We had the pleasure of sitting down with the Japanese voice actors of The Apothecary Diaries, Yuki Aoi (Maomao) and Takeo Otsuka (Jinshi), during Anime Expo 2026 for a lovely chat before their official panel held at the Peacock Theater later that same day.
When asked what they were most excited about for Season 3, both spoke about the wider world compared to Season 1, seeing more of Maomao’s different facial expressions, more mystery solving, and having a lot of fun interacting with many new and current characters.
“The Apothecary Diaries has constantly grown in scale, in the story, and in the world. Because of that, there are more things to distract or for Maomao to be curious about,” Yuki Aoi said, “but personally, I’m really looking forward to interacting with Lahan.”
Takeo Otsuka said, “Of course, I love her relationship with Jinshi, but I’m particularly excited for Season 3, a character called Lahan.” We’ll definitely pay attention to Lahan since both VAs mentioned his name. Since he’s Maomao’s biological cousin and adopted older brother, their scenes together often have an entertaining “older brother and younger sister” dynamic. Lahan is also a genius with numbers and investigates financial and political matters alongside Lakan.
The Voice Recording Process
When asked whether the VAs had any warm-up rituals before delivering lines or embodying the character, both said they don’t have routines and that, when they’re acting across from each other, the exchange naturally brings the character to life.
This information surprised me, since I wasn’t aware that Japanese voice actors work in a group setting, since I’ve seen so many American VAs working solo in a booth! This makes so much more sense, though, as the dialogue feels more conversational. “Many, many people! We have a whole cast. Like 20 people and 4 microphones, so we all kind of have to dodge each other as we go to the mic and record,” Yuki Aoi said, laughing.
Later on in the panel, Yuki Aoi mentioned that the group recording process feels like elementary school in the best way, since the vibes are so much fun.
Takeo Otsuka praised her by saying, “She makes it look so easy, and she kind of leads the way with her voice when she steps up to the mic. The entire studio just goes into Apothecary mode, like we’re all in her world, in her universe.”
Can You Guess Their Favorite Lines?
Of course, I had to ask what their favorite lines were, and for Yuki Aoi, she reminisced about two lines.
“This is poison. I’ve been made to say it so many times, even though it only appeared in the anime once, but I remember adjusting the tone a lot with that line. There aren’t that many lines when, after you eat, you say it’s poison, so I thought it was really impressive and unique.”
And then when Jinshi gets a scar on his face.
“You’ve become more manly than before. Maomao wasn’t looking at a physically manly Jin-Shi due to the scar. I think she was looking at the soul of a manly Jin-Shi. So it really shows where Maomao is focused on in terms of her definition of manly, and it’s like an almost spiritual growth.”
For Takeo Otsuka, his favorite line, “Is my pretty face the only value I hold? Because it’s really interesting to see how their relationship progresses and when Maomao’s definition of manliness changes. For Jinshi, there aren’t that many people he can say that to, so I think there’s a lot of meaning in saying that to Maomao.”
Special Stage at Peacock Theater
The official evening panel was packed with excited fans, and they warmed up the audience pre-show by inviting Maomao cosplayers to the front to perform a “Maomao catwalk” to compete for Crunchyroll pins and signed copies of The Apothecary Diaries manga.
We were then blessed by a new 52-second trailer for the movie, coming out in Japan on December 11, 2026, titled The Apothecary Diaries: The Deceased Consort’s Hidden Treasure.
After energetic introductions and the voice actors confirming that Season 3 dubbing had already begun, they moved to the standing microphones to treat the audience to not one but four live dubbing clips!
The scenes:
- Jinshi and Maomao’s first meeting, where he wrote a note to single her out
- ****THE FROG SCENE*****
- Jinshi asks Maomao if he was just a pretty face to her
- Jinshi gifts the ox bezoar, and Maomao loses all composure
Obviously, the crowd went wild for THE frog scene, but it was also interesting to see how the characters’ dynamic changed from their first meeting to near the end of Season 2 in just a few clips, performed so well by the voice actors.
Takeo Otsuka, after performing Jinshi live, said, “All of your reactions were just so perfect! I was like, man, should I overact a little bit, should I exaggerate a little bit more? I’m really getting into this. It’s my first time doing this in front of such a huge live audience, but I had so much fun; you guys made it a lot of fun for me.”
They further expanded on what it was like to see and perform these scenes back-to-back, from the first episode to the most current available. Yuki Aoi said, “Maomao’s perspective on Jinshi has definitely changed. She sees his straightforwardness, seriousness and sincerity that she wasn’t aware of before. Jinshi, in my opinion, is a person who has been desired by people since birth. So when he gave the ox parts, the fact that he’s doing something for someone else to the degree that he is, and adding more work to his plate as if he doesn’t already have enough, really shows how their relationship has changed.”
Takeo Otsuki remarked, “Maomao now really sees the more stoic and mature and composed version of Jinshi. But because they’ve spent so much time together, I don’t know if Maomao is aware of it yet, but I can certainly see her beginning to open her heart to Jinshi.”
And with this, we eagerly await The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 – Part 1, which will premiere on Crunchyroll in October, with Part 2 following in April 2027. A huge thank you to Mikey McNamara for helping to translate our interview and to studio OLM, TOHO animation STUDIO, Crunchyroll, Natsu Hyuuga, and Touko Shino for bringing this beloved world to life.
