The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries (Japanese: 薬屋のひとりごと, Hepburn: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, lit. 'Apothecary's Soliloquy') is a Japanese light novel series written by Natsu Hyūga and illustrated by Touko Shino. Since 2011, it has been serialized online on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. In the following year, it was acquired by Shufunotomo, who initially published the series as a novel with a single volume in 2012 and then as a light novel series in 2014.

The series is set in an alternate reality of the Ming dynasty and follows a girl named Maomao, who was trained from an early age by her apothecary father, and was sold as a servant to the emperor's palace while she secretly employs her pharmacologist skills at the service of the people of the palace.

It has been adapted into two manga series in 2017, with one published by Square Enix in Monthly Big Gangan, and another one published by Shogakukan in Monthly Sunday Gene-X. The light novel is licensed digitally in North America by J-Novel Club and in print by Square Enix. The manga illustrated by Nekokurage is also licensed by Square Enix. An anime television series adaptation produced by Toho Animation Studio and OLM aired from October 2023 to March 2024, while a second season premiered in January 2025.