TOHO animation began streaming a character trailer on Saturday for The Apothecary Diaries: The Late Lady’s Treasure (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Bо̄hi no Hihо̄), the upcoming film for the anime based on Hyuganatsu and Touko Shino‘s The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) light novel series. The trailer highlights Jinshi and Maomao.

TOHO animation will reveal more character videos over the next three days: for the Mi clan on October 12, for the Kaja Troupe on October 13, and for Ruo Qing and Yi Shan on October 14 (all name romanizations not confirmed).

Crunchyroll announced on Thursday it has acquired the North American and worldwide rights (excluding Asia but including India) to the film. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will announce the release date at a later time.

The film will open in theaters in Japan on December 11 and feature a brand-new story by the original novel series’ author Hyuganatsu. Mariya Ise joins the cast as Mu Qing (English romanization not confirmed).

The story follows Maomao and Jinshi as they travel to the hometown of a concubine who died five years ago in the imperial harem, to return her remains to her homeland. There, they encounter pirates, hidden treasures, the secret of the Empress’ remains, and a mysterious boy who holds the key to the story.

The third television anime season premiered on October 2 at 11:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. EDT) in the “Friday Anime Night” programming block on NTV and 29 affiliated channels for its first cours (quarter of a year), and its second cours will premiere in April 2027.

The anime’s first season premiered in October 2023 with the first three episodes, and aired for two cours. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan and is also streaming an English dub.

The second anime season premiered in January 2025 on Nippon TV‘s FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT programming block, and aired for two consecutive cours. Crunchyroll is streaming the second season, and it is also streaming an English dub.

J-Novel Club publishes the 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!

Hyuganatsu began serializing the story on the “Shōsetsuka ni Narō” (Let’s Become Novelists) website in October 2011. Shufunotomo began publishing the novels in print volume with illustrations by Shino in August 2014. Nekokurage launched an ongoing manga adaptation in Square Enix‘s Monthly Big Gangan magazine in May 2017. Square Enix Manga & Books is releasing the manga adaptation in English. The company is also publishing the novels in print. Viz Media is releasing Minoji Kurata‘s separate manga adaptation titled The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace.

Source: Apothecary Diaries anime’s website, Comic Natalie

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.

The official website of the television anime adaptation of Sinnoa and Bill K‘s SSS-Class Revival Hunter webtoon revealed additional cast members, ending theme artists, and a second promotional video on Sunday. The anime is scheduled to premiere in January 2027 on Fuji TV’s +Ultra programming block.

Cast

Flame Emperor: Toshiki Masuda (Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season)

Black Witch: Megumi Han ([Oshi no Ko])

Paladin: Sayaka Kinoshita (Boku no Hero Academia)

Countess: Risa Shimizu (Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis)

Viper: Makoto Furukawa (One Punch Man)

Inquisitor: Natsumi Fujiwara (Saikyou no Ousama, Nidome no Jinsei wa Nani wo Suru?)

Master Alchemist: Yuka Iguchi (Honzuki no Gekokujou)

Sword Saint: Shunsuke Sakuya (Zankyou no Terror)

THE SPELLBOUND (Golden Kamuy 4th Season) x BOOM BOOM SATELLITES (Kiznaiver) are performing the ending theme.

Hiroaki Sakurai (Machikado Mazoku) is directing the anime at Studio fu. Sayuri Ooba (Romantic Killer) is penning the script and Takahiro Yoshimatsu (Hunter X Hunter (2011)) is designing the character designs.

SSS-Class Revival Hunter is an adaptation of Sinnoa’s SSS-geup Jugeoya Saneun Hunter web novel series. Sinnoa and Bill K began serializing the action fantasy webtoon on the Naver Webtoon site in December 2020. The series has been published digitally in English by Tapas Media since March 2021.

Yen Press licensed the webtoon in English in October 2024. The fourth volume was released in July 2025, with the fifth volume scheduled for December 8 release.

PV 2

Source: Comic Natalie