The Apothecary Diaries, episode 24 (season finale)

Episode Rating: A

Overall Series Rating: A

After the dramatic events, revelations, and symbolism of last episode, there was really only one final climax possible for this series, but that doesn’t make Lakan discovering and then picking Fengxian as the courtesan he’s going to buy out any less moving or satisfying. He’s intuitive enough to understand the message that Maomao sent him with the withered blue rose once Meimei put it in context for him during the selection process, and every bit of his actions here show how deeply he’s still in love with Fengxian. Seeing Fengxian’s idealized rather than disease-ravaged face is an old anime trick, but it works especially well, and carries special meaning, in this case given Lakan’s own face blindness. Most importantly, it’s the strongest indicator of how genuine Lakan’s feelings are.

The role Meimei played in all of this shouldn’t be overlooked, though. She mentioned to Maomao before about how courtesans don’t always get everything they want when being bought out (which can now be taken to refer as much to Fengxian as to herself), and her being bought out by Lakan wouldn’t have been a bad deal for her at all. He had plenty of money and prestige, could intellectually challenge her, and she’d known him since before she became one of Verdigris’s stars. But that meant she also knew who his heart really belonged to, and the way she looked after Fengxian a few episodes back showed how deeply she still cared about her “Big Sister.” This was her golden opportunity, but she also knew what the right thing to do was here. The manga version is clearer about showing Meimei lamenting the opportunity she was passing on here, but there are enough subtle hints that the impact of this scenario on Meimei still gets across if you’re paying close enough attention.

The explanations Maomao make to Jinshi later on clear up a few additional points, such as how Maomao really feels about Lakan and why: she doesn’t hate the guy, but has seen him as a creepy pest since she was very young and dislikes his tendency not to take action himself despite his keen intuition. (Her frank comment about how she wouldn’t be here if Lakan didn’t “land that shot” is very much like her, too.) For all that her biological parents weren’t in the picture, though, she clearly does not feel deprived. Loumen was a wonderful adoptive father, and the doting from the Three Princesses compensated for anything she might have missed from her mother. Perhaps her attitudes about love have been impacted by the situation with her parents, but she’s not damaged goods beyond her pinky fingertip.

The way she chooses to close out this part of her life – with her dance atop the wall at night – is a great summative scene for the series as a whole as well. It harkens back to the case of the ghostly woman in episode 3, but instead of dancing for a man, she’s dancing to send off her parents for whatever time Fengxian has left, in the tradition of the pleasure district. (Meimei surely intended this by sending Maomao that veil, too – another point for Meimei!) Jinshi personally going up to investigate and carry the now-bleeding Maomao back down also reaffirms where he stands, even if Maomao doesn’t appreciate that.

And my, poor Jinshi. He actually thought for a moment that he might be getting through to Maomao romantically, didn’t he? Sorry, my friend; though she isn’t intentionally so, Maomao is much harder cat to tame than that.

The one seemingly-incongruous detail is the scene with Loulan meeting with her father. Perhaps that’s meant as a stark contrast to Maomao’s relationship with her own father, or perhaps it’s meant as a precursor to what comes next. We’ll have to wait until the second season debuts in 2025 (which was announced at the end of the episode!) to see.

As a side thought, the animation team cleverly slipped in another association between Maomao and woodsorrel. Look at the flower she’s picking as a toddler:

Overall, the consistent quality of this second half, and the number of big moments it lands, allows this series to edge out Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End as my pick for Best of Season.