Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Apothecary Diaries Season 2
|
Goto page Previous Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Blaze_1013
Posts: 228 |
|
|||||||
While I get why people want to see writers follow through when they kill off characters (I am a One Piece fan) the kids not being dead REALLY feels obvious. Maomao has been obsessed with the revival drug since it turned up in season 1 and it was brought up a bunch this season too. As Maomao points out in the episode, Shisui said she had them take "medicine" so them being given the revival drug was heavily foreshadowed. Even Shisui not dying felt very likely. You simply don't have Maomao give her the hairpin and then do nothing with it, and as soon as someone said "maybe it stopped the bullet" it became obvious that was probably the direction it was going to go. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1739 |
|
|||||||
|
Now I’m wondering if Shisui had secreted supplies for her escape somewhere outside the fortress, and am glad that Jinshi’s surprise avalanche didn’t make them inaccessible.
I am glad they resolved the mystery of “there’s no body” quickly, though I agree with Key that Loulan fulfilling her duty with the knowledge of their mortal consequences for herself is also worthwhile storytelling. I hope Tamamo returns as a challenging opponent in Go for Lahan. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
TJ_Kat
Posts: 897 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
|
|||||||
|
Don't get me wrong, I love Maomao and Jinshi's relationship and I loved their interactionsthis episode, but the absolute worst decision Maomao could have made was to keep treating Jinshi the same way she always has. She was already special because she was not influenced by his looks in any way, and probably got away with more than she should have given his position in the rear palace, but to behave the same way with the Emperor's brother... for someone in his position to have someone not interested in currying favour and who will just treat him normally close to him is absolutely invaluable. No chance he ever lets her go.
Also, Maomao can't really still be oblivious, right? RIGHT??? Also2, doesn't Jinshi still technically "own" Maomao? Shouldn't she have gone back to being his servant if her job with Gyokuyou was done? |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Gina Szanboti
 Posts: 12780 |
|
|||||||
|
I can't believe he bit her.
No, I don't believe Maomao is oblivious, but is just out of her depth in knowing how to deal with it. If I were in her shoes, I don't know how I'd deal with such a radical shift in their personal and working dynamic either. Coping on both fronts at the same time when any action you take could/would be life-changing at best and life-threatening at worst would be daunting to anyone, so I can't blame her for being relieved things got interrupted. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Troyen
Posts: 81 |
|
|||||||
Yeah, I was wondering if I missed something. Didn't he buy her out at the end of s1e13? |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Fluwm
Moderator
 Posts: 1642 |
|
|||||||
Maomao's whole status (legal, familial, what have you) in general is kind kind of confusing to me and I don't recall the LNs (or the anime) ever really making what was going on explicit. Because, yes, Jinshi bought out her contract from the brothel, but that doesn't mean *he* owns *her* (at least to my understanding) -- but rather that the brothel (or more specifically the old madame) no longer does. Basically, he freed her of her debts/obligations. In practice, this seems to usually/only happen when wealthy patrons decide to marry a courtesan, which one could argue is a form of ownership/slavery in this context, but that's a separate arrangement: they buy out the courtesan's contract in order to marry them, but if they don't marry for whatever reason, that just means the courtesan has no more contractual obligations. But, like, why does Maomao belong to the old lady in the first place? Wouldn't Luomen adopting her mean that the old madame (if she has a name, it escapes my memory completely) have already have ceded custody of her to the doctor? She's certainly been trained up to be an apothecary, not a sex worker, so why does she still have a contract to be bought out in the first place? Further, and I may just be misremembering here (it happens), but I feel like I can remember the old madame making comments about selling Maomao to clients later on in the story, after Jinshi bought out the contract. That doesn't seem right, so maybe I am just misremembering, though..... |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
TJ_Kat
Posts: 897 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
|
|||||||
Because Maomao was born and raised in the brothel and thus owed the brothel a debt. Luomen adopting her doesn't mean he paid off that debt or otherwise cancel it, it just means Maomao acknowledges him as her father. And then when Jinshi did buy her out her contract (eg. paid off her debt to the brothel) I was under the impression she didn't have the option to refuse to work for him because her purchased her debt, so she owed that debt to him now. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Shay Guy
 Posts: 2657 |
|
|||||||
|
I've talked about this on a couple other sites, but my reading is: Yes, Jinshi still owns her debt. Yes, that gives him certain legal rights, the details of which are vaguely defined. But the optics of having her work directly under him become much trickier now that his identity is public.
As for Loulan's survival, I would say the hair stick blocking the bullet was properly set up, given all the focus that had been on the hair stick since the ice cream episode. Plus, y'know, she fell in pretty deep snow and there was the bit after episode 47's credits. And the kids, yeah, the story had been hinting heavily at Loulan giving them the Juliet drug from the beginning. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
michizure
Posts: 190 |
|
|||||||
This. Without getting too spoillery, the LNs confirm that spoiler[Maomao is politically savvy enough to understand the implications of becoming the mistress of the Emperor's "Brother." If she would accept Lakan's patronage (!), she might have enough standing to qualify, but (a) that is even less likely than her accepting Jinshi's advances and (b) she would still not have the backing to compete with the Favored Consorts if she accidentally produced an Imperial heir.] |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
dm
Subscriber Posts: 1739 |
|
|||||||
|
I don’t think the hairpin has anything to do with Shisui’s survival. I think she had deliberately padded her clothes, perhaps with armor. She knew it was a risk, but she set things up for her own resurrection.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
michizure
Posts: 190 |
|
|||||||
You make a good point about Shisui's master plan, but the hairpin clearly did stop the bullet: see 23:43. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Barciad
 Posts: 147 Location: St Andrews |
|
|||||||
|
Well that was rather good. Roll on Season 3.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Shay Guy
Posts: 2657 |
|
|||||||
I can’t agree with this reading. It doesn’t look to me like “shrugging it off” — she winces and thinks how inconvenient it is sometimes that he can be so insightful. It seems most likely to me that she understood what Loulan was hinting at, and knows she has to be here in case the children wake up — but also doesn’t want to admit to Jinshi that she’s in on a scheme.
Huh, somehow I didn’t catch that. I’m sure she’s also sad that she won’t get to see Maomao and Xiaolan again, but at least she was prepared for it. And now she’s off to Not Japan to become this universe’s equivalent of Tamamo-no-Mae. (I was using “Nottomans” for Ayla and Aylin’s party; what would the Japan equivalent be? Nise-hon?) Best of luck, girl. And may you inspire summer activities for generations of boys in your new home. On another note, I’m impressed that merchant could figure out how her name was written. It’s like hearing “Shirayuki” and figuring out it’s written with “white” and “snow” — there’s people with the former character in the name who pronounce it “pai” or “haku” (Pairin, Lihaku, Haku-u), but who pronounces it “Shira” or “Shiro”?
That said… Maomao, you can’t just drop a line like “You’ve become more manly than before” at point-blank range without warning! It’s bad for his heart!
It’s nice that we get brief glimpses of where everyone’s at — even the Three Princesses, who I don’t think have appeared this season since the start of episode 1. We even got to see Lingli excited about her new baby brother! |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
dm
Subscriber Posts: 1739 |
|
|||||||
Oh, I see what you mean. Lucky girl. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Hi-Chan
 Posts: 154 Location: Canada |
|
|||||||
|
The Emperor is really putting a burden on Ah-Duo,I know besides his mother and Jinshi she is the only other person he completely trusts.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group