©日向夏・主婦の友インフォス／「薬屋のひとりごと」製作委員会
The aftermath of war is never pretty. Nothing sums that up quite like Maomao sleeping beside the wrapped bodies of the Shi clan’s children, covered in bruises. When Jinshi finds her and says that he’ll nap there beside her, she exclaims that the place is unclean, a word here meant to indicate that it is contaminated by death rather than mere dirt. When Jinshi points out that Maomao was told never to touch the dead by her father, she more or less shrugs it off. While we could read it as her hoping against hope that the children will unfurl from their chrysalis-like shrouds like butterflies, I think that in the moment, she feels that staying with the dead, contaminating herself, is all that she deserves. She was right there, and she couldn’t stop Loulan from killing the children. Becoming unclean by their sides is her form of self-flagellation.
That makes it even more symbolic when she realizes that the children aren’t dead, just temporarily made to look it. Her desperate rending of their shrouds is the dream of all parents of dead children, the reason why the Victorians had bells on their graves in case of a living burial…and, for Maomao, an absolution. She didn’t fail them. They weren’t killed on her watch. It doesn’t even matter that she doesn’t know the promise Loulan secured from Jinshi, because not only are they alive, but their living redeems Loulan as well, showing that under the makeup and mask, she was Shisui all along.
Or maybe she was Tamamo. The post-credits scene, where we get confirmation that the children aren’t the only ones to rise from the dead, shows us a young woman who is finally free. Wearing her hair like Suirei’s and going where the tides take her, she uses the hairpin Maomao gave her as a way to become fully herself. I think that Maomao would approve – the pin saved her life by stopping the bullet (and presumably the snowbanks did the rest), but trading it allows Tamamo to confirm who she is: a happy young woman who loves insects. Her new name isn’t just a fresh start; it’s the true beginning of her life. Tamamo can be happy because Loulan and the rest of the Shi clan died. She’s not reinventing herself so much as reclaiming it.
Maomao might say she’s doing the same, returning to Verdigris House. Although she seems to miss the rear palace a little (mostly Xiaolan), she needs time at home to process and heal. Chou-u (formerly Kyou-u) is a reminder of what she went through, and I think she has some mixed feelings about him. Like Tamamo, he’s gotten a new name and a new life, one he seems pretty happy with, and the loss of his memories is probably more a gift than anything. But his presence is a reminder nonetheless, a human-shaped memento mori, like the scar on Jinshi’s formerly perfect cheek.
Speaking of Jinshi, his patience with Maomao’s obliviousness, which at this point I believe to be at least a little assumed rather than organic, is just about over. Is the presumed mausoleum of the Shi children the best place to make his move? Hell no. Neither is Maomao’s place of work, although at least that’s in a brothel. Both of those situations show that Jinshi is done dancing around his feelings, and while I don’t love the way he’s also done putting up with Maomao’s reticence (consent’s not hard, sir), it does make sense in the context of the time and place. And at this point, Maomao isn’t fully averse to his affections, even if she’s still sorting out, or maybe figuring out her own feelings. Plus, we all know that if she didn’t want him to touch her, she could, and would, make him stop.
And so ends another season of The Apothecary Diaries. It’s a good ending because it’s hopeful – Ah-Duo will be a good mother to the Shi children and sister to Suirei, Chou-u will likely be happy in his new life, and Maomao and Jinshi are moving ahead, albeit haltingly. Gyokuyou has a son and will become empress, and even Maomao’s dad has a cushy new job, complete with a kitten. All that’s left is to hope it won’t be too long until we meet all of them again.
Fair winds and following seas, Tamamo. I hope you find a future where you can be yourself.
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The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 is currently streaming on
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