The newest seasonal visual has been released for The Apothecary Diaries anime series, showcasing Maomao and her adoptive father, Luomen, with green butterbur plants. It is part of a second slate of seasonal visuals for the anime.
©日向夏・イマジカインフォス／「薬屋のひとりごと」製作委員会
The anime’s third season will premiere in Japan as two split cours, beginning with the first cour in October 2026 and the second cour in April 2027. An anime film with an original story by light novel author Hyuganatsu is scheduled to premiere in December 2026.
New entries for The Apothecary Diaries anime were announced in July 2025, following the end of the second season. Season one was released in 2023, while season two was released in January 2025. Both aired as consecutive cour series.
Norihiro Naganuma (Season 1 director and series screenwriter) was the chief director and series composer for the second season, with Akinori Fudesaka (Season 1 assistant director) as director, Ko Nakagawa (Season 1 Episode 6, 13, and 19 storyboard artist and director, Episode 24 director) as assistant director, Yukiko Nakatani as character designer, Misato Aida as color designer, Katsumi Takao as background art director, and Mayo Suzuki (The Apothecary Diaries project PV) as compositing director. TOHO animation STUDIO and OLM were in charge of the second season’s animation production.
Satoru Kosaki (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss), and Alisa Okehazama (The God of High School) were the music composers.
Meanwhile, the anime’s main voice cast stars Aoi Yuki as Maomao and Takeo Otsuka as Jinshi.
The original light novel series is written by Hyuganatsu and illustrated by Toko Shino. It was first published by Shufunotomo’s Hero Bunko imprint on August 29, 2014 and has released 16 physical volumes as of May 2025. J-Novel Club licensed the light novels for English digital release, while Square Enix published the series in print.
The series began as a Shosetsuka ni Naro web novel in October 2011. It was later republished by Shufunotomo as a single volume under its Ray Books imprint.
A manga adaptation by Nekokurage was released in May 2017. Another manga by Minoji Kurata titled The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace was launched in August 2017 and was licensed by VIZ Media for release in English.
A spinoff manga titled The Apothecary Diaries: Xiaolan’s Story debuted on Square Enix’s Manga Up! service on March 23, 2025. Square Enix licensed the first manga series for English release and will publish the series in print this coming October.
©日向夏・イマジカインフォス／「薬屋のひとりごと」製作委員会
Crunchyroll is currently streaming both seasons of The Apothecary Diaries worldwide in select countries and territories. It describes the second season as:
When a favored concubine becomes pregnant, Maomao is put to the test as her food taster. She must keep her wits sharp, not only to protect the concubine but also against rising dangers in the palace. A new concubine with powerful ties, an unsolved attempt at Jinshi’s life, and a foreign envoy with impossible demands hint at a grand conspiracy poised to engulf the empire.
Sources: The Apothecary Diaries Official Twitter, Crunchyroll News
