{"id":109620,"date":"2025-01-10T01:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T09:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/?p=109620"},"modified":"2025-01-10T09:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T17:11:08","slug":"toho-serves-the-apothecary-diaries-season-2s-opening-animation-ahead-of-series-premiere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/2025\/01\/10\/toho-serves-the-apothecary-diaries-season-2s-opening-animation-ahead-of-series-premiere\/","title":{"rendered":"TOHO Serves The Apothecary Diaries Season 2&#8217;s Opening Animation Ahead of Series Premiere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">The creditless opening animation for<em> The Apothecary Diaries<\/em> Season 2 has premiered on the TOHO animation YouTube channel hours ahead of the anime&#8217;s start.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">The opening is set to <b>Lilas Ikuta<\/b>&#8216;s \u201cHyakka Ryouran\u201d and contains multiple memorable sections, some standing out for their imagery and others for the combined effect of the drawings, slightly stylized colors, and post-processing effects. There are also some slightly mind-bending cuts, including an Escheresque shot near the end.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><strong>Update:<\/strong> The storyboard artist and unit director for <em>The Apothecary Diaries<\/em> Season 2&#8217;s opening is <strong>Ayaka Nakata<\/strong> (<em>The World&#8217;s<\/em>\u00a0<em>Finest<\/em>\u00a0<em>Assassin\u00a0Gets\u00a0Reincarnated in Another World<\/em> <em>as an Aristocrat <\/em>opening and ending)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u300e\u85ac\u5c4b\u306e\u3072\u3068\u308a\u3054\u3068\u300f\u7b2c\uff12\u671f\u30ce\u30f3\u30af\u30ec\u30b8\u30c3\u30c8\u30aa\u30fc\u30d7\u30cb\u30f3\u30b0 | \u5e7e\u7530\u308a\u3089\u300c\u767e\u82b1\u7e5a\u4e71\u300d\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wOleNo7T6_4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><em>The Apothecary Diaries<\/em> Season 2 premieres in Japan on January 10, 2025 at 11:40 PM JST. Netflix and Crunchyroll will stream the show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><em>The Apothecary Diaries&nbsp;<\/em>is based on the Shufunotomo-published light novel series written by&nbsp;<b>Natsu Hyuga<\/b>&nbsp;and illustrated by&nbsp;<b>Toko Shino<\/b>. The synopsis for Season 2, which will have two consecutive cours like the 2023-2024 first season, reads:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><em><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string yt-core-attributed-string--white-space-pre-wrap\" dir=\"auto\">When a favored concubine becomes pregnant, Maomao is put to the test as her food taster. She must keep her wits sharp, not only to protect the concubine but also against rising dangers in the palace. A new concubine with powerful ties, an unsolved attempt at Jinshi\u2019s life, and a foreign envoy with impossible demands hint at a grand conspiracy poised to engulf the empire.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><em>The Apothecary Diaries&nbsp;<\/em>was originally a web novel that debuted on Shousetsuka ni Narou in 2011. The light novels, which are published under the Hero Bunko imprint, began in 2014 and have 15 volumes as of March 2024. J-Novel Club describes the light novel series as:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><i>In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her\u2014until she was kidnapped and sold into service there. Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That\u2019s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao\u2019s fa\u00e7ade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor\u2019s favorite consort\u2026 so she can taste the lady\u2019s food for poison! At her lady\u2019s side, Maomao starts to learn about everything that goes on in the rear palace\u2014not all of it seemly. Can she ever lead a quiet life, or will her powers of deduction and insatiable curiosity bring her ever more adventures, and ever more dangers?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">The light novel series has two manga adaptations, one published by Square Enix and the other by Shogakukan. The artist of the the former,&nbsp;<strong>Nekokurage<\/strong>, recently ran into legal issues over unpaid tax and was handed a suspended sentence in July this year. In September, they posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) in which they mentioned that they had engaged the services of a reliable tax accountant and swore that the issue would never occur again.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><em><strong>Update:<\/strong> Corrected the anime&#8217;s Japanese premiere date.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;font-size: 12pt\">Series staff (reprising Season 1 role unless stated otherwise)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Chief director and series composer:&nbsp;<strong>Norihiro Naganuma<\/strong>&nbsp;(Season 1 director and series composer)&nbsp;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Director:&nbsp;<strong>Akinori Fudesaka<\/strong>&nbsp;(Season 1 assistant director)<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Assistant director:&nbsp;<strong>Ko Nakagawa<\/strong>&nbsp;(Season 1 Episode 6, 13, and 19 storyboard artist and director, Episode 24 director)<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Character designer:&nbsp;<strong>Yukiko Nakatani<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Color designer:&nbsp;<strong>Misato Aida<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Background art director:&nbsp;<strong>Katsumi Takao<\/strong><\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Compositing director:&nbsp;<strong>Mayo Suzuki<\/strong>&nbsp;(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gquRl13WryU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Apothecary Diaries<\/em>&nbsp;project PV<\/a>)<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Music composer:&nbsp;<strong>Alisa Okehazama<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Music composer:&nbsp;<strong>Kevin Penkin<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><br>\u2022&nbsp;<\/em>Music composer:&nbsp;<strong>Satoru Kosaki<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022 Animation production:&nbsp;<strong>TOHO animation STUDIO<\/strong>&nbsp;and<strong>&nbsp;OLM<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;font-size: 12pt\">Cast<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022&nbsp;<strong>Aoi Yuki<\/strong>&nbsp;as Maomao&nbsp;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">\u2022&nbsp;<strong>Takeo Otsuka<\/strong>&nbsp;as Jinshi<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"><strong>Source:<\/strong> TOHO animation YouTube channel<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The creditless opening animation for The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 has premiered on the TOHO animation YouTube channel hours ahead of the anime&#8217;s start. The opening is set to Lilas Ikuta&#8216;s \u201cHyakka Ryouran\u201d and contains multiple memorable sections, some standing out for their imagery and others for the combined effect of the drawings, slightly stylized [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":109622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1053,10],"tags":[14,1625,180,3056,8149,2278],"class_list":["post-109620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-feature","category-anime","tag-anime","tag-anime-adaptation","tag-light-novel","tag-olm","tag-shufunotomo","tag-the-apothecary-diaries"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Apothecary-Diaries-Season-2-opening-screenshot.png?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n4QV-sw4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109620"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109629,"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109620\/revisions\/109629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}