A new seasonal visual has been unveiled for The Apothecary Diaries anime series, highlighting Ah-Duo and Lishu sitting amongst bright ginkgo biloba trees.
A third season of The Apothecary Diaries is expected to debut as two split cours, beginning with the first cour premiering in October 2026 and the second cour in April 2027. An anime film with an original story from original author Natsu Hyuga will also premiere in December 2026.
Plans for more The Apothecary Diaries anime were first announced in July, following the conclusion of season two. The first season premiered in 2023, while the sequel second season aired in January 2025. Both were broadcasted as consecutive-cour series.
The second season featured some returning staff from the first season. Norihiro Naganuma (Season 1 director and series screenwriter) was credited as chief director and series composer, with Akinori Fudesaka (Season 1 assistant director) as director, Ko Nakagawa (Season 1 Episode 6, 13, and 19 storyboard artist and director, Episode 24 director) as assistant director, Yukiko Nakatani as character designer, Misato Aida as color designer, Katsumi Takao as background art director, and Mayo Suzuki (The Apothecary Diaries project PV) as compositing director. TOHO animation STUDIO and OLM handled the second season’s animation production.
Satoru Kosaki (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss), and Alisa Okehazama (The God of High School) served as the music composers.
Meanwhile, the main voice cast stars Aoi Yuki as Maomao and Takeo Otsuka as Jinshi.
The original light novel series is written by Hyuga and illustrated by Toko Shino. It was first published by Shufunotomo’s Hero Bunko imprint on August 29, 2014 and has released 16 physical volumes as of May 2025. J-Novel Club licensed the light novels for digital English release, while Square Enix publishes the series in print.
The series began as a Shosetsuka ni Naro web novel in October 2011. It was later republished by Shufunotomo as a single volume under its Ray Books imprint.
A manga adaptation illustrated by Nekokurage was released in May 2017 and another manga was launched by Minoji Kurata in August 2017. Square Enix licensed the first manga series for release in English.
Another spinoff manga titled The Apothecary Diaries: Xiaolan’s Story debuted on Square Enix’s Manga Up! service on March 23, 2025.
Crunchyroll is streaming both seasons of The Apothecary Diaries worldwide in select countries and territories, describing the main synopsis of the second season as:
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’s life, and a foreign envoy with impossible demands hint at a grand conspiracy poised to engulf the empire.
Sources: The Apothecary Diaries Official Twitter, Crunchyroll News