The Apothecary Diaries has the cast finally begin to prepare for the incoming locust plague in Ep. 52 “The Last Volume”. Sure, they could’ve prepared much sooner. However, without the intel gained in this episode, those preparations wouldn’t have been nearly as guided as they are here. Now it’s just a question of if those preparations will be effective, as well as confronting the mastermind behind the odd happenings that seemingly take advantage of the plague’s initial effects. That will be for the next episode though. For now, the preparations are the star of the show.
The Apothecary Diaries Ep. 52 “The Last Volume”: Details in Brief
The Apothecary Diaries Ep. 52 “The Last Volume” is the fourth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, and Ep. 3 here) of the third season of this historical mystery drama and political thriller anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the light novel series of the same name by Hyūganatsu.
OLM (Berserk, Odd Taxi, Komi Can’t Communicate) is the animation studio behind this anime. Akinori Fudesaka is the director behind this anime, with Wataru Nakagawa as assistant director, Norihiro Naganuma as the writer, and Satoru Kosaki, Kevin Penkin, and Arisa Okehazama as the composers.
Speaking of the music, the opening theme song for this third season of The Apothecary Diaries is “Kumo o Nukekazashimo e Watashidake” (雲を抜け風下へ私だけ; lit. ’Beyond the Clouds, Only Me Downwind’) by Yorushika. Meanwhile, “AIYOU” by Eve is the ending theme song for the same.
You can watch The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 exclusively on Crunchyroll.
The Apothecary Diaries Ep. 52 “The Last Volume”: The Good
As you might guess from what I’ve been saying about Ep. 52 “The Last Volume” so far, the best part about it is the political drama. All centering around efforts by Maomao (voiced by Aoi Yūki (JP) and Emi Lo (EN)) and Jinshi (voiced by Takeo Ōtsuka (JP) and Kaiji Tang (EN)) to prepare for what increasingly looks like an impending plague of locusts. Starting with, as the title implies, finding the third and final missing volume of the Insects book that Maomao had been looking for.
However, she can’t look for it entirely on her own. No, for this mission, she enlists the help of a pair of old faces: Suirei (voiced by Kaori Nazuka (JP) and Veronica Laux (EN)) and Ah Duo (voiced by Yūko Kaida (JP) and Monica Rial (EN)). It’s not just to reintroduce old fan favorite characters back into the story though. Suirei in particular would be the most likely one to know where her sister Loulan (aka. Shisui) would’ve put the book. Funnily enough, Ah Duo’s help also becomes vital in just offering an outside perspective to help them all think outside the box that leads to the book’s discovery.
The result is a political thriller storyline that will delight fans of complex storylines, and that’s before we even get to the planning stages in how to deal with a locust swarm. The planning stage itself is even quite logical, with Maomao and Jinshi focusing on both how to prevent the swarm from breaking out in the first place, and what to do if the swarm happens regardless. I do love that one of their main plans is just to encourage people to eat the locusts. As someone who is very much interested in entomophagy (the consumption of insects), I am quite interested in and heavily approve of this plotline should they go with it. At the very least, we will get to see more piles of roasted locusts being eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in future episodes of The Apothecary Diaries.
The Maomao And Jinshi Queerplatonic Relationship-ping?
Funnily enough, another highlight of Ep. 52 “The Last Volume” is the hilariously brewing relationship between Maomao And Jinshi. All over a dinner of locusts to boot. Their relationship so far is absolutely ridiculous, with both of them effectively trolling each other over the smallest things, and turning things like Maomao treating Jinshi like a small child on its head to maximize both sides of the comedy. It makes for some of the best comedy I’ve seen in any anime so far.
And yet…there is a hint of seriousness to that relationship mixed in with the farce. It’s even different from the perspective of each character. Jinshi views Maomao with romantic interest, while Maomao’s view of Jinshi is anything but. And yet, even Maomao finds it harder and harder to deny that there’s…something there. Not romantic, but something similar to what she had with Loulan / Shisui. Call it queerplatonic, because that’s the closest term I can come up with to describe their situationship.
Alas, we will have to wait for future episodes of The Apothecary Diaries to see if anything more comes of it.
The Apothecary Diaries Ep. 52 “The Last Volume”: The Bad
Alas, if you were hoping for any action in Ep. 52 “The Last Volume”, then you will be disappointed. The closest thing there is to action is a brief scene at the end where that mysterious albino woman is entertaining a bunch of male customers in a seedy location as they drink some sort of liquid. Outside of me betting that it’s definitely not water they’re drinking, that’s the closest thing we have to action here. If you want something more bloody and violent, then you will need to head to another anime for that.
Anime Recommendations
Fortunately, if you do want bloody action, then you need look no further than Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, TRIGUN STARGAZE, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Kagurabachi, and / or the 2026 reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth for that. However, if you want more story-focused anime like this one, then you might also like Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, Journal with Witch, Witch Hat Atelier, Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, and / or Sasaki and Peeps.
What did you think of this week’s episode of The Apothecary Diaries? Tell us your thoughts about locusts and their edibility in the comments section below.
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