The Apothecary Diaries is heading back to Universal Studios Japan. The anime and the theme park announced an all-new attraction that will open on February 10, 2027, with a story set during the events of The Apothecary Diaries movie, which opens this December.
The collaboration follows an earlier run at the park and gives the franchise another physical, in-person event as its anime and film both move forward.
What we know about the attraction
The new attraction opens February 10, 2027 at Universal Studios Japan. Its story is tied directly to the December 2026 film, placing it in the same narrative window as the movie rather than in an unrelated side story. That timing lets visitors move from the theatrical release straight into a themed experience built around it.
It is not the first time the two have teamed up. The anime and USJ previously collaborated between July 1, 2025 and January 4, 2026 with a “Mystery Walk” attraction, in which guests solved a mystery behind a panacea, along with three limited-time dishes. The new attraction is a separate, all-new build rather than a rerun of the earlier one.
Where the anime currently stands
The Apothecary Diaries first season premiered in October 2023, followed by a second season in January 2025. A third television season premiered this week for its first cours — a quarter-year run — with its second cours scheduled to premiere next April. A film is also opening in Japan this December, which is the release the new attraction’s story dovetails with.
The series began as a web novel. Hyūganatsu started serializing the story on the “Shōsetsuka ni Narō” (Let’s Become Novelists) website in October 2011. Japanese publisher Shufunotomo began releasing the novels in print, with illustrations by Touko Shino, in August 2014. Nekokurage launched an ongoing manga adaptation in Square Enix’s Monthly Big Gangan magazine in May 2017. Square Enix Manga & Books publishes both the manga adaptation and the original novel series in English.
Why it matters
Theme-park tie-ins are a sign of how far a franchise has moved into the mainstream, and The Apothecary Diaries has been on a steady climb from niche light novel to a multi-season anime and a theatrical film. A dedicated attraction tied to the movie extends the property’s reach beyond viewers and into the kind of destination experience that tends to draw casual audiences, not just dedicated fans.
It is also part of a broader pattern at Universal Studios Japan, which has leaned into anime collaborations in recent years. For anyone planning a trip, the key date is February 10, 2027 — and for anime fans following the story, the December film is the piece that sets up what the attraction will dramatize.
For more on the show, see our coverage of The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 second trailer and October 2 premiere. Universal Studios Japan is also bringing another anime franchise to the park, with the first Sailor Moon theme park ride arriving in 2027.
Source: Anime News Network, via Universal Studios Japan
Featured image: The Apothecary Diaries x Universal Studios Japan attraction visual, via Anime News Network.
