This is just speculation based on my nearly 58 years of life experience, but I suspect that the secret technique involves the emperors sword being strategically placed in the concubine's fruit basket, the the fruits being used to polish the sword to a brilliant sheen.
Lihua's attendants are just the right combination of petty and sheltered nobility and stupidity to make excellent "unintentionally evil" side chars. at least its shown they do CARE about her.. they're just petty and stupid lol.
I didn't realize it until someone else mentioned it but she was probably so worn down because she had to pick up the slack of the lady who was confined.
Considering that none of Lihua's ladies in waiting have any fcking idea on what they were doing, Maomao basically did everything. She was a maid, the cook, the doctor and the caretaker practically. Plus she also had to monitor Lihua's health nonstop, so there's that.
Not just her, all the ladies maids are incompetent, up until today, they only did surface level work while barring serving girls, so Maomao was managing and training the entire household while caring for her patient nearly 24/7. While their lady is patient and wise her ladies maids are (mostly) bratty children, if you rewatch the 1st episode one of them scoffs at then brushes the flower with the warning off the balcony. They aren’t malicious but their shallow vapidness aided in the death of that baby and almost killed their Lady.
Lady got smacked so hard her ANCESTORS are feeling the shame! But at the same time respect Maomao for stopping when she saw the lady in waiting genuinely realized her mistake and showed remorse
For those curious the scene at 22:30 is anime original as the LN primarily focuses on Maomao's perspective. In addition when the emperor gave Maomao that order it was very much a "Heal her, or die with her" command. That's why if the other servants had continued to interfere and Lihua had perished, everyone in that pavilion would be getting a grave at best. On a side note, all upper consorts have a political angle as well as being women best fitting the emperors taste. They are all related to the important families, but that will be brought up more in the future, so for now I will leave it here.
Just to add some random info when the consort first moves to the rear palace, their ladies were often picked by their families, and moved to the rear palace with their charge. They would rarely hire someone already in the rear palace to be one of their ladies. Additionally, the ladies in wait were often selected from higher status women, which could explain why Lihua's ladies were so mean to Maomao and unwilling to listen to her. They believed that there was no way a low born could understand the health of a high born, that her mere presence was sickening to her.
It was probably harder for Maomao to tell she was wearing makeup since that first time she saw her she had it on. She never saw her actual skin tone before
The story really reflects the views on human life was at this time in China. People could be bought and sold. Plus status level dominated every interaction.
Exactly. The scene where Lihua asks why Maomao doesn't just let her die, Maomao doesn't give a speech about how she needs to live because she doesn't have any right to. Maomao knows people high in power cherish her, but she tries to steer clear. The closer one is to those in power, they more likely you'll lose your head. The same is with Gyuokuyou. Maomao understands that she's aloof and very casual, she would not mind Maomao being casual with her, but if the wrong people saw, it could mean her doom. Even if the emperor treated her kindly, she could never return the gratitude, as he may feel compelled to punish in order to retain a presence of control and order. There are leader in history who had to execute those they were emotionally close to, all in order to maintain the status quo and the stability of their authority.
Another commenter gave an explaination on another reactor channel. I copy it here for you. It answer some of your questions: @jakeDgirl - 2 months ago (edited) The Emperor ordered Maomao to cure Lady Lihua in front of Lady Gyokuyou as a political move. It's been mentioned a couple of times now that Lady Gyokuyou is the emperor's current favored concubine. Especially since Gyokuyou's child is the only baby alive. Lady Lihua is also very sick and unable to serve the emperor with nightly duties. So obviously the entire rear palace and all political factions can feel that Lady Gyokuyou has monopoly of the emperor's affections right now. By appearing that he cares for Lady Lihua right in front of Lady Gyokuyou, the emperor is subtly giving Lady Gyokuyou a message that she is still a mere concubine, and the emperor has not decided to make her empress yet. "So stay in line, don't let the current situation rush to your head." Using Maomao, Lady Gyokuyou's servant, is also another political move. For sure, the emperor has other imperial doctors, and yet he chose someone from Lady Gyokuyou's faction to save her political rival. If Maomao succeeds, Lady Gyokuyou might be rewarded, but not much. And the harem power will be balanced again. But if Maomao fails & Lady Lihua dies, the emperor won't allow Lady Gyokuyou to have all the power in the harem. It could be spun that Lady Gyokuyou ordered Maomao to let Lady Lihua die. Thus, Lady Gyokuyou will lose power in the harem, and her family and her homeland/vassal state's power would suffer consequences. The rivalry between Lady Gyokuyou and Lady Lihua makes it difficult for Maomao to tattle. Her direct superior is Lady Gyokuyou. If Maomao tattles to Lady Gyokuyou, then if Lady Gyokuyou takes Maomao's side and tattles to the emperor, Lady Gyokuyou will be viewed as meddling with her rival concubine's people. Maomao doesn't ask help from Jinshi because: 1) she's already distrustful towards him & she questions his motives for roping her inside the rear palace 2) Jinshi's power in the rear palace is weird. As a mere eunuch, he should be lower than a high rank concubine. But because he is directed by the emperor, the concubines can't just dismiss him. So there is also a weird power balance between Jinshi & the concubines. Jinshi isn't allowed to give benefits to 1 concubine over the other. So Maomao can't ask him to meddle in-between Lady Gyokuyou vs Lady Lihua factions. But if Jinshi offers help himself, that's another story. 3) In the previous episode, Maomao already deduced that Jinshi's official status is a eunuch tasked to be the harem manager, but is actually hiding his real status which might be close to the emperor. Asking help from Jinshi might open a can of worms & attention she can't anticipate. The Emperor may have ordered Maomao, but it's Maomao's responsibility in the end. That's what royalty means. The emperor will absolutely stand by and watch Maomao fail just to balance out the power in the harem.
I know you're just copying and pasting someone else response, but I did just notice one error of reasoning. The emperor does have other imperial doctors, but none of them are eunuchs. They cannot go to the rear palace to check on Lihua, the emperor is very strict on the rules for the rear palace. Lihua would have to be temporarily moved to the inner palace to be treated; however, she's clearly in no state to move on her own, and it would be insulting to try and carry her in public view. It would be highly difficult to secretly move her without causing rumors to arise. Maomao was literally the only person he could rely on.
though I'm hidden, by rights of a "reply" not top level posting.. if anybody TLDR'd that thing by Le7, don't.. ACTUALLY read it (and Phen's correction to a minor point).. it's worth the read..
Ah yes, the Slap of Destiny. The moment that I saw a random RU-vid short clip of this scene, I immediately closed the app to watch the whole show. Best decision ever.
Chinese people love this series cuz it portrays Chinese culture more accurately than Chinese media itself. China hates the fact that their culture is represented through Kung Fu movies which does not reflect their culture at all.
If it's true, damn same problems exist in many countries... (lacking represent of culture but instead using stereotypes) I'm glad that CN people love it.
It's just like Kung Fu Panda all over again. Like yeah it IS a Kung Fu movie but there was still a discussion about how it portrayed Chinese culture better than Chinese movies.
I haven’t read anything on Chinese opinions of this series - you got any links? (The bit about Kung Fu Panda that @mercce6750 mentioned, I _have_ read about in a book about the PRC’s growing influence on Hollywood. Can’t remember the title.)
Maybe you all need to be is more open. There are many movies, animes and books that portray Chinese culture, however they are not prevalent in the US and westerns country bubbles or are made by Hollywood. Here are a few good movie “Raise of the Red Lantern” or “ Not One Less” or “Long Day’s Journey Into the Night” or “Right Now. Wrong Then”. Just open your eyes and look further than just your nitch.
Funny thing is, this aint even a historical setting, but a fantasy one that just closely resembles ancient china. And the chinese still like it like they do kung fu panda Kinda odd that other people seem to do china better than china itself
Maomao going savage on that servant is among the most satisfying anime moments of recent times, perhaps of all times. She works that well as a main character in great part because of that, there's nothing frustrating about her. Love Maomao
I feel like maomao knew damn well what she was going to find. She's probably had that slap brewing for days, standing in her room and practicing her tennis swing
Nah, she didn't. She didn't expect Lihua's laides to be so dumb as to ignore a direct order passed down from the emperor and/or Jinshi to dispose of the face powder due to health reasons.
@@Ncyphen I'm not prepared to die on this hill but I think their perspective makes sense if 1. You had medieval serf levels of medical knowledge 2. You (like the eunuch who gave the order in the first place) value your lady's beauty over your own life 3. You think you won't get caught because you don't understand the order or what happened. Were they even told about the facepaint being poison, or were they just told "this facepaint is now forbidden and you will give all of it to me"? Even if they were told, did they have reason to believe it beyond the eunuchs rank?
@@ragnar3434 you’re describing why the girls might’ve done it and not why Maomao would know they’d behave that way. Not sure why you’re even describe their perspective and not defend why Maomao would even know. But the truth is that they’re just ignorant family who think they know better than anyone else cus they’re higher status.
The animation popped off in this one. Seeing it when it came out had me gasping at the smallest things. The way Maomao waved bye to her friend was the most charming piece of animation I'd seen in a long time.
This beat down and Nanami manhandling the blonde guy in JJK happened in the same week, there were memes and side by side comparisons between the scenes, I remember the hair pulling scene lining up which was funny.
Maomao put that lady on the ground and dog walked her lol. It was such a heartwarming moment when Lihua started taking care of sleepy Maomao. Her and the other concubine, I'm like "be her new moms, be her new moms" but realistically they're probably like 10 years older than her at most.
As great as the whole series is, this might be the best-directed episode, and definitely the best of these early ones. All the little details of character animation - Maomao’s scrupulous adherence to protocol as she’s tasting food in front of the emperor (when she’s normally a little more lax when it’s just Gyokuyou), her wave goodbye to Xiaolan, the motion of her fingers as she discovers the powder on Lihua’s face, the way the Crystal Pavilion ladies tower over her but from the _moment_ of the slap the camera frames her as dominant and intimidating, the way you can see her becoming increasingly exhausted as Lihua’s care goes on, the anime-original scene of Lihua stroking her face as she sleeps. All still seasoned with the show’s usual bits of levity (the boing-boing gag is executed great, plus there’s bits like Maomao realizing “oshit, Jinshi saw all that, maybe I overdid it”). Sakuga Twitter _loved_ this episode. And of course the writing. Lihua makes a bad first impression in episode 1, and a lesser story would’ve made her a snobbish villain, but The Apothecary Diaries isn’t interested in doing that. She’s entirely sympathetic as a grieving mother, and like Maomao says, she’s proud and dignified, but not haughty. She’s not the villain, it’s the culture that pushes women to place beauty over life. And at the same time, the narrative has the utmost respect for “feminine” concerns - that scene of Lihua unloading her fears about whether she can bear another child, appeal to the emperor’s tastes, or compete with Gyokuyou’s beauty is great even before we get to the paizuri punchline. And that punchline is also nice on more than just the humor level - one of the first things we learn about the rear palace is how important looks are for one’s prospects, and Maomao’s low on that totem pole, partly because she’s flat as a board. And Lihua’s near the top of the power structure, with her awesome rack to contrast… but again, that doesn’t make her an enemy. Instead, Maomao gladly passes on what she’s learned that she can’t make use of herself. To me, it fits with how Maomao’s appeal to Jinshi may be linked to how she’s one of the only girls who doesn’t go all KYAAA over him, but the story never really thinks less of the girls who do - Xiaolan or the Jade Pavilion girls, for instance, are all delightful friends to Maomao. …God, I could gush about this story for ages.
for possible correction or confirmation, if you could expand on who the "she" was in your sentence, we can see if you have any misunderstandings or I just misinterpreted what you said..
@@TragerM sorry about that..I forgot to add Gyokuyou name....It just sometimes my phone have those keyboard error...I hate it when that happen and it making me lose Concentrate
yeah that was obviously what was implied, Gyokuyo has been getting a lot more action than normal because Lihua wasn´t well now that the emperor found a new way to have fun with said new technique he´s been "seeing" Gyokuyo a lot less, letting her sleep properly
I started the show recently and I'm at episode 9 I think, but I'm really happy that they choose Aoi Yuki for MaoMao. She is the perfect fit for giving life to a character whose is cute, a little bit weird, bt intimidating and badass at the same time. And then let's be real, MaoMao who has a complex about her size, Aoi Yuki understands this very well since she is pretty short and it has happened that some of her fellow voice actors tickle her about it (in a joking way). For information, she is 1m45, or 4.7ft.
I feel bad for the person that banned, if they were indeed banned and they weren't trying to be malicious and were insulted. I have been banned before with no warning and it sucks.
All bans can be appealed :) there is a process via twitch most get to come back but have to write a message explaining or have their chat log reviewed by a moderator
Potential different stories spoilers below click at your own risk. Anybody else getting bubble archipelago rubber punch to a celestial dragon's face from how Maomao gave that slap?
Hey Alicia I highly recommend you check out Welcome to Demon School Iruma Kun. There’s a sweet romance, supportive relationships, crazy comedy, and one wholesome baby of a protagonist.
This chapter got me hooked on the series, and the best part is that in retrospective, this chapter gets much better with the context they start providing as the episodes progress.
she was passing on the information she was taught / learned unintentionally from her bordello sisters. While Maomao herself is not...um...equiped for these techniques herself, she knows the fundamentals by heart and knows assets when she sees them.
Its a Japanese manga of a Japanese writer writing about a Chinese setting with Chinese names. Just like how Americans making Avatar the last airbender, which is predominantly a mixture of various asian countries turned into a fictional setting, and includes various names of asian and western naming sense.
They also thought because of social status that they were above her, but the emperor sort of gave her authority to kick butt in the scenario so now they know they can be intimidated and put in place
It's a Japanese story taking place in a place based on China so naturally the characters have Chinese names Similar to Kingdom. Japanese Story Chinese characters
Maomao was treading the line with that slap. In terms of position, she is a fair bit lower on the ladder. If not for the fact that Jinshi was backing her, and that she had direct evidence of their stupidity, she would have been whipped, at best, for that move.
I will also say, if you have not watched the scene in dub by highly encourage you do. Mous dub voice actress has a very clear monotone voice to it that gets really aggressive in this scene and honestly gives me more than the sub. I highly encourage. And the scene itself is great. Definitely something that caught me off of left field. Like most things in this show, I’m surprised with it every day
its nice that you notice traditional architecture in China and Japan, INDEED, they make buildings back then using jigsaw-like pieces and just mallet them together. and then let friction and gravity take care of the rest.
One of the best episodes just because it shows the normally very unassuming and withdrawn main character pulling out all of the stops when she realizes one of the ladies in waiting is poisoning her mistress to death after that same poison already claimed her son and was officially banned as unsafe.
When I watched this episode I was wondering why Maomao didn’t bring up that she was under orders from the damn Emperor to cure Lihua every time Lihua’s ladies in waiting gave her shit.
My introduction to this show was seeing a clip of Maomao chewing out the lady-in-waiting about the make-up. The rules of courtly etiquette are a nightmare to me, but I'm fascinated by the history.
It's a Japanese version of what an ancient Chinese palace looks like. Judging from the architectures, names, and clothings, it looks like Tang Dynasty. But of course it's not historically correct. For example, these servants were poisoning an emperor's concubine and nearly had her killed. All the servants, the servants' families, their cousins, their aunts, and their dogs would've been executed 😂😅😅
I mean, you gotta cut them some slack. The eunuchs in this show also doesn't do what eunuchs typically did, but, I mean, Japan didn't have eunuchs, so they really just didn't have a good reference. The whole hairpin thing later on is straight up just Heian era court in Japan, as Chinese rear palaces were never than "open" about servants in rear palace and court officials. I'm just happy for some representation, even if they weren't that accurate, and had to come from the Japanese.
6:15 - As Dr Stone would put it - We have the combined knowledge of 8000 years of human history and scientific advancement at our backs. I appreciate that Alicia recognizes that these people simply don't know any better, it's not intentional ignorance, it's just simply a lack of knowledge. We have ultra-hindsight powers when compared to them.
исходя из опыта общения с практикующими врачами могу сказать что все они, когда пытаются спасти чью то жизнь, довольно циничны, хладнокровны, лишены тактичности, не нежничают и не сюсюкаются. они не будут уговаривать тебя пожить еще немного, а просто скажут "хочешь жить, цепляйся изо всех сил за ту соломинку что мы протягиваем тебе". но они хорошо делают свою работу. они спасают людей. отдельно хочу отметить как меня все время впечатляет твоя проницательность. ты раз за разом предугадываешь развитие события, подмечаешь мельчайшие детали важные для сюжета и очень хорошо чувствуешь атмосферу и момент. не перестаю восхищаться тобой.
3:27 hee hee.. love chat... ??? and "not like this!!" cuz Alicia asked a QUESTION... but.... left them in Emote Only........... love how they got her attention that way... "Chaht SuhMart..." :)
Its a Japanese series its just based on Ming Dynasty China. Late enough that they would have collected some cacao from Portugese traders and some people would know how to make chocolate but early enough that it wouldn't have spread to the Imperial Palace so... probably the late 1500's? Any later and we should expect to see more internal problems than were shown, any earlier and its hard to imagine that cacao would have spread so far.
I want Hollywood to watch this show. Maomao is the perfect way to write a strong, intelligent, interesting female character. I love this show so much and Maomao is probably one of my all-time favorite protagonists in any series, ever.
A furious Maomao is a dangerous Maomao. Fortunately there is little that can piss her off considering how much illness and death she's seen in the Red Light District. But she ain't wrong. Growing up there has also granted her other various wisdom, although some of it is not of benefit to her directly. She can still teach it, though, and the outer palace has a hierarchy that's pretty similar to the brothels, all considered. So same wisdoms apply.
A lot of Japanese media based their works on other cultures. Black Butler and Moriarty the Patriarch on Victorian England, Fullmetal alchemist a parallel world to 1920’s Germany. Even the most iconic character Son Goku in Dragonball is loosely based on a Sun Wukong which is a character in Chinese literature.
Being the main caretaker of someone so sick is exhausting. Especially with no break for ao long. People in hospital or natural caretaker don't get enough credit for their work or enough care for themselves and end up sick in turn.
1:50 No. She won't get chubby because about 15 seconds earlier, while covering her face, she spat the food onto a plate. That's the job. Smell it, taste it, spit it out.
its japanese, there are actually many games and anime based on chinese culture. because china's history is also linked to japan and korea. so its that unheard of. the anime is based on a manga that itself was based on a japanese light novel series.
also, part 2: MeowKat making a face HarleyQuinn only DREAMS she could pull off.... dayum... confirmed Licia's Spirit Animal for LIFE now (mad scientist cackling) ( 12:56 ) (edit: gah.. yes.. "off" has TWO f's, ya idjit... le'sigh)
This anime is just Japanese with Chinese Reference in a world that is totally not China but similar to it. Similar to Frieren who has names and places in German but not a German Animated Series. While there were actual Chinese Anime airing, this one is Japanese anime. Some people calling it Chinese Anime because it has too many similarities to a Chinese Anime at least in the storylines but to clarify for newbies, Apothecary Diaries is a Japanese Anime with references on Ancient China so they wouldn't be misled.
2:57 The show is based on a Japanese webnovel-turned-novel (and the usual spin-offs of light novel, manga, and anime). It's not actually historical (the nation of Li isn't really China-enough they can sneak in anachronisms like choclate in a Ming-inpsired setting). The author, original language, and produciton is all Japanese. Kind of a way to think of it is like hwo a lot of American shows and novels are setin Victorian England.
Normally I'd hate them not being direct and beating around the bush when it comes to the smecksy (goddamn it youtube) times. In this case they do the innuendos just the right amount to give you a good enough guess as to what's going on: Paizuri ( it's when a couple makes a fruit salad using a banana and 2 melons) DAISUKIIIII!!!
Oh, right. The episode 18. The 18th of the episodes, the episode chosen especially to be released on the 18th place, Where the thing that happens in the 18th episode happens... The apothecary dairie's 18th episode... That episode?
This is more like an Isakai but taking place in an Imperial China-like place. While it comes across as purely Chinese Ming period the culture, clothing, names, symbolism, etc can be mixed from early ancient China with much newer periods. So it is certainly interesting to capture the difference periods all mixed up. Again like Medieval Europe all mixed up with Catholic Church but in reality no real effort to be faithful. Again it’s artistic license but rather cherry picking elements for the story versus some kind of mistakes. There is a great site by a person who is very knowledgeable of Chinese medicine and culture. Great to visit, but a bit over the top in criticizing “errors” in culture, architecture, language, … but overall really fascinating.
The whole architecture thing shouldn't be that surprising, considering the Japanese build the same way, it's actually a big fail if they didn't get that right......
The show was good before but this episode made it better. She didn't care for status and chose to smack some sense into the stupid. A lesson the other lady won't be forgetting.
I think she should at least watch one or two future episodes with the English dub- because I do agree that the English dub is really good. I think Emi Lo was the perfect pick for Maomao. However, Emi Lo also voiced Lucy in Cyberpunk Edgerunners... and hearing Lucy in this show may send Alicia down a depression spiral.
Maomao out here showing Hollywood how to do a proper strong female protagonist though 20:12 why is Maomao the one doing this? they have so many grown men with bigger lungs all over the place just give this job to one of them
its japanese but it is using chinese inner court politics as a basis for the story which is why they have the not based on real events or characters disclaimer
This anime is the only JP thing that uses Chinese pronunciation instead of Japanese. Example is name Zhuge Liang. His name in Japan known as Kongming. And Japanese never except this one are trying say names in Chinese manner. No matter if original is Chinese or not
I watched episode 20 3 days ago when it was released waiting for the next ones this episode was good but for me waiting for you to react to the other ones
welp, it's sinophilic fiction, technically, it's not china nor japan. the name in dub is pronounced by using onyomi. basically it's Japanese way of pronouncing Chinese wish is not very accurate since Chinese is tonal while Japanese is kinda not.
