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The Best Anime Series of 2025 (So Far)
A subgenre notorious for junk has against these odds given us two standouts.
Chief writer and director Norihiro Naganuma comfortably settles back into the rhythm set by the first season, picking up on the fun bickering and (mostly one-sided) romantic tension between apothecary turned unofficial investigator Maomao and Jinshi (the emperor’s younger brother, masquerading as a simple administrator and court eunuch). Along with that bigger picture, The Apothecary Diaries still gets a lot of mileage out of highlighting the little things, like the more forward-thinking practices within an ancient court (for example, the first episode of season two begins with Maomao proposing proper sex education, the next considers the impact of drainage systems on palace health). To anyone familiar with the genre, which often goes to outrageous places, this is bog standard, but From Bureaucrat to Villainess puts a fun spin on it simply by having the main character be a very normal and respectful guy who, despite his vast reserves of otaku knowledge, only kind of knows how things work in this particular video-game world.
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