Nothing has taken the world by storm quite like The Apothecary Diaries. Before an anime was ever announced, the manga topped the Next Manga Awards in 2019 alongside Tatsuya Endo’s SPY x FAMILY in the print category, and now the series is known in almost every corner of the globe. scrmbl had the unique privilege of sitting down for an interview with original author Hyūganatsu at Anime Central 2026, reflecting on her career so far as well as future projects.

Jacob: The Apothecary Diaries began as a serialization on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website before getting published. Are there any differences between the web version and light novel?

Hyūganatsu: Well, I started writing without really thinking about anything at first. I didn’t really understand the industry at all, and I was told that my writing was fine as is. Even so, once we decided to publish the series as a light novel, I really wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for the volume release. It’s not as if the story was lacking in any way, but I wanted to make sure that it had enough depth, so we added a couple of things.

So the light novel has some extra content?

Yes, that’s right. There’s extra content in the Ray Books version as well as the Hero Bunko version.

That’s very interesting. Regarding The Apothecary Diaries, one of the most common misconceptions is that it takes place in ancient China.

Indeed. First of all, “ancient” is wrong here as I would view that timeframe as the early modern period. In Japanese history, we’d place that as during and after the Edo period. That’s almost 1000 years ago, so I don’t think it describes the series at all. Even the Middle Ages just barely works…

I see. I suppose that’s why The Apothecary Diaries has quite a vague historical setting instead of a concrete one.

Exactly. Basically what I did was steal all of the most interesting parts of 1000 years of Chinese history and rearrange them as I saw fit.

Stealing is a strong word!

Well, that’s exactly what I did. For example, I put woodwind instruments into the story, but the fact is that they had just barely proliferated in the early modern period.

Does keeping the setting somewhat vague make your job easier as a writer?

Well, yeah. I was writing web novels, so I could basically do whatever I wanted.

Fair enough. I just wanted to clear that up since it’s a common misconception.

People get that wrong all the time. The series is not “ancient” in the slightest.

It’s also not necessarily set in China, right?

It’s not technically set in China, but the setting is very much inspired by China. There are also some Japanese sensibilities in there, but I guess that’s par for the course since I’m Japanese.

I wanted to talk about Maomao as well. There are definitely a lot of male detectives in the mystery genre like Sherlock Holmes and Poirot. Did you make your protagonist into a woman to purposefully go against this?

No, not at all. In fact, I initially wanted to make the main character into an older woman with three kids. 

Oh, wow.

And then I thought that an older woman with three kids probably wouldn’t be very popular. At the end of the day, if you want your series to get any traction, you have to go with a young girl between the ages of 14 and 17. That’s why Maomao is 17 in the story.

That’s interesting. Maomao definitely seems wiser beyond her years in the story. Was that because you combined the two concepts?

Definitely. Maomao’s age changed, but her wisdom remained the same.

There are a lot of mysteries in The Apothecary Diaries that use botanical knowledge. What kind of research goes into creating them?

Well, I often draw on old news stories. For example, when Maomao solves a case involving a certain type of seaweed, that’s based on a real outbreak of food poisoning. The one with oleander is too. I guess people used to die a lot from food poisoning back in the day since they didn’t really know what was what, so that informs a lot of my writing.

That’s interesting. I bet a lot of fans might not know that.

Hmm. I think some people have noticed, but not everyone. I actually think that mysteries are a lot more fun when you understand about 30% of what’s going on instead of absolutely nothing.

You’re absolutely right.

Since I write web novels, I try to only use plots that most people who’ve finished middle school would understand.

I guess if you don’t understand what’s going on, you can’t enjoy the story.

Correct. This might come across as rude, but if the reader doesn’t understand what’s going on, then I think you’ve failed as a mystery author.

I totally agree. Part of what makes mysteries fun is the game of trying to solve them.

Indeed. It’d be like trying to do a quiz with nothing but trick questions. Mysteries are like quizzes in the sense that they have to have a clear answer.

There’s definitely nothing fun about trick questions.

Not at all. That’s why I try to keep things nice and fun. I’d like it if readers got a hint by suddenly remembering something they learned in science class, or by doing some light research in the moment.

This December will see the series’ first original anime film opening in theaters. How did this come about? 

The only thing I can say is that it was decided very early on.

You mean during the first season?

I’ll leave that up to your imagination. The anime team came to me with the proposal and I said that was totally fine as long as I could write the outline for the story. I ended up sending them a pretty long draft with basically the entire plot and even a lot of the dialogue included! And then the anime writer turned it into a script, fixing some things along the way.

Oh wow, so you basically sent them a novel.

More like the first draft of a novel, but yes.

Interesting. What kind of story can fans expect from the movie?

Hmm… Well, for me, movies mean Doraemon. (laughs)

So you were inspired by Doraemon?

You could say that. Doraemon is normally a slice of life, but in the movies they always go on some crazy adventure. The setting is out of the ordinary, but the plot and characters are usually the same. So for the Apothecary Diaries movie, you might get to see the usually sedentary Maomao run around and get into some hijinks for a change.

That kind of reminds me of the Detective Conan movies.

Absolutely. The director and I actually talked about making it a little bit like Conan. We both agreed that we needed explosions for that.

So you’re saying that there’ll be lots of explosions?

Well, the director certainly seems to like explosions… (laughs) I didn’t request explosions specifically, but I do enjoy B movies and Doraemon.

Moving on from The Apothecary Diaries, I think fans overseas might be unaware that you’ve actually written quite a lot of other series. Is there any one that you’d like to showcase?

Do you mean my anime series?

No, I mean your novels.

Oh, I see. Well, The Failure at God School is being pushed a lot right now, so I think fans will find that easiest to get into. There’s also You Can't Bluff the Sharp-Eyed Sister, which has a manga ongoing right now.

Right.

If we’re talking about my personal favorite, then I’d probably say The Son of the Immortal King, but I don’t know if fans will find that easy to get into. 

I see. That probably doesn't have an English release yet.

Correct, it doesn't. That’s why I think fans will find God School and Sharp-Eyed Sister easier to get into.

Got it. I’ll promote those on my end.

Please do!

You’re probably aware that The Apothecary Diaries is one of the most popular series overseas right now.

It’d be nice if that were true.

I think it is. I’ve been to anime events all around the world and I can say for sure that the most popular cosplay right now is Maomao. Does that place additional pressure on you as an author?

I definitely feel some pressure, but it doesn’t really affect my daily life all that much. I guess I’ve just ended up doing a lot of travelling recently. (laughs)

(laughs)

Oh, and I guess I have to wear my boar suit quite a lot these days. (laughs)

Do you keep the overseas audience in mind when writing? For example, changing certain things to make the story easier to understand.

Well, my work has always been aimed at a Japanese audience. Particularly when I was writing on Shousetsuka ni Narou, I didn’t really think that much about anything. It was only when the light novel came out that I went back and rewrote some things. 

I see.

I’m also careful to try and keep The Apothecary Diaries separate from the real world. Just as I was going to start writing about an epidemic, the pandemic happened, and the same thing happened with a locust plague…

Oh dear.

I usually wait until the dust settles in such cases. It’s best to have all the information in front of you before you start writing. Trying to keep pace with the real world is basically impossible… It’d be kind of embarrassing if I was wrong in hindsight, too. (laughs)

Am I right in thinking that this is the second time you’ve come to America?

Yes, I went to Boston in April.

Is there anything that you’ve particularly enjoyed during your time here?

Well, last time I really enjoyed the lobster rolls. I also went to this really famous art gallery. The gardens were great.

What about Chicago?

I haven’t stepped outside this room yet… (laughs)

(laughs) Well, I think you’ll be able to do some sightseeing tomorrow.

Oh wait, I’ve been to the supermarket! (laughs)

You should definitely go and check out The Bean if you can.

I will! If I don’t do anything tomorrow, then I’ll end up just going back to the airport and working… (mimes typing on a keyboard)

Finally, do you have a message for your audience overseas?

Thank you for reading, thank you for watching. I honestly never thought that The Apothecary Diaries would take off in America.

Really?

I mean, I always thought that Americans loved explosions and action, but The Apothecary Diaries is more about sitting still and thinking deeply about things. I would say that the anime in particular has done a good job at making sure there’s no dead space thanks to the direction and voice work, but I’m still taken aback by how popular it is.

Well as I said, I think that The Apothecary Diaries is the most popular series in the world right now, so I look forward to your work in the future.

Thank you.

Many thanks once again to Hyūganatsu and her team for the opportunity. You can find more of her musings on X. Don't forget to follow Uririn too!