The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Won Four Crunchyroll Awards — Maomao Is the Best Written Character in Anime Right Now

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 had the second best night at the 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, walking away with four wins: Best Drama, Best Director for Akinori Fudesaka and Norihiro Naganuma, Best Main Character for Maomao, and Best Voice Artist Performance in Japanese for Aoi Yuki. This is a show that the anime community has been treating as a quiet gem since its premiere, and the awards ceremony made that appreciation official and loud. Four wins from a non action series in a field dominated by shonen heavy hitters is a statement.

What makes The Apothecary Diaries exceptional is Maomao herself. She is not a typical anime protagonist. She is observational, methodical, occasionally detached, and driven by intellectual curiosity rather than emotional reactivity. In a medium where protagonists are frequently defined by how loudly they feel things, Maomao’s restraint is genuinely refreshing. The mysteries she solves are grounded in real historical medical logic, the palace intrigue surrounding her is layered and patient, and Aoi Yuki’s vocal performance brings every contradiction in Maomao’s character to the surface without making it feel performed. The Best Voice Artist Performance win is deserved.

Season 2 expands the political stakes meaningfully. The imperial court grows more dangerous, the relationships between characters become more complicated, and the show refuses to resolve tension quickly. It rewards viewers who pay attention and remember details from episode to episode. The direction is precise — Best Director was another correct call. Fudesaka and Naganuma understand that the drama in this show comes from restraint, not escalation, and they pace accordingly.

If you have not started The Apothecary Diaries, the combination of a compelling protagonist, historical mystery, and four Crunchyroll Awards makes the case for you. Season 1 is 24 episodes and Season 2 continues directly from it. This is appointment viewing for fans who want something that trusts its audience to keep up without hand holding every plot point.

My take: Maomao winning Best Main Character over every action hero and shonen lead in the field is one of the best decisions the Crunchyroll voters made this year. She represents a kind of protagonist anime does not produce often enough. The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 is the show I recommend most to people who think modern anime has nothing to offer outside of power escalation. They are wrong, and this show proves it.