Anime fans, the pharmacist has returned.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 premieres today, October 2, bringing Maomao back for another round of medicine, mysteries, palace drama and people somehow still thinking they can poison someone without her noticing.
Have they learned nothing?
The anime follows Maomao, a young apothecary whose extremely specific knowledge of medicine and poisons keeps pulling her into mysteries inside the imperial palace.
She would probably prefer everyone leave her alone with her experiments.
Unfortunately, she is far too good at solving problems.
Season 2 pushed the story much further into the politics surrounding the palace while developing Maomao’s relationship with Jinshi and revealing more about the characters around them.
Now Season 3 picks things back up as those mysteries continue getting bigger.
The series has become one of anime’s biggest recent success stories without needing giant monsters, magical tournaments or somebody screaming the name of their attack for five minutes.
Instead, we get medical mysteries, political manipulation, slow burn romance and Maomao looking deeply disappointed in almost everyone around her.
Honestly, relatable.
The new season is streaming through Crunchyroll, with availability covering Africa and the Middle East, meaning Moroccan viewers are included in the rollout.
And it arrives during an unnecessarily busy anime weekend.
Black Clover returns October 3, followed by Aoashi Season 2 on October 4.
So if you had productive plans this weekend, congratulations.
You no longer do.
Maomao is back. Act accordingly.
