Just when
you thought Maomao had already seen everything within the walls of the imperial
palace, a new adventure outside the capital promises to test his detective
skills and Jinshi's patience. The official website of the feature film The
Apothecary's Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Bouhi no Hihou)
surprised everyone by presenting an all-new video trailer, an impressive
promotional image and the confirmation that renowned singer-songwriter Kenshi
Yonezu will be in charge of performing the main theme song.
This new
cinematic installment will offer a completely unpublished story conceived by
the original author of the novels, Hyuganatsu. The plot will accompany Maomao
and Jinshi on a journey to the homeland of a concubine who died five years ago
in the imperial harem, with the aim of returning her remains to their home.
However, what seemed like a quiet mission is complicated by encountering river
pirates, hidden treasures, enigmas about the empress's remains and a mysterious
young man who holds the key to the entire conflict.
The main
theme song of the film will be titled "Haru ga Tomori" and will
feature the unmistakable voice of Kenshi Yonezu, promising to elevate the
emotional charge of the key scenes. In addition to the trailer, important
additions to the voice cast were revealed. Renowned actress Mariya Ise will
play Mu Qing, while Nobuo Tobita will lend his voice to Biro, Kumiko Watanabe
to Shuu, and Hirofumi Nojima to Bisen, all members of the Bi clan. On the side
of the pirates of the Kajadan River, Kensho Ono will play the Suija leader,
accompanied by Ryota Takeuchi as Eisho and Jiro Saito as the former Kaja
leader. Finally, Miyuki Sawashiro will play the late courtesan Ruoqing and Ai
Mikami will play her former servant Yinshan.
To
complement this long-awaited theatrical release scheduled for December 11 in
Japan, author Hyuganatsu personally wrote a novelization of the film that
will go on sale on December 9 with unreleased material. Likewise, the first 1.5
million moviegoers who go to the cinemas will receive a special booklet with
the short story "Kiro no Himawari", a story centered on Maomao and
Jinshi that works as an epilogue to the film, accompanied by exclusive interviews
and production sketches.
About
The Apothecary's Diaries
The
Apothecary's Diaries
is an acclaimed series of light novels written by Hyuganatsu and
illustrated by Touko Shino. The work began its digital publication on
the Shosetsuka ni Naro website in October 2011, making the leap to printing
under the Shufunotomo label in August 2014. Its enormous popularity led to a
successful manga adaptation illustrated by Nekokurage in Square Enix's Monthly
Big Gangan magazine since May 2017.
The anime
adaptation has been a resounding phenomenon since its debut in October 2023
with its two-part first season. The second season aired in January 2025
consecutively, while the third season started the broadcast of its first half
on October 2, leaving its second part scheduled to premiere in April 2027.
