My wish from my last reaction didn’t come true. The anime didn’t add anything into this episode about the guard who struck Maomao with his club. It was a long shot, but man, I was really hoping we’d get something about what happened to that guy.
Anyway, this episode was pretty cut-and-paste from the source material. It covered chapters 33 and 34 of the manga with just a little bit of chapter 35 sprinkled in right at the end. There were no major deviations from the source material: just a couple of minor additions and omissions.
The omission that disappointed me was Jinshi’s internal monologue explaining Gaoshun’s role in his life. It could just be me and my bias for Gaoshun, but I felt like the information we learned about the two of them in the manga would be good for the anime-only fans to know too.
Because when I first read the series, I remember having a “Ohhh, so that’s how it is” reaction during this scene. I mean, the chapter is titled “Gaoshun” for a reason! Jinshi explains how Gaoshun has been overseeing his care since he was a baby and how Gaoshun’s wife Taomei was Jinshi’s wet nurse. This is revealed right before we learn Jinshi’s the same age as Gaoshun’s youngest son Basen. Also, thinking about it a little more… I think this scene is also the first time in the series where Gaoshun directly addresses Jinshi as “Your Highness.”
Knowing this information would’ve given Gaoshun more depth for anime-only fans. Again, it might just be my bias making me feel this way. Regardless, Gaoshun deserves more fan love.
Anyway, the other minor changes include:
- In the coffin scene, Maomao brings the hoe with her. She doesn’t grab it from the corner of the room.
- We don’t see Loulan in between the coffin scene and Jinshi’s expository scene… but I do think this is a nice addition.
- Lihaku doesn’t overhear the gossiping kamuro at the Verdigris House. The story jumps straight into… well, where I’m assuming we’ll start in the very next episode.
I’ve mentioned before how this anime adaptation has helped me understand some of the more nuanced parts of the plot, and I had another moment of clarity in this episode dealing with Suirei. I’ll save that for the end of this post under a spoiler warning.
This is so incredibly minor, but I love that they added a few frames of a confused emperor looking at Loulan. We get a little chibi version of him in the manga with the same facial expression he makes in the anime, but it makes me laugh so hard. He’s the emperor, and he’s so confused lol.
Another thing I liked was the very brief inclusion of the empress dowager after she gave birth to her second son. Her facial expression speaks volumes to how she really felt about birthing a second child of the former emperor (aka the current emperor’s younger brother). Seeing her reaction, it makes sense she does.
Overall, it was a decent episode. Nothing surprising but nothing outstanding as well. We’re in the home stretch of the last four episodes of the season! There are eight more chapters left in manga volumes 7-8 (although I think they’ll leave the last two chapters of the 8th volume for next season, so maybe it’s actually six chapters instead). If we go by the light novel, it’s five chapters plus an epilogue left.
If I had to make a prediction, the next episode is going to feel like a filler to some. Believe me: it’ll be extraordinarily entertaining and hilarious, judging by the previews (I mean just look at the screenshots above), but if they cover the paper mystery in addition to how to buy out a contract, I can already hear the complaints. They haven’t skipped any mystery so far, so buckle up folks. It might be a liiiiiittle boring for the first half of next episode. But hey, at least you’ll learn something about making paper.
SPOILER-Y DISCUSSION BELOW.
Suirei is such an interesting character. I didn’t really think much of her when I read the light novel. But when you think of all the little things she did (either by herself or with the help of others), it’s amazing that all of it converged to one point: the metal fitting failure at the ceremonial ritual. I really like the way that the anime has handled her character, showing that not only was she a court lady, but she was already pretending to be a bureaucrat from the beginning.
In later chapters of The Apothecary Diaries, new eunuchs who were previously slaves (or prisoners of war, I can’t remember which exactly) are brought into the rear palace. Since the current emperor abolished the practice of “creating” eunuchs, importing individuals who were already made eunuchs was really the only way to get more help.
After successfully escaping, Suirei pretends to be one of these new eunuchs to get back into the rear palace. We just saw from this episode that she obviously fit in well because of her more “masculine” looks.
So in the anime, she’s been hiding in plain sight this whole time! When we saw glimpses of this unknown suspicious male character, never once did I think that it was Suirei even though I already knew she pretends to be a eunuch later on in the story. I can’t unsee it now. Of course that’s Suirei!
