‘The Apothecary Diaries’ Season 2 Episode 10 review: “A Ghost Story”

In many ways, The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 10 is as close to a ‘filler episode’ as the series gets. While it eschews the standard mystery of the weak format, it, in turn, leans into a more vignette-style approach. But despite the seemingly superfluous narrative at its center, “A Ghost Story” has key components integral to the overarching plot. It also allows the animators to stretch their muscles a bit as they play in different genres, such as explicit horror, for the first time.

The premise of “A Ghost Story,” at least at the surface level, is simple. One of Gyokuyou’s (Atsumi Tanezaki) attendants, Yinghua (Rie Hikisaka), invites Maomao (Aoi Yūki) to join her in attending a gathering of other court ladies. The organizer promises 13 terrifying tales as they go around the circle, each attendee telling their own story. Often inspired by legend or myth, the stories range from silly to haunting. These stories are where the animation shines. Directed by Oh Jin Koo and storyboarded by Yūichi Nihei, the series demonstrates its intricately detailed work while also playing looser with character designs.

This is most evident in the story about the traveling monk who accidentally wanders into the home of two monsters. His mantra is all that saves him from the couple who transform into monstrous beasts before one devours the other.

The animation leans into horror in “A Ghost Story.”

But that unsettling creepiness finds its way into more simplistic stories. One such one is about a town facing a thread by a mysterious forest surrounding them. The story follows a cursed mother and son, meting their fate after eating food from the surrounding forest. A villager sees a green haze seen wandering into their home the night before they are found dead. The Apothecary Diaries often does great work highlighting facial features that highlight characters’ inner turmoil. Episodes focused on the rancid depravity of the late emperor highlight this effect. In “A Ghost Story,” those facial expressions highlight the horror the characters of these stories face. The face of the dying mother is one of the more haunting images the series has produced to date.

However, the episode doesn’t commit to keeping Maomao away from problem-solving. By the time the last story comes around, Maomao realizes that the incense and the fumes from the fire are causing her and other attendees to become dizzy. She quickly assesses the situation and pushes open the windows, bringing the night to an end, much to the organizers’ dismay.

The organizer is yet another thread in the story of the late emperor. The emperor locked her away when she was young until she was no longer of any value to him. Maomao later learns from Hongniang that the organizer died a year ago, adding another layer to the mystery as it begs the question of just who or what put together this gathering and what their ultimate intent was. It gives dual meaning to the title of ‘ghost story,’ but is more than just a goosebumps-level gag, a spiritual mystery that Maomao has no chance of solving.

Instead, it highlights how insidious the last emperor’s rule was and the souls he left to perish and wither away behind him. No matter the opulence, the decay and rot of corrupt rulers leave their mark.

A haunting truth buried in mystery.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 10 brings the often relentless pacing of the series to a halt, allowing us to see how Maomao’s relationships outside of Jinshi (Takeo Ōtsuka) have developed. Yinghua’s frustration with Maomao is matched by her attachment to her. Their friendship helps build out the world of the rear palace. Similarly, Shisui (Asami Seto) remains a welcome presence. She and Maomao are enticed by all things odd and socially repellent (bugs and poisons), but it’s not so much that they’re kindred spirits. It’s interesting to see how Maomao, despite her eccentricity, maintains a level of professional decorum that Shisui, by all accounts, rebukes.

The two share a moment when Maomao explains to her the story of the mother and son who died. It’s an example of how myth and truth blur lines to create something as sad as the glorified tale. Maomao explains that the two likely entered the forest due to hunger despite being warned away. There, they picked moonlight mushrooms, which are known for glowing in the dark and are deeply toxic. The two walking with them from a distance would create an image of a floating spirit, their bodies shrouded in darkness.

It’s yet another example of how sobering the series can be in even its flightiest episodes. Every fiction, every solution, stems from fact or science. There are reasons for everything. The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 10 churns out a lot of broad comedy and relies on some chibi-style animation that isn’t always successful comedic bits. But it works wonders when the series leans into the macabre and intrigue.

More than anything, though, The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 10 is an interlude before the series launches us into the following major arc. But even the leanest episodes of the series are wildly entertaining, proof of the formidable artistry and narrative worldbuilding the anime weaponizes week in and week out.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 10 is out now on Crunchyroll.

Allyson Johnson

Based in New England, Allyson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.