Season 2 for The Apothecary Diaries will start airing from January 10, 2025. It’ll consist of two cours that air back to back. A streaming service hasn’t been confirmed for it yet, but the first season aired on Crunchyroll.
The official X (formerly known as Twitter) account for the show posted a new key visual of it as well. It depicts Maomao and Jinshi standing in a building while an ethereal-looking night sky is behind them. At the side of the poster, there is a tagline that loosely translates to, “What awaits them is—” with no answer.
The first season ran from October 2023 to March 2024. In terms of where the anime stops, it stops at around Chapter 40 of the manga and the end of Volume 2 of the original light novel. As of late September 2024, there are 14 volumes of the light novel out in Japan. It’s unknown if there will be a change in pacing, or if this will simply be a long-running show. J-Novel Club has licensed the digital version of the light novel whereas Square Enix licensed the physical prints. As for the manga, Square Enix licensed it and despite the past tax issues with the illustrator, it’s still going.
The Apothecary Diaries takes place in Imperial China and it focuses on Maomao, who was kidnapped and sold to the Imperial Palace. Thanks to her experience as an apothecary worker in the red-light district, she was able to figure out what was behind a mysterious illness befalling the emperor’s children and concubines. Despite her wishes to stay anonymous, Jinshi, a eunuch, takes notice of her and loops her into solving more mysteries for the court.
The Apothecary Diaries season 2 will start airing on January 10, 2025. You can watch the show (as well as the second season) via Crunchyroll.