Episode 33 of the TV anime “The Apothecary’s Monologue,” “The First Emperor,” will be aired on March 7th, 2025. The mystery of the “curse” that has continued since last time has been solved, and on social media, the topics have been talked about, such as “Ah, that’s what it is” and “Are you afraid of adult women?” The empress dowager played by Noto Mamiko is particularly impressive, and many people said, “Noto voice is scary (the best)” and “the acting is so amazing.”
*Due to the nature of this theme, the following text contains descriptions that touch on “spoilers” for those who have not seen the film. Please be careful when reading.
“The Apothecary’s Monologue” is a Harem mystery-solving entertainment based on a novel that has sold over 38 million copies in total by Hinata Natsu, published by Hero Bunko and has also been adapted into comics for Big Gangan and Sunday GX. Set in the medieval East, the story depicts Nekoneko, a girl who plays the role of “Dogbi,” as she solves various difficult cases that occur at the Imperial Court one after another.
When the first season of the TV anime began airing in October 2023, it was always ranked high in viewing rankings on each streaming platform, and became a hot topic, winning the special award at the TVer Awards 2023.
The second season, which will be broadcast in two consecutive seasons starting January 10th, 2025, has also attracted attention for the use of Ikuta Rira’s “Hyakuka Ryoran” as the opening theme.
In episode 32, which aired last week, various content unfolded in the first episode, including rumors flying around the harem and the mystery of the Empress Dowager’s curse, and voices that were very different from each scene were gathered on social media, such as “it’s a reward lol,” “Mitsuji is an idol in the harem,” and “it’s incredibly pressured.”
In episode 33 this time, as in the previous episode, we start with Nekoneko, who was asked by Empress Dowager Yasu, to unravel the “curse” of the previous emperor, which means that the corpses do not rot. Nekoneko, who is about to stay at Miyoshi’s mansion for the first time in a while to investigate, becomes interested in the book she is reading in Suiren’s room.
When I tried to read one book, it seemed to have been depicted as a youth story between a man and a woman who was “a chuckle” like a shojo manga. Nekoneko immediately closes the book saying, “Suiren-sama, you’re pretty young.” The fast-paced act was laughing on social media, with laughter, “I’m really curious about the content lol” and “It was a romantic comedy book lol.”
While doing this, Nekoneko finds a mysteriously colored pebble in a bag containing the toys that once loved by Miyoshi. At first glance, it was just a stone, but it seems that it is a mass of poison, but…?
The next day, Nekoneko visits the previous emperor’s room with the Empress Dowager and Miyoshi to reveal the true identity of the curse. Below the wallpaper, there was a picture painted with pigments based on the stone, “male yellow.” Apparently, the poison of male yellow seems to be a component that prevents things from rotting, and because they used it to draw pictures, the corpse of the previous emperor did not rot.
After Nekoneko’s mystery, the Empress Dowager looks back on his days with the previous emperor. It’s not just sweet, but it seems that he has a feeling about the belly he has been shattered by giving birth to a child when he was a child. As the former emperor is only interested in young girls, the former emperor loses interest as the Empress Dowager grows up.
The reaction seems to have been simply due to a fear of adult women, and viewers understand the personality of the previous emperor, such as, “I see, I see, adult women are scared of not just girls’ hobbies…” and “Ah, that’s what it is, so it’s inevitably the case.”
However, the Empress Dowager’s wounds were deep. The Empress Dowager attacks the previous emperor during his lifetime, and is twice as powerful as the strange performance of voice actor Noto Mamiko. Last time, there were also comments saying, “If you say something strange, you’ll be blown away!”, but he was able to completely play the lead role this time by burning the even more terrifying appearance, such as “Noto voice is scary (the best),” “Noto-san’s very Noto character lol”, and “My acting is so amazing.”
The second season of the TV anime “The Apothecary’s Monologue” is currently airing on the Nippon Television’s “FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT” slot every Friday from 11pm. Episode 33, “The First Emperor,” is available for free on ABEMA. The next episode will be aired on March 14th.
(C) Hinata Imagicainfos/The Apothecary’s Monologue Production Committee
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