Apothecary Diaries

What’s it about?

A young maiden is kidnapped and sold into servitude at an emperor’s palace. After secretly employing her pharmacist skills to solve the mystery of the emperor’s children’s critical illness, she catches the attention of the manager of the imperial household and soon finds herself solving various medical mysteries in the imperial court.

The facts

• Created by Natsu Hyûga
• Starring Aoi Yûki, Emi Lo, and Takeo Otsuka
• Japanese language, with English dubbed
• 23 minutes per episode

Why did it get this rating?

This series was self-rated by Crunchyroll. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Sexual themes

The whole show is based around prostitution and courtesans, with characters shown visiting and working in brothels, and prostitutes seen with revealing clothing.

The main character grew up in a red-light district, where she is said to have spent lots of time at the brothel.

Concubines engage in sexual intercourse with the emperor to make children.

A female character accidentally touches a male character’s crotch, causing him to show a flustered expression after she finds out he is not castrated, however, this is more a comedic scene than a sexual one.

In episode 18, one scene depicts multiple women in a bathhouse with bare breasts, mostly covered by towels.

Sexual violence themes

A teenage girl is kidnapped and sold into servitude.

During episode 36, a male character forces himself onto a female character, nearly sexually assaulting her, however she calls her dog to help interrupt it before it escalates. She immediately holds herself responsible for “provoking” him, showing the strong cultural tendency of victim-blaming in the show. This may make some viewers uncomfortable due to the victim facing the consequences rather than the perpetrator.

Violent themes

There are various investigations into the causes of numerous deaths, such as poisonings and attempted murders. There is also mention of infants’ deaths. One character attempts to stab another with a knife. However, there is little depiction of violence and characters who harm others face the consequences of their actions.

Suicide themes

The ninth episode is titled “Suicide or Murder?”, where two characters are found dead in a small timeframe, both of which are written off by others as suicides. However, investigation finds that one of them, a servant, killed the other by poisoning her food and later killing herself. It is unclear as to whether she chose to out of guilt, blackmail, or another reason.

Content that may disturb

In a few scenes there are dead bodies, depictions of poverty, and people vomiting, which may disturb some viewers.

Drug themes and smoking

The main character is shown to be knowledgeable about all kinds of drugs as a pharmacist. She is seen using medicine, aphrodisiacs, poison, and even tests their effects on herself. Adults and underaged characters are seen drinking alcohol, sometimes excessively, and characters smoke tobacco.

Offensive language

While the offensive language in this series is infrequent and typically mild, with words like “damn,” during the second half of season 2, a woman is referred to as a “little sl*t” several times. Other offensive language includes name-calling and verbal bullying, with words like “idiot” and “creep.”

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.  

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters