Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Apothecary Diaries Season 2
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18671 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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As do I. spoiler[Frankly, I think those complaining are looking too much at the immediate rather than the bigger picture. This stopping point will look more correct in retrospect after we see how the rest of the scene plays out. (At least, assuming that the adaptation will handle it the way I think it will.)] So let's redress this after we see the continuation next episode. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 479 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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And Maomao makes it another week without discovering she's actually a member of the Imperial household.
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tintor2
 Posts: 2301 |
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This episode reminded me of Frieren: No matter how open is Himmel about his feelings towards the elf, there is barely any response from the elf. In Maomao's case, she claims she was never able to understand people's emotions though. It's a shame this episode had a lot build up not only from previous episodes where Jinshi is told over and over to tell the truth but also the novelist herself, but in the end there was no progress in the narrative. I wonder if in the end this will be important or we can remove these two episodes.
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FireChick
 Subscriber Posts: 2580 Location: United States |
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I dunno...I think it's weird that Maomao fell on top of Jinshi and her hand just so happened to land right on his you know where. Like, how would her hand have been able to even get into that position when she fell on him? It almost feels calculated, like the animators did it to make the reveal go faster. Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to have felt it by way of, say, her knee rubbing against him? It'd still be creepy and uncomfortable, sure, but it'd make more sense given their position and much less overly convenient and overly empathized.
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2519 |
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My opinions on cliffhanger implementation notwithstanding, the scene at the bedroom door is a great example of what Thesarum's been saying about Maomao as an unreliable narrator who's far more conscious of Jinshi as a person than she's willing to admit. "I may not be able to see him, but I know what face he's making." "What is Master Jinshi thinking?" The way she reflects on how much of a struggle it is to understand other people's feelings -- not the thoughts of someone who just doesn't care. The warmth Aoi Yuuki delivers that "you will always be Master Jinshi to me" line with. The insert shot of the fingertips touching -- it's Jinshi's fingers that twitch, but it reads to me like Maomao's just as aware of him physically in that moment.
Also, I love that forced grin Maomao has plastered on her face when she's saying "Come on, let's get out of here" in the cave. |
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Gina Szanboti
 Posts: 11781 |
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The Shakespeare already had me in stitches (truly a masterwork, indeed!), and then you hit me with this too! Are you trying to kill me? You obviously had fun with this episode, so I forgive. 
What a delightful business it must be! I'm feeling warm and fuzzy just imagining it. 
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Azure Chrysanthemum
Posts: 169 |
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Jinshi, my dude, give her the bezoar AFTER you have the conversation. Rookie mistake but you should know better by now.
Been waiting for this episode for quite some time, and it was delightful as expected. A perhaps slightly larger than average frog indeed. |
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Troyen
Posts: 39 |
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Was it mentioned somewhere whether this was a 13-episode one-cour series or a two-cour like the first season? I was expecting 12 episodes but then the episode 13 preview came as a surprise.
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10162 Location: Virginia |
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It is a two cour season.
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Shay Guy
Posts: 2519 |
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I can't remember when it was officially said, but as a source reader, there was never any doubt to me that this season would be two cours again. It made far more sense to cover LN3-4 than just LN3. |
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IronWish
 Posts: 5 Location: Ukraine |
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My completely baseless head canon is that Maomao did feel it with her leg first, but was so surprised that she instinctively reached with a hand to double check.
Also like half of her Jinshi-related thoughts are "Damn, this dude is way too hot". Of course, it's presented as a neutral observation, but she focuses on it a bit too much. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 15652 |
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I had honestly long waited for Maomao to eventually face unshakeable evidence of Jinshi not being an eunuch by actually feeling his "frog" but I didn't expect her to give him a slight handjob in the process. Okay, the first time was an accident, the second time was for clarification, the third time she was basically just feeling it up.
But I'm glad to see that even upon discovering the "frog" is intact and capable of full use, and doesn't need Maomao's medicine to be restored (one can certainly debate exactly what was motivating her to restore said "frog" in the first place), she can still make dick jokes about it! Or jokes about the size of this "frog," as it were. Maomao questions the size of Jinshi's "frog" and he's left with no recourse but to assert his manhood by pushing himself on her. Maomao debated resisting but didn't even try and seemed to actually lean into the kiss what with closing her eyes and puckering her lips...now, I can see Maomao rationalizing it as she wouldn't get anywhere by resisting, and she'd keep her head by just giving in, but did she need to lean into the moment that much? It felt like her body was maybe getting away from her for a bit. Though she was saved by the dog either way. Loulan's father is as inscrutable as she is. Can't be a coincidence. Maomao's got a gun! It's not surprising that a girl like Maomao who basically had to raise herself to some degree to the point where she had to train herself not to cry as a child would not be as sensitive or aware of emotions, be it herself as others, as she could be. Add onto that a childhood raised in the pleasure quarter would skew oneself even more. Yet despite that she does seem to have a growing affinity for Jinshi and they do seem to keep finding themselves closer even as physical or emotional doors or barriers bar themselves, and their hearts, from each other. "Master Jinshi will always be Master Jinshi to me" probably pretty meaningful in terms of conveying that she'll always think of him the same no matter what, even if she'd probably rationalize it as because she doesn't want to ever get involved with his real self so it doesn't matter to her...even when Jinshi wants her to know his real self. Honestly, on the one hand, giving her the ox bezoar was good "boyfriend" points. On the other hand, it totally screwed the moment for him and proved that, at the moment, she cares far more about ox bezoar than she does him and his deal. But hey, he got that winning Maomao smile out of it! It's not often we get into Gaoshun's headspace. Even if it means posing as an eunuch himself and filling in for Jinshi, he's a consummate servant and loyal to the Imperial Family. Even as soft as he is to Maoamo, he still ultimately sees her as an asset to the Imperial Family. Though I imagine he also probably just wants to see his wife and grandkids again. Can you imagine being stuck working with a son like Basen? I love Gaoshun waxing lyrical to the audience about Ka Zuigetsu, finally revealing Jinshi's real name, all the while the actual Ka Zuigetsu is desperately banging on Maomao's door to get her to pay attention to him instead of the ox bezoar he just gave her. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 479 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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Episode starts with Xiaolan asking possibly the most connected person in the rear palace if she has any connections. Episode ends with Maomao befriending another high ranking concubine.
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q_3
Posts: 188 |
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I didn't even catch it on first viewing, but Shisui quietly teleporting offscreen the moment Lishu approached the group sure was interesting, especially since it would seem to run counter to her own information gathering.
It also occurred to me that most of the evidence cited for the rumor that Loulan is pregnant could equally be explained by a different rumor that's spreading on the other side of the fourth wall. Does Loulan truly support her father's ambitions, or maybe she would rather run away to the countryside with an apothecary wife?
Personally I'm happy to have more of Maomao hanging out with her girl friends. |
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dm
Subscriber Posts: 1558 |
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I’m an evil person, I know, but I was just amused at Apothecary Diaries manga and anime approach to the hoary anime tradition of a visit to an onsen.
(Yes, I realize the scene first appeared in the novels, but still.) |
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