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薬屋のひとりごと [Kusuriya no Hitorigoto] #5
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 5 {Manga}
After breaking a "curse" on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated historical mystery series!
Forced to the leave the Inner Palace, Maomao finds herself in the employ of none other than Jinshi, the seemingly ever-present thorn in her side! Immune to his charms, Maomao sets about learning the ways of life in the Outer Palace, where government officials and military officers go about the daily business of running the country.
Far from being fearful of her new surroundings, however, Maomao has her insatiable curiosity piqued by the soldier-occupied eastern wing, where she's been forbidden to go but where it seems further mysteries await...
Forced to the leave the Inner Palace, Maomao finds herself in the employ of none other than Jinshi, the seemingly ever-present thorn in her side! Immune to his charms, Maomao sets about learning the ways of life in the Outer Palace, where government officials and military officers go about the daily business of running the country.
Far from being fearful of her new surroundings, however, Maomao has her insatiable curiosity piqued by the soldier-occupied eastern wing, where she's been forbidden to go but where it seems further mysteries await...
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 25, 2019
283 people are currently reading
1892 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 490 reviews
August 17, 2023
this series keeps getting better and better with every new chapter. it's already so rare to come across mangas with female protagonists that aren't predominantly romance, but this one actually has little to no romance PLUS an extremely witty and entertaining protagonist to boot. really glad to have discovered this gem.
September 2, 2025
We’re starting a new arc in the story so this was little slower than previous volumes but I’m still obsessed with MaoMao. Now that she’s working under Jinshi, I’m excited to see how her world expands beyond the inner palace. I must say I miss the courtesans, but they do make an appearance and I have a feeling we’ll see more of them in the future. There is the introduction of a new character who I’m convinced will serve as the villain for this next part of the story.
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December 21, 2023maomao using her knowledge growing up in the pleasure district to become the inner court's personal seduction tutor... love that journey for her
September 12, 2021
J’ai moins aimé ce tome par rapport aux 4 premiers dans le sens où l’on ne sent aucune évolution dans l’intrigue principale ou pour la situation de Mao Mao.
Les enquêtes étaient agréables à lire et l’ambiance était toujours un vrai plaisir, mais on a envie que ça bouge un peu plus.
Les enquêtes étaient agréables à lire et l’ambiance était toujours un vrai plaisir, mais on a envie que ça bouge un peu plus.
July 3, 2024
I liked the anime for the brother story better. But I liked how there was more about her life in the outer court in this book than the anime. Continues to hold my interest and makes me want to binge them.
April 4, 2025
maomao smiling at jinshi and him absolutely losing his shit? need that in my life
July 20, 2022
↦ 173/ 108
the things i would do to see this series animated
the things i would do to see this series animated
June 8, 2025
Meno male che Mao Mao voleva passare inosservata 😂
July 25, 2022
Maomao is now under the employ of Jinshi, but otherwise her life continues as it has. Her insatiable curiosity still lands her in trouble and mysteries cross her path more often than not. But if it isn’t broke…
Look, let’s cut to the chase. This is four stars worth of very good mysteries of various stripes and some semi-factual, if dodgy, science. Normally that would be the end of it, since the story is the point of it all.
Less so this series, however, which is one of the all time greats for me simply because Maomao is one of my favourite characters ever. I absolutely love every aspect of her mischievous, hopelessly crazy for poison persona.
The story, for me, exists as a backdrop for her antics, which are brutally funny and very entertaining and drawn in a way that makes the most of the manga format. A strong, smart, capable female doing her best in a world of frequently disdainful, often hapless, males in positions of power is great.
No matter how long it takes until my hunches about Jinshi are proven correct, the development of his relationship with Maomao has been a real joy. Basically, he’s clearly grown to care about her a lot, but she has exactly zero time for romance unless she can see if it will kill her when she eats it.
Yeah, I love mysteries, but this book makes me laugh at lessons for females in, uh, practicing politics, and a truly ghastly looking gift from Jinshi that Maomao is dreaming about almost all volume. There’s a lot of drive to our heroine and she’s not one to leave her curiosity dissatisfied, which makes her a natural fit for the various shenanigans at the court.
There’s no grand plot in motion just yet, we get a lot of pieces added in here and there but it’s all background to these little nuggets of life in a palace of schemers jockeying for position and a little deductive adventure here and there.
If you want a grand, sweeping story, this isn’t it. If you want a character study featuring a delightful imp who gets upset when she can’t try to nearly kill herself with blowfish and solves arsons on the side, well, this is the same delight it’s always been.
5 stars - 4 star story, but Maomao being Maomao is always enough for me to devour every new book in this series very happily. Nothing new, but no less brilliant despite that.
Look, let’s cut to the chase. This is four stars worth of very good mysteries of various stripes and some semi-factual, if dodgy, science. Normally that would be the end of it, since the story is the point of it all.
Less so this series, however, which is one of the all time greats for me simply because Maomao is one of my favourite characters ever. I absolutely love every aspect of her mischievous, hopelessly crazy for poison persona.
The story, for me, exists as a backdrop for her antics, which are brutally funny and very entertaining and drawn in a way that makes the most of the manga format. A strong, smart, capable female doing her best in a world of frequently disdainful, often hapless, males in positions of power is great.
No matter how long it takes until my hunches about Jinshi are proven correct, the development of his relationship with Maomao has been a real joy. Basically, he’s clearly grown to care about her a lot, but she has exactly zero time for romance unless she can see if it will kill her when she eats it.
Yeah, I love mysteries, but this book makes me laugh at lessons for females in, uh, practicing politics, and a truly ghastly looking gift from Jinshi that Maomao is dreaming about almost all volume. There’s a lot of drive to our heroine and she’s not one to leave her curiosity dissatisfied, which makes her a natural fit for the various shenanigans at the court.
There’s no grand plot in motion just yet, we get a lot of pieces added in here and there but it’s all background to these little nuggets of life in a palace of schemers jockeying for position and a little deductive adventure here and there.
If you want a grand, sweeping story, this isn’t it. If you want a character study featuring a delightful imp who gets upset when she can’t try to nearly kill herself with blowfish and solves arsons on the side, well, this is the same delight it’s always been.
5 stars - 4 star story, but Maomao being Maomao is always enough for me to devour every new book in this series very happily. Nothing new, but no less brilliant despite that.
October 11, 2022
C'est encore et toujours un plaisir de me plonger dans cet univers et de retrouver Mao Mao. Cette fois, j'avoue avoir été un peu déçue par toutes ces petites enquêtes qui arrivent comme ça sans transition et qui sont résolues en un tour de main. Je n'en n'ai pas bien compris le but. Mais bon, ça reste très sympa et divertissant à lire. Vivement la suite !
June 12, 2023
Nie potrafię zdecydować, który tom podoba mi się najbardziej… wszystkie są szalenie dobre⭐️
July 7, 2025
4.5🌟 ch. 19-22
keeps getting better with more intrigue. Mao mao solders and sleuths. She confronts a woman dying of syphylus. We keep leaning more and more about her character. She is curious, not the most social, and learned apothecary skills from her father.
keeps getting better with more intrigue. Mao mao solders and sleuths. She confronts a woman dying of syphylus. We keep leaning more and more about her character. She is curious, not the most social, and learned apothecary skills from her father.
January 28, 2024
Bir yandan da animesini de izliyorum. Keyifli bir manga ve anime. Birebir gidiyor aslında :)
Dönem mangası. Sarayda haremağası olan çook güzel bir adam var, tabii onunla ilgili bazı gizemler var.
Kızımızın da üvey babası doktor, eczacı gibi bir şey o dönemde işte. Kız da babasından bir sürü şey öğrenmiş, zehirlerle ilgili vs. zamanında zehirleri kendi üzerinde çok denediği için de bağışıklığı yüksek. Ayrıca genelev bölgesinde büyüdüğü için de genelevdeki kadınlara abla diyor, birçok şeyi biliyor. Bir gün kızı kaçırıp satıyorlar, sarayda haremde çalışması için işe alınıyor, çeşnicibaşı vs. gibi. sonra da giderek yükselmeye başlıyor. Güçlü bir kadın karakter.
Erkek karakterle aralarındaki dinamik çok komik :)
Dönem mangası. Sarayda haremağası olan çook güzel bir adam var, tabii onunla ilgili bazı gizemler var.
Kızımızın da üvey babası doktor, eczacı gibi bir şey o dönemde işte. Kız da babasından bir sürü şey öğrenmiş, zehirlerle ilgili vs. zamanında zehirleri kendi üzerinde çok denediği için de bağışıklığı yüksek. Ayrıca genelev bölgesinde büyüdüğü için de genelevdeki kadınlara abla diyor, birçok şeyi biliyor. Bir gün kızı kaçırıp satıyorlar, sarayda haremde çalışması için işe alınıyor, çeşnicibaşı vs. gibi. sonra da giderek yükselmeye başlıyor. Güçlü bir kadın karakter.
Erkek karakterle aralarındaki dinamik çok komik :)
March 20, 2024
Pas mon tome préféré pour l'instant, même s'il reste très bien. J'aurai aimé que les intrigues de Cour et de Mao Mao avancent davantage, plutôt que de rajouter d'autres enquêtes, même si elles étaient très intéressantes.
October 24, 2022
It's interesting how much more the mystery element of the story stands out in the manga version - the novels place more emphasis on the overarching story. Both are well worth reading.
March 26, 2023
While I am extremely disappointed to have left the lovely ladies of the Inner Court behind, I am excited that Maomao has become a maid to Jinshi’s personal household. Because of her new position, Maomao and Jinshi now spend more time together, and his feelings for her are becoming increasingly obvious.
Gao Shun is quickly becoming my favorite character. His is so attentive and sweet, and he understands Maomao in a way that no one aside from her father does. However, Lakan is my new least favorite character. He’s slimy, disrespectful, and brash. I’m sure I’ll see more of him in the future, and I am not looking forward to it.
Gao Shun is quickly becoming my favorite character. His is so attentive and sweet, and he understands Maomao in a way that no one aside from her father does. However, Lakan is my new least favorite character. He’s slimy, disrespectful, and brash. I’m sure I’ll see more of him in the future, and I am not looking forward to it.
March 21, 2023
Maomao got a new job under Jinshi! Trust me, they are so funny! 🤣
Yes, she is solving mysteries related to the apothecary again. And am I the only one who got astonished with that revelation?! 🤯
Yes, she is solving mysteries related to the apothecary again. And am I the only one who got astonished with that revelation?! 🤯
December 24, 2023
this volume was so boring and stifling tbh… i wish the pace would pick up once more in the next!
December 2, 2023
December 2023
Kindle edition
Manga
Ugh, the military guy gives me the creeps. Unsure on the new pure consort. Aloof doesn’t seem to fit. It’s a shame the other one is gone. The tea mystery was interesting, as was the special class. Felt sorry for the youngest. It felt like Maomao was made to play teacher just so the consorts could see her again.
Kindle edition
Manga
Ugh, the military guy gives me the creeps. Unsure on the new pure consort. Aloof doesn’t seem to fit. It’s a shame the other one is gone. The tea mystery was interesting, as was the special class. Felt sorry for the youngest. It felt like Maomao was made to play teacher just so the consorts could see her again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2024
Maomao now finds herself being employed by Jinshi and working in the Outer Court while trying to make the best of it, and later she’s get involved in circumstances involving poisoned fish and flour explosions. A (100%/Outstanding)
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February 28, 2022Relecture le 28/02/2022
September 25, 2022
wasn’t as good as the other volumes if i’m being honest but ofc i still liked it! i have a feeling that the last two panels might have to do with maomao and her mother???
August 28, 2024
the DRAMA!!! and that epilogue didn’t happen
April 23, 2025
oh Jinshi 💅
June 6, 2025
this series is so beautifully written and carefully constructed, i can't get enough of it
August 18, 2025
Miss Maomao in the inner court
August 4, 2025
ler esse mangá é sempre um refresco.
December 21, 2022
Kocham te mangi 😍❤️
June 18, 2025
BLOWFISH 🥰🥰🥰
Displaying 1 - 30 of 490 reviews