Thank you for visiting Anime Rants today. The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 is getting off to a bit of a slow start, it seems to me. However, each installment is still enjoyable and interesting in its own way. I hope the intensity picks up soon, but the plot might simmer for a while longer before anything starts to metaphorically boil. Here are some very brief notes on episodes 26 and 27 (AKA season 2 episodes 2 and 3). Enjoy!

1. Episode 26: Caravan
2. Episode 27: Corpse Fungus

---

Episode 26: Caravan

Episode Rating: 8/10

In this installment, a foreign caravan came to the rear palace and set up shop for five days. The caravan comes around every few years and this is Maomao’s first time seeing it. Interestingly enough, in real history, there was also trade between the Middle East and Ancient China. The foreigners usually sold silks, fabrics, spices, and ceramics. In short, the main event in this episode is historically accurate.

There were a few cute moments with Maomao and Xiaolan being besties. Since she got an allowance from Gyokuyo, Maomao could do some shopping on the last day of the caravan. She went with Xiaolan and bought cute pink hair ribbons for the younger girl. Xiaolan was delighted. It’s good to see Maomao showing normal affection for others.

The two girls also ran into Shisui, the servant girl who helped catch the cat in the previous episode. She’s already friends with Xiaolan, so Maomao invites her to have tea with them. Shisui and Maomao seem to get along well, since both are interested in traditionally “creepy” things. For Maomao, it’s poison. For Shisui, it’s drawing insects. I think I already know the true identity of Shisui, but we’ll see how it plays out.

From a series of observations, Maomao realizes that poisonous materials were being sold at the caravan. Things like cinnamon, jasmine, and mustard seed are harmless in small amounts, but can upset a pregnancy with their toxicity in higher amounts. It almost seems as if someone was supplying ingredients that can increase the chance of miscarriage. Maomao wonders if there is a conspiracy at work here. For now, she simply tells Jinshi to warn the concubines about the toxic herbs.

On a final random note, I loved seeing the jasmine tea Maomao prepared in this episode. I absolutely love jasmine tea. It was almost like I could smell the aroma as I watched. Now let’s move on to the next installment.

---

Episode 27: Corpse Fungus

Episode Rating: 8/10

This episode was fairly entertaining and themed around mushrooms. It also dealt with a serious matter: the death of a concubine named Jin. Secretly, Jinshi suspects someone from the Jade Pavilion might have poisoned her, so he asks Maomao to look into poisonous mushrooms in the area. At the same time, Maomao hears from Guen that there’s a lady missing by the name of Tao. Nobody knows what happened to her. Regardless, Maomao has great fun picking a variety of mushrooms.

At the funeral of Jin, a crazy lady with a strange disease went berserk and uncovered the corpse’s face. This revealed that Jin also had the disease, which was characterized by rashes all over the face and sudden hair loss. Maomao realizes it’s poison rather than a disease. She goes out into the woods again and soon finds the toxic mushroom responsible.

I didn’t catch the name of it, but the fungus is apparently so poisonous that even touching it will result in serious harm. In the past, Maomao accidentally touched one while herb hunting with her father. She still has the scar on her forearm, but since it’s Maomao, she doesn’t care about the mark.

Something about the case doesn’t add up, so Maomao starts looking for the final piece of evidence. Soon, she discovers a mostly rotted body buried in the woods where many mushrooms grew. This was the real body of Jin, who was killed (probably by accident) by the lady named Tao. Officially, Tao went missing. In reality, she simply took Jin’s place as an imposter. About a year later, she died from complications of the poison mushroom, which she used to kill herself after not being able to handle living a false life.

Maomao wonders what it would be like if there was a mushroom that fed directly off corpses and/or excrement. She imagines finding such a mushroom, and it’s bright blue. I don’t know if they exist in China, but there are such mushrooms – the ones we know as “magic mushrooms” can grow from excrement or over rotten bodies. Shrooms also have a purplish-blue tinge to them when they’re fresh. I bet Maomao would love to have a shrooms trip as much as I would! That’s all for today.

~Thanks for reading~

Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants

---

More posts about Apothecary Diaries Season 2

---