The Mystery Walk Is Not Coming Back
Universal Studios Japan (USJ) ran its first The Apothecary Diaries program from July 1, 2025 to January 4, 2026, a walkthrough called Mystery Walk that put guests on a case alongside Maomao. The 2027 edition drops that format. According to Japanese entertainment outlet Oricon's report on the announcement, the park is replacing it with a program tied to the film opening this December. It is set in a city on the water, and the lead characters appear in front of guests as if they had stepped out of the series. USJ is promising a "super real" experience you can only get inside the park, the same wording it used for the 2025 version in its English press materials.
The program runs February 10 to June 30, 2027, a shorter window than the roughly six months the Mystery Walk got. USJ has not given the new program a name, and no ticketing details came with the reveal.
The Film It's Built Around
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 Japanese theaters on December 11, 2026. It is an original story written for the screen by light novel author Natsu Hyuuga, directed by Norihiro Naganuma (The Ancient Magus' Bride) at TOHO animation STUDIO. The trailer on TOHO animation's channel follows Maomao and Jinshi leaving the capital to return a consort who died five years earlier to her southern homeland, with a hidden treasure tangled into the case. Aoi Yūki and Takeo Ōtsuka reprise Maomao and Jinshi, and Mariya Ise joins as Mu Qing. The trailer's own description places part of the story in a city on the water, which is the setting USJ has picked up.
The film gives the park a reason to build a new program instead of restaging the old one. The 2025 version asked guests to solve a mystery with Maomao. The 2027 version is pitched on putting guests physically inside the world, with the characters appearing in person.
Oricon credits the series' appeal to Maomao as a heroine who takes on difficult cases, to its full-blooded mystery plotting, and to her dealings with the noble Jinshi and the human drama that forms inside the emperor's rear palace. The outlet credits that combination for the show's reach across age groups.
Sailor Moon Landed a Day Earlier
The Apothecary Diaries is the second title revealed for Universal Cool Japan 2027; USJ announced the two on back-to-back days. Sailor Moon went first, returning for its fourth USJ outing after 2018, 2019 and 2022. That program runs December 2, 2026 to April 5, 2027 and includes a Sailor Moon story ride taking over Hollywood Dream - The Ride, plus an original short at the park's Cinema 4-D Theater. USJ says more titles are still to be announced.
Looking Ahead
The anime's third season premieres October 2, 2026, streaming on Crunchyroll in most regions and on Netflix in select Asian territories. It is a 24-episode split-cour: weekly episodes through the fall, then a break until April 2027, which puts the second half on the air while the USJ program is running.
The film opens in Japan on December 11, 2026, and no overseas release date has been announced. In English, J-Novel Club publishes the light novels digitally, with print editions and Nekokurage's manga adaptation from Square Enix Manga & Books. Beyond the single visual attached to Thursday's reveal, the Oricon piece notes that detailed program information is still to come.