Apothecary Diaries Watch Order and English Dub Before Season 3

The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 premiered on Friday October 2, 2026, and if you are coming in cold or just want a clean refresher, the Apothecary Diaries watch order is simpler than it looks. In short, you need two seasons, one film arriving mid season, and a second half in spring. Here is the full order, a quick recap of all 48 episodes, and the honest state of the English dub.

The Apothecary Diaries watch order

First, watch it in release order. After all, there are no filler arcs to skip and no side material you need before Season 3.

The film sits between the two halves of Season 3 for a reason. The first cour is built to lead into it, so if you want the story in the order it was designed, watch the film before the April episodes. However, Crunchyroll and TOHO have not announced an international release date for the film yet.

Apothecary Diaries Season 1 recap (episodes 1 to 24)

Maomao grew up in the capital’s pleasure district, raised by her adoptive father Luomen, an apothecary who taught her everything about medicine and poison. Then she is kidnapped and sold into the emperor’s rear palace as a low ranking servant, where her plan is simple: keep her head down and serve out her time.

Unfortunately for her, that plan lasts about one episode. She quietly works out why the emperor’s infants are falling ill, and the palace’s beautiful official Jinshi notices. He makes her a food taster for Consort Gyokuyou, and from then on every poisoning, curse and strange death in the palace ends up on her desk.

The season works as a run of medical mysteries with a slow, very funny tension between Maomao, who finds Jinshi exhausting, and Jinshi, who clearly does not find her exhausting at all. In addition, the season reveals that the eccentric strategist Lakan is her biological father, which Maomao handles with roughly the warmth she shows a cockroach.

Apothecary Diaries Season 2 recap (episodes 25 to 48)

Season 2, by contrast, widens the board. A new lady in waiting, Shisui, turns out to be Loulan of the powerful Shi clan, and the scattered incidents Maomao investigates start pointing at one plan aimed at the state itself.

Eventually the Shi clan’s scheme ends in open rebellion and a military confrontation, and the fallout forces Jinshi into the open. As a result, everyone learns he is the emperor’s younger brother, not a palace eunuch. By the end of the season Maomao is back working as an apothecary, Jinshi is openly royal, and the two of them are still circling a conversation neither wants to start.

What Apothecary Diaries Season 3 is about

Season 3 takes Maomao and Jinshi out of the palace. Jinshi, now carrying out royal duties, brings Maomao along to investigate strange events outside the capital. Meanwhile, the trailers point to a locust plague and the threat of famine, and to the arrival of Bai Niangniang, a woman rumored to be an immortal maiden, voiced by Reina Ueda.

The core cast returns: Aoi Yuki as Maomao and Takeo Otsuka as Jinshi. Also, Yorushika performs the opening theme.

Apothecary Diaries Season 3 English dub

Here is the part a lot of guides get wrong. Crunchyroll has announced the Season 3 English dub. Crunchyroll included it in its Fall 2026 dub lineup on September 16, 2026. However, it has not announced the start date. Instead, Crunchyroll said release dates and cast details would come later.

In the first two seasons, Emi Lo voiced Maomao and Kaiji Tang voiced Jinshi in English. Still, Crunchyroll has not yet confirmed the Season 3 dub cast, so treat their return as likely rather than official until it is announced.

Where to watch The Apothecary Diaries

• Season 3 subbed: Crunchyroll, new episodes every Friday
• Seasons 1 and 2: Crunchyroll, subbed and dubbed
• Season 3 English dub: Crunchyroll, date to be announced
• Japan: Nippon TV

For the full premiere breakdown, including the broadcast slot and new cast, see our post on The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 premiere. The film has its own page too: The Apothecary Diaries movie opens December 11. And if you want everything else airing this season, the Fall 2026 anime schedule has every date.

Two corrections worth making

Some guides credit the anime to MAPPA. It is not a MAPPA show. In fact, TOHO Animation Studio and OLM animated the first two seasons, and OLM is credited on Season 3. The original story is a light novel series by Natsu Hyuuga, with illustrations by Touko Shino. Nekokurage draws one of the manga adaptations, not the novels.

Similarly, people often describe the setting as the Tang dynasty. It is a fictional empire with imperial Chinese inspiration, not a historical period, which is part of why the show gets away with its own rules on medicine and court politics.

Apothecary Diaries watch order FAQ

What is the Apothecary Diaries watch order?

Season 1 (episodes 1 to 24), Season 2 (episodes 25 to 48), Season 3 first cour from October 2, 2026, the film on December 11, 2026 in Japan, then Season 3 second cour in April 2027.

Is there an Apothecary Diaries Season 3 English dub?

Yes. Crunchyroll announced it on September 16, 2026, but it has not given a start date yet.

How many episodes are in Apothecary Diaries Season 3?

The season is split into two cours, the second starting in April 2027. Many outlets report 24 episodes in total; however, nobody has officially confirmed an exact count per cour.

Who animates The Apothecary Diaries?

TOHO Animation Studio and OLM animated Seasons 1 and 2. OLM is credited on Season 3. It is not a MAPPA production.

My take: The dub date is not the thing to wait on. Crunchyroll put Season 3 on its dub slate in public, and this is one of its biggest shows, so the dub will come. The thing that actually matters is that Season 3 finally pulls Maomao out of the palace. For 48 episodes the walls did a lot of the work for this show: every mystery came to her, every suspect lived within a few hundred steps, and the romance had a built in excuse to stall because Jinshi could not be honest about who he was. Now all three of those crutches are gone. He is openly royal, she is outside the gates, and a famine story raises the stakes from a poisoned consort to whole villages. Because of that, it is a harder show to write and a better test of whether this series is great or just extremely well made. My prediction: the first cour will be slower than fans expect and better than they expect, the film will carry the emotional payoff, and the April cour will be the one people argue about. Catch up now, because this is the season that decides how Apothecary Diaries is remembered.