I read the manga version of it, both of them. The title might make it sounds like a slice of life story while the art might make it looks like a romance in ancient China sort of. This story is none of those things and is more of a detective or mystery story with some social and political commentaries as its setting is at a place that is not friendly to women seen through the point of view of its female main character.
It also has good characters and the interactions between them are always a delight to read for me, especially its eccentric main character, Maomao. She is the core that make this story work. The story tend to be episodic mystery of the week, but slowly but surely it starts to reveal a dark conspiracy related to the previous emperor who is a terrible human being to say the least, so it has a nice, long arc for the finale as well.
I'm not as witty as I think I am. It's a scientifically-proven fact.
The series is receiving an anime
, with a release date of 2023 confirmed.
Staff includes Naganuma Norihiro as director (previous credits include Ancient Magus's Bride and Yowamushi Pedal;
Nakatani Yukiko as character designer (previous credits include character designer on several Precure series and some One Piece works);
Kosaki Satoru (Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, Monogatari), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss), and Alisa Okehazama (Jujutsu Kaisen) on music;
and TOHO Animation Studio (newly founded for this series) working with OLM Digital (Komi-san wa Komyusho Desu and Odd Taxi, recently) on production.
New key visual.
Official anime trailer.
Teaser PV
Haven't read it but still interested about the anime. (Also this thread should be moved to Manga & Anime section right?)
The thread was and still is about the novel series, it's just that no one is using it.
It's been fun.
I'm having a lot of fun with the anime!
Originally I read the manga back around 2019. When I read it the translation/release was around the current point. So everything from this point will be new to me.
I was enjoying myself to the point I was strongly considering picking up the series in the Black Friday sales, but I've bought a bit too much physical manga recently, so I ultimately decided against it.
Watching the series really makes me want to go back and read the manga and/or the Light Novels!
Although I might wait until the show is over before doing that.
"But if that happened, Melia might actually be happy. We can't have that." - Handsome Rob
I'd recommend the novels, myself. The writing is solid, and the translation is very good.
It's been fun.
In a fictional country similar to ancient China, young apothecary Maomao makes a living preparing medicines for the brothel district that raised her. One day, she's kidnapped and brought into the Inner Palace as a slave, where one of the Emperor's consorts is bedridden and suffering. But it's not just an illness; the consort has been poisoned, and it falls to Maomao to figure out how, and by whom.
Maomao, who generally doesn't care for people or politics and would much rather test new and interesting poisons on herself, finds herself saddled with the incredibly beautiful and rather pushy eunuch Jinshi, the head administrator of the Inner Palace, as her client for the poisoning case.
So begins a fictional-historical mystery series written in Japan, and set in the fictional country of Li, loosely but not prescriptively based on early 1600s China. The series is heavily entwined in inter-court politics, herb and medicine knowledge, and deep looks at the many ways the world can be cruel to women, even in a sheltered environment like the Inner Palace. It has two simultaneous manga adaptations running, and the light novels are being released in English by J-Novel Club.
I've been looking for a good place to discuss this series for ages, and there's basically nothing going on for it anywhere. Anyone else reading this underappreciated gem?
Edited by RedSavant on Oct 17th 2022 at 9:27:15 AM
It's been fun.