'Apothecary Diaries' Season 3 Gets 588-Store Book Campaign

Three Book Series, One Entry Card

Tohan, the book wholesaler behind the promotion, is running it at 588 stores across Japan. Buy a qualifying volume and the shop hands over an illustration card printed with Maomao artwork and a single entry code. One book gets you one card, so extra entries mean extra purchases. Entries close October 31.

The qualifying list covers every print version of the story. Natsu Hyuuga's original novels qualify, volumes 1 through 16, illustrated by Touko Shino for Imagica Infos' Hero Bunko imprint. So does the Square Enix manga, volumes 1 through 17, drawn by Nekokurage with story composition by Itsuki Nanao. The third is The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao's Notes from the Inner Palace, Minoji Kurata's separate adaptation for Shogakukan's Sunday GX magazine, now at 22 volumes. All three publishers are credited as campaign partners in the PR TIMES announcement.

The draw picks 500 winners, and the prize pool is weighted toward gift codes. Four hundred winners get ¥1,000 in QUO Card Pay, a Japanese digital gift code. Another 50 get a ¥500 book voucher. The physical goods are scarcer. Twenty winners get an anime clear file that isn't sold in stores, 20 get a B2 poster, and 10 get a two-piece acrylic stand set of Maomao and Jinshi using art from novel volume 16.

Season 3 Premieres October 2

The books are mysteries built around Maomao, an apothecary raised in the pleasure district. She uses her knowledge of pharmacology to crack the incidents that erupt inside the rear palace of the great nation of Li. Across the novels and both manga lines, the franchise has passed 57 million copies in circulation.

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Season 3 starts October 2 in Nippon TV's FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT block, Fridays at 11:00 p.m., according to Tohan's release. Streaming platforms carry each episode after broadcast. The season is split in two, with the first half this fall and the second half scheduled for April 2027. OLM handles production alone this time, with Akinori Fudesaka directing and Wataru Nakagawa as assistant director. Norihiro Naganuma takes series composition. Yorushika performs the opening theme, "Kumo o Nuke Kazashimo e Watashi Dake."

Aoi Yūki returns as Maomao and Takeo Ōtsuka as Jinshi, with Katsuyuki Konishi as Gaoshun and Tatsumaru Tachibana as Basen. Toshiyuki Toyonaga plays Lahan, Kōki Uchiyama plays Rikuson, and Takuya Kirimoto plays Lakan. Ami Koshimizu is back as Pairin, Megumi Han as Meimei, and Hiroki Nanami as Joka, alongside Natsumi Fujiwara as Chou-u. Reina Ueda joins as Pai Niang Niang (白娘々), described in Japanese coverage as a mysterious immortal woman.

Looking Ahead

Crunchyroll is streaming Season 3 outside Japan. The giveaway itself is domestic only, since it runs through physical Japanese bookstores, but the print side of the franchise is well covered in English. Square Enix Manga & Books publishes the novels and the Nekokurage manga in print in North America, with J-Novel Club handling the novels digitally. Viz Media puts out volume 1 of Maomao's Notes from the Inner Palace in English on October 20, 2026, with volume 2 following December 15.

Two more releases land before Season 3 wraps. The franchise's first film, 劇場版薬屋のひとりごと亡妃の秘宝 (The Apothecary Diaries: The Deceased Empress' Treasure), opens in Japanese theaters on December 11, 2026, with a completely new story written by Natsu Hyuuga. No international release date for the film has been announced. Then the second half of the season arrives in April 2027. Further out, a live-action drama is set for Prime Video in 2028, with Mana Ashida attached to star.