The Apothecary Diaries

Episode 5

One of my favorite aspects of Maomao is the way that she unflinchingly tells things as they are. This episode reveals that her freckles are fake, something she puts on every morning to appear deliberately unappealing, and even without the reasons she lays out for a very shaken Jinshi, there's something incredibly relatable about it. With all of the emphasis put on beauty, Maomao wanting to dress down isn't something that has crossed anyone's mind, but it's a very valid way to avoid unwanted attention. Even if you didn't grow up in a red light district like Maomao, it can feel a whole lot safer to play down your appearance, especially if sexual or romantic attention isn't something you're interested in. Attitude helps, but appearance can keep unwanted attention away in the first place.

Jinshi is floored by the revelation that Maomao has been hiding her face with makeup instead of enhancing it. (Presumably, Gyokuyo and her ladies were as well.) It had never crossed his mind that out in the world, women may need to protect themselves any way they can, especially since his beauty is something that factors so highly into how people treat him. When he hears her talk about how uncomfortable or threatening male attention can be to a girl in Maomao's social position, it's like the veil has been ripped away from his eyes – it suddenly registers that this young woman he finds so fascinating risked sexual assault outside the Inner Palace and was kidnapped simply for being a moderately attractive woman. Beauty could very well take away Maomao's choices, something his gift of the hairpin may show his understanding of, and it will be interesting to see if he starts to think of his own good looks in a different light now that he's heard her story.

He's also struck by the way that she just accepts what she's told him as normal. As far as she's concerned, it's just the way the world works, and crying over it won't do anything for her. Maomao just makes the best of whatever situation she's in, albeit with grim resignation at times, such as when she's told she will be dressing up and attending the garden party. She seems able to find positives regardless, such as her joyful mushroom harvest and her budding friendship with the so-called quack doctor. She's practical to a fault, and that doesn't appear to be something Jinshi, presumably raised in the opulence of the Inner Palace, has any experience of. His world is all hidden blades wrapped in silk.

It still allowed him to build up quite an impressive body, though. If you're looking for male fanservice, look no further than the start of this episode, which features a good long stretch of Jinshi with his hair back and his shirt off. It's surprising that a eunuch should have had the physical training to achieve that body, or at least the time required to hone it, although given his position as the administrator of the harem it maybe isn't that shocking. Still, I'm sure a lot of people would have given their eyeteeth to be the old woman wiping him down.

This week marks our first continuing storyline, with the garden party barely starting when the episode ends. The other two favored (or at least high-ranking) consorts make it onscreen as well, and now the flowers in the opening theme should make a little more sense – each represents a consort, while the weed at the end is Maomao herself, or at least as she sees herself. It's also no mistake that during her dance she doesn't have freckles, so more points to the animation studio for an excellent job there. Now we'll have to see if the other two consorts are worthy of their flowers, or if they're merely concealing poison beneath a very pretty exterior.

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The Apothecary Diaries is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.