The Apothecary Diaries Explained: Light Novels, Manga, Anime and the New Live-Action Series

The Apothecary Diaries now exists as six genuinely different things: a novel series, three separate manga, a TV anime heading into its third season, a theatrical movie, a 2028 live-action series for Prime Video, and — announced September 9, 2026 — the franchise’s first console game. That’s a lot to untangle if you’ve only seen one of them and want to know where the others fit.

Here’s the short version. Natsu Hyuuga’s novels are the original work. Everything else — every manga, the anime, the movie, the live-action series — adapts or expands on them. None of the adaptations are remakes of each other; they’re separate teams working from the same source at different points in time.

1. The Original Novels

The Apothecary Diaries began as a web novel Natsu Hyuuga posted to Shōsetsuka ni Narō starting in 2011. Shufunotomo published it as a standalone novel in 2012, then relaunched it as an ongoing light novel series under its Hero Bunko imprint in 2014, illustrated by Touko Shino. The novels are still running — 16 volumes as of mid-2025 — and Hyuuga has said in interviews that the story still has some distance to go before it reaches a proper ending.

In English, J-Novel Club has published the series digitally since 2020, and Square Enix began releasing print editions in 2024.

This is the root of everything. Whatever changes you notice between the manga and the anime, or between the anime and the live-action series, the novels are the version those differences are ultimately being checked against.

2. The Manga Adaptations — There Are Three

This is where most casual coverage gets sloppy, because people assume there’s one manga. There are three, and they’re not interchangeable.

The main manga — the one most international readers know, and the version Crunchyroll and Square Enix’s English releases are built around — is illustrated by Nekokurage, with the adaptation compiled by Itsuki Nanao and character designs by Touko Shino. It’s been serialized in Square Enix’s Monthly Big Gangan since May 2017 and is still ongoing, with 17 volumes out as of mid-2026.

A second, separate manga, The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace, is written and drawn by Minoji Kurata for Shogakukan’s Monthly Sunday Gene-X, running since August 2017. It’s also still ongoing, with 22 volumes out — actually further along than the Nekokurage version in raw volume count. Viz Media is bringing it to English readers starting in October 2026.

A third, newer manga, The Apothecary Diaries: Xiaolan’s Story, is a spin-off drawn by Itsuki Nanao from a story by Hyuuga herself, serialized on Square Enix’s Manga Up! platform since March 2025.

If someone tells you “the manga” ends or reveals something specific, it’s worth asking which one they mean — the Nekokurage version and the Kurata version are drawn by different artists with different pacing and are not the same reading experience.

3. The TV Anime Adapts the Novels — It Isn’t the Source

The anime, produced by OLM and TOHO Animation Studio, adapts the novel’s story rather than originating it. Season 1 ran October 2023 to March 2024, Season 2 ran January to July 2025, and Season 3 begins October 2, 2026, split into two cours — the second half arrives in April 2027.

For the latest pre-premiere details, see our breakdown of the second Season 3 trailer and Eve’s ending theme.

Like most adaptations working from a still-ongoing source, the anime compresses and paces material differently than either manga does, but it isn’t rewriting the story’s events. If you’ve read ahead in the novels or either manga, the broad shape of what the anime covers won’t surprise you — the differences are in presentation, not plot direction.

4. The 2026 Movie Is an Original Story, Not a Recap

The Apothecary Diaries: The Deceased Empress’ Treasure opens in Japan on December 11, 2026, produced by TOHO Animation Studio with TOHO and OLM. What sets it apart from most anime movie tie-ins is that it isn’t adapting an existing novel arc — Natsu Hyuuga wrote an original story specifically for the film, with Aoi Yuki and Takeo Otsuka reprising Maomao and Jinshi.

Because it’s original material written by the same author rather than a rehash of published novel content, it sits alongside the main story instead of substituting for any specific volume — you won’t find this exact story in the books.

5. The 2028 Prime Video Live-Action Series

On September 3, 2026, Prime Video announced a live-action series starring Mana Ashida as Maomao, co-produced by TOHO and Amazon MGM Studios, set to stream exclusively worldwide in 2028. Yuki Saito directs and Erika Yoshida wrote the screenplay. Filming reportedly ran roughly six months on large purpose-built sets recreating the imperial palace setting. The announcement came with a teaser visual of Ashida in character rather than any trailer footage.

Official teaser visual for the 2028 Prime Video live-action series. Credit: TOHO / Amazon MGM Studios.

It’s worth being precise about what this project actually is: it’s described as based on Hyuuga’s original novels, not as a remake of the anime. Live-action adaptations of anime and manga properties are usually working from the same underlying source material the animated version used, rather than adapting the animation itself, and nothing in the announcement suggests this one works differently. Casting for Jinshi hadn’t been announced at the time of the reveal.

6. The First Console Game (Early 2027)

On September 9, 2026, KOEI TECMO and developer Gust announced The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother, the franchise’s first console/PC game, in cooperation with TOHO Games. It’s built around an original story conceptualized by Hyuganatsu specifically for the game, following Maomao as she investigates the “Five Mysteries” and “Five Curses” — it isn’t a retelling of any existing novel, manga or anime arc. See our full breakdown of the game for what’s confirmed about its mystery-investigation systems, platforms and release window.

Where Should You Actually Start?

If you want the easiest entry point, the anime is the obvious start — it’s complete through two full seasons, widely available, and doesn’t require tracking down which manga is which. From there, Season 3 picks up in October and the movie follows in December, so watching in order keeps you current with everything airing this year.

If you’d rather read, the novels are the fullest version of the story and the furthest ahead of any adaptation, since every manga and the anime are still working through material the books already covered. Between the two manga, the Nekokurage version is the one most English readers can currently access most easily through Square Enix’s releases; Kurata’s Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace is a legitimate alternative once Viz’s translation begins.

You don’t need to consume every version to understand the story. What each format actually offers differs: the novels give you the complete, unfiltered narrative as Hyuuga wrote it; the manga translate that into sequential art with each artist’s own visual interpretation; the anime adds full animation, voice performances and music; and the 2028 live-action series will be the first version to render the world with real actors and physical sets. None of them replace the others — they’re different ways into the same story, arriving at different points and moving at different speeds.