English Dub Review: The Apothecary Diaries “Balsam and Woodsorrel”

Overview:

No longer willing to keep running away from Lakan, Maomao decides to face off against him. She challenges him on his turf, in a chess match.

Our Take:

It was only a matter of time until we got Lakan’s backstory and of course, it was sad and made me feel bad for him. He could have done better but he didn’t mean to up and leave Maomao’s mother, he wrote her saying that he would return from a job in a month or two but that job ended up taking him three years. In a time when communicating was difficult to do over long distances, I can see how this would have been a bit of a struggle but surely he could have got word to her somehow?

I don’t think Lakan is necessarily a good man after hearing this but I don’t have nearly as much animosity towards him as I did. I’ve always known that Maomao is smart but she showed off her intelligence this time. She added some challenges to the game of chess she challenged Lakan to. Whoever lost that round had to drink liquor from a cup of the winner’s choosing, and this mattered because a chemical was put into three of the cups that if drank three times would kill you.

It turns out it was just extra strong liquor because Maomao knew that Lakan wouldn’t be able to handle it because he never drinks alcohol. This is why she added the other stipulation that if one of the players leaves the game they lose no matter the reason. Now Lakan has to buy out a concubine’s contract and I think we can guess which one will be.