OP2: “Kusushiki (クスシキ)” by Mrs. GREEN APPLE
A new season, a new OP and ED for Kusuriya no Hitorigoto. Lakan showing up in the OP is certainly a good thing, as the series has missed his presence. As for the episode itself it was a low-key affair to say the least, though Kusuriya always sneaks a bit of plot-relevant stuff in at the end of those eps. This series is like Kuroshitsuji in that it has one obvious Achilles’ heel. In Black Butler’s case it’s the mangaka’s tendency to camp things up to irritating levels with characters like Grell. Here it’s the obsessive moeblobbing which we saw this week. It’s usually managed to a tolerable degree but was totally over the top here.
The plot, such as it was, saw Xiaolan stressing over her term of employment ending in six months. She’s not from a rich family (obviously) and has no obvious prospects either professionally or matrimonially, so she asks Mao onee-san for help. Maomao is understandably reluctant to refer her to Verdigris House, but Shishui pops up (she always pops up) and offers her own suggestion. The baths, she says, are a great networking opportunity – especially since the court lady who used to do massages and such left recently (for a job she got through post-bath networking).
Shishui’s appearance suggests that Loulan is about to have a larger role, but that’s not coming to fruition just yet. There are some amusing bits here, like Xiaomao introducing the girls to shampoo and unleashing her revolutionary depilatory technique (I confess I’d never seen it before) on the unsuspecting court ladies. Maomao is a bit concerned about getting permission to spend time on these excursions, but clever Gyoukuyou immediately sees the possibilities for intelligence gathering. And the idea is certainly valid in practice – people do relax in those sorts of situations, and their tongues tend to wag.
The three not-twin sister friends of Gyoukuyou continue to be suspicious of Maomao, and the eldest voices this rather bluntly. But when Maomao mentions her trips to the bath this is seen as an opportunity to get the youngest, Sekiu, out and mixing more (she’s the shy one it seems). So Sekiu accompanies the trio on their next massage day. And it’s not Loulan but Lishu who emerges as a player in this arc. It’s odd for a high-ranker like Lihua to be at the communal baths in the first place (they have private ones in their pavilions) but Lishu keeps turning up.
Lishu is an odd duck among her group. A misfit, a political football, not favored by the current emperor as a simple act of decency on his part, but one which effectively isolates her further. Maomao has observed that the staff at the Diamond Pavillion is no great shakes and probably bullies the little lady, and always taken a certain pity on her. A meeting in the baths allows Xiaomao to make an overture to the timid Lishu (razor rash is no joke, especially in those days), and soon a tentative connection is established.
Lishu brings a ghost story along with her – that’s the reason she’s been avoiding the baths in her own pavillion. Ghost stories are part and parcel of The Apothecary Diaries of course. They tend to be harmless “Nancy Drew” affairs, but once in a while a key component of the underlying plot is stealthily slipped in too. Hopefully things start to happen a little more energetically next week.
ED2: “Hitorigoto (ひとりごと)” by Omoinotake
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