The Apothecary Diaries panel at NYCC was hosted by Lauren Moore of Crunchyroll. In the introduction, she mentioned the Apothecary Diaries anime has won five anime awards in the past year, and the manga is available on Crunchyroll Manga. Then she introduced the voice actors, Aoi Yuki who voices Maomao (as well as Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica and many other lead roles), and Takeo Otsuka who voices Jinshi (as well as Kakeru from Run with the Wind and Tsukasa from Medalist). Photography and recording of the panel was forbidden to protect the privacy of the voice actors.
When the voice actors entered, the room cheered. “So loud!” Aoi Yuki said, laughing. “I could hear your voices from the back.”
Otsuka observed that he could see a lot of Maomao cosplayers in the room, but not as many Jinshis. “You know how to enjoy this place, and that makes us enjoy it too.”
The two had voice acted in collaborations throughout the year, but are excited to be fully back in the world of the series. “Fans are expanding and even people who’ve never watched anime before are watching it, and that’s really exciting,” said Yuki.
“We’re excited, and we’re excited for you to watch it too,” said Otsuka.
Otsuka said he honestly never expected the show to get as huge as it did, but feeling the passion of the fans makes him want to work harder.
The actors also did some live line reading of iconic scenes from the first two seasons of the show. For the first scene, Yuki read the scene where Maomao tastes poison as a poison tester for Gyokuyou at the imperial banquet.
When asked about Maomao’s unique charms as a character, Yuki said that most characters start out young and flawed and grow as the show progresses, but Maomao starts out already mature, and her presence lends stability to the series. The appeal of the series is the human mind and the heart behind the mysteries that Maomao uncovers.
The voice actors then read the lines for the iconic frog scene in season 2, where Jinshi and Maomao are trapped in a cave and Maomao climbs on Jinshi’s shoulders to get out before getting distracted by a frog and falling off.
When discussing the scene, Otsuka says it’s the first time Maomao and Jinshi are closed physically, and also emotionally, at least from Jinshi’s perspective. Yuki says that Maomao tries to stay away from Jinshi, but fate has different ideas, and the frog has done a really good job.
They then acted out a three-minute clip from the second episode of season 3, which had just aired.
Moore asked, “How does it feel to be back in the world of the Apothecary Diaries after such a long time?”
Yuki said it’s nice seeing how the characters’ relationship developed, and Otsuka said coming back to the episodes feels very right.
When asked how their relationship has changed since season 1, Yuki said that Otsuka “has been exactly like this since day 1.” He’s a perfect business partner, and easy to rely on. Otsuka, in turn, said that Yuki was a reliable senior, and that as long as she’s in the booth, it’ll be okay.
When asked about what to look forward to in season 3, Yuki and Otsuka both mentioned new characters, new backstories being revealed, and new relationships developing. Otsuka said to pay close attention to clues and foreshadowing, while Yuki mentioned the opening animation is also beautiful.
In regards to the movie, Yuki said it’s a good entry point to the Apothecary Diaries world, and Otsuka said it had lots of dynamic scenes and unexpected action scenes.
To close out the panel, a Crunchyroll representative gave away two signed shikishi to the fans who cheered the loudest.
The actors thanked the audience for attending the panel, and Yuki mentioned the directors’ chairs panelists sit on were difficult for her to get in and out of. “I’ve always seen people sitting in these panel chairs on Instagram, and it’s my first time getting to sit in them, and it turns out they’re so hard to sit on,” Yuki lamented.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from NYCC ’26.
