Best Historical Anime Like The Apothecary Diaries

Historical mystery dramas can be a neat combination of genres, especially if they’re like The Apothecary Diaries. Based on Natsu Hyūga’s novel, it tells the story of Maomao, an apothecary taken from her home in the red-light district to serve the emperor. At first, she planned to keep to herself, but after learning the emperor’s children were critically ill, she examined them in secret and discovered why they were sick.

This was only the start of her adventures, as Jinshi, an influential eunuch, pulls her into one case or another that requires her medicinal, botanical, and chemical knowledge. After gaining a light novel and manga adaptation, it made the leap to anime, with a series that’s since completed its first season. Until its second season arrives, fans may like to check out these similar historical anime shows.

Updated November 10, 2024 by David Heath: The next season of The Apothecary Diaries finally has a release date. As announced in its new trailer, it’ll hit the schedules and Crunchyroll on January 10, 2025, and run for two cours like the first season. So, fans won’t have to suffer from Maomao withdrawal for too long. That said, there’s still time for fans to check out these TAD-like shows, ranked by how well they relate to the series.

There’s plenty here if they fancy more historical tales about intrigue, mystery, the occasional spot of crime-solving, and a snifter of romance here and there. Only now it’s been updated with some more entries that have caught TAD fans’ attention during the show’s dry spell and could be enough to keep them from reading ahead via TAD’s manga and light novels until January.

1 Mushi-shi

Meiji-Era Man Investigates Mysterious Phenomena

Mushi-shi is one of the most acclaimed shows on this list, though it’s the least like The Apothecary Diaries. It’s similar enough, as it’s set in the past, and its lead, Ginko, also seeks to help people by using his brain. The difference is that it’s set in Japan sometime between the end of its feudal Edo period and the start of its modernization during the Meiji era. Ginko is a man who, instead of knowing about medicine, is studying mushi.

Mushi are the most primitive form of life, yet are responsible for all sorts of phenomena due to their ability to mimic other things in the natural world. Few people can even perceive them, with Ginko being one of these rare sorts. He travels the country aiming to use his knowledge as a ‘Mushi Master’ (or ‘Mushi-Shi’) to help people afflicted by these creatures. But its storytelling is more complex than ‘hero stops evil bugs,’ as its mysteries delve into what the mushi are like, and what it means to be moral or human.

2 Snow White With The Red Hair

Herbalist Escapes Forced Servitude To Make Use Of Her Skills

TAD is technically a fantasy series, but its fictional nation of Ri is based so heavily on Imperial China that it may as well be the old country. Snow White with the Red Hair has a more typical medieval European look to it, but it shares quite a few things in common with TAD. Namely, in how they’re both about forthright women who get caught up in royal drama.

Shirayuki grew up in the Kingdom of Tanbarun, where she set up shop as a herbalist. Though she catches the amorous attention of Prince Raj, she’d rather flee the country than become his concubine. She ends up taking residence in the nearby Kingdom of Clarines, where she saves Prince Zen after he’s poisoned. She becomes the court herbalist, where she helps others with her medical skills and finds love in the process.

3 Gosick

Japanese Guy Solves Crimes With Mysterious Girl In The 1920s

Compared to the other series on this list, Gosick (based on the Japanese pronunciation of ‘gothic’) practically takes place in the modern day. Set in 1924, Kazuya Kujō is sent from Japan to the fictional Alpine nation of Sauville to study at St Marguerite Academy. He’s treated with suspicion as, aside from racism, the school has a superstition that says, “the traveler that comes in spring brings death with him”.

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The only ‘friend’ he makes is Victorique de Blois, an elegant beauty with a genius intellect, and an abrasive personality. He ends up as the unwitting Watson to her Sherlock Holmes as the two solve crimes together, where he often suffers from her barbed remarks. Nonetheless, the two gradually warm to each other as time goes on. Especially when Victorique’s past comes back to bite her.

4 Moriarty The Patriot

Brothers Use Their Wits To Bring Down The British Nobility

Speaking of Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty the Patriot essentially tells the classic detective stories from the perspective of its main villain. Kind of. Set during the late 19th century, it sees Albert Moriarty adopt two orphans as his brothers, and the trio plots to bring down the corrupt British nobility. The middle brother, William, is the most ambitious, coming up with elaborate schemes to create the perfect crimes.

The only obstacle in his way is, of course, Sherlock Holmes. When he figures out one of William’s plots, William frames him for murder just to see how he’ll wriggle out of it. From there, the two end up forming an odd relationship where William tries to use Sherlock in his plans to reform society, while Sherlock would rather not be involved yet still sees William as a friend. In the show, Watson’s accounts become the classic Sherlock Holmes novels.

5 Emma: A Victorian Romance

Interclass Love In 1800s England

Moriarty the Patriot has the historical setting and mystery elements of The Apothecary Diaries, though it has more bromance than romance. By contrast, and as its title suggests, Emma: A Victorian Romance has romance and history, but not really any mystery-solving. It makes up for that by being a surprisingly realistic take on 19th-century Britain and its social classes.

Emma was kidnapped from her Yorkshire village to serve in a London brothel, but she managed to escape. Left on the streets, she’s taken in by Mrs Stownar to become her maid in training. Things only get complicated when William, the heir to a rich middle-class family, falls for her rather than someone in his caste. With his family urging against them, but their friends supporting them, Emma and William’s love becomes a complicated affair.

6 The Rose Of Versailles

Romantic Drama Leads To The End Of The French Royal Family

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Emma: A Victorian Romance shows what happens when a mixed-class relationship all works out. The Rose of Versailles is what happens when it all falls apart. It doesn’t have any mystery solving, but it takes things back to royalty as it follows Marie Antoinette in the court of Versailles, and Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, a woman raised as a man to take her father’s place in the Royal Guard. It offers a web of romantic intrigue, as palace servant Andre Grandier has an unrequited love for Oscar, as do most of the women in court.

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But Oscar prefers Count Axel von Fersen, who’s in the midst of an affair with Marie Antoinette. His departure drives the future Queen of France to overspend, and the combination of Antoinette’s ignorant attitude, the loss of love, the stress of acting like a man to get ahead in life, and the suffering of the common people drives Oscar to wonder if she’s serving the wrong side. If Emma and TAD treat royalty too nicely for one’s tastes, The Rose of Versailles will give them something grittier. It’s even available on free streaming sites like PlutoTV, Plex, and Freevee.

7 Undead Murder Farce

A Half-Demon, Decapitated Head, And Her Maid Seek Revenge Across Europe

Undead Murder Farce pretty much does what it says in the title, as it’s a farce featuring a wild mix of horror, action-adventure, and 19th-century novel characters rather than a grounded drama. Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty turn up, as does Phileas Fogg from Around the World in 80 Days, the Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera, and real notorious figures from history like Jack the Ripper and Aleister Crowley.

But the main heroes of the story are a duo wronged by a mysterious villain known only as M. They decapitated the immortal yōkai Aya, reducing her to a talking head. Then they injected oni blood into the oni hunter Tsugaru, which gave him extra strength but doomed him to eventually fully becoming a demon. With Aya’s maid Shizuku in tow, the two head to Europe to find M, get Aya’s body back, and get revenge.

8 House Of Five Leaves

Humble Samurai Questions His Morals After Helping Bandits

• Creator: Natsume Ono
• Studio: Manglobe
• Streaming: Available on Viewster, Retro Crush, and AsianCrush
• 1 Season, 12 Episodes
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.75

All these adventures in Europe are fine enough, but if fans are after something closer to TAD, they may prefer something closer geographically too. House of Five Leaves heads back East but goes a little too far past China and into feudal Japan, where the ronin samurai Akitsu seeks work. He’s fantastic with a sword, though his timid personality doesn’t make him particularly desirable to employers.

He gets a breakthrough when a man called Yaichi hires him as a bodyguard for his group of bandits, the Five Leaves. At first, Akitsu is unaware of their illegal activities, but once he finds out, he’s split between leaving them on moral grounds or staying to earn some decent cash. He eventually stays as, aside from the money, there’s a mystery behind Yaichi and his past that he wants to figure out.

9 Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits

Girl Uses Her Business Knowledge To Bring Peace Between Humans And Spirits

Staying in Japan, Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits combines TAD‘s premise of a young girl taken to a new world (figuratively or literally) with Mushishi‘s folklore. Yet instead of solving mysteries or examining the nature of people and the paranormal, Aoi uses her keen cookery skills to save her bacon from the ayakashi (spirits from ‘the hidden realm’) who’d otherwise turn her into their next meal. Usually, ayakashi are invisible to ordinary people, but Aoi inherited the ability to see them from her grandfather.

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He taught her how to get along with them in life, but in death saddled her with ¥100,000,000’s worth of debt to the ogre-god Odanna. Dragging her to the Hidden Realm, Odanna originally wanted her to marry him to settle the debt, but Aoi countered that with another offer: opening up a restaurant within Odanna’s inn. Through her meals, she aims to clear every single yen of debt, and in the process, soften the ayakashis’ hard hearts toward humanity.

10 Ascendance Of A Bookworm

Woman Reincarnated As Little Girl Starts A Library In A Fantasy World

Ascendance of a Bookworm doesn’t seem all that similar to TAD on the surface. Snow White with the Red Hair at least has a medical protagonist. Ascendance‘s Myne is a sickly 5-year-old girl who likes reading. Yet when TAD fans ask people online for a similar series, Ascendance is one of the most recommended titles. It is good, though what’s its connection to TAD? It’s mostly in how their female leads make their worlds better places through their knowledge, with Maomao using her medical skills in royal courts, and Myne giving literacy to the masses.

In her original life, Myne was Urano, a bibliophile college student who died before she could achieve her dream of becoming a librarian. Her last wish was to be reincarnated in a world where she could read books forever. Being a little kid in a fantasy world where books were too expensive for common folk, who often didn’t know how to read anyway, would seem like the opposite of that. But since she retains Urano’s old memories, Myne sets about printing and publishing her books. Like Maomao, she’s making things better, but through literature and education.

11 Yona Of The Dawn

Noble Turned Renegade Learns Just How Tough Life Is In Her Nation

The original Yona of the Dawn manga is still ongoing, but the anime wrapped up in 2015 after 24 episodes and a 3-part OVA. It’s kind of the inverse of TAD, which saw a girl from the slums rise to the royal court via her medical skills. Yona sees its titular character live a life of luxury in Kouka’s royal palace, only to be forced out into the wilderness when she witnesses her childhood friend, Su-won, kill her father and declare a coup d’état in the kingdom.

With only her other childhood friend and bodyguard, Hak, in tow, her only hope lies in reuniting the four legendary warriors who aided the nation’s founder, King Hiryuu, in cleansing the land of evil. On the run, Yona has to learn how to defend herself with a sword and bow, increase her strength, and open her eyes to what Kouka is like outside her palace.

12 Fushigi Yûgi

Girls Unite Warriors In A Fantasy World To Find A Way Home

• Creator: Yuu Watase
• Studio: Pierrot
• Streaming: Available on Crunchyroll
• 1 Season, 52 Episodes, plus 1 OVA
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.61

90s otaku may remember Fushigi Yûgi quite fondly, as its popularity among early fansubbers was enough to get it a full VHS and DVD release from Pioneer (now Geneon Entertainment) back in the day. Like TAD, it’s a historical fantasy story set in a world that resembles ancient China. Unlike TAD, it’s an early isekai story that sees Miaka and Yui end up in ‘The Universe of the Four Gods’ by getting pulled into a book about the titular realm.

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Yui manages to get sent back to the real world, but Miaka remains trapped in the book. She’s destined to bring together the Seven Warriors of Suzaku to summon the famous phoenix, who’ll then grant three wishes. Miaka hopes that, by doing this, she’ll get her chance to go home too. However, her adventures in the realm, and her burgeoning romance with the hero Tanahome, are being recorded in the book, making her old friend Yui jealous with each sentence, which the rival Warriors of Seiryu are willing to use to their advantage.

13 Ooku: The Inner Chambers

Disease Turns A Patriarchy Into A Matriarchy

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• Creator: Fumi Yoshinaga
• Studio: Studio Deen
• Streaming: Netflix
• 1 Season, 10 Episodes
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.10

There are many stories about commoners managing to ascend to privilege in fiction, particularly if they’re smart young women who catch the eye of a noble. It’s a popular trope in romances, and in stories that demonstrate how much extra effort women usually have to put in for half the praise. However, what if that premise was turned on its head? Where, instead of a woman trying to survive in a predominantly male royal court, it’s about a man doing the same in a largely female one?

Ooku: The Inner Chambers does that by afflicting Edo Period Japan with a plague that kills 80% of the male population. Women are immune, and thus end up taking over most jobs, from family businesses to the shogunate itself. The remaining 20% of men end up becoming walking bargaining chips for arranged marriages and making babies, or forced into sex work. For Arikoto, the former monk is pressed to serve the shogun at court as a potential concubine, only to become more valuable to them as a person.

14 The Heike Story

Head Of Doomed Family Tries To Atone For Their Crimes

• Director: Naoko Yamada
• Studio: Science SARU
• Streaming: Available on Crunchyroll
• 1 Season, 11 Episodes
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.78

Fushigi Yûgi was loosely based on the Chinese legend of the ‘Four Auspicious Beasts’, whose traits and themes often turn up in Asian media (e.g. the four leads of Yakuza 4, Maria’s animal companions in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, etc). In turn, The Tale of the Heike has inspired a broad range of stories, from Namco’s old-school arcade game Genpei Touma Den to Koei-Tecmo’s Warriors Orochi series. It’s an old epic written by many hands detailing the Genpei War, where the Minamoto Clan defeated the Taira (or Heike) Clan for control of Japan.

It has no set author, as it was told by traveling bards for centuries before it was written down, with some details differing from history. The Heike Story uses this framework to tell its tale via Biwa, a young bard whose father was killed by the Taira. Their head, Shigemori, knows this, as his special sight lets him see the ghosts of those killed in war. In turn, Biwa has a similar power that lets her see the future, and she predicts that the Taira will fall. Shigemori adopts her in the hopes she can possibly avert this fate, but all she can do is record what happens to them.

15 The Tree In the Sunlight

Traditional Samurai Values Clash With Meiji Modernism In Japan

• Creator: Osamu Tezuka
• Studio: Madhouse
• Streaming: DVD Only
• 1 Season, 25 Episodes
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.11

Tracking down The Tree in the Sunlight, or Hidamari no Ki, might be difficult since it never got released outside Japan. It’s a bit surprising, given it’s based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of the medium itself. Even so, it wasn’t as groundbreaking as Astro Boy and didn’t have the demonic drama of Dororo. However, TAD fans might see some similarities to their favorite show, as one of its leads is a medical expert working for an old Asian regime. But this time, it’s in Japan and for the ailing Tokugawa Shogunate.

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Ryoan Tezuka (based on Osamu’s actual great-grandfather) is a womanizing medical student eager to learn about Western medicine from physician Koan Ogata. His modern ideals contrast with Manjiro Ibuya, an old-school traditionalist samurai. Their lives intertwine with each other as they help and hinder each other, particularly in trying to woo the priestess O-Seki. There’s romance, japes, and literal earth-shaking drama, but it’s ultimately an allegory for the march of time. The shogunate will fall, though just because something’s new doesn’t mean it’s better.

16 Onmyouji

Expert Spiritualist And Skeptical Noble Solve Crimes In Ancient Japan

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• Creator: Baku Yumemakura (original novels)
• Studio: Marvy Jack
• Streaming: Netflix
• 1 Season, 13 Episodes
• MyAnimeList Score: 6.95

The MAL rating isn’t anything to write home about, but Onmyouji‘s premise is quite close to TAD‘s. They’re about a new addition to the court proving their worth by working with a more established figure to solve cases. However, it might be more accurate to say TAD resembles Onmyouji, as the anime is based on a series of novels written in the 1980s. Then it’s based on a real person, Abe no Seimei, who served the emperor as a spiritual advisor, or onmyouji, through onmyoudo, a more Taoist/Buddhist/Confucian-inspired version of astrology.

As such, it’s more supernatural than TAD, as Abe works with Minamoto Hiromasa to investigate mysterious incidents that occur within and around the capital. They form an interesting odd couple, as Abe is eccentric and ethereal, while Minamoto is blunt and earthy, but they click together well. Minamoto’s emotional directness makes Abe more interested in human nature, while Abe’s onmyoudo skills help Minamoto against demons and other paranormal forces.

17 Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Political Intrigue, Dark Conspiracies, And Looming Threats In A Kingdom Of Were-Ravens

• Creator: Chisato Abe (original novels), Natsumi Matsuzaki (manga adaptation)
• Studio: Pierrot
• Streaming: Crunchyroll
• 1 Season, 20 Episodes
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.07

Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master is also based on a series of novels, but leans more into the ‘fantasy’ part of ‘historical fantasy’ than Onmyouji. As paranormal as it was, it was still set in feudal Japan, unlike Yatagarasu‘s Kingdom of Yamauchi. It’s a realm that resembles the Edo period, except its people can turn into three-legged crows called yatagarasu. It’s split into four sections -North, South, East, and West – and they don’t always get along.

Yukiya, the son of one of the Northern leaders, is sent to become the attendant to Crown Prince Wakamiya. He isn’t all keen on his new position and wonders why he of all people was sent to tend to the handsome but eccentric Wakamiya. He learns he has more of a connection to the crown prince than he recalls, and that he could play a pivotal role in aiding Wakamiya against his courtly rivals, solving the mysterious murders occurring within the kingdom, and against a new threat that could destroy the whole realm looming on the horizon.

18 Raven Of The Inner Palace

Deposed Noble Disguises Self As Exorcist To Survive In Royal Court

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• Creator: Kōko Shirakawa
• Studio: Bandai-Namco Pictures
• Streaming: Available on Crunchyroll
• 1 Season, 13 Episodes
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.54

Heading back across the sea, Raven of the Inner Palace uses a Chinese setting like TAD but is set in more ancient times. It still features a woman who works in the Royal Court to cure people. The difference is that Liu Shouxue is the successor to the ‘Raven’ Consort’ title, and she treats them after they’ve died by summoning their spirits and exorcising/purifying them in order to help them move on peacefully. Yet her work intimidates her colleagues.

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To them, she’s either some immortal sage or a revenant ready to curse anyone who wrongs her. In truth, she was a member of the old Luan dynasty who was adopted by the prior Raven Consort and must dye her naturally silver hair black to keep her identity secret. If anyone else finds out the truth, she’ll be executed as a threat to the state. As handy as she is to the court, she knows her fate always hangs in the balance.

19 The Story Of Saiunkoku

Woman Overcomes Her Realm’s Sexism By Teaching The Emperor How To Run The Country

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Raven of the Inner Palace also has a romantic subplot where its Emperor has feelings for Liu and tries to help her keep her disguise, but Liu must stay single to serve as the Raven Consort. It’s a good choice for people who like darker tales, while those who prefer something a little lighter may prefer The Story of Saiunkoku.

Shūrei is part of a fallen noble family who dreams of serving a civil position in the Chinese-inspired fictional nation of Saiunkoku. However, government posts are forbidden to women. But then she gets an offer where she’ll be paid 500 gold coins if she successfully teaches the new emperor how to rule responsibly. She readily accepts as she finally gets to be part of the royal court, only to discover there’s more to the job and the emperor than she thought.

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