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.

Related

The Apothecary Diaries: 5 Reasons To Watch

The Apothecary Diaries isn't necessarily on every anime lover's radar this season, but it should be.

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 on April 29th, 2024, by David Heath: The Apothecary Diaries' first season concluded at the end of March, leaving the door open for future episodes. Toho and OLM have confirmed that the show will be receiving a second season, but it won't be ready to debut until 2025, so, fans will have to wait a while before they can see Maomao and Jinshi solve more mysteries.

Luckily, there's no shortage of similar shows to keep those fans occupied in the meantime. Thus, this list of historical anime like The Apothecary Diaries has been updated with more choice selections, from old school classics to recent top runners, with a few hidden gems among the bunch.

12 Mushishi

MyAnimeList Score: 8.66

• Creator: Yuki Urushibara
• Studio: Artland
• Streaming: Available on Hulu (1 season) and Crunchyroll (2 seasons)
• 2 Seasons, 46 Episodes, and 2 OVAs

Mushishi 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 differences are 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 it means to be moral and/or human, as well as what the mushi are like.

11 Snow White With The Red Hair

MyAnimeList Score: 7.76

• Creator: Sorata Akizuki
• Studio: Bones
• Streaming: Available on Crunchyroll and Hulu
• 2 Seasons, 24 Episodes

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.

10 Gosick

MyAnimeList Score: 8.05

• Creator: Kazuki Sakuraba (writer), Hinata Takeda (illustrator)
• Studio: Bones
• Streaming: Available on Crunchyroll
• 1 Season, 24 Episodes

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”.

Related

18 Best Gothic Anime Series, Ranked

Looking for the dark themes and creepy aesthetics of gothic anime? These series feature characters, storylines, and visuals that don't disappoint.

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.

9 Moriarty The Patriot

MyAnimeList Score: 8.17

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 plot 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.

8 Emma: A Victorian Romance

MyAnimeList Score: 7.61

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.

7 Undead Murder Farce

MyAnimeList Score: 7.90

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.

Related

10 Fantasy Anime To Watch If You Love Undead Murder Farce

Undead Murder Farce has captured the attention of fantasy anime fans everywhere. For those who love it, here are a few other shows worth checking out.

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.

6 House Of Five Leaves

MyAnimeList Score: 7.77

• Creator: Natsume Ono
• Studio: Manglobe
• Streaming: Available on Viewster, Retro Crush, and Cineverse
• 1 Season, 12 Episodes

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.

5 Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits

MyAnimeList Score: 7.54

• Creator: Midori Yuma
• Studio: Gonzo
• Streaming: Available on Crunchyroll
• 1 Season, 26 Episodes

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.

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 ayakashi's hard hearts towards humanity.

4 Fushigi Yûgi

MyAnimeList Score: 7.61

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

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.

Related

10 Great Isekai Anime That Predate Sword Art Online

The Isekai genre gained popularity thanks to Sword Art Online, but many great series came before it that are worth watching.

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 in order 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.

3 The Heike Story

MyAnimeList Score: 7.79

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

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.

2 Raven Of The Inner Palace

MyAnimeList Score: 7.52

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

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.

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.

1 The Story Of Saiunkoku

MyAnimeList Score: 7.89

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 to the emperor than she thought.

More

10 Best Historical Romance Anime, Ranked

These historical romance anime prove that love stories can resonate no matter the setting.