"The Apothecary Diaries" will begin airing on Saturday, October 21st, from 1:05 a.m. on the Nippon Television network. The first episode will be a three-episode series, with a two-season run planned. Advance screenings of episodes 1-3 will be held at four theaters in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka on October 1st, including TOHO Cinemas Hibiya, where a stage greeting will be held with Aoi Yuki, who plays Nekoneko, Takeo Otsuka, who plays Jinshi, and director Norihiro Naganuma. Given the popularity of the original work, Nippon Television seems to be putting a lot of effort into the series, but only two voice actors, Aoi Yuki and Takeo Otsuka, have been announced, and the information on the official website seems a bit limited. This time, we'd like to introduce the production team and cast of the highly anticipated "The Apothecary Diaries."
Who is the production company?
"The Apothecary Diaries" is being produced by TOHO animation STUDIO x OLM. TOHO animation STUDIO, a production company that became a subsidiary of TOHO animation, one of Japan's four major film distribution companies, in 2022, is teaming up with OLM for this production.
What kind of company is the production company OLM?
OLM is a subsidiary of IMAGICA GROUP Inc., and often works on children's content, including the Pokemon series. They are also involved in live-action films and full 3DCG animation, and are actively working on 4K and 8K resolutions for live-action films. A distinctive feature of OLM is their team-based system, where producers are organized into teams. The end credits display the OLM company logo and "TEAM XX," indicating that each project is produced by a team.
What are some of their most notable productions?
While he has worked on many Pokémon series and Level-5-related projects, his recent anime projects include "Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.", "Love All Play," and "Yo-kai Watch ♪." His co-production with P.I.C.S., "Odd Taxi," won the Animation Division Award at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival, attracting much attention. It has since been adapted into a film and a stage play, and a new project, "RoOT/Root of Odd Taxi," is currently underway.
Who is the original author, Natsu Hinata?
Hinata Natsu's debut as an author was in 2012, when her novel "The Apothecary's Notes," which she had been posting on Shosetsuka ni Narou, was published as a book. In fact, "The Apothecary's Notes" was a work she used to practice writing novels. At the time, she was writing works to take to publishers separately, and she began submitting her novels to Shosetsuka ni Narou with the thought, "This is just practice, so I hope people will read it at least a little, and I'd be grateful if they liked a few."
Why did you choose the harem as your theme?
Hinata says, "I'm a bit of a twisted person, so I don't feel the need to write about things other people have written." He says he wanted to write about themes that no one else had written about. The original setting for "The Apothecary's Notes" was a former prostitute working as a maid in a mine, a single mother with three children. However, he thought this setting would be difficult for the general public to accept, so he changed the former prostitute to a girl from the entertainment district. He also said in an interview that because it was relatively easy for girls of low social standing to enter the Chinese harem, he chose a fictional Chinese-style dynasty as the setting.
Director and Series Composition: Norihiro Naganuma
Norihiro Naganuma is in charge of direction and series composition. As a director, he has worked on the "Yowamushi Pedal" movie, Season 1 of "The Ancient Magus' Bride," and the OVA "The Ancient Magus' Bride: The One Waiting for the Stars." He has also worked on storyboards and direction for "The Quintessential Quintuplets," "Aoashi," and "Paripi Koumei." The official website for "The Apothecary Diaries" encourages fans, both those who have read the original work and those who haven't, to look forward to the series.
Character design by Yukiko Nakatani
Yukiko Nakatani, who is in charge of character design, is an animator and character designer. After graduating from high school, she joined Studio Guts and began working as an animator. She was in charge of key animation for "Poor Sisters" in 2006, and her first character design role was in "Go! Princess PreCure" in 2015.
She's famous among ONE PIECE fans!
Nakatani is highly regarded as an animation director, and his achievements as an animation director are well-known among fans. In particular, the episodes of One Piece that Nakatani directed are known to be highly popular among fans.
Neko Neko is voiced by Aoi Yuki
The voice actress who plays the protagonist of this work, Neko Neko, is Aoi Yuki. Aoi Yuki entered the entertainment industry at the age of four and has a long career, appearing in dramas and films as a child actor. She was also active in variety shows, appearing regularly on "Yappa Sanma Daisensei" and "Abare Sanma Daisensei." Since her first role as the heroine Kuhouin Murasaki in "Kurenai" in 2008, she has been getting more voice acting work.
Voice actors with more than just distinctive voices
Aoi Yūki, who has played Nekoneko since the drama CD version of "The Apothecary Diaries," was also looking forward to the anime adaptation. When asked what her most famous work is, many people likely think of characters with distinctive voices and a slightly lisp, such as Madoka Kaname in "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," Tanya Degurechaff in "Saga of Tanya the Evil," and "I" (the "I"), the spider in "So I'm a Spider, So What?" However, her most appealing qualities are her incredibly versatile voice quality and incredible acting skills. Her ability to handle any role is so impressive that it's difficult to tell her apart even when she plays multiple characters in the same work, captivating anime fans.
Her special talent, tongue twisters, is incredible!
Yuuki Aoi's other special talent, or rather her distinctive trait, is her tongue twisters. She has publicly stated that this is her special skill, and her tongue twisters are on full display in the commercial for "Chronicle Legion," published by Dash-X Bunko. He managed to fit 300 characters into 30 seconds, which works out to 10 characters per second, so you can see how amazing that is (if you're interested, check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dczr1zMP_zY&t=4s). Another thing I'd like you to check out is the ending songs for "So I'm a Spider, So What?", "Ganbare! Kumoko-san's Theme" and "Genjitsu Tougeki Hierarchy," which are available on YouTube, so be sure to look for them.
I can't wait to see Aoi Yuki play "Neko Neko"!
We've introduced the charm of Aoi Yūki, who plays the main character, "NekoNeko." Aoi Yūki seems to have a special attachment to the role of NekoNeko, and has contributed to the series even across publishers. We're excited to see how she'll portray NekoNeko in this anime adaptation. Please be sure to watch the anime to find out for yourself.
The voice actor for Jinshi is Takeo Otsuka
Takeo Otsuka plays Jinshi, who could be considered the other main character. He's loved games and anime since childhood, and when he started watching late-night anime in high school, he began to think about becoming a voice actor. It wasn't until he was job hunting in college that he really became interested in the profession. He was struggling to find what he really wanted to do, but then he remembered the anime and games he'd been obsessed with, thought of voice acting, and decided on his future.
Voice actors who have been making remarkable progress recently
After graduating from university, Otsuka studied at the Japan Narration Acting Institute and entered the world of voice acting. He made his debut in 2016 in "Amanchu!" and in 2018, he played his first leading role in a TV anime, playing Kurahara Hashiru in "Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru." He is a promising voice actor, having won the New Actor Award at the 14th Seiyu Awards in 2020. He's been extremely active recently, playing the lead roles in "Mononokegari" and "AI no Igen," and I'm excited to see how he'll portray Jinshi.
Summary of the Production Staff and Cast
We've introduced the production staff and cast of "The Apothecary Diaries." I'm excited to see how they'll portray the anime, set in the harem, a garden for women. Aoi Yuki, who voices Nekoneko, said, "I think it's a beautiful world that won't disappoint everyone," so please look forward to the anime airing. Thank you for reading to the end.
