The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries (Japanese: 薬屋のひとりごと, Hepburn: Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) is a Japanese light novel series written by Natsu Hyūga and illustrated by Touko Shino. It was serialized online since 2011 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. In the following year, it was acquired by Shufunotomo, who initially published the series as a novel with a single volume in 2012 and then in 2014 began to publish it yet again, this time as a light novel series.

The Apothecary Diaries
Cover for the first volume of the light novel
薬屋のひとりごと
(Kusuriya no Hitorigoto)
GenreDrama, mystery, romance[1]
Novel series
Written byNatsu Hyūga
Published byShōsetsuka ni Narō
Original runOctober 2011 – present
Novel
Written byNatsu Hyūga
Illustrated byMegumi Matsuda
Published byShufunotomo
ImprintRay Books
DemographicFemale
PublishedSeptember 26, 2012
Light novel
Written byNatsu Hyūga
Illustrated byTouko Shino
Published byShufunotomo
English publisher
ImprintHero Bunko
DemographicMale
Original runAugust 29, 2014 – present
Volumes9
Manga
Written by
  • Natsu Hyūga
  • Itsuki Nanao
Illustrated byNekokurage
Published bySquare Enix
English publisher
Square Enix
MagazineMonthly Big Gangan
DemographicSeinen
Original runMay 25, 2017 – present
Volumes7
Manga
Mao Mao no Kōkyū Nazotoki Techō
Written byNatsu Hyūga
Illustrated byMinoji Kurata
Published byShogakukan
MagazineMonthly Sunday Gene-X
DemographicSeinen
Original runAugust 19, 2017 – present
Volumes10

It has been adapted into two manga series in 2017, with one published by Square Enix in Monthly Big Gangan, and another one published by Shogakukan in Monthly Sunday Gene-X. The light novel is licensed in North America by J-Novel Club, and the manga is licensed by Square Enix.

Media

Novel

Originally the series was only published by Natsu Hyūga on the user-generated web novel site Shōsetsuka ni Narō in October 2011. The publisher Shufunotomo acquired the series and then published it on their Ray Books imprint as a novel with a unique volume on September 26, 2012.[2]

Light novel

In 2014, Shufunotomo began to publish the series again. This time, the publisher did it as a light novel in their Hero Bunko imprint, which is mostly made of acquired Shōsetsuka ni Narō titles. Since then, the series continued to get more volumes with the story continuing, unlike the previous novel version which had just only one volume. J-Novel Club announced in November 2020 that it had licensed the light novel series.[3]

Volume list
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 August 29, 2014[4]978-4-07-298198-6February 14, 2021[5]978-1-71-836118-8
2 January 31, 2015[6]978-4-07-410821-3——
3 June 29, 2015[7]978-4-07-401176-6——
4 September 30, 2015[8]978-4-07-403100-9——
5 April 30, 2016[9]978-4-07-416947-4——
6 November 30, 2016[10]978-4-07-420788-6——
7 February 28, 2018[11]978-4-07-429772-6——
8 February 28, 2019[12]978-4-07-436884-6——
9 February 28, 2020[13][14]978-4-07-442420-7
978-4-07-441030-9 (LE)		——

Manga

A manga adaptation by Itsuki Nanao and illustrated by Nekokurage began in the 2017 6th issue of Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan, released on May 25, 2017.[15] Square Enix has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on September 25, 2017.[16] As of March 25, 2020, six volumes have been published.[17]

In November 2019, Square Enix announced the English language release of the manga in North America under the title The Apothecary Diaries, and will begin publishing it in December 2020.[18]

A spin-off manga series, titled Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Mao Mao no Kōkyū Nazotoki Techō (薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～, lit. "The Apothecary Diaries: The Palace Cloister Mystery-Solving Notebook of Mao Mao"), illustrated by Minoji Kurata, began in the September 2017 issue of Shogakukan's Monthly Sunday Gene-X magazine, published on August 19, 2017.[19] Shogakukan has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on February 19, 2018.[20] As of October 16, 2020, nine volume have been published.[21]

The Apothecary Diaries
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 September 25, 2017[16]978-4-06-388690-0December 8, 2020[22]978-1-64609-070-9
2 February 24, 2018[23]978-4-7575-5640-9February 9, 2021[24]978-1-64609-071-6
3 July 25, 2018[25]978-4-7575-5794-9May 11, 2021[26]978-1-64609-072-3
4 February 25, 2019[27]978-4-7575-5963-9——
5 July 25, 2019[28]978-4-7575-6216-5——
6 March 25, 2020[17]978-4-7575-6581-4——
7 November 25, 2020[29]978-4-7575-6856-3——

Mao Mao no Kōkyū Nazotoki Techō
No. Release date ISBN
1 February 19, 2018[20]978-4-09-157515-9
2 July 19, 2018[30]978-4-09-157533-3
3 September 19, 2018[31]978-4-09-157543-2
4 February 19, 2019[32]978-4-09-157560-9
5 June 19, 2019[33]978-4-09-157564-7
6 November 19, 2019[34]978-4-09-157580-7
7 February 19, 2020[35]978-4-09-157586-9
8 June 19, 2020[36]978-4-09-157597-5
9 October 16, 2020[21]978-4-09-157608-8
10 February 19, 2021[37]978-4-09-157622-4

Reception

The 8th volume of the light novel series was the 5th best-selling in February 2019,[38] and was the 6th best-selling light novel series in 2019, with 461,024 copies sold.[39] It was the 4th best-selling light novel series in the first half of 2020, with 317,749 copies sold.[40]

The Square Enix manga adaptation ranked 5th on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2020".[41] In 2020, it ranked 9th in the AnimeJapan Most Wanted Anime Adaptation poll.[42]

References
  1. "The Apothecary Diaries". Square Enix Manga & Books. Square Enix. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  2. 薬屋のひとりごと (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  3. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (November 14, 2020). "J-Novel Club Adds 5 Light Novels, 2 Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  4. 薬屋のひとりごと (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  5. "The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 1". Rakuten Kobo. J-Novel Club. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  6. 薬屋のひとりごと２ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  7. 薬屋のひとりごと３ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  8. 薬屋のひとりごと４ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  9. 薬屋のひとりごと５ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  10. 薬屋のひとりごと６ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  11. 薬屋のひとりごと７ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  12. 薬屋のひとりごと８ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  13. 薬屋のひとりごと９ (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  14. 薬屋のひとりごと９　ドラマＣＤ付き限定特装版 (in Japanese). Shufunotomo. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  15. 「冴えカノ 恋メト」描き下ろしイラスト＆小説が楽しめる付録がBGに. Natalie (in Japanese). May 25, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  16. 薬屋のひとりごと 1 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  17. 薬屋のひとりごと 6 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  18. Pineda, Rafael (November 16, 2019). "Square Enix Manga & Books Licenses 5 Manga, 1 Novel". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  19. 「BLACK LAGOON」レヴィB2タペストリーの応募者全員サービスがGXで. Natalie (in Japanese). August 19, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  20. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　１ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  21. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　９ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  22. "The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 1". Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  23. 薬屋のひとりごと 2 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  24. "The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 2". Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  25. 薬屋のひとりごと 3 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  26. "The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 3". Square Enix. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  27. 薬屋のひとりごと 4 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  28. 薬屋のひとりごと 5 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  29. 薬屋のひとりごと 7 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  30. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　２ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  31. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　３ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  32. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　４ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  33. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　５ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  34. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　６ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  35. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　７ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  36. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　８ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  37. 薬屋のひとりごと～猫猫の後宮謎解き手帳～　１０ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  38. Loo, Egan (March 26, 2019). "Top-Selling Light Novels in Japan: February 2019". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  39. Loo, Egan (November 27, 2019). "Top-Selling Light Novels in Japan by Series: 2019". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  40. Loo, Egan (May 28, 2020). "Top-Selling Light Novels in Japan by Series: 2020 (First Half)". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  41. Mateo, Alex (February 1, 2020). "Japanese Bookstores Recommend 15 Top Manga for 2020". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  42. Loveridge, Lynzee. "Nearly 200,000 Fans Vote in AnimeJapan's 'Most Wanted Anime Adaptation' Poll". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
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