English Dub Review: The Apothecary Diaries “Serving in the Outer Court”

Overview:

To Maomao’s surprise, Jinshi brings her directly to his house instead of taking her back to the rear palace and tells her she’s to work in the outer court. Not only is there much to learn, but it seems there are many eyes on her as the new hire.

Our Take:

The first thing I ever heard Emi Lo in was Shadow’s House, since then I’ve heard her in a few things but I think this might be her breakout role. She was technically a lead in Shadow’s House but her character was reserved I don’t feel she got a chance to really flex her talent. This series has been eye opening for how well she does. I truly love how she brings Maomao to life and her and Kaiji Tang have great chemistry. I know that actors don’t always record in the same booth but for this series you’d be forgiven for thinking they did.

As for the story beats of the episode I am really looking forward to where this goes. With Maomao now living under the same roof as Jinshi I have a feeling we are going to get more into the romance side of things. I think it would be interesting to finally see Maomao get flustered in a romantic scenario. She seems to have no interest in such things but I think she might if given the right push or opportunity. It seems this is a two-cour series and I wasn’t expecting that but I’m really glad it is because this has become a favorite of mine.