Jinshi and Maomao have helped end the Shi Clan’s rebellion and have gone their separate ways—Jinshi in the palace now officially as the imperial younger brother, and Maomao back to life as an apothecary and serving the Verdigris House. But signs indicate that the peace following the rebellion will be short-lived. Within the palace walls, Gyokuyou is to be named empress consort and her family given the status of a named clan, upsetting the balance of power among the noble families. Meanwhile, in the countryside, a locust plague and a mysterious figure invite the possibility of an uprising connected to the emperor’s role as a heavenly figure—and possibly to be interpreted as divine retribution for his vengeance against the Shi. Despite no longer being at the rear palace, Maomao’s brilliant mind is already connecting the dots, and she will no doubt be brought into a dangerous mystery once again.

After the devastation that ended season two, you’d think there’d be time for a little peace and quiet at the beginning of season three, but no—the Kingdom of Li is sitting at the edge of a knife, or maybe more appropriate to China, sitting on a powderkeg. Of locusts? Episode one of the new season has fun playing with the idea of locusts as food, but there are also plenty of pensive looks and epic music to let the audience know that forces are already in motion that could lead to violence and upheaval. Most sinister of all is one character who only appears for about a minute, a shadowy figure in the first few minutes of the episode who is preying on the desperation of poor farmers and possibly hooking them on a drug. So in quick order, the audience is thrown into the new arc, though that doesn’t mean a few minutes aren’t spent catching the viewers up by reminding them of Loulan and the Shi rebellion, giving screen time to Chou-u (who now functions as the little brother Maomao never had), and even giving a minute or two to Fengxian and Lakan, who misses an important imperial event to play Go with his love. But most of all, I was happy to just see Maomao; she doesn’t show up until six minutes into the episode, but once she does, there’s a sort of relief, like seeing an old friend after a long time. The series is excellent in a variety of ways, but Maomao is its centerpiece, and the 2026 anime season feels “complete” with her return.

Now streaming on Crunchyroll.

©Hyuganatsu, Imagica Infos/“The Apothecary Diaries”Project