REVIEW: ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ Episode 6 — “The Garden Party”

With everything prepared, it is time for the garden party to begin. But amongst all the pageantry of the event, court politics and internal squabbling present a perilous road for Maomao (Aoi Yûki) to navigate as she tries to do her job as a food taster, especially with what’s on the menu in The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) Episode 6, “The Garden Party.”

The bulk of this week’s episode follows Maomao as she tries to learn how to navigate the infighting and petty squabbling among the servants at the garden party and stay warm doing it. The viewer is fed details about some of the other chief concubines that were recently introduced as Maomao comes into contact with each’s servants. These minor personality clashes work to showcase how complex social structures can become, even when at first glance, there doesn’t feel like there should be any. It also uses these moments of agitation to let Maomao have a little fun at some of her fellow servants’ expense, injecting the proceedings with humor and keeping the episode from getting too caught up in itself.

During this sequence of exploration at the garden party, we also see Maomao continue to see herself grow in popularity as she receives hairpins from a couple of different prominent people, signs of favor towards her. One of these pins comes from the lady Lihua (Yui Ishikawa), whose life she saved earlier in the season. While it is always nice to be appreciated, The Apothecary Diaries Episode 6 points out that such favor could come to be a problem for Maomao, as her mistress, Lady Gyokuyô (Atsumi Tanezaki) may not appreciate others showing her servant such fondness. These observations further illustrate how complicated living in such a space where propriety and proper interactions between different classes can become.

Eventually, the food is served, which means it is time for Maomao to do her work as Lady Gyokuyô’s food taster. As always, Maomao is able to make some insightful observations about the food, the staff, and the appetites of the nobility as she clears each item for her lady’s enjoyment. These astute deductions are a strong element of the moment, thanks to the skillful voice work of Yûki. Maomao’s keen-eyed intelligence is delivered with just the right amount of amusement as she watches and learns much more than most of us would glean from such moments. The festivities come to a halt, though, when Maomao discovers one dish is actually poisoned.

The discovery itself and its immediate follow-up leave a weird feeling in the viewer. While it has been explained previously that Maomao did some experimenting on herself, including the building up of tolerance to several poisons, The Apothecary Diaries Episode 6 reveals that the girl actively enjoys being poisoned. While she promptly expunged the substance from her system due to the public nature of where she is, we are shown that Maomao would’ve loved to let the poison flow through her system as she pictures herself crumpled on the ground, in some form of pain-wracked ecstasy. It feels like it is intended to be humorous, but it just doesn’t land well. Between the oddness of the desire itself and the timing as everyone around her begins to panic, this moment feels poorly placed at best.

The final sequence sees Maomao unravel who the poison was really aimed at and how she knew. This scene is informed by the observations she made while food tasting, linking everything together in a clever narrative package. We also get to see Maomao rip into another less-than-diligent servant whose lack of awareness could’ve cost her lady her life. While she doesn’t go as hard on this servant as she has others in the past, she doesn’t spare any feelings, as she pointedly addresses the situation and how it should be improved.

The projection of Maomao’s feelings is brought to their fullness not just through the voice work but also through fantastic animation and cinematography. Camera angles and lighting are utilized brilliantly to bring the cold-hardness of Maomao’s tone and delivery to the scene. This is a wonderful example of how all visual and audio media elements can come together to be far more than the sum of their parts.

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 6 delivers a solid episode that brings a mix of elements to its narrative. Finishing strong, the story leaves the viewer with a lasting impression that encourages a return to the series next week, even if much of the story was just good.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.