Joseph Luster
May 7, 2024 
Natsu Hyuga’s The Apothecary Diaries light novel series has inspired a very successful anime adaptation, with a second season currently in the works. It also inspired a manga adaptation by Minoji Kurata titled Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Mao Mao no Kokyu Nazotoki Techo (The Apothecary Diaries ~The Palace Cloister Mystery-Solving Notebook of Mao Mao~), which is about to go on hiatus.
Thankfully, this particular break isn’t the result of poor health on the part of the author. On the contrary, The Apothecary Diaries manga is taking a break so the artist can go on childcare leave after having given birth in January.
The manga—which first kicked off its adaptation in the pages of Shogakukan’s Monthly Sunday GX magazine in August 2017—is currently slated to return sometime this summer.
Here’s how J-Novel Club describes the original novel series:
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!
