Summary
- The Apothecary Diaries is based on a novel and follows Maomao, an apothecary who uncovers the illness of the emperor's children.
- Season 2 has begun, with Maomao serving the emperor and solving cases with Jinshi. Fans can catch up on similar historical anime shows.
- Historical series like Moriarty the Patriot and Snow White with the Red Hair offer intrigue, mystery, and romance in settings reminiscent of 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.
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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 February 14, 2025, by David Heath: It's finally here. Season 2 of The Apothecary Diaries started in mid-January and had been trucking by on a weekly schedule. As of this writing, its 6th episode is due to debut on February 14th and will have 17 more to get through, which will keep fans busy through the spring and early summer.
But if they fancy more historical tales about intrigue, mystery, the occasional spot of crime-solving, and a snifter of romance here and there on top of Maomao and Jinshi's cases, this list has been updated with more choice selections. Some even stick to the medical themes, following doctors and medics, while others use a similar Ancient Chinese setting.
1 Mushi-shi
Meiji-Era Man Investigates Mysterious Phenomena
Mushi-Shi
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2005 - 2014-00-00
- Studio
- Artland
- Number of Episodes
- 46
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.65 (Season 1)
- Seasons
- 2
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Yuki Urushibara
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
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 Young Black Jack
Medical Student Starts Their Rocky Journey to Becoming a Surgical Legend
- Creator: Yoshiaka Tabata (story) Yugo Okuma (art), based on a character by Osamu Tezuka.
- Studio: Tezuka Productions.
- Streaming: Spectrum.
- 1 Season, 12 Episodes.
- MyAnimeList Score: 7.21.
When Osamu Tezuka created Black Jack, it was a contemporary story about a surgical genius with a dark side. But that was back in the 1970s, and the strip ended over 40 years ago, in 1983. So, even if it was re-adapted and played straight today, it would feel like a period piece. Then Yoshiaki Tabata and Yugo Okuma went further back in time with Young Black Jack, detailing how med student Kuro Hazama would earn the 'Black Jack' moniker by operating in 1960s Japan.
It's about as modern as a historical story can get, and it leans more on the medical aspects than mystery ones. Nonetheless, just as Maomao's medicinal knowledge is put to the test in her cases, Hazama has an uphill climb that puts more than his surgical skills to the test. From being forced to perform Japan's first heart transplant by loan sharks, to getting caught in the middle of the Vietnam War, Hazama has some difficult choices to make before he becomes 'Black Jack'.
3 Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp
Surgeon Relives Their Past Life with Their Old Memories
Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2024 - 2024
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- Maho Film
- Based On
- Manhwa
- Creator
- Yuin
- Number of Episodes
- 12
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
- MyAnimeList Score
- 7.24
Manhwa surely love their vaguely European 19th-century-esque settings, and so did Maho Film when they got to adapt Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp. Adapted from Yuin's original comic, it puts a more curious spin on the reincarnation trope. In her first life, Empress Elise de Clorance was spoiled, hot-tempered, and obsessive, which soon led to her downfall. Reborn as Aoi Takamoto, she atones in modern-day Japan (as per the anime) by becoming a renowned surgeon, until a plane crash cut her life short.
But instead of being reborn into a new life, she finds herself back as Empress Elise, but with all of Aoi's memories and medical knowledge. Now she aims to rewrite history by using her know-how to make life better for her people, bringing in new reforms that improve her nation's health and wealth. It offers some royal intrigue too, as Elise also has to find a way to overcome Prince Linden de Romanoff, the man behind her original life's premature end
4 Snow White With The Red Hair
Herbalist Escapes Forced Servitude To Make Use Of Her Skills
Snow White With The Red Hair
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- July 6, 2015
- Studio
- Bones
- Number of Episodes
- 25
- Japanese Title
- Akagami no Shirayuki-hime
- MyAnimeList Score
- 7.76 (Season 1)
- Creator
- Sorata Akiduki
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
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.
5 Gosick
Japanese Guy Solves Crimes With Mysterious Girl In The 1920s
Gosick
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- 1
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”.
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.
6 Moriarty The Patriot
Brothers Use Their Wits To Bring Down The British Nobility
Moriarty the Patriot
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2020 - 2021-00-00
- Directors
- Kazuya Nomura
- Writers
- Gō Zappa, Taku Kishimoto
- Franchise(s)
- Moriarty the Patriot
- Studio
- Production I.G
- Number of Episodes
- 24
- Japanese Title
- Yuukoku no Moriarty
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.17 (Season 1)
- Seasons
- 1
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Ryosuke Takeuchi
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
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.
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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.
7 Emma: A Victorian Romance
Interclass Love In 1800s England
Emma: A Victorian Romance
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2005 - 2007
- Studio
- Pierrot
- Number of Episodes
- 24
- Japanese Title
- Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma
- MyAnimeList Score
- 7.61
- Seasons
- 2
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Kaoru Mori
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, YouTube
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.
8 The Rose Of Versailles
Romantic Drama Leads To The End Of The French Royal Family
The Rose of Versailles
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 10, 1979
- Studio
- Tokyo Movie Shinsha
- Number of Episodes
- 40
- Japanese Title
- Versailles no Bara
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.33
- Seasons
- 1
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Riyoko Ikeda
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.
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.
9 Undead Murder Farce
A Half-Demon, Decapitated Head, And Her Maid Seek Revenge Across Europe
Undead Murder Farce
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- July 6, 2023
- Number of Episodes
- 13
- Creator
- Yugo Aosaki
- Studio
- Lapin Track
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
- Based On
- Novel
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.
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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.
10 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.