©日向夏・主婦の友インフォス/ 「薬屋のひとりごと」製作委員会
Even though this episode is titled “Suicide or Murder,” the answer to that question is neither difficult nor important. Neither of these deaths had any significant significance—the murdered official was poisoned with salt or the murdered woman was waiting (no one believed it was a suicide despite the official verdict awake, right?), drowning people are all symptoms of a political disease. more important to themselves. While the lady’s motives are a bit clearer – there are people who believe she was involved in the poisoning at the party or at least knew too much – what’s more important is that there are people in the palace who believe they can murder with impunity. At that point, it hardly mattered whose side they were on; having murderers close to the emperor and his concubines is not a good thing.
The focus on Jinshi this week seems to support this idea. Gaoshun was Jinshi’s keenest observer, and whatever his feelings about the young man’s obsession with Maomao, he was more worried about Jinshi not acting like “the so-called Jinshi”. It is a very complicated expression: the implication seems to be that “Jinshi” is not a person but an outfit that our Jinshi wore. “Jinshi” acts a certain way, is not attached to his toys and does not pout or get too emotional. When all that was thrown out the window, Gaoshun expressed concern that the mask would slip. On the contrary, it implies that “Jinshi” is not really something that can be widely known, and that Gaoshun’s problems with Maomao are less based on her and more on how she makes Jinshi react to me. It seemed Gaoshun had never seen Jinshi fall in love with someone before, and he was also unprepared to deal with his master’s teenage antics.
This is an episode that’s more about what’s happening on the periphery than center stage. In addition to Jinshi’s questions, we get a remarkable montage towards the end – over a lovely song and contrasted with images of poisonous berries, we see Maomao thinking about all the women dead women she met and the people who would become their killers. A few men appear in the photos, but it is a story about the forgotten and marginalized, those considered worthless in their society and the observations of Maomao about them. Interspersed among them are a few non-flashback scenes, and they all feature the same woman with long, slightly disheveled hair, along with a very clear image of Go pieces on a chess board. . Why these were left here is not stated, although the inclusion of the image of Maomao sitting in (presumably) the annex from last week may indicate some sort of connection there.
It’s worth thinking about how and why this ties into the two deaths in the episode. This man’s death is being intensively investigated and Jinshi is even mourning him. The woman’s death was barely investigated (you can’t tell me the quack doctor did a thorough autopsy) and then declared suicide despite the evidence. Like the other women sitting and admiring the berries, she is considered inferior, disposable, and not worth mourning. Ultimately, Maomao’s request to Jinshi is not about her being suicidal or wanting to die, but rather an acknowledgment that as a woman, she is also disposable. What seemed terrible to Jinshi was a reasonable plan to her. He may be interested in her, but is anyone else? After all, she’s just a girl and that doesn’t count for much.
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The Apothecary’s Diary is now streaming on Crunchyroll.