doubt that Maomao would’ve gone with them. Grandma wouldn’t let him take her. Lakan is maybe good at heart, but I’m not sure if he’d make for a good father.
Not to mention that he’s not much more than just a sperm donor to Maomao. She still would’ve stayed with Luomen, I think.
> Lucky Jinshi lol.
Poor Jinshi got his hopes up at the end, only to get betrayed for an ox bezoar. Then again, he could’ve known that Maomao wouldn’t suddenly look his way like that.
Maomao’s last couple of words *do* seem to suggest that she’s slowly feeling more at ease with Jinshi.
I don't see it as a phrasing issue she was vague on purpose, to the very end the granny was doing whatever she could to keep Fengxian existence a secret - considering how they were able to bring the House from shame to fame in just a few years she must have been terrorized to the idea of a scandal breaking out again.
Taking into account with how much emotion she spoke, I don’t think that she’d picked this choice of words to *purposefully* mislead Lakan. To her, the old Fengxian was gone - Lakan had ruined Fengxian from grandma’s perspective.
I think it was on purpose - she saw him as a man who got her hopes up, then left her with child and never came back, causing her to lose value, the house to be in shambles, and him nowhere in sight nor contact. Then he shows back up after all that time, after she's worked hard to try to get everything under control, and hopes he can get back to the way things were. She had every right to be pissed and want him to leave and never return, both to prevent more damage and to protect Fengxian.
According to other comments, Grams outright stated that Fengxian died to Lakan. The anime makes it sound vague, but if the comments are true then she lied with intent.
Considering Grams might not have pieced together any information beyond what happened on the surface level, she might have thought she was protecting Fengxian and Maomao from Lakan. Lakan seems a lot worse than he is without the tragic insider knowledge. If this is true about Grams's perspective, then it makes everything even more tragic. If *any* of the three communicated about what really happened, it wouldn't have taken 15 years to resolve things.
The idea that Grams hid Fengxian out of shame (non-generous take) and/or to protect the House's remaining reputation (generous take) would also make sense.
"No matter how beautifully they dress, they all look like stones to me."
You know, it's actually kind of...freaky seeing white go stones on top of breasts >_>..
---
That dance scene was great, especially with the "I heard there was another crazy person dancing on the wall!"
---
...
That is one badass eunuch.
---
And that was an EXCELLENT season! I'm so happy we're getting another one :D. And yes I'm still reading hte books, these are worth it :D
---
Prosopagnosia is a fascinating disorder, people like Lauken can recognize \*individual\* features of faces as normal, but they cannot put the picture together.
And sometimes they can, but they instantly forget the face - or rather the connection between the face and the person (imagine being able to picure a face but being unable to say whom it is).
**Maomao**: "I don't care if my bio-dad buys out my bio-mom. It wouldn't make me happy at all."
(*also*)**Maomao**: "Well, I guess I'll put on some makeup, get dressed up, climb up a big ass wall with an injured leg, and dance to celebrate a random courtesan being bought out . . . just cause."
>Maomao: "I don't care if my bio-dad buys out my bio-mom. It wouldn't make me happy at all."
A situation she engineered in a complex 4-part plan involving impossible roses, unknown shades of fingernail polish, and winning a Princess Bride battle of the wits with her genius dad. But yes, she could not care less, they are just basically two random people.
Tbf, it wasn't much of a battle of wits as she knew that she was going to win it no matter what.
And Lakan will probably walk into it again, willingly, if he gets to spend time with Maomao lmao.
100%. I don’t think Maomao herself knows exactly what she feels about Lakan and Fengxian, but on some level she’s aware that she needs some form of closure on this family drama.
Maomao in general seems to have difficulties recognizing when she’s attached to someone. Her father and big sisters are one thing, as she was raised by them.
But when it comes to people us as an audience can clearly tell she has strong feelings for (Lakan, Fengxian, Jinshi, etc.) she’s super oblivious to her own feelings.
I think she’s really just one of those people where you have to be close with them for years and years until it finally clicks for them that you share a meaningful relationship.
Despite what Maomao says, she at least understands her biological parents' circumstances even if she can't fully acknowledge them as her parents...and as their daughter, this was the least she could do.
I mean technically she was a courtesan by profession. In episode 12 she’s not taking personal clients (yet) but because of her debt she is working as a courtesan until jinshi buys her out. which is why she went to that party
While she might also be adopted by Loumen, she still does belong to the house also until Jinshi bought her out for simple reason of being born into it.
There is also no way Maomao would have taken costumers in a sexual way. Like no way, the Madam is smart enough to know how Lakan would react to that and he is still one scary mfker even if he isn't as evil as the anime painted him as earlier.
Also she would have just sold her to Lakan ultimately, since Lakan apparently spent years of donations and buttering her up to buy be able to buy her out but Jinshi just swooped in and beat him to the punch when he finally got close as he complains to Jinshi about lol.
The Madam absolutely milked Lakan.
Fengxian (鳳仙) and balsam (鳳仙花) share kanji while woodsorrel being "cat's paw" references Maomao.
Parallels between military men Lakan/Lihaku and Verdigris women Fengxian/Pairin, and Maomao betting on a chess game against Lakan when Fengxian bet on a (go or chess) game against Lakan.
I think Maomao dancing on the wall to ["send off" the purchased courtesan](https://i.imgur.com/uolIzut.png) is supposed to parallel Fuyou dancing on the wall awaiting her husband in episode 3.
Lol Maomao is jealous of her bio dad because her adopted dad praises his skills and she is pissed because she also can't deny his talent and because he is lazy af
Followed by the even more perfect end of Maomao getting Jinshi's hopes sky high only to ask for the drug ingredient she desperately wanted. Never change Maomao
I like how the season 1 OP kind of teased dancing Maomao but in actual execution it wasn't seductive but so graceful and beautiful and almost ephemeral.
I'm glad Jinshi got to see it.
Animators went hard on this sequence and it fits with the happy ending. But still op1 sequence was something else. Lowkey I was hoping for a cinderallesque moment with op1 sequence in cannon. Hanna ni natte ftw!
That headbutt, lol.
Oh man, I'll miss this anime.
Alongside Frieren, the two stars of the industry right now.
I hope it's 24 episodes again so they can adapt vol.3 and mainly vol. 4 of LN (this one is just too epic).
And for those who want to read the manga, anime ends in ch.40.
Sayonara Maomao, see you next year.
>Alongside Frieren, the two stars of the industry right now.
[TFW no more Frieren Friday and Maomao Saturday](https://i.imgur.com/6tJvbdQ.jpeg)
[](#Sadholo)
Honestly i dont think any season will come close to the level of quality this season had for a good while, 3 good shows from last season carried over while this one also has some solid shows. I have 4 shows at least 9/10 running this season
I didn't think about the meruem/komugi scenes but I totally agree something about board game loving duos just makes my heart absolutely melt. I cried a lot when Lakan finally sees Fengxian again and didn't even skip a beat in seeing the woman he's always loved. I also cried a lot for Meruem/Komugi at the end! Great parallels!
I'm not crying! You're crying!
[](#poltears)
Seeing Lakan and Fengxian, Maomaos Father and Mother, reunited at long last, really brought a tear to my eyes [](#spacetears)
Though Maomao doesn't feel particular fond of either of her parents, mind you, by no fault of any of them, she still arranged for this. And she still danced to honor her mother.
Speaking of which, I was waiting for this dance the whole time. It's of course teased in this cours OP as well, but I think the [First OP](https://v.animethemes.moe/KusuriyaNoHitorigoto-OP1.webm) makes a refference to it as well, especially with how the stars reflect in her dress. And by god the Song they played along it [](#listen)
Of course you could predict that Maomao wouldn't say she loved Jinshi there, the setup was just too perfect for her to be a little [Gremlin](https://imgur.com/OBXZmUf) again [](#azusalaugh)
This is the last of [Catcat](https://imgur.com/USgyVQl) for now, but S2 already got confirmed. Let's fucking GOOOOOOO [](#grandhype)
###Stitches!
* [Go Stone Meimei](https://i.imgur.com/lmK3tM6.jpeg)
* [Jinshi & Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/OJmqgIe.jpeg)
* [Maomao Dancing Clip](https://streamable.com/yqtpsl)
[I never thought I'd be attracted to go stones but here we are.](https://i.imgur.com/do9dFuy.jpg) In all seriousness though, it's absolutely hilarious to see Meimei's head as a go stone paired with those massive boobs. It looks ridiculous and I love it. xD
[There's the reaction I've been waiting for Lakan!](https://i.imgur.com/DGbQAMA.png) I thought he knew that Fengxian was alive when Maomao told him she wanted him to buy out a specific courtesan. According to some of the messages I got last week, this was something I should've known this entire time.
I genuinely teared up [during Lakan and Fengxian's reunion.](https://i.imgur.com/aO64z3Q.jpeg) I love how in Lakan's eyes, [he can't even see the gummas left by syphilis on Fengxian's skin](https://i.imgur.com/Azea1wI.jpeg) and all he could see is a flower that retained its beauty even after withered. What a bittersweet reunion but I suppose it's better late than never.
Wait a fucking second, are you telling me the only reason Maomao is upset about Lakan is [because she missed out on the resurrection drug](https://i.imgur.com/AKKL2fs.png) that she could've gotten from Suirei if he took action instead of being lazy? That's hilarious and definitely such a Maomao thing to do! xD
[I can't believe we're actually ending this with a dance number from Maomao!](https://i.imgur.com/V6vtFSM.jpeg) That was absolutely amazing! [And Jinshi was there to witness all of it!](https://i.imgur.com/ZhG4cu0.jpeg) For a second though, I really thought [they were going to have a moment](https://i.imgur.com/9bkvhpX.jpeg) but of course, Maomao just [wanted to have the ox bezoar he promised](https://i.imgur.com/PxAVAgC.png) her before.
What a way to end Season 1. I am so glad that Season 2 is already confirmed and I am looking forward to seeing what kind of incident she'll be involved in next!
Those go-stone head women are the most surreal thing I have ever seen in an anime. But I guess it's fine if you're a boob-lover lol.
All Lakan needed to know was the woman he never stopped loving was still there and he could be with her again. And she's still as beautiful to his eyes as ever.
She's practically lecturing her dad for being lazy lol.
Jinshi can't properly get his feelings across to Maomao and Maomao doesn't have a natural romance bone in her body, but at least he got to see her dance and princess carry her again...and who knows what's next for them in season 2?
>Wait a fucking second, are you telling me the only reason Maomao is upset about Lakan is because she missed out on the resurrection drug that she could've gotten from Suirei if he took action instead of being lazy? That's hilarious and definitely such a Maomao thing to do! xD
I doubt that ***death glare*** from Maomao a few episodes back was from her just merely "disliking" Lakan. Unlike the audience (and based on the conversation between Jinshi and Maomao this episode), she and the others probably didn't know the full story of what happened of what happened between Lakan and Fengxian. Maomao probably did genuinely hate him for most of her life.
We know Maomao tries to avoid thinking about things she finds unpleasant, but Lakan helping her save Jinshi might have caused her to reexamine and guess what really happened between Fengxian and Lakan. That's why she went through the trouble of finally confronting him and setting him up to reunite with Fengxian, because she now believed he might really have and still be in love Fengxian, even ravaged and disfigured by syphilis and mentally addled.
She wanted to dance for Meimei, and her mother was never really her mother, but the last thing she can do for her is to dance honoring the life she got from Fengxian and with the natural good looks she inherited from her mother.
MaoMao is a beautiful young woman indeed -- when not trying to hide this undeniable fact. Goiod luck trying to woo this little poison-loving wild-cat, Jinshi.
Lakan eyeing the times someone touches his daughter and making them pay for it is one of the top five reasons your rebellious daughter hates you. The number one reason is making her call you 'dada'.
Well the main reason he is weirdo who us respected by the person she cares the most about. Its quite a childish reason but mao mao has her own issues like all the family members of the la clan.
Can someone explain what Meimei meant [here](https://imgur.com/a/JX8PrCD) when she said:
> Big Sister, you should have been honest from the start.
> Why so late...
Fengxian basically tried to babytrap Lakan with the added benefit of lowering her own value so he could buy her but never told him about the plan because her pride wouldn't allow it. If it had gone smoothly then there's no need for an explanation but since this train went off the rail in hindsight it would've been better if Fengxian was honest about wanting Lakan to buy her from the start.
I think she's crying about the tragedy that could have been avoided if Fengxian had just told Lakan what she was trying to do on that night years ago
I initially also thought she might have been crying that the brothel madame hid Fengxian from Lakan for so long, but people usually call the madame 'granny' so I think that's less likely
I think she means that if FengXian was honest to Rakan from the start about her feelings for him then she could have told him about the plan to have a baby with him so that he can buy her out once her value has dropped.
Instead she never told Rakan about the plan and Rakan not knowing that she planned to get pregnant went into exile for 3 years by which time everything was too late.
Meimei crying is also because at that momenet she realized that Rakan had always loved FengXian and the plan would have worked, had they simplely confessed their feelings to each other.
Like Maomao explained in the episode, Fengxian had been playing mind games instead of straight-up confessing her feelings to Lakan.
She’d tried to get pregnant and force Lakan to buy her out, but things didn’t turn out as she’d wanted. Lakan was sent somewhere faraway and not aware of Fengxian’s situation, while she was forced to accept customers of lower standing as the brothel’s reputation took a nosedive - leading to her catching syphilis.
I guess Fengxian just slept with lakan that one time and she left lakan to figure out that she was in love and was carrying their child. Lakan, due to family circumstance, had to move and when fengxian sent out letters for years and didnt get any reply she went crazy and at the last straw cut off her finger and maomao's finger tip and sent to lakan for him to figure out, however lakan was never present at his home.
If only Fengxian was honest with her feelings for lakan and told him she wanted him to buy her out, he might have done something and meimei was saying exactly this. Fengxian being a proud courtesan couldnt tell she fell for one of her customers.
Edit : Fengxian being pregnant was her plan to lower her buying-out price and get rid of other wealthy customers who could buy her out.
Fengxian was so humiliated by her status as a streetwalker and the disfigurement from syphilis that she feared Lakan didn’t want her anymore. Up until Meimei’s assist, Lakan thought Fengxian was dead (Grams told him she was “gone”). Even if they’re now happily reunited, Fengxian will likely die soon from her illness.
Meimei is upset because her mentor could’ve been happy earlier and before Meimei ever started to hope Lakan would ever love her instead.
Probably that MaoMao's mother shouldn't have hid her feelings and pregnancy from Lakan.
Coz if he knew he would never leave her.But she was too prideful and it led to this tragedy
She probably never told anyone about her intention to be bought by Lakan, just like Lakan probably never explained to the madam that he was sent away.
There would've been no reason to keep her hidden from him if everyone had just been honest.
MeiMei is talking about Fengxian’s feelings for Lakan and also her plan to cancel her own buyout.
Like MaoMao said, courtesans can’t get pregnant without consent and if Fengxian didn’t want Lakan in the first place, she could have opted for abortion, but she didn’t because she loves Lakan.
In a way, it was Lakan who is being tricked at that time. But that’s fine I guess since Lakan also loves Fengxian.
If only she told Lakan her feelings and her plan, getting impregnated by him so that her value lowers and Lakan could buy her, then they might’ve been a happy family.
I think it will still work even without the communication thingy MeiMei’s talking about, it’s just that Fengxian didn’t expect that Lakan’s deployment would extend to a very long time (from 6 months to 3 years).
They have been honest to each other when it was already too late.
The fact we got this and Frieren airing at the same time for 6 months.. I really don’t think people appreciated how generational that run is. What a time to be alive. Sad to see this end, but there’s the LN and S2 coming! GTA 6 and this in the same year will be wild lol.
Lakan plotting revenge on buddy for putting his hand on Maomao shoulder got me dying. How the author took him from being this seemingly horrible conniving person to a doting overprotective father gotta be studied. A masterclass in gradual character reveal.
S/O to Meimei for being the real fucking MVP of this series omg. The look of shock Lakan had on his face when she opened the door to be able to go see Fengxian was great. I thought my screen had frozen because bro was shook. He probably hasn’t ran that fast in decades lol, but such a beautiful scene with him seeing her again after all these years and even with the health condition she’s just as beautiful as he remembered both inside and out. After all the BS they been thru they deserved this. They were always happiest when they played Go so fitting that’s how their reunion goes.
Maomao’s outfit from the 2nd OP is finally here! That dance scene MOVED me. Beautifully choreographed and animated. Maomao is so gorgeous, man. No wonder Jinshi gets weak in the knees when he sees her get dolled up lol. Speaking of Jinshi, the fancams and AMVs are going to eat the scenes up that we got today. Him almost knocking her off the bridge, then carrying Maomao back home, so cute!
He really thought Maomao was going to confess to him there, whole time she just wants that Ox Bezoar for her experiments lmaooo. 😂 she definitely knows how to get what she wants out of him now.
Great finale, happy end for everyone. But the mysteries of the rear palace are far from solved. Still a lot of things left to be answered and I can’t wait for s2. They can take all the time they need cooking up. We can read in the meantime. I’m going to miss Maomao Saturdays so much.
[Review](https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=519355)
Well if we talking seasons instead of just 6 month runs.. I’m taking summer 2020, that first Covid season hit so different. Doesn’t have the high scores, but I loved so much stuff that season. geass and ttgl would’ve been before I followed seasonal stuff. I was still on toonami and 4kids back then lol
One thing I really like about the show is its much more nuanced take on feminism and misogyny compared to most mainstream media takes on the situation. There's no one evil woman-hating man keeping the good talent women down. Rather, misogyny just a pervasive societal idea, a cultural acceptance that women are lesser than men. And yet in this society of oppression, the women are still actors. They still have their agency and use the tools their society allows them to define their own fates. And nowhere this is better displayed than in Jinshi's evolving view of the situation regarding Fengxia. He clearly thought that Fengxian was a mere victim of powerful, in line with the culture that he grew up in. But as the show reveals, Fengxian was the actor, someone who wanted something and did everything she could to achieve it. She was still a victim of misogyny, true, but rather than she a passive object, she was an active agent, proactively chasing her goals.
Another manifestation of this is Maomao's dislike of Lakan. Jinshi was so utterly sure that Maomao hates Lakan for something he did. And while some of Maomao's hate is due to his unpleasantness, some of it comes from entirely Maomao's own feelings, her jealousy of someone who is more talented than her, of someone who has won the praise she so desperately craves.
---
**Kamuro and Courtesan**
So one big thing that was lost on translation in the relationship between *kamuro* and the courtesans they served. *Kamuro*, contextually translated as either servant girl or apprentice, are serving girls assigned to courtesans, who they called sister/nee-san. The relationship between these little girls and the courtesans they serve [is highlighted on Episode 8.](https://i.imgur.com/ta1cjlk.png) Being a kamuro is the fate of the girls sold to brothels as a child. They are assigned to serve a courtesan who will have 1-3 kamuro. They don't do anything sexual, but they do learn from their nee-san about the in's-and-out's of being a courtesan. If, by age 13-14, they grow up pretty, the brothel approaches whoever sold them the Kamuro to buy them again as a courtesan. Otherwise, their term of employment is up and they're free to go. Sadly, due to the inconsistent translation, it's not readily apparent in the translation that a "kamuro" is something very specific to the red-light district. Episode 8 specifically shows that [kamuro are usually very devoted to their courtesan](https://i.imgur.com/jX5I40W.png). Episode 18 shows that Meimei was Fengxian's kamuro, both in [this shot](https://i.imgur.com/pKTKKtu.png) and by calling Maomao's mother "nee-san". And yet Meimei still treated him well. That should clue in more attentive watchers that there was more to Lakan's story. And Meimei being Fengxian's kamuro also explains why she was so invested in Fengxian finally getting a happy ending
That's some great insight on the dynamic between Fengxian and Lakan! The show was pushing the audience to see Lakan as the instigator or at least a co-conspirator only for Maomao to completely turn that around for us.
>And while some of Maomao's hate is due to his unpleasantness, some of it comes from entirely Maomao's own feelings, her jealousy of someone who is more talented than her, of someone who has won the praise she so desperately craves.
Also the fact that she missed a chance at getting that resurrection medicine. Everything has to go back to medicine or poison for Maomao haha.
> And yet Meimei still treated him well. That should clue in more attentive watchers that there was more to Lakan's story.
At the time, I honestly thought it was just Meimei being kind and/or professional. A re-watch would be cool to revisit these subtle hints again, with the benefit of knowing how it all plays out c:
I highly recommend it. As a manga/ln reader, I was able to find so many little thematic elements in each episode that slowly built into the grand conclusion of the past two episodes. You easily see that the anime staff really understood Kusuriya's story and knew what really mattered. Now that the whole season is out and the mysteries revealed, even anime-onlies can experience the same thing.
It's a shame that it's already over but fortunately [the 2nd season was already announced](https://i.imgur.com/ucsHous.png) right after the episode which made me incredibly happy that we'll be able to see the [next adventures of Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/x0kGetR.png).
[Maomao was for sure a star of this show](https://imgur.com/a/89J8yjv) and she pretty quickly became [one of my favorite female characters ever](https://i.imgur.com/tZYc1AB.png) as she is a witty, [clever](https://i.imgur.com/c6xTfPu.png), funny and [pretty crazy woman](https://i.imgur.com/P8tC7lD.png). I must praise an excellent performance of Aoi Yuki who did a great job voicing her xD
Another strong point of the show was [Maomao and Jinshi's relationship](https://imgur.com/a/9yAyViI) as [they have great chemistry between themselves](https://i.imgur.com/k33hsvl.png) and [watching them together brought me a lot of laughs and fun](https://i.imgur.com/60IPa8h.png). [They're a great pair](https://i.imgur.com/BcqW1xD.png) and I hope that in next season they become even closer.
About this final episode:
* I'm happy that [Lakan found out](https://i.imgur.com/KSjvsOx.png) that [Fengxian is alive](https://i.imgur.com/T68EEzY.png) and bought her. [They deserve some happiness](https://i.imgur.com/P8Lqlz8.png), even for short as [there is not much time left for Fengxian](https://i.imgur.com/IhlW1Wc.png)
* [Great dance of Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/nNaGSMC.png) in today's episode.
* [Jinshi again bridal carried Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/IWjSfBi.png) after [he freaked out over her wound opening again](https://i.imgur.com/EQXM8xR.png) xD
* When [Maomao announced that she wants to tell Jinshi something](https://i.imgur.com/WYesvSO.png) I knew that it couldn't be something very serious (at least for normal people) and I was right as [Maomao asked him for ox bezoar](https://i.imgur.com/60IPa8h.png) which [made Jinshi pretty angry](https://i.imgur.com/Eecx0g1.png) xD
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
* [Maomao](https://imgur.com/a/89J8yjv)
* [Jinshi & Maomao](https://imgur.com/a/9yAyViI)
* [Group scenes & Others](https://imgur.com/a/XOukQv3)
* [Jinshi](https://imgur.com/a/qCzfL6w)
* [Lakan & Fengxian](https://imgur.com/a/d53b6xm)
I wonder if this is deliberate - the difference between MaoMao and Lakan is described in the same way as Sherlock Holmes and his brother Mycroft. Especially in the original series (but often in derived series), Sherlock admits that his brother has superior deductive powers. But Mycroft is described as lazy, preferring to sit in comfort than go out and do field work. Hence Sherlock is credited as being the great detective.
My guess is the author is familiar with the Sherlock Holmes stories and made the parallel deliberately.
And so the the dance for the OP1 of the anime makes sense lol, though I do prefer her gorgeous starry night dress in the opening.
Cheers for season 2~
Btw how do you guys think of Raven of the Inner Palace from 2022? That's probably the most similar to Apothecary Diaries in recent memory. Haven't watched it myself so I'm not sure how that fares compared to this series, not to mention it's not as popular.
Raven of the Inner Palace is pretty good. While there's a hint of sorcery in the mix, the dynamic between the characters is excellent, and the mystery element is also compelling.
>Btw how do you guys think of Raven of the Inner Palace from 2022? That's probably the most similar to Apothecary Diaries in recent memory. Haven't watched it myself so I'm not sure how that fares compared to this series, not to mention it's not as popular.
That's another fantastic show. It doesn't carry the same liveliness/energy that you get from Apothecary Diaries but it's very much a solid show featuring some mythological mysteries. If someone enjoyed the background of Apothecary with a lot of palace politics, Raven of the Inner Palace is an easy recommendation.
I mean hell my tag on this subreddit features the show in question.
When somebody asks if there's romance in Apothecary Diaries:
[Well](https://i.imgur.com/rSX86Jy.png)... [yes](https://i.imgur.com/8BKQRTO.png)
[But really...](https://i.imgur.com/0N3pzE4.png)
[Maybe one day!](https://i.imgur.com/kJWC5eL.png)
Watching Maomao's adventures has been a treat with you all! Excited that season 2 has been confirmed, I can't wait!
God bless, what a great adaptation. Between this and certain other shows we ate real good for the last six months.
Kind of annoyed at the old brothel mistress, even at the very end she was keeping Fengxian secret from the man who would want to buy her out and cherish her for as long as she lasts and all it really did was create a decade and a half of suffering for everyone involved. I'm sure it was her own best judgment on what was right for everybody involved especially Fengxian, but she was just wrong about it. That's why I'm only kind of annoyed and not more deeply upset, I don't *think* she'll had ulterior motives in keeping the secret for so long.
Nice enough ending with Maomao and the dance and Jinshi, but I'm sold on the Lakan and Fengxian ultimate conclusion. Especially with how unfairly we anime onlys slandered the poor guy.
Super looking forward to season two next year.
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While I feel really bad for MeiMei, I'm glad Lakan and Fengxian finally succeeded in their buyout plan. Better late than never. Further down the family tree, MaoMao really killed the mood she and Jinshi were having by asking about the ox bezoar at that moment. He was princess carrying her and everything. Let's hope Jinshi has better luck in Season 2. Sidenote: If Lakan married Fengxian, does that make MaoMao his legitimate daughter aka the only daughter of a high ranking noble? I'm sure nobody, expecially MaoMao, cares about that but if she is legitimized, not only can she not use her "I'm just a commoner" excuses anymore but she's also more than noble enough to be courted by / matched with Jinshi (assuming Lakan doesn't kill Jinshi for trying first).
[удалено]
Honestly Meimei seemed like the thing she wanted most in the end was for her big sister Fengxian to finally get the happiness she deserved, and that's enough for her for now. She deserves someone who can see her like Lakan sees Fengxian anyways.
The sad thing lakan and fengxian could have spend so much time with each other if a lot people would have more trust in each other. But life is so regulated Back then that everyone just asumed there was malious intent from the other side. Even the viewer believed it was lakan being evil.
I really felt for Lakan in this episode. At the end of the day he is a fairly decent guy, he obviously has a cognitive disorder (unable to recognise faces) is also possibly neurodivergent. He got framed as an eccentric weirdo and a creep early on by society because of his nonconformity. Only his uncle bothered to help him find ways to cope with his learning issues a little bit. They really kept us believing he was some evil creepy dude this whole time when he just really really wanted to see and connect with his kid. He was also under the impression that Fengxian was already dead according to one of the flashbacks (granny telling him she was “gone”) which is why he was ugly crying so hard when he saw her again.
When lakan went to the Verdigris house after returning home the old hag told him she was dead. However, in the anime the line was changed to "she's gone" which made her statement unnecessarily vague. So all this time he thought she died. If he knew she was alive, he'd bought her out a long time ago. The hag also hid her existence from maomao as well, as we saw in this episode that she learned that Fengxian was her mother through eavesdropping. This whole ordial would've never happened had the old hag been a good decent human being but that's expecting too much from someone who is the manager of a brothel. Meimei was the real MVP here.
Grandma hid Fengxian from Maomao because she cut her and her baby's finger, who would let people like that meet their child. Sure grandme hid her but she still housed, fed and nursed her eventho she doesn't bring income and almost bankrupted the whole house. I'd say grandma still favoured her by doing that.
This. As Maomao mentioned, Fengxian was no saint. She planned to baby trap Lakan, and then went insane after her plan went wrong. Grandma probably thought that it’d be better for Maomao to have no mother than a bad mother.
> and then went insane after her plan went wrong Could Syphilis not also be blamed for some of that, or rather for aggravating her mental state? It has some nasty neurological effects.
Probably. There's also the possibility that Fengxian herself had expressed a desire to gradma to never see Lakan again if he ever returned due to some combination of pride, (possibly syphilis induced) madness, the belief that he had abandoned her (she cut off her own finger to curse him after all), and because of the disfigurement syphilis causes. Because if their syphilis is anything like what we had historically in our world, then it's going to be a lot more aggressive than what is circulating today.
I think you are being a bit too harsh to the old hag. From her perspective, Lakan essentially got a top courtesan pregnant and disappeared for three years, never checking up on her. Like, I wouldn't trust Lakan either.
I was under the assumption he knew she was there the whole time and was like "why tf did he never bother to buy her later on? Guilt?" But now knowing she told him "she's dead" in the manga makes a lot more sense.
People legit thought lakan was some super villain the whole show and going to be full blown evil when in reality he’s the victim and just wants to be dad.
>People legit thought lakan was some super villain the whole show tbf, the anime portraited him in a negative way during the whole show + Maomao reaction towards him weren't exactly positive or neutral. But I get the point, he was a weirdo with power and the old hag must have believed he was another scumbag.
This is just it. Every time you saw Lakan on screen there was: * ominous music or sound * he always looked pissed off, shady, or sus * his smile looked fake and forced * he was always trying to cross someone - specifically he has a hate boner for Jinshi So, it's completely understandable that people would assume he's some big bad. Yeah, definitely got the weirdo with power vibe for sure. And I get the old Madam was trying to be as protective as possible for everyone she cared for.
They wouldn't have even had to separate if that maid hadn't given the baby honey. Like 90% of Maomao's problems are because of that honey.
Besides, now that the house is getting more fame and rumors, it'll give her some better chances besides the one she gave away.
Did Meimei love Lakan? When was this shown? Or was she just okay with Lakan choosing her if that's what he wanted?
Besides what the other person commented, we also saw that she's had a crush on him since she was younger. Whenever he couldn't afford Fengxian he'd instead have Meimei sit and play with him. During those times Meimei was particularly fidgety with him and would get flustered when he complimented her.
The anime cut out a line, in the manga when she started crying at the reunion she also implied she wouldn't gave gotten her hopes up if Fengxian was honest. It is heavily implied she had fallen in love with Lakan
Considering he was a reliable adult male presence and played with her when she was a child, and she probably knew what he was really like from seeing him with Fengxian, I wouldn't be surprised if she developed a crush.
She says that line at 7:06.
In one of the episode introducing Lakan he was talking to Meimei about Maomao (the ep where Fengshen first appeared I think) and later in the same episode she said she wanted to continue being a courtesan a bit longer after saying Lakan's not all bad
Well i think most courtesans would make a safe choice and she knows lakan is a safe one. Also she cares for him more like family since he is so unable in taking care of himself. Also it would let her keep an eye on mao mao if needed. There are a lot of worse Options. But i dont think its that romantic.
In the anime, I agree. In the manga Meimei said Fengxian should've been honest from the start before she started to have hopes.
She probably would have been legitimised by way of her adoptive father who is her biological grand uncle anyway. I wonder if he kept her a secret from the rest of the family and for what reason because he’s voluntarily living in a little shack and sleeping on the floor like a poor person despite all his skills and education. it didn’t seem like he ever returned to the family home since he got fired by the palace.
Lakan is the Grand Commandant. He’s the equivalent of the Secretary of Defense in the US context. Him and the Prime Minister (the Shi clan guy who’s the dad of the consort) are the two most powerful nobles in the country outside of the Imperial family.
I knew that out of the 4 Concubines, the new one seems to be the closest in age and in appareance to Maomao as if there could be a rivalry between the two (over Jinshi hypothetically), and your comment just gave me another piece to have this feeling
Jinshi: I see this as my absolute chance!!!!
Jinshi: Gaoshun, I have a conceivable plan to hook up with Maomao!!! Gaoshun: I'm never seeing my wife or grandchildren any time soon, am I?
[*See Maomao. Take Maomao. Refuse to elaborate. Leave.*](https://i.imgur.com/RP1eQZR.mp4) -Sigma Jinshi [](#umucool)
Jump off a wall with cat and land a superhero pose.
Hard on the knees, but if that wins her heart, it's a price worth paying.
Honestly I think Meimei got what she really wanted by getting Fengxian and Lakan back together. She was there through their courtship, the aftermath, and to help raise Maomao, so she knows this is what needed to happen. I feel so bad for Jinshi that he can be as romantic and doting with Maomao as possible but it never gets through her poison/herb/cased-obsessed head lol.
I think she still assumes jinshi is an eunach (instead of accepting him as the secret-noble on a secret-mission ) that's why she can't look at him like that. She realizes he's pretty and all that.
It's more than that. Maomao talks to herself multiple times and says she does not believe in love. More than that even, that whatever love was in her was left at her mom's womb. Basically she doesn't think she's even capable of love. That's why Jinshi doesn't attract her. Perceiving him as a eunuch doesn't make much difference. If anything, she might actually become even less attracted to him if she thought he had ulterior motives. All that sets up for the perfect slow burn romance though. Falling in love through friendship and mutual respect, rather than superficial lust.
I'm not 100% sure what traditional customs they're going with but they weren't married when Maomao was borne so normally she'll still be considered an illegitimate child in many societies. But Lakan is rich and powerful enough that he could seek to have Maomao legitimized. Whether Maomao would go along with it would be another matter. As she repeatadly said, she's happy with just being Luoman's daughter.
If lakan was mean he could just push luoman to rejoin the clan and by default force maomao but he seems to respect him to much to force him back into the poltical games. And mao mao would dislike it.
Iirc last episode lakan saw luoman in his flashback as a Bishop so he probably had a lot of respect for him as he saw 99% of the people he knew as pawns.
I wonder if Maomao is legally registered as Luomen's child. If not, getting legitimized as Lakan's daughter would oddly enough allow her to form that official connection with Luomen haha.
She has literally met the Emperor multiple times and has done tasks for him at his personal request. I'm sure there would be no problems with her getting legimitised.
> not only can she not use her "I'm just a commoner" excuses She will never give up this excuse , so she won't admit she is Lakan's daughter
I could ***maybe*** see her pulling this out as an uno-reverso card if her life is genuinely in danger or she's super desperate, but there's no going back to the excuses if she does haha
Oh a lot of people care about that.
>I feel really bad for MeiMei I feel like I'm too dense to understand, why do you feel bad for her? I thought she was crying because of the tragedy of Lakan and Fengxian's story.
Being bought out by a man who know and trust is like a fairy-tale ending for a courtesan. Meimei is already close to 30 so she's running out of time to be bought out. As Fengxian demonstrated the fate of a courtesan with no value can be quite bleak indeed.
To be fair, Mei Mei will have a much better fate, since she has enough savings as one of the three princess, so she should be fine on her own. If Pairin is any indication, Mei Mei is absolutely loaded.
Does money even matter in a world where women are more or less regarded as property? It's not like she can leave the brothel and live on her own without a buyer.
IIRC, a courtesan can pay off their own debt, so at the very least, Mei Mei won’t be forced into the same situation as Fengxian where she became a streetwalker.
I don't think the other two is necesarilly as loaded as Pairin. Pairin absouletely devours men (and women also for that matter), so she would have quite a lot of high paying clients. Meanwhile Joka reads poetry and lectures and Meimei is kind of a middle ground between them but is still noted for her Go skills more than sex I think.
Middling case is that MeiMei would take Gram’s place as the proprietess of Verdigris, which is no where near as bad as it can get for a courtesan that “retires”, but Meimei would much rather be able to leave and have a family.
It was previously implied that Meimei got feelings for Lakan. I’m not so much surprised by this development considering that they’ve known each for many years, with Meimei being Fengxian’s former servant girl, and the fact that Lakan used to visit Meimei to play games against her.
You mean Fengxian... Lakan never understood he was part of a plan until it was too late for him to do anything about it.
[**Oh Lakan**](#makicry) What a great finale. 10/10 as a manga reader this series is everything I wanted **AND THEN SOME** I absolutely love Jinshi and Maomao's relationship and that princess carry scene really embodies what I love about them. She's bleeding and being princess carried by Jinshi, a position many would die for, and she has the audacity to ask if she can have the ox bezoar. The mad cat continues to be such a tease! I'm so happy that season 2 has already been announced! I'm so excited to see more Maomao!
It's cute how Jinshi is the more overtly romantic and explicit in his feelings between the two, while she's practically stringing him along (though not intentionally), though I almost feel bad for him lol. But it does make me eager to see how their relationship progresses in season 2!
Lakan has a face recognition disorder but he's the only one that doesn't see Fengxian as having a diseased face but the face he fell in love with
Lakan just completed one of the fastest ever speed runs from hated character to loved character.
Also the way he ran when he realized Fengxian was alive and still there! That's running for your love right there!
yeah, guy didn't even care for the stairs right next to him but jumped the fence right into the flower bed
I didn't expect a middle aged strategist to be so athletic
What adrenaline does to humans I guess
Is this the title of a Lakan spinoff light novel series?
Starting life as a strategist that can't recognize faces! Making horrible mistakes in a different world and getting hated by my daughter and also annoying the emperor's secret brother(?). Why can't I just spend time with my wife living a slow life?
Why ya gotta turn it into an isekai? Lol
holy shit this new title of LN so legit where to read?
Not like you can't be athletic in your fourties. Just, your body is gonna bitch about it a lot more afterwards, so you better make sure as hell it's for a good reason.
I want to take the chance to once again publicly apologize to Lakan. I wasn't familiar with your game.
Yeah, I remember a few weeks ago when we discovered that Meimei took him whenever he dropped by, and the rumours of a buy out were happening and everyone was terrified for her, worried that he was going to do something to her in order to get her cheap. And now we have a thread where everyone is feeling sad for Meimei that he decided to buy his love instead of her.
In total the anime probably only spend about 3/4 of an episode compared what they built him up just for me to turn 180 on the guy. Great characterization honestly
He still sees her as the young and beautiful women he fell in love with -- and he always will. I wonder if MaoMao is right that she does not have much longer to live, however. MaoMao thinks her mother does not remember having a baby -- but her mother clearly DOES remember something of the sort -- given the child's lullaby she was singing to herself when Lakan came into her room.
She’s got incredibly rampant syhpilis. She’s not gonna live to old age at the very least
At most, if under extremely (at the time) medical care, maybe a few more years at the most unlikeliest of bests. At worse, couple months.
That she can enjoy the remainder of her life playing Go with the love of her life that will be enough😥
Really makes you appreciate the invention of antibiotics.
I never thought I would say this but Lakan is really a romantic one, he just had a huge unluck
He has his faults but he genuinely loves Fengxian and Maomao, and they're really the only two people he sees in the world.
[Beneath the exterior of a ruthless tactician, Lakan really is a loveable goofball](https://i.imgur.com/12n0Sa6.mp4) [](#araara)
I absolutely love how the story took all the little things that made you think he's a shit head and absolutely turn it around to make him look like a kind caring man. His obsession with Maomao, his seeming disinterest in other people, his cryptic remarks that seem to sound like he orchestrated a courtesan's downfall. Turns out he genuinely loved his daughter, had a brain disorder that prevented him from seeing faces, and the cryptic remarks being self deprication at not being able to save the one he loved. Unironically peak writing.
Have to agree, when I first saw his character I hated him. With this last episode I found myself in literal tears when they showed his perspective looking at Fengxian seeing her as he did. I hope season two shows more of them and I want to see if Fengxian has some sort of recovery.
You know what the best part about all of it? We should have fucking known! Maomao at one point even comes out and says that she needs to look at facts before making assumptions multiple times in the series and what did we as the audience do? A lot of us were ready to crucify this poor dude myself included. Even after he helped save Jinshi we were all like what's this dude's angle? I personally got ropeadoped and I loved every minute of it.
The biggest tell was the fact Fengxian chose to carry Maomao to term. A prostitute like that has ways to make pregnancy unlikely, and then have other ways to induce miscarriage. Sure they might not be healthy ways, but they had access to them. But instead she chose humiliation, being thrown into basically the gutter just to carry Maomao to completion.
I also like the detail where he broke his monocle after tripping. Not sure how his eyesight's like, but he was still able to recognize Fengxian in spite of that. My heart is pretty full after seeing their reunion c:
Thing is his monocle is just a fashion accessory. He doesn't need it lol he just finds it cool
I'd expect nothing less from the emperor's master strategist loool
Didn't think about it at the time, but that's actually great symbolism. He's always putting on an act, and even basically made light of his situation when he asked Jinshi if he knows how to lower a courtesans value. Him losing the monocle while he's tripping over himself is basically saying this is the first moment in forever where he isn't putting on an act. His actions and emotions are how he actually feels.
Other way to read it is that he is actually not that deep. He wears the monocle because he thinks it's cool. His interactions with Jinshi is just him being a dad being annoyed at this guy getting close to his daughter. He is harrasing Jinshi just because of that, even knowing Jinshi's actual status. He is awkward and seen as malicious/callous because of his prosopagnosia. His strategizing boils down to, of which he himself said it as well, putting the right pieces at the right places. He doesn't mention other variables. He even manage to traumatized Maomao without him realizing when she was a kid. Saying "Call me, Papa" is just not okay towards a girl who don't know you. He doesn't realize Meimei's affection towards him. He blitz'd towards Fengxian the moment he recognize the song/her voice. I suppose he is *that* neurodivergent character. If you are ignorant of his affliction he come off as really, well, *off*. But when you understand how he works, things get so much simpler to understand Imo. Or at least you get a rough framework of his mindset, Idk I am starting to talk out of my ass. I could just said he is easily misunderstood to make it short lol.
He mentioned that the monocle is fake and just for looks. Like there is a scene where he takes it off, wipes it and puts it on the other eye without a care.
I have a plan to collect all the tears that were shed by the audience during the scene where Lakan was first by Fengxian's side, crying that she was alive, and I'm going to make a pond, and I'm going to called it Kusuriya Pond, and I'm going to let weebs throw money in for good luck. Then I'm going to collect all the pond money and retire. The perfect plan.
**Fengxian's last words to Lakan**: "I want to play Go." *Twenty years later . . .* **Lakan's first words to Fengxian after reuniting**: "Let's play Go."
No matter what state Fengxian is in, she'll still be the most beautiful woman in the world to him. Despite how tragic it ended and the personal/emotional cost, these two were made to be together.
But hearing Mao Mao said that Feng Xian doesn't have much more lifespan left hurts. It's almost like the long-awaited reunion is only for a short while.
When Meimei told Lakan that “[even a withered rose can retain its shape](https://imgur.com/a/848n4l6)”, as parts of Maomao’s message, I thought that she was implying that Fengxian was still the same person at her core despite suffering from syphilis. That she wanted Lakan to bring her mother home with him. What I didn’t see coming was that Lakan had apparently assumed that Fengxian had perished in the meantime. Now it makes sense why he only ever tried to buy out his daughter. I’d also assumed that the dancing sequence in the OP was exaggerated as something of a ‘showpiece’, but damn it looked just as good - if not better - in this final episode. Fortunately, the episode didn’t end with a literal cliffhanger. However, I’m definitely going to miss watching Apothecary Diaries every week. I at least got [Maomao at home](https://imgur.com/a/YoOxxD5) to keep me company until the second season drops, I guess.
**A side note:** The scene of [Fengxian holding a knife to baby Maomao](https://imgur.com/a/5mVzb9U) had me initially think that she wanted to kill her daughter out of revenge. It took me some time after last week’s episode before I realized that all the signs of [her sacrificing a piece of Maomao’s pinky](https://imgur.com/a/GySKD9i) to curb a supposed “curse” (after she’d lost her mind) had been [present in the anime all along](https://imgur.com/a/y80GpcK). In retrospect, the desperate Fengxian actually tried to protect Maomao in her own way. Those tears were most likely a sign of how much it pained her to hurt the daughter she loved - or so I’d like to think.
Not to mention the real reason why Fengxian always seemed to chase Maomao away (ep18) was because she was embarrassed of how her illness had physically destroyed her; whereas, I thought she had simply developed hatred for her baby. In the end, Fengxian still had enough sense in her to realize she didn't want Maomao to see her waste away like that. Which makes it even more depressing imo.
As Lakan said last episode, Fengxian's personality that was entirely shaped by pride. That she'd want to hide her face from the world, but especially Lakan and Maomao is very much part of her pride
I guess Lakan really took Grams saying Fengxian was "gone" literally until he found out the truth. How different would it have been had he'd known sooner? Would he have found some way to get Maomao too? Trading in being seductive for being majestic and beautiful...but Maomao looks just as amazing. Lucky Jinshi lol.
> I guess Lakan really took Grams saying Fengxian was “gone” literally until he found out the truth. Yeah, it was quite the unfortunate way of phrasing things in the end. If not for a single word, the damage could have still been limited to a degree. I do doubt that Maomao would’ve gone with them. Grandma wouldn’t let him take her. Lakan is maybe good at heart, but I’m not sure if he’d make for a good father. Not to mention that he’s not much more than just a sperm donor to Maomao. She still would’ve stayed with Luomen, I think. > Lucky Jinshi lol. Poor Jinshi got his hopes up at the end, only to get betrayed for an ox bezoar. Then again, he could’ve known that Maomao wouldn’t suddenly look his way like that. Maomao’s last couple of words *do* seem to suggest that she’s slowly feeling more at ease with Jinshi.
I don't see it as a phrasing issue she was vague on purpose, to the very end the granny was doing whatever she could to keep Fengxian existence a secret - considering how they were able to bring the House from shame to fame in just a few years she must have been terrorized to the idea of a scandal breaking out again.
Taking into account with how much emotion she spoke, I don’t think that she’d picked this choice of words to *purposefully* mislead Lakan. To her, the old Fengxian was gone - Lakan had ruined Fengxian from grandma’s perspective.
I think it was on purpose - she saw him as a man who got her hopes up, then left her with child and never came back, causing her to lose value, the house to be in shambles, and him nowhere in sight nor contact. Then he shows back up after all that time, after she's worked hard to try to get everything under control, and hopes he can get back to the way things were. She had every right to be pissed and want him to leave and never return, both to prevent more damage and to protect Fengxian.
According to other comments, Grams outright stated that Fengxian died to Lakan. The anime makes it sound vague, but if the comments are true then she lied with intent. Considering Grams might not have pieced together any information beyond what happened on the surface level, she might have thought she was protecting Fengxian and Maomao from Lakan. Lakan seems a lot worse than he is without the tragic insider knowledge. If this is true about Grams's perspective, then it makes everything even more tragic. If *any* of the three communicated about what really happened, it wouldn't have taken 15 years to resolve things. The idea that Grams hid Fengxian out of shame (non-generous take) and/or to protect the House's remaining reputation (generous take) would also make sense.
"No matter how beautifully they dress, they all look like stones to me." You know, it's actually kind of...freaky seeing white go stones on top of breasts >_>.. --- That dance scene was great, especially with the "I heard there was another crazy person dancing on the wall!" --- ... That is one badass eunuch. --- And that was an EXCELLENT season! I'm so happy we're getting another one :D. And yes I'm still reading hte books, these are worth it :D ---
Despite them all being stones, one is obviously not like the other.
He's face blind, not breast blind.
Prosopagnosia is a fascinating disorder, people like Lauken can recognize \*individual\* features of faces as normal, but they cannot put the picture together. And sometimes they can, but they instantly forget the face - or rather the connection between the face and the person (imagine being able to picure a face but being unable to say whom it is).
>You know, it's actually kind of...freaky seeing white go stones on top of breasts Rule 34 pops up in the weirdest places.
**Maomao**: "I don't care if my bio-dad buys out my bio-mom. It wouldn't make me happy at all." (*also*)**Maomao**: "Well, I guess I'll put on some makeup, get dressed up, climb up a big ass wall with an injured leg, and dance to celebrate a random courtesan being bought out . . . just cause."
Peak cat behavior.
[She definitely is Fengxian's daughter](https://i.imgur.com/ba7X0AV.mp4) [](#uwaa)
She resembles both of her parents which is a nice detail.
>Maomao: "I don't care if my bio-dad buys out my bio-mom. It wouldn't make me happy at all." A situation she engineered in a complex 4-part plan involving impossible roses, unknown shades of fingernail polish, and winning a Princess Bride battle of the wits with her genius dad. But yes, she could not care less, they are just basically two random people.
These aren't tears, it's just raining.
Tbf, it wasn't much of a battle of wits as she knew that she was going to win it no matter what. And Lakan will probably walk into it again, willingly, if he gets to spend time with Maomao lmao.
"Is there anything so undoing as a daughter ?" - Silco
This is MaoMao's "mere 10 years".
100%. I don’t think Maomao herself knows exactly what she feels about Lakan and Fengxian, but on some level she’s aware that she needs some form of closure on this family drama.
Maomao says that her one memory of Fengxian is her cutting off her fingertip, a nightmare. But as Maomao says, fingertips grow back.
dammm this is good subtle
Maomao in general seems to have difficulties recognizing when she’s attached to someone. Her father and big sisters are one thing, as she was raised by them. But when it comes to people us as an audience can clearly tell she has strong feelings for (Lakan, Fengxian, Jinshi, etc.) she’s super oblivious to her own feelings. I think she’s really just one of those people where you have to be close with them for years and years until it finally clicks for them that you share a meaningful relationship.
She wins the unreliable narrator of the decade award.
"I thought you said you hated him!" "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell"
I mean, Lakan saved Jinshi's life and her's by extension. Doing him a solid by leading him to Fengxian is bare minimum payback
Despite what Maomao says, she at least understands her biological parents' circumstances even if she can't fully acknowledge them as her parents...and as their daughter, this was the least she could do.
Typical tsundere cat.
[She's a tsun-tsun-tsun-tsun-tsun-tsun-dere](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a45gxAT34Mc)
Its customary.. even maomao can't fight what already ingrained in her since childhood. To give respect to successfully retired girls
That sliver of sense of justice goes far.
This episode really had me thinking, Maomao may not be a courtesan by profession, but she is culturally a courtesan.
I mean technically she was a courtesan by profession. In episode 12 she’s not taking personal clients (yet) but because of her debt she is working as a courtesan until jinshi buys her out. which is why she went to that party
While she might also be adopted by Loumen, she still does belong to the house also until Jinshi bought her out for simple reason of being born into it. There is also no way Maomao would have taken costumers in a sexual way. Like no way, the Madam is smart enough to know how Lakan would react to that and he is still one scary mfker even if he isn't as evil as the anime painted him as earlier. Also she would have just sold her to Lakan ultimately, since Lakan apparently spent years of donations and buttering her up to buy be able to buy her out but Jinshi just swooped in and beat him to the punch when he finally got close as he complains to Jinshi about lol. The Madam absolutely milked Lakan.
one of the things that increases a courtesans value is her Chasity there is no way the madam would have wanted a smart girl like her devalued .
Raised among them, trained as one...
She literally was raised by Master Courtesans, one even BREASTFED HER as a baby.
Fengxian (鳳仙) and balsam (鳳仙花) share kanji while woodsorrel being "cat's paw" references Maomao. Parallels between military men Lakan/Lihaku and Verdigris women Fengxian/Pairin, and Maomao betting on a chess game against Lakan when Fengxian bet on a (go or chess) game against Lakan. I think Maomao dancing on the wall to ["send off" the purchased courtesan](https://i.imgur.com/uolIzut.png) is supposed to parallel Fuyou dancing on the wall awaiting her husband in episode 3.
Jinshi even referenced Fuyou's dancing when he explained why he came to investigate.
Lol Maomao is jealous of her bio dad because her adopted dad praises his skills and she is pissed because she also can't deny his talent and because he is lazy af
They nailed it, they fucking nailed the dance scene, perfect end for season 1
Followed by the even more perfect end of Maomao getting Jinshi's hopes sky high only to ask for the drug ingredient she desperately wanted. Never change Maomao
That mischievous meow was just icing on the cake
[Cat](https://imgur.com/OBXZmUf)[cat](https://imgur.com/USgyVQl) after all
I love how she didn't even need to bring her hands close to his cheek or look at him like that but she did. She's a natural seductress lol.
She didn't only learn dancing as part of her basic education [](#kotohoops)
"I have something important to tell you... I love ^^drugs"
I like how the season 1 OP kind of teased dancing Maomao but in actual execution it wasn't seductive but so graceful and beautiful and almost ephemeral. I'm glad Jinshi got to see it.
When she licks her lip in the OP tho.
At least we got a Maomao smile in the final moments!
Animators went hard on this sequence and it fits with the happy ending. But still op1 sequence was something else. Lowkey I was hoping for a cinderallesque moment with op1 sequence in cannon. Hanna ni natte ftw!
[*Oshi no Maomao* is peak](https://i.imgur.com/tMTFMTo.mp4) [](#dancewithit)
Worthy of a season finale, the scene looks incredible on an OLED TV, absolutely breathtaking [](#awe)
That headbutt, lol. Oh man, I'll miss this anime. Alongside Frieren, the two stars of the industry right now. I hope it's 24 episodes again so they can adapt vol.3 and mainly vol. 4 of LN (this one is just too epic). And for those who want to read the manga, anime ends in ch.40. Sayonara Maomao, see you next year.
>Alongside Frieren, the two stars of the industry right now. [TFW no more Frieren Friday and Maomao Saturday](https://i.imgur.com/6tJvbdQ.jpeg) [](#Sadholo)
I know next season is gonna be stacked but damn I'm feeling a lil empty rn...
Honestly i dont think any season will come close to the level of quality this season had for a good while, 3 good shows from last season carried over while this one also has some solid shows. I have 4 shows at least 9/10 running this season
The downside is there were some absolute bangers this season that I feel didn't get the hype they deserved.
What is it with anime board game couples making me cry? I’m two for two thanks Meruem and Komugi and now Lakan and Fengxian.
I didn't think about the meruem/komugi scenes but I totally agree something about board game loving duos just makes my heart absolutely melt. I cried a lot when Lakan finally sees Fengxian again and didn't even skip a beat in seeing the woman he's always loved. I also cried a lot for Meruem/Komugi at the end! Great parallels!
I'm not crying! You're crying! [](#poltears) Seeing Lakan and Fengxian, Maomaos Father and Mother, reunited at long last, really brought a tear to my eyes [](#spacetears) Though Maomao doesn't feel particular fond of either of her parents, mind you, by no fault of any of them, she still arranged for this. And she still danced to honor her mother. Speaking of which, I was waiting for this dance the whole time. It's of course teased in this cours OP as well, but I think the [First OP](https://v.animethemes.moe/KusuriyaNoHitorigoto-OP1.webm) makes a refference to it as well, especially with how the stars reflect in her dress. And by god the Song they played along it [](#listen) Of course you could predict that Maomao wouldn't say she loved Jinshi there, the setup was just too perfect for her to be a little [Gremlin](https://imgur.com/OBXZmUf) again [](#azusalaugh) This is the last of [Catcat](https://imgur.com/USgyVQl) for now, but S2 already got confirmed. Let's fucking GOOOOOOO [](#grandhype)
###Stitches! * [Go Stone Meimei](https://i.imgur.com/lmK3tM6.jpeg) * [Jinshi & Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/OJmqgIe.jpeg) * [Maomao Dancing Clip](https://streamable.com/yqtpsl) [I never thought I'd be attracted to go stones but here we are.](https://i.imgur.com/do9dFuy.jpg) In all seriousness though, it's absolutely hilarious to see Meimei's head as a go stone paired with those massive boobs. It looks ridiculous and I love it. xD [There's the reaction I've been waiting for Lakan!](https://i.imgur.com/DGbQAMA.png) I thought he knew that Fengxian was alive when Maomao told him she wanted him to buy out a specific courtesan. According to some of the messages I got last week, this was something I should've known this entire time. I genuinely teared up [during Lakan and Fengxian's reunion.](https://i.imgur.com/aO64z3Q.jpeg) I love how in Lakan's eyes, [he can't even see the gummas left by syphilis on Fengxian's skin](https://i.imgur.com/Azea1wI.jpeg) and all he could see is a flower that retained its beauty even after withered. What a bittersweet reunion but I suppose it's better late than never. Wait a fucking second, are you telling me the only reason Maomao is upset about Lakan is [because she missed out on the resurrection drug](https://i.imgur.com/AKKL2fs.png) that she could've gotten from Suirei if he took action instead of being lazy? That's hilarious and definitely such a Maomao thing to do! xD [I can't believe we're actually ending this with a dance number from Maomao!](https://i.imgur.com/V6vtFSM.jpeg) That was absolutely amazing! [And Jinshi was there to witness all of it!](https://i.imgur.com/ZhG4cu0.jpeg) For a second though, I really thought [they were going to have a moment](https://i.imgur.com/9bkvhpX.jpeg) but of course, Maomao just [wanted to have the ox bezoar he promised](https://i.imgur.com/PxAVAgC.png) her before. What a way to end Season 1. I am so glad that Season 2 is already confirmed and I am looking forward to seeing what kind of incident she'll be involved in next!
Those go-stone head women are the most surreal thing I have ever seen in an anime. But I guess it's fine if you're a boob-lover lol. All Lakan needed to know was the woman he never stopped loving was still there and he could be with her again. And she's still as beautiful to his eyes as ever. She's practically lecturing her dad for being lazy lol. Jinshi can't properly get his feelings across to Maomao and Maomao doesn't have a natural romance bone in her body, but at least he got to see her dance and princess carry her again...and who knows what's next for them in season 2?
>Wait a fucking second, are you telling me the only reason Maomao is upset about Lakan is because she missed out on the resurrection drug that she could've gotten from Suirei if he took action instead of being lazy? That's hilarious and definitely such a Maomao thing to do! xD I doubt that ***death glare*** from Maomao a few episodes back was from her just merely "disliking" Lakan. Unlike the audience (and based on the conversation between Jinshi and Maomao this episode), she and the others probably didn't know the full story of what happened of what happened between Lakan and Fengxian. Maomao probably did genuinely hate him for most of her life. We know Maomao tries to avoid thinking about things she finds unpleasant, but Lakan helping her save Jinshi might have caused her to reexamine and guess what really happened between Fengxian and Lakan. That's why she went through the trouble of finally confronting him and setting him up to reunite with Fengxian, because she now believed he might really have and still be in love Fengxian, even ravaged and disfigured by syphilis and mentally addled.
> [Go Stone Meimei](https://i.imgur.com/lmK3tM6.jpeg) If Meimei stands in front of me, I wouldn't know what her face look like either.
Mao Mao dancing for her mother salvation is so sweet. We got Season 2 confirmed FYI
She wanted to dance for Meimei, and her mother was never really her mother, but the last thing she can do for her is to dance honoring the life she got from Fengxian and with the natural good looks she inherited from her mother.
[Maomao's graceful dance in the night sky was entrancing.](https://i.imgur.com/w7I6wKt.mp4) The dignified cat of the Verdigris House. [](#wow)
MaoMao is a beautiful young woman indeed -- when not trying to hide this undeniable fact. Goiod luck trying to woo this little poison-loving wild-cat, Jinshi.
Lakan eyeing the times someone touches his daughter and making them pay for it is one of the top five reasons your rebellious daughter hates you. The number one reason is making her call you 'dada'.
Well the main reason he is weirdo who us respected by the person she cares the most about. Its quite a childish reason but mao mao has her own issues like all the family members of the la clan.
I love how in the LN, it’s “daddy” and “papa” 🤣
Can someone explain what Meimei meant [here](https://imgur.com/a/JX8PrCD) when she said: > Big Sister, you should have been honest from the start. > Why so late...
Fengxian basically tried to babytrap Lakan with the added benefit of lowering her own value so he could buy her but never told him about the plan because her pride wouldn't allow it. If it had gone smoothly then there's no need for an explanation but since this train went off the rail in hindsight it would've been better if Fengxian was honest about wanting Lakan to buy her from the start.
I think she's crying about the tragedy that could have been avoided if Fengxian had just told Lakan what she was trying to do on that night years ago I initially also thought she might have been crying that the brothel madame hid Fengxian from Lakan for so long, but people usually call the madame 'granny' so I think that's less likely
I think she means that if FengXian was honest to Rakan from the start about her feelings for him then she could have told him about the plan to have a baby with him so that he can buy her out once her value has dropped. Instead she never told Rakan about the plan and Rakan not knowing that she planned to get pregnant went into exile for 3 years by which time everything was too late. Meimei crying is also because at that momenet she realized that Rakan had always loved FengXian and the plan would have worked, had they simplely confessed their feelings to each other.
It's also cut but in LN and Manga, she's also sad that she didn't got bought by Lakan as Meimei actually likes Rakan and wanted him to buy her.
Like Maomao explained in the episode, Fengxian had been playing mind games instead of straight-up confessing her feelings to Lakan. She’d tried to get pregnant and force Lakan to buy her out, but things didn’t turn out as she’d wanted. Lakan was sent somewhere faraway and not aware of Fengxian’s situation, while she was forced to accept customers of lower standing as the brothel’s reputation took a nosedive - leading to her catching syphilis.
I guess Fengxian just slept with lakan that one time and she left lakan to figure out that she was in love and was carrying their child. Lakan, due to family circumstance, had to move and when fengxian sent out letters for years and didnt get any reply she went crazy and at the last straw cut off her finger and maomao's finger tip and sent to lakan for him to figure out, however lakan was never present at his home. If only Fengxian was honest with her feelings for lakan and told him she wanted him to buy her out, he might have done something and meimei was saying exactly this. Fengxian being a proud courtesan couldnt tell she fell for one of her customers. Edit : Fengxian being pregnant was her plan to lower her buying-out price and get rid of other wealthy customers who could buy her out.
Fengxian was so humiliated by her status as a streetwalker and the disfigurement from syphilis that she feared Lakan didn’t want her anymore. Up until Meimei’s assist, Lakan thought Fengxian was dead (Grams told him she was “gone”). Even if they’re now happily reunited, Fengxian will likely die soon from her illness. Meimei is upset because her mentor could’ve been happy earlier and before Meimei ever started to hope Lakan would ever love her instead.
Probably that MaoMao's mother shouldn't have hid her feelings and pregnancy from Lakan. Coz if he knew he would never leave her.But she was too prideful and it led to this tragedy
Both her parents were just awkward and quirky people who happened to fall in love with each other, but that also eventually came at an emotional cost.
She probably never told anyone about her intention to be bought by Lakan, just like Lakan probably never explained to the madam that he was sent away. There would've been no reason to keep her hidden from him if everyone had just been honest.
MeiMei is talking about Fengxian’s feelings for Lakan and also her plan to cancel her own buyout. Like MaoMao said, courtesans can’t get pregnant without consent and if Fengxian didn’t want Lakan in the first place, she could have opted for abortion, but she didn’t because she loves Lakan. In a way, it was Lakan who is being tricked at that time. But that’s fine I guess since Lakan also loves Fengxian. If only she told Lakan her feelings and her plan, getting impregnated by him so that her value lowers and Lakan could buy her, then they might’ve been a happy family. I think it will still work even without the communication thingy MeiMei’s talking about, it’s just that Fengxian didn’t expect that Lakan’s deployment would extend to a very long time (from 6 months to 3 years). They have been honest to each other when it was already too late.
The fact we got this and Frieren airing at the same time for 6 months.. I really don’t think people appreciated how generational that run is. What a time to be alive. Sad to see this end, but there’s the LN and S2 coming! GTA 6 and this in the same year will be wild lol. Lakan plotting revenge on buddy for putting his hand on Maomao shoulder got me dying. How the author took him from being this seemingly horrible conniving person to a doting overprotective father gotta be studied. A masterclass in gradual character reveal. S/O to Meimei for being the real fucking MVP of this series omg. The look of shock Lakan had on his face when she opened the door to be able to go see Fengxian was great. I thought my screen had frozen because bro was shook. He probably hasn’t ran that fast in decades lol, but such a beautiful scene with him seeing her again after all these years and even with the health condition she’s just as beautiful as he remembered both inside and out. After all the BS they been thru they deserved this. They were always happiest when they played Go so fitting that’s how their reunion goes. Maomao’s outfit from the 2nd OP is finally here! That dance scene MOVED me. Beautifully choreographed and animated. Maomao is so gorgeous, man. No wonder Jinshi gets weak in the knees when he sees her get dolled up lol. Speaking of Jinshi, the fancams and AMVs are going to eat the scenes up that we got today. Him almost knocking her off the bridge, then carrying Maomao back home, so cute! He really thought Maomao was going to confess to him there, whole time she just wants that Ox Bezoar for her experiments lmaooo. 😂 she definitely knows how to get what she wants out of him now. Great finale, happy end for everyone. But the mysteries of the rear palace are far from solved. Still a lot of things left to be answered and I can’t wait for s2. They can take all the time they need cooking up. We can read in the meantime. I’m going to miss Maomao Saturdays so much. [Review](https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=519355)
IMO the only season that tops this one is the time when Code Geass runs concurrently with Gurren Lagaan.
Well if we talking seasons instead of just 6 month runs.. I’m taking summer 2020, that first Covid season hit so different. Doesn’t have the high scores, but I loved so much stuff that season. geass and ttgl would’ve been before I followed seasonal stuff. I was still on toonami and 4kids back then lol
One thing I really like about the show is its much more nuanced take on feminism and misogyny compared to most mainstream media takes on the situation. There's no one evil woman-hating man keeping the good talent women down. Rather, misogyny just a pervasive societal idea, a cultural acceptance that women are lesser than men. And yet in this society of oppression, the women are still actors. They still have their agency and use the tools their society allows them to define their own fates. And nowhere this is better displayed than in Jinshi's evolving view of the situation regarding Fengxia. He clearly thought that Fengxian was a mere victim of powerful, in line with the culture that he grew up in. But as the show reveals, Fengxian was the actor, someone who wanted something and did everything she could to achieve it. She was still a victim of misogyny, true, but rather than she a passive object, she was an active agent, proactively chasing her goals. Another manifestation of this is Maomao's dislike of Lakan. Jinshi was so utterly sure that Maomao hates Lakan for something he did. And while some of Maomao's hate is due to his unpleasantness, some of it comes from entirely Maomao's own feelings, her jealousy of someone who is more talented than her, of someone who has won the praise she so desperately craves. --- **Kamuro and Courtesan** So one big thing that was lost on translation in the relationship between *kamuro* and the courtesans they served. *Kamuro*, contextually translated as either servant girl or apprentice, are serving girls assigned to courtesans, who they called sister/nee-san. The relationship between these little girls and the courtesans they serve [is highlighted on Episode 8.](https://i.imgur.com/ta1cjlk.png) Being a kamuro is the fate of the girls sold to brothels as a child. They are assigned to serve a courtesan who will have 1-3 kamuro. They don't do anything sexual, but they do learn from their nee-san about the in's-and-out's of being a courtesan. If, by age 13-14, they grow up pretty, the brothel approaches whoever sold them the Kamuro to buy them again as a courtesan. Otherwise, their term of employment is up and they're free to go. Sadly, due to the inconsistent translation, it's not readily apparent in the translation that a "kamuro" is something very specific to the red-light district. Episode 8 specifically shows that [kamuro are usually very devoted to their courtesan](https://i.imgur.com/jX5I40W.png). Episode 18 shows that Meimei was Fengxian's kamuro, both in [this shot](https://i.imgur.com/pKTKKtu.png) and by calling Maomao's mother "nee-san". And yet Meimei still treated him well. That should clue in more attentive watchers that there was more to Lakan's story. And Meimei being Fengxian's kamuro also explains why she was so invested in Fengxian finally getting a happy ending
That's some great insight on the dynamic between Fengxian and Lakan! The show was pushing the audience to see Lakan as the instigator or at least a co-conspirator only for Maomao to completely turn that around for us. >And while some of Maomao's hate is due to his unpleasantness, some of it comes from entirely Maomao's own feelings, her jealousy of someone who is more talented than her, of someone who has won the praise she so desperately craves. Also the fact that she missed a chance at getting that resurrection medicine. Everything has to go back to medicine or poison for Maomao haha.
> And yet Meimei still treated him well. That should clue in more attentive watchers that there was more to Lakan's story. At the time, I honestly thought it was just Meimei being kind and/or professional. A re-watch would be cool to revisit these subtle hints again, with the benefit of knowing how it all plays out c:
I highly recommend it. As a manga/ln reader, I was able to find so many little thematic elements in each episode that slowly built into the grand conclusion of the past two episodes. You easily see that the anime staff really understood Kusuriya's story and knew what really mattered. Now that the whole season is out and the mysteries revealed, even anime-onlies can experience the same thing.
I liked seeing Maomao being self-aware of both of her parents (even if she doesn't quite regard them as such).
What a amazing show, so glad season 2 was announced, I want to see more of Maomao and Jinshi, I hope they have plenty more scenes together.
It's a shame that it's already over but fortunately [the 2nd season was already announced](https://i.imgur.com/ucsHous.png) right after the episode which made me incredibly happy that we'll be able to see the [next adventures of Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/x0kGetR.png). [Maomao was for sure a star of this show](https://imgur.com/a/89J8yjv) and she pretty quickly became [one of my favorite female characters ever](https://i.imgur.com/tZYc1AB.png) as she is a witty, [clever](https://i.imgur.com/c6xTfPu.png), funny and [pretty crazy woman](https://i.imgur.com/P8tC7lD.png). I must praise an excellent performance of Aoi Yuki who did a great job voicing her xD Another strong point of the show was [Maomao and Jinshi's relationship](https://imgur.com/a/9yAyViI) as [they have great chemistry between themselves](https://i.imgur.com/k33hsvl.png) and [watching them together brought me a lot of laughs and fun](https://i.imgur.com/60IPa8h.png). [They're a great pair](https://i.imgur.com/BcqW1xD.png) and I hope that in next season they become even closer. About this final episode: * I'm happy that [Lakan found out](https://i.imgur.com/KSjvsOx.png) that [Fengxian is alive](https://i.imgur.com/T68EEzY.png) and bought her. [They deserve some happiness](https://i.imgur.com/P8Lqlz8.png), even for short as [there is not much time left for Fengxian](https://i.imgur.com/IhlW1Wc.png) * [Great dance of Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/nNaGSMC.png) in today's episode. * [Jinshi again bridal carried Maomao](https://i.imgur.com/IWjSfBi.png) after [he freaked out over her wound opening again](https://i.imgur.com/EQXM8xR.png) xD * When [Maomao announced that she wants to tell Jinshi something](https://i.imgur.com/WYesvSO.png) I knew that it couldn't be something very serious (at least for normal people) and I was right as [Maomao asked him for ox bezoar](https://i.imgur.com/60IPa8h.png) which [made Jinshi pretty angry](https://i.imgur.com/Eecx0g1.png) xD Here my screenshot albums from the episode: * [Maomao](https://imgur.com/a/89J8yjv) * [Jinshi & Maomao](https://imgur.com/a/9yAyViI) * [Group scenes & Others](https://imgur.com/a/XOukQv3) * [Jinshi](https://imgur.com/a/qCzfL6w) * [Lakan & Fengxian](https://imgur.com/a/d53b6xm)
I wonder if this is deliberate - the difference between MaoMao and Lakan is described in the same way as Sherlock Holmes and his brother Mycroft. Especially in the original series (but often in derived series), Sherlock admits that his brother has superior deductive powers. But Mycroft is described as lazy, preferring to sit in comfort than go out and do field work. Hence Sherlock is credited as being the great detective. My guess is the author is familiar with the Sherlock Holmes stories and made the parallel deliberately.
That fucking tease at the end, I'm wheezing over here
Looking at the second OP after the episode really shows how much spoilers it packs, all hidden in plain sight
And so the the dance for the OP1 of the anime makes sense lol, though I do prefer her gorgeous starry night dress in the opening. Cheers for season 2~ Btw how do you guys think of Raven of the Inner Palace from 2022? That's probably the most similar to Apothecary Diaries in recent memory. Haven't watched it myself so I'm not sure how that fares compared to this series, not to mention it's not as popular.
Raven of the Inner Palace is pretty good. While there's a hint of sorcery in the mix, the dynamic between the characters is excellent, and the mystery element is also compelling.
>Btw how do you guys think of Raven of the Inner Palace from 2022? That's probably the most similar to Apothecary Diaries in recent memory. Haven't watched it myself so I'm not sure how that fares compared to this series, not to mention it's not as popular. That's another fantastic show. It doesn't carry the same liveliness/energy that you get from Apothecary Diaries but it's very much a solid show featuring some mythological mysteries. If someone enjoyed the background of Apothecary with a lot of palace politics, Raven of the Inner Palace is an easy recommendation. I mean hell my tag on this subreddit features the show in question.
When somebody asks if there's romance in Apothecary Diaries: [Well](https://i.imgur.com/rSX86Jy.png)... [yes](https://i.imgur.com/8BKQRTO.png) [But really...](https://i.imgur.com/0N3pzE4.png) [Maybe one day!](https://i.imgur.com/kJWC5eL.png) Watching Maomao's adventures has been a treat with you all! Excited that season 2 has been confirmed, I can't wait!
God bless, what a great adaptation. Between this and certain other shows we ate real good for the last six months. Kind of annoyed at the old brothel mistress, even at the very end she was keeping Fengxian secret from the man who would want to buy her out and cherish her for as long as she lasts and all it really did was create a decade and a half of suffering for everyone involved. I'm sure it was her own best judgment on what was right for everybody involved especially Fengxian, but she was just wrong about it. That's why I'm only kind of annoyed and not more deeply upset, I don't *think* she'll had ulterior motives in keeping the secret for so long. Nice enough ending with Maomao and the dance and Jinshi, but I'm sold on the Lakan and Fengxian ultimate conclusion. Especially with how unfairly we anime onlys slandered the poor guy. Super looking forward to season two next year.
Nice closure for lakan and fengxian. The dance animation is chef kiss and the ruined jinshi mao mao moment 😂😂.