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M&C! Licenses The Apothecary Diaries Manga

Indonesian publisher M&C! revealed on its Twitter account on Tuesday that it has licensed Nekokurage's The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) manga.

J-Novel Club publishes the original 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!

Nekokurage launched the manga adaptation of Natsu Hyūga's light novel series in Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan magazine in May 2017. Square Enix published the manga's seventh compiled book volume in November 2020.

Hyūga began serializing the story on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" (Let's Become Novelists) website in October 2011.

Shufunotomo is publishing the novels in print with art by Touco Shino, and the 10th volume debuted in print on January 29. Minoji Kurata launched the spinoff manga Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Mao Mao no Kōkyū Nazotoki Techō (The Apothecary Diaries ~The Palace Cloister Mystery-Solving Notebook of Mao Mao~) in Shogakukan's Monthly Sunday GX magazine in August 2017. Shogakukan published the manga's 10th volume on February 19.

Source: M&C!'s Twitter account