NOTE: I wrote most of the following mere minutes after I initially watched the episode. After skimming through others’ reactions, I see I’m in the minority with my distaste for the episode. However, I decided to keep this reaction as is, so enjoy the unaltered thoughts from past me.
As someone who’s read The Apothecary Diaries light novels and manga, it’s really difficult sometimes for me to look at this show from the perspective of an anime-only viewer. I know more about the story than what’s on the screen, but that’s to be expected. By its very nature, light novels have more details: they are able to expand upon settings, situations, and character motivations to a degree that animated or illustrated adaptations cannot. So if an episode approaches a scene in a different way from the book, I can’t really fault it. It’s the limitation of the animated medium.
But even with that said, I don’t think I’ve been so disappointed in an episode of Apothecary Diaries than I am with this one. Full stop. The animators failed to properly capture the tone of chapters 29 and 30 in the manga by missing the mark on a major scene.
Perhaps the one thing that I can forgive the animators for is not showing the whole face of the courtesan in the annex. They manage to expertly hide her missing nose with a lock of hair, and they do so in a way that looks natural. In the manga, the reader sees the courtesan’s full face multiple times, noseless countenance included. If I had to guess, I think the show isn’t rated to show such things.
What I CANNOT forgive is failing to properly convey Maomao’s reaction in that scene with Jinshi. The anime did a terrible job adapting the scene. No cap. While I did like the beat of dead silence the scene takes right before we see Maomao’s face, that’s about all I liked.
In the manga, there is a two-page spread of Maomao’s face. You see just how disgusted she is that Jinshi has the audacity to even mention the name in front of her, let alone tell her that Lakan wants to meet her. Someone pointed out that in the manga, Maomao looks disgusted, but in the anime, she looks angry. I can see it, sure, but I still don’t think it was enough.
It’s supposed to be a big deal. Huge, in fact. Maomao is someone who is usually very even-keeled (when poison or medicine is not involved). She rarely shows any strong negative emotions on her face. Hell, at the beginning of the episode, during her inner dialogue, she was telling herself that she didn’t show any emotion when Jinshi had asked her such a shocking question. Even under pressure, she’s calm, collected, and controlled. If anyone needs any more reminders, just look at how she handled the poisoned courtesan and customer at the beginning of the season. Or how she reacted to the dead serving lady that was pulled from the moat.
But this time – this one time – she reacts in a way that the Maomao we know wouldn’t normally, just by the mere mention of Lakan’s name. Because this is a man she actively avoids. She doesn’t go near the military barracks where he works. She tunes Jinshi out when he starts talking about a weirdo who comes to his office. Even those at the Verdigris house keep Maomao away from Lakan as evidenced by Meimei’s kamuro telling Maomao to stay there until Lakan leaves.
Knowing all of that, you’re going to tell me all that reaction gets TWO frames and BARELY half a second?
Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit.
—-End of original reaction—-
Whew. That was really strong language, wasn’t it? I still feel the same, even after reading others’ thoughts, but I’m not as annoyed anymore since I’ve had time to cool off. Woooo-saaaaaaaahhhh.
I still don’t understand how people can call it a jumpscare though. Like, it was a jumpscare for Jinshi, sure. But for the audience? Those frames didn’t last nearly as long as they should have to constitute a jumpscare. Anyway, I told myself I’d stop obsessing over it. What this all essentially boils down to is my expectations were much too high and the episode just didn’t meet it. Simple enough.
I will admit that I like Jinshi’s reaction. I think his shock at Maomao’s expression was properly conveyed. Although, in the manga, I did like how he had to take a minute to compose himself, hiding in one of the corners of his palace. To me, it didn’t have the same effect, having him standing outside, staring after her.
Let’s talk about a couple other things I didn’t like. For one, I didn’t like how they removed Gaoshun from the scene where Jinshi’s upset at himself for having Maomao escort him to a place that provides the same “services” as the Verdigris House. In the manga, Jinshi gets upset with Gaoshun because he’s the one who suggested he take Maomao with him, afterall.
The other scene was Jinshi and Lakan’s conversation. This could simply be a difference in localization, but I liked how the manga reveals that Lakan knows who Jinshi is. All he does is refer to Jinshi as “His Highness” during the conversation, instead of saying how Jinshi is of a high enough status that no one can touch him. Out of all the things I didn’t like about the episode, this one is so incredibly minor, but you, dear reader, should know by now how nitpicky I am over this kind of stuff.
You know, something that I never really put much thought into prior to this episode was the fact that Lakan is the one who infected Maomao’s birthmother with syphilis…. or at least that’s what the episode made it seem like? I always thought that she contracted the disease after Lakan, when she was forced to sleep with other customers since she was now “worthless.” I’m way past hating the guy, since I know his whole story (and so will the anime-only viewers soon), but if that really is the case, it makes me pause a bit.
I loved seeing Maomao interact with the Three Princesses. Needless to say, the bath scene was anime-only. It was also kind of fun seeing Joka and Pairin without any of their forehead markings. I almost didn’t recognize them at first!
Lastly, I was surprised to see a man in the Verdigris House. I’m guessing that’s probably Ukyou? (This isn’t a major spoiler, by any means.) I can’t remember if the light novel ever really describes what Ukyou looks like. In my head, I’ve always imagined him as an older gentleman, and I think he was more like a bouncer than some kind of assistant. So maybe it’s just some rando character?
I’m going into next week’s episode blind… well, as much as I can be. I mean, of course I know what’s going to happen, but I won’t be reading ahead to prep myself for my manga-anime comparison. I think it’s better this way. From the preview, next episode is going to have the last of my top five most anticipated scenes, so I hope it’s a good one.
