Highlights
- Maomao's exceptional deductive skills are finally recognized by the people around her.
- Lakan presents Maomao with a perplexing case involving a puzzling will from a father to his three sons.
- The episode's pacing is a bit slow in the beginning but picks up once Maomao enters the place of interest.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Apothecary Diaries Episode 16, "Lead”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
After spending the last fifteen episodes proving her ability to solve all kinds of mysteries and strange incidents around the inner court, people around Maomao finally recognize her outstanding analytical and deduction ability. After all, from poisonous makeup powder to tampered seaweeds, it seems that there are no cases that this poison enthusiast can't tackle. So it’s only natural that somebody will eventually ask for Maomao’s help to deal with an especially puzzling case.
That is precisely what happens in episode 16. However, while it is definitely a good thing that more people recognize Maomao’s ability, the person who handed the case is none other than the sleazy and mysterious Lakan. His intentions are still unknown at this point, but at least the case is quite interesting. Thanks to that, the fans get to enjoy the most detective-esque episode thus far.
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The Most Detective-esque Episode Thus Far
Maomao has been doing detective work since the beginning of the series, on top of her regular job in the inner court. For all intents and purposes, she is a part-time detective. Mind you, she is often thrust into those troubling situations against her will. So she simply does her best to solve the mysteries as quickly as possible so that she can be free to experiment with the exotic herbs in her room.
As the story progresses, however, it becomes clear that the people around her begin to acknowledge Maomao’s stellar analytical prowess. Slowly but surely, people like Jinshi and Gaoshun started to come to Maomao to consult about any troubling matters that happened in the inner court. Sure, she gets to look around the crime scenes and conduct unofficial interviews from time to time, but for the most part, her role is limited to a part-time consulting detective.
This time around, however, things are a bit different. Lakan goes out of his way to set up a meeting with Jinshi in order to offer a perplexing case to Maomao. As it happens, a famous metalworker suddenly died before he could reveal his secret technique to his sons. However, he had prepared a will for his three sons. Upon his death, the eldest son will receive the metalworking shack with furniture that can’t be moved, the second son will receive a chest that can’t be opened, and the youngest son will receive a glass fishbowl. The father’s last message to his sons was for them to sit down together and have tea like they used to do.
A puzzling will from a father to his three sons with the promise of valuable things for those who can solve it. If you’re a fan of mystery anime, you’ll notice that those are the kinds of cases that often appear in shows like Detective Conan or Kindaichi Case Files. That’s why this episode is undoubtedly the most detective-esque story in this series.
Sassy Sherlock
One of the best things about Maomao is the fact that she is always unapologetically herself. No matter who she’s talking to or what kind of situations she gets dragged into, she always brings her sassy self to the forefront. Mind you, it’s not that she consciously tries to be sassy in front of anybody. Maomao is sassy by default. It is not a trait that she can control, and it is also why the fans love her and root for her. And she does know how to restrain herself if the situation calls for it. At least that is the case most of the time.
This attitude remains the same even after she is given the role of the sole detective for this new case. Since Maomao needs to visit the metalworker's residence in order to get a better view of this case, she gets special permission to venture outside the palace. However, she needs to be accompanied by one of Gaoshun’s subordinates, a stern-looking man named Basen.
Whenever they go to the metalworker’s house, Basen always reminds Maomao to talk to him first if she wants to do something or talk to someone. After all, Basen is technically the one who has the authority to conduct this investigation, not a poison tester from the inner court like Maomao.
However, just like how she is with Jinshi, Maomao would always do anything she pleases. She walks around the metalworker’s shack without a care in the world and she showers the three brothers with any questions that come to her mind. Basen is basically non-existent to Maomao, which adds a level of humor to what is otherwise a pretty dry situation. She may be in Sherlock mode at the time, but that trademark sassiness is still alive and well.
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Some Issues With Pacing
If there’s anything that can be critiqued about this episode, it would be the pace. The story moves at a rather slow pace, especially in the first half. For a dialogue-heavy story like this, pacing is crucial to the overall watching experience. Too slow and the viewers will get bored. Too fast and the viewers will lose the information that the story wants to convey.
Fortunately, it’s not such a major problem to the point of turning you away from the story. Yes, it is a bit slow at the start, but the story quickly picks up the pace once Maomao enters the place of interest. So it is not a deal-breaker in any way. It is still an interesting story, and if you’re a fan of The Apothecary Diaries, you’ll have a great time watching episode 16.
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