Ayaka Nakata Is Back on Opening Duty
The clip runs Yorushika's “Kumo o Nuke Kazashimo e Watashi Dake” (雲を抜け風下へ私だけ, roughly “Through the Clouds, Downwind, Just Me”) over visuals directed by animator Ayaka Nakata, who also handled Season 2's opening for the theme song “Hyakka Ryoran.” According to Japanese anime news site Anime Anime, the sequence plants hints about the journey Maomao and Jinshi are about to take, and Nakata's meticulous, detail-packed visuals carry over from Season 2. The track itself is built around literary lyrics and a guitar-driven arrangement, and the vocal is clear and open over a melody that stretches out like wind.
Season 3 is animated at OLM, the studio behind Pokémon, with Akinori Fudesaka directing and Norihiro Naganuma back as chief director and series composition writer.
Maomao's Palace Mysteries, 45 Million Copies Later
The Apothecary Diaries is set inside an imperial rear palace, where Maomao, a girl pressed into work as a poison taster, solves the difficult cases that land in front of her. The series has passed 45 million copies in circulation.
The TV adaptation already has a long run behind it. Season 1 aired from October 2023 to March 2024 and Season 2 from January to July 2025, and both sat near the top of streaming charts throughout their broadcasts. Season 3 opens a new run of cases and, as the opening suggests, takes the story out on the road.
Aoi Yuki Saw It First
Aoi Yuki, who voices Maomao, watched the opening at an advance screening on September 27. She said the sequence is again full of choices that made her think “oh, you can read it that way,” and that its hints about where the story is going left her deeply satisfied.
The same announcement also covered home video. The Season 3 Blu-ray series runs four volumes, releasing in sequence from February 17, 2027, with volume 1 collecting episodes 49 through 54. First-press copies come with a slipcase, a newly drawn digipak, a special booklet, and a mini-character bonus item tied to the Maomao no Hitorigoto chibi shorts. On-disc video extras include the Season 3 teaser PV, the main PV, and the non-credit versions of both the opening and the ending.
Looking Ahead
Season 3 started October 2 and airs Fridays at 11 p.m. in Nippon TV's FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT block, broadcast nationwide across 30 stations. The season is split in two: the first half runs this fall, and the second half is scheduled for April 2027. Crunchyroll streams the series worldwide outside Asia, with Eve's “AIYOU” on ending-theme duty.
Between the two halves comes the franchise's first movie. The Apothecary Diaries: The Deceased Empress' Treasure (劇場版 薬屋のひとりごと 亡妃の秘宝) opens in Japan on December 11, 2026, from a new story written by original author Natsu Hyuuga. No international release date has been announced for it yet.
Readers who want to get ahead of the broadcast have options in English. Square Enix Manga & Books publishes the light novels in print, with the translations produced alongside J-Novel Club, which handles the digital editions. The manga adaptation is also available in English from Square Enix Manga.
(C)Natsu Hyuuga, Imagica Infos / “The Apothecary Diaries” Production Committee