Crunchyroll started streaming an English dub for The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 on Friday, one day after announcing it. Emi Lo voices Maomao and Kaiji Tang voices Jinshi.
The dub is the part of the season a lot of viewers were waiting on. Season 3 began airing in Japan on October 2, and the subtitled simulcast has been running since then, so the English audio track arrives about two weeks into the broadcast.
The dub cast
- Emi Lo as Maomao
- Kaiji Tang as Jinshi
- Jad Saxton as White Lady
- Suzie Yeung as Shisui
- Anne Yatco as Kyou-u
- Nazeeh Tarsha as Guard
- Wendy Powell as Madam
- Oscar Seung as Ukyou
- Seth Fuentes as Lihaku
- Eli Farmer as Onsou
- Monica Rial as Narrator
- Rebecca Danae as Meimei
- Caleb Yen as Lahan
- Alex Mai as Emperor
- Ricco Fajardo as Lakan
- Reshel Mae as Lishu
- Charles Nguyen as Rikuson
- Seth Magill as Uryuu
- Phil Parsons as Gyokuen
The cast list runs deep for a reason. Shisui, Kyou-u, Ukyou and Gyokuen are characters who matter more as the story moves deeper into the rear palace’s internal politics, and Crunchyroll is staffing them rather than leaving them for later.
Where the season stands
Season 3 adapts further into Hyuganatsu’s light novel series, illustrated by Touko Shino. The premiere date was pinned down in the second trailer, which also confirmed Eve’s ending theme.
The show has become one of the steadier performers in Crunchyroll’s lineup since the first season. That is a strange thing to say about a mystery series set in a fictional imperial court, where most of the tension comes from paperwork, poison and who is allowed to speak to whom. It works because Maomao is a genuinely unusual protagonist: curious to the point of rudeness, uninterested in the politics that keep trying to recruit her, and correct often enough that people have learned to listen.
Why the dub timing matters
The film side of the franchise is moving at the same time, with The Late Lady’s Treasure picked up by Crunchyroll for theatrical release. Two weeks is quick by the standards of a few years ago. Crunchyroll has been pushing English dubs closer to the Japanese broadcast on its biggest titles, and a two-week gap on a show this size fits that pattern.
It also splits the audience less. When a dub trails a season by months, the discussion happens without the dub viewers, and by the time they arrive the conversation is over. A two-week lag keeps both groups roughly in the same place, which helps a mystery series in particular. Half the appeal of The Apothecary Diaries is arguing about what a character was actually planning, and that argument is much better with everyone on the same episode.
The other detail worth flagging is Monica Rial as narrator. A narrator credit in a show this dense is not filler, since the court’s rules have to be explained to someone.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 is streaming on Crunchyroll with the English dub now running alongside the subtitled version.
Source: Crunchyroll, via Anime News Network.
Featured image: The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 key visual, via Anime News Network.
