Crunchyroll Streams Dub for The Apothecary Diaries Season 3
Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will begin streaming an English dub for the third anime season based on Hyuganatsu and Touko Shino's The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) light novel series on Friday. The dub cast includes:
- Emi Lo as Maomao
- Kaiji Tang as Jinshi
- Jad Saxton as White Lady
- Suzie Yeung as Shisui
- Anne Yatco as Kyou-u
- Nazeeh Tarsha as Guard
- Wendy Powell as Madam
- Oscar Seung as Ukyou
- Seth Fuentes as Lihaku
- Eli Farmer as Onsou
- Monica Rial as Narrator
- Rebecca Danae as Meimei
- Caleb Yen as Lahan
- Alex Mai as Emperor
- Ricco Fajardo as Lakan
- Reshel Mae as Lishu
- Charles Nguyen as Rikuson
- Seth Magill as Uryuu
- Phil Parsons as Gyokuen
- Adrian Godinez as Mr. Owner
- Tom Aglio as Niban
- Monica Rial as Ah-Duo
- Alex Hom as Gaoshun
- Ed Escamilla as Basen
- Monica Flatley as Joka
- Kit Lozano as Kanan
- Additional Voices by Paxton Lee, Nasim Benelkour, Mauricio Ortiz-Segura, Brandon Acosta, Daniela Valkova, Elizabeth Hohman
The staff members for the dub include:
- Studio: Crunchyroll
- Studio Producers: Justin Cook, Michael Harcourt, Nathanael Harrison
- Producer: Susie Nixon
- Adaptation Supervisor: Macy Anne Johnson
- Adaptation: Clayton Browning
- Adaptation Prep: Benjamin Tehrani
- Voice Director: Shawn Gann
- Assistant Voice Director: Kevin D. Thelwell
- Talent Coordination: Tara A. Williams, Brittni Hurley
- Engineering Managers: Gino Palencia, Brandon Peters
- Engineer: Derric Benavides
- Assistant Engineer: Katie Saltkill
- Mixer: James Baker
The third season premiered on October 2 at 11:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. EDT) in the "Friday Anime Night" programming block on NTV and 29 affiliated channels for its first cours (quarter of a year), and its second cours will premiere in April 2027. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime as it airs in Japan.
yorushika performs the third season's opening theme song "Kumo o Nukekazashimo e Watashidake" (I Am Alone, Breaking Through the Clouds Downwind). Eve performs the anime's ending theme song "AIYOU."
J-Novel Club publishes the novel series digitally, and it describes the story:
In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there.Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That's her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao's façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor's favorite consort... so she can taste the lady's food for poison!
The anime's first season premiered in October 2023 with the first three episodes, and aired for two cours (quarters of a year). Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan and is also streaming an English dub.
The second anime season premiered in January 2025 on Nippon TV's FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT programming block, and aired for two consecutive cours. Crunchyroll is streaming the second season, and it is also streaming an English dub.
The franchise also has the upcoming Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Bо̄hi no Hihо̄ (The Apothecary Diaries: The Deceased Empress' Treasure) film, which will open in theaters on December 11 and feature a brand-new story by the original novel series' author Hyuganatsu. The franchise also has an upcoming live-action series that will debut on Amazon Prime Video worldwide in 2028.
Hyuganatsu began serializing the story on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" (Let's Become Novelists) website in October 2011. Shufunotomo began publishing the novels in print volume with illustrations by Shino in August 2014. Nekokurage launched an ongoing manga adaptation in Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan magazine in May 2017. Square Enix Manga & Books is releasing the manga adaptation in English. The company is also publishing the novels in print. Viz Media is releasing Minoji Kurata's separate The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace manga adaptation in print.
Source: Crunchyroll (Liam Dempsey)
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.