When Maomao, an apothecary’s daughter from the red-light district, gets kidnapped and sold to be a servant of the imperial palace, she’s thrust into a world of mysterious disturbances within bureaucratic disputes. Trying to hide her literacy and medicinal knowledge, when the emperor’s children begin falling gravely ill, she can’t help herself but to quietly solve the “curse” anonymously. When the beautiful eunuch Jinshi manages to single her out, she’s promoted to concubine Gyokuyou’s lady-in-waiting and poison taster. But as Maomao’s skills prove her indispensable, she begins facing risks that go beyond the hazards of tasting for poisons.
The Apothecary Diaries piles on mysteries that are sure to keep you hooked and guessing. Maomao’s methodical and intuitive investigations within the ancient Chinese-inspired imperial palace historical setting is also sure to garner some intrigue as she must take it upon herself to solve problems in more unorthodox ways. But whether you enjoy aspects like mystery, romance, drama, or a cool-headed, contemplative main character, if you’re craving more historical anime like The Apothecary Diaries, we’ve got you covered.
1) Raven of the Inner Palace
The mysterious Raven Consort, Ryuu Jusetsu (Liu Shouxue), is both feared and revered, with many a rumor spread about her existence throughout the Imperial Palace. Preferring isolation from even the emperor himself, she is said to be an immortal sage possessing mystic abilities that can range from finding lost items to even contacting the dead. But when the young emperor Ka Koshun (Xia Gaojun) one day requests her help to solve a mysterious case, this leads to her venturing outside of her palace for the first time. Though Jusetsu seems annoyed at the continuing visits and requests from Koshun, she also can’t seem to turn him down. Although the Raven Consort’s predecessor had warned her that she is destined to remain alone and never desire anything, Jusetsu begins opening up to Koshun and her new sole attendant Jiujiu, the multiplying solved cases garnering unwanted outside attention.
Want a main character with charming intelligence and pragmatism solving mysteries in an ancient Chinese-inspired Imperial Palace with a slow-burn romance based on mutual respect and intellectual parity? Raven of the Inner Palace is the perfect watch to pair with any fan’s love of The Apothecary Diaries.
Raven of the Inner Palace can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
2) Mushi-Shi
Mushi are the most basic lifeforms in existence, creatures that most people live their lives unaware of. But though they can mimic different plants, diseases, and phenomena of the natural world, they don’t seem to have much purpose other than simply existing.
Ginko, the Mushi-shi or Mushi master, journeys to research these mysterious creatures and their place in the phylogenetic tree, and helps those who find themselves crossing the strange supernatural entities’ paths.
This supernatural slice-of-life brings an air of mystery perfectly suited for fans of The Apothecary Diaries. Like Maomao handling poisons with a level head, although the dangers of the Mushi can present temporary high-stakes, it’s nothing the Mushi master can’t handle in his calm and tactful resourcefulness. While certainly just as loose with its interpretation of historical periods as The Apothecary Diaries but with a supernatural twist, the 19th-century aesthetics are not lost on the viewers as they get transported to an alternate vision of a past Japan.
Mushi-Shi can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
3) Mononoke
A mysterious man simply known as the Medicine Seller travels across feudal Japan in a venture to slay malevolent spirits known as mononoke. But the task isn’t as simple as exorcism recitations nor battling the paranormal in physical combat. Instead, he must first learn its Form, its Truth, and its Reason through intense psychological analysis and careful investigative work in order to unsheathe the mighty Exorcism Sword and carry out slaying the hostile apparitions. And performing a precursory confrontation of the mononoke to further learn about them tends to be just as, if not more, dangerous than the subsequent clash.
While action tends to be a popular response to confronting problems, akin to the apothecary’s more pensive strategies, the preemptive contemplative route the Medicine Seller takes when confronting the mononoke makes for a refreshing, enigmatic perspective to finding unorthodox remedies.
Mononoke can be streamed on Netflix and Crunchyroll.
4) Black Butler
Ciel Phantomhive, dubbed the Queen’s Guard Dog, is charged with taking care of the string of mysterious, unsettling occurrences across Victorian England. As the young master of the Phantomhive estate, Ciel doesn’t take on these dangerous tasks alone, but is aided by the services of his loyal butler, Sebastian Michaelis. But with Sebastian’s seemingly inhuman abilities, there’s more than meets the eye than just being one hell of a butler. Amidst Ciel’s secret, tragic past, desperate to be saved from a horrendous fate, Ciel had made a contract with the demon Sebastian, his soul in exchange for Sebastian’s undying loyalty in servitude to exact vengeance. Together, the master-servant duo unravel the mysteries of both supernatural incidents for Her Majesty and Ciel’s own misfortunes.
If you enjoy the darker conundrums in The Apothecary Diaries, you may find a new favorite series with Black Butler. As Maomao solves mysteries under the authority of a Chinese-inspired empire, Ciel and Sebastion tend to take on supernatural enemies as they solve various mysteries under England’s Victorian monarchy.
Black Butler can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
5) Undead Murder Farce
When local authorities become apprehensive at the prospect of assisting in the case of the murder of vampire noble Jean Duchet Godard’s wife, Godard decides to instead hire a couple of private detectives specialized in supernatural cases. But Tsugaru Shinuchi and Aya Rindou haven’t traveled from Japan just to solve this specific case. Carrying a mysterious birdcage, the odd pair of detectives take on various cases in 19th-century France as they track down the culprit who stole Aya’s body and Tsugaru’s humanity.
Aya may not have a body, but that’s just all the more reason for her to use her brain to properly contemplate problems before taking action, like Maomao. Although this series is set in 19th-century France rather than an ancient Chinese-inspired setting, the mysteries in Undead Murder Farce are sure to keep you just as much on the edge of your seat as in The Apothecary Diaries.
Undead Murder Farce can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
6) Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
In the early 15th Century fictionalized Poland, or P Kingdom, the Church believes in geocentrism — the theory that the Sun revolves around the Earth — as the sole truth of the universe and brutally punishes heretics who go against these beliefs, Rafal, a young prodigy, faces much adversity in his pursuit of higher knowledge. Although Rafal publicly declares his pursuit of the highly regarded study of theology, he also believes in living rationally. Though he is determined to prove the theory of heliocentrism, the alternate theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun, Rafal will have to overcome not just discreetly pursuing evidence through performing his research, precise calculations, and building empirical theories to create a heliocentric model of the universe, but also avoiding the prying eyes of the Church lest he comes face-to-face with challenging a gruesome heretical fate.
History is jam-packed full of the insatiable pursuit of knowledge and higher education, akin to how Maomao craves to learn about medicines, poisons, and ingredients and their effects. In the case of Rafal in Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, though he also strives to learn more about the world around him, he also faces possible dire consequences for pursuing such.
Orb: On the Movements of the Earth can be streamed on Netflix.
7) Thermae Romae
Struggling to think of new, innovative ideas, Lucius Modestus, an ancient Roman architect, becomes despondent in job-hunting. So, his friends try to take him to a bathhouse to cheer him up and relax. Frustrated with all the bathhouse hubbub, he tries to find solace beneath the surface only to find a tunnel that transports him to a modern-day Japanese bathhouse. Armed with knowledge ahead of his time and inspired by the technologically advanced foreign bathhouse, Lucius tries his hand at recreating what he’s witnessed in hopes that his ingenuity will garner attention and regain his reputation.
If you enjoy the sillier moments in The Apothecary Diaries when Maomao perks up upon collecting poisons and ingredients, you’re bound to enjoy Lucius’s epiphanies about his own occupation. While pharmaceuticals and bathhouses may be vastly different subjects, Maomao and Lucius’s passions for their respective professions are palpable.
Thermae Romae is available for streaming on Prime Video and Crunchyroll.
8) The Heike Story
As the Taira clan, aka the Heike, struggle for power over Japan, they take it upon themselves to punish even the slightest infraction against their name. When a girl with a strange eye makes the mistake of disrespecting them, it’s her father who pays the ultimate price for her transgression. Now on her own and going by the name Biwa, when the eldest son of the clan leader, Taira no Shigemori, stumbles upon the girl, she warns him of the imminent downfall of the Heike. With her eye able to see the future, Shigemori also has an odd eye, but one that allows him to see spirits of the dead. As Shigemori decides to take Biwa in and protect her in order to try to prevent his clan’s demise, Biwa must now adapt to her new life.
Just as Maomao must get used to her new life within the imperial palace, so too does Biwa in her new home of the Taira clan. But also like Maomao, Biwa’s unusual personality and unorthodox demeanor may prove to be a bit more of a struggle to integrate into her new life.
The Heike Story can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
9) The Mystic Archives of Dantalian
After his grandfather, Sir Wesley Disward, a renowned rare book collector, passes away, Lord Hugh Anthony Disward, aka Huey, inherits his estate, including the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian, an archive containing forbidden knowledge, along with caring for a mysterious girl called Dalian. But when Huey and Dalian meet with an old rival of his grandfather, Wesley, though Dalian knows the rival to be Wesley’s killer, they also discover that the murderer is in possession of a cursed tome that Wesley tried to seal away, the Phantom Book. With their lives at stake, Dalian entrusts Huey to unlock the knowledge of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian stored within her. Managing to seal the book, the two forge a partnership to solve and seal the other Phantom Books’ mysteries.
While Maomao solves the mysteries that befall her using her pharmaceutical knowledge in an ancient Chinese-inspired setting, Huey and Dalian solve mysteries using literature in post-World War I England. But by whatever means you prefer your protagonist to use when sleuthing, if you enjoy Maomao’s medicinal deductions, you’re sure to find interest in Huey and Dalian’s scholarly investigations.
The Mystic Archives of Dantalian can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
10) Young Black Jack
Medical student Kurō Hazama may be a surgical genius, but amidst the student riots, war, and corruption in 1960s Japan, he faces his own challenges in the world of medicine. Possessing black-and-white hair and a body covered with scars, Hazama’s past is just as marked. After successfully performing a seemingly impossible operation, Hazama begins attracting attention for his medical prowess, eventually becoming entwined in a series of nefarious circumstances threatening his integrity as a surgeon. Alongside spirited intern Maiko Okamoto and close friend Yabu, Hazama will have to face difficult challenges in his journey to become the respectable, legendary surgeon known as Black Jack in the eponymous prequel of Osamu Tezuka’s classic series.
If you’re more interested in the historical medical side of The Apothecary Diaries, Young Black Jack may be the pick for you. Just as Maomao is knowledgeable and skilled in her pharmaceutical occupation, so too is Hazama in his surgical profession.
Young Black Jack can be streamed on HiDive where available.
What historical anime do you enjoy that’s scratches the itch like The Apothecary Diaries? Let us know in the comments!
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