- Interview Date: 4/4/2026
- Interview Location: Anime Boston 2026
- Interview Format: In-Person, Round Robin
Dead Rhetoric: For The Apothecary Diaries, what are some of the challenges in keeping the mysteries grounded, but still having creative and believable solutions?
Hyūganatsu: The story itself is historical. We want to avoid using anything modern in it. Having said that, we want to make sure it is realistic, so we’ll use modern techniques. For example, when cleaning a cut, we’ll use alcohol. That was a technique developed in the second century, so it becomes realistic to use it in this story.
Anime Herald: Can you share some of your knowledge of Empress Wu Zetian?
Hyūganatsu: As you said, she was an actual historical person who existed. The version of her that’s in the story is a little different, but we did use her as a base. In the real historical records, she’s seen as not a very good emperor. She’s also the one and only female emperor of China.
Some of that is probably due to inaccuracies in historical recordkeeping, as well as possible misogyny and sexism in the records that were kept about her. She actually did a lot of good for her people in that time period. Looking back at the way the records were kept, they might have changed or fudged the story a little bit. We still thought she was a compelling and interesting character. That’s why we wanted to use her.
A-to-J Connections: What inspired you to write what are essentially a series of medical mystery novels set in imperial China?
Hyūganatsu: I want to make one correction. I know that is what is written on the publishing, that it is an ancient China story, but it isn’t actually an ancient China story.
I set out to create a beautiful love story in a giant imperial palace, with a bunch of gorgeous women walking around. That was the basis. I thought about what the background would be for that kind of story, and what kind of characters I could fill it with. That’s where the idea of the love story and the mysteries in a beautiful imperial palace came to be. That’s an interesting combination.
Also, it’s not really based on Chinese imperial castles. They were a bit different from Japanese imperial castles. This is more like a Japanese imperial castle. You have the rear palace, with a few hundred of the highest ranking people. You can have an outer palace and a city around them with tens of thousands of people. You have good guys, bad guys. Now, creating a story within that setting becomes very easy.
Jotaku Network: For The Apothecary Diaries, what is your process for creating the mysteries that Maomao solves, and what kind of research have you found yourself doing?
Hyūganatsu: I began searching for puzzles and mysteries. It was important that they were something that even a child could solve. I took inspiration in things that kids were doing. That would become the source of the mysteries. One example would be looking at their summer homework and the questions that they got. I would use that as the inspiration for some of these questions. It was a matter of looking at things out in the real world that children have access to and are doing, and then using that as the base for the mysteries that Maomao has to solve.
(Editor’s note: There was then a discussion of the blank piece of paper Maomao left behind as an example.)
Dead Rhetoric: With a darker time and setting for The Apothecary Diaries, what did you use to guide you when bringing in some lighter elements to the story?
Hyūganatsu: One thing that I think about is that even in the darkest of times, people get hungry. I might have a character eat something. That’s something that never changes, no matter what is happening. People have different points of views and perspectives. Some might be more positive and forward looking. Some people are more negative and backwards looking.
Even though they are living in the same world, their point of view will be very different. Then, if you have a character like Maomao who sees everything from above, that allows her to have a different perspective from other people. That allows for some interesting points of view.
Anime Herald: You had said you once thought about becoming a policewoman. Who is your favorite fictional police or detective character?
Hyūganatsu: I am a big fan of (Hercule) Poirot. Apologies to all the Sherlock Holmes fans out there.
Anime Herald: Like Poirot, I too enjoy a cup of hot chocolate before bed.
Hyūganatsu: (Laughs)
A-to-J Connections: How do you go about researching the kinds of medicine Maomao makes and uses throughout the series?
Hyūganatsu: We work backwards. We start by choosing the disease or the ailment we want to include. Then we look at what is the cure for that disease. Typically, I had done that online. Unfortunately, the internet has become less reliable. Now, we have to do deep research and avoid things that turn out to be untrue.
Jotaku Network: So far, The Apothecary Diaries is your only series to receive an anime adaptation. Are there any other works of yours that you would like to see adapted in the future, and what are they about?
Hyūganatsu: I cannot say a word. Please look forward to it.
Anime Herald: Congratulations!
Hyūganatsu: We must now enter into a pact of secrecy.
Dead Rhetoric: When writing The Failure at God School, does that allow you to flex your creative writing muscles? What do you enjoy about being able to bring in more supernatural elements into that story?
Hyūganatsu: Writing this is actually a little bit difficult. The good thing about it is I am not working on it by myself. I’m working very closely with (Modomu) Akagawara-sensei. There are a number of different people on the team. The editor, the manager, there are a lot of people involved in the process. The good thing is that, whenever I get lost, I can go “Akagawara-sensei, what should I do? Help me!”
Another important point that I consider when writing is that a fantasy story still needs rules to function as a story. I make sure that it doesn’t become too unrealistic and it stays grounded. That has a big impact on the story.
Anime Herald: Uririn is adorable. Is this the Uririn from Uriurikoron that grew up to do public relations?
Hyūganatsu: No. I would love to work with Sanrio. Sanrio has Uririn. You can go see Uririn at Sanrio Puroland anytime you like.
(Editor’s Note: There was a brief discussion of Uririn and Sanrio. Hyūganatsu would love to work with Sanrio. “Sanrio, please hire me. I would do my best as Uririn.” -Hyūganatsu)
A-to-J Connections: Have any characters or storylines become more important than you originally thought they would be?
Hyūganatsu: I always say Jinshi. Originally, Jinshi was supposed to die. We figured if we killed him off, everyone would get mad so we decided to let him live. The original plan was to have Gaoshun kill him by throwing something at him. It would have been a very different story.
Jotaku Network: What are the overall feelings or messages you are hoping to impart onto readers of The Apothecary Diaries?
Hyūganatsu: I wasn’t looking to impart any particular message. The way I thought about it was, I was writing a wonderful fantasy story that people could escape into when the real world got too hard. I was creating that escape for people.
Anime Herald: Do you have any questions for us?
Hyūganatsu: In order to become popular here in America, what kind of questions should I be asking? What kind of stories do you want to read or watch?
Anime Herald: William Goldman, author of The Princess Bride, has a great quote about Hollywood: “Nobody knows anything.” That’s true about anime, as well. Nobody knows what will be the next big hit. No one foresaw Yuri!!! on Ice being a breakout show. I wish we could help you, but we can’t.
Anime-Zing Radio: I would agree with that. The Apothecary Diaries is one of my favorites, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you what kind of questions we would want answered.
Jotaku Network: No one knows what they are going to like until they see it. Nobody could have foreseen a show about a young girl who works with medicine becoming such a brilliant and beloved character.
Hyūganatsu: It sounds like what you are saying is that I should try a lot of different things. Thank you.
Anime Herald: Thank you very much.
A Conversation With The Apothecary Diaries Author Hyūganatsu – Seth Burn