The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Premieres Today
The most watched anime in Japan is back. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 premieres today, Friday, October 2, 2026, on Nippon TV and on Crunchyroll, opening the first cour of a split season that continues in April 2027 with a theatrical film in between. Maomao has left the rear palace, Jinshi has dropped the eunuch disguise, and the two of them are leaving the capital together. Here is the release schedule, a recap of 48 episodes in six sentences, what Season 3 adapts, the new cast and songs, the film, and why this is the season the franchise has been building toward.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 release date and where to watch
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Cour 1 | Friday, October 2, 2026, Nippon TV network, Friday Anime Night |
| Cour 2 | April 2027 |
| Streaming | Crunchyroll in the US and most territories outside Asia. Netflix in select Asian regions |
| English dub | Confirmed. Start date to be announced, usually about two weeks after the premiere |
| Episodes | Not announced. Expect 12 or 13 per cour |
| Film | The Late Consort’s Hidden Treasure, December 11, 2026 in Japan, between the two cours |
This is the first time the series has taken a break between cours. Seasons 1 and 2 each ran 24 straight episodes.
Seasons 1 and 2 in six sentences
Maomao, an apothecary raised in the capital’s pleasure district, is kidnapped and sold into the Emperor’s rear palace as a laundry maid, where she quietly diagnoses the toxic face powder poisoning the imperial infants. The beautiful eunuch Jinshi, who runs the rear palace, finds her and makes her food taster to Consort Gyokuyou, which pulls her into a run of poisonings, court intrigue and forensic puzzles. Season 1 reveals that the eccentric strategist Lakan is her biological father and ends with an assassination attempt on Jinshi that Maomao foils at the cost of a leg injury. Season 2 introduces the lady in waiting Shisui, who turns out to be Loulan of the Shi clan, while investigations into crop failures and “curses” expose the clan’s plan to destabilize the state through engineered food shortages. The Shi rebellion collapses in a military confrontation and the fallout forces Jinshi to reveal that he is the Emperor’s younger brother, the Moon Prince. As Season 2 closes, Maomao is working as an apothecary at the Verdigris House and Jinshi, now openly royal, keeps visiting her while neither of them says what they mean.
What Season 3 adapts
Cour 1 adapts light novel volume 5, with cour 2 expected to cover volume 6, one volume per cour as before. The public beats:
- Jinshi, now performing his royal duties and no longer managing the rear palace, recruits Maomao again to investigate strange incidents in the northern farming villages.
- The two of them leave the capital together on the trip.
- Rumors of an immortal maiden, Bai Niangniang, spread and become the season’s central mystery. Reina Ueda voices her.
- Gyokuyou has borne a prince and her status is rising, which reshuffles the rear palace and Jinshi’s place in the succession.
- The season is built to lead into the December film.
One thing to get right: the journey to the western capital that novel readers talk about is later material, volumes 7 onward. It is not in this cour.
Cast, staff and theme songs
Aoi Yuki returns as Maomao, Takeo Otsuka as Jinshi, Katsuyuki Konishi as Gaoshun, Atsumi Tanezaki as Gyokuyou, Yui Ishikawa as Lihua and Takuya Kirimoto as Lakan. Eleven character posters went out on September 16. OLM animates alone this time, with TOHO animation STUDIO moving over to the film. Akinori Fudesaka, who directed Season 2, directs again, Norihiro Naganuma handles series composition, Yukiko Nakatani designs the characters, and the music is by Satoru Kosaki, Kevin Penkin and Arisa Okehazama. The opening is “Kumo wo Nuke Kazashimo e Watashi Dake” by Yorushika. The ending is “AIYOU” by Eve, the artist behind Jujutsu Kaisen’s “Kaikai Kitan.”
The franchise by the numbers
Natsu Hyuuga’s novels, illustrated by Touko Shino, are published by Shufunotomo and by J Novel Club in English, with two separate manga adaptations, one in Big Gangan and one in Sunday GX. Combined circulation passed 57 million copies this month. Season 1 was Japan’s fifth most streamed title of 2024. Season 2 was the most watched anime series of 2025 on Japanese streaming services and the second most popular series on Netflix Japan over five years, behind only Spy x Family. Both seasons were nominated for Crunchyroll’s Anime of the Year. This month alone the franchise also announced a 2028 live action series starring Mana Ashida and a first console game from Koei Tecmo and Gust for early 2027.
FAQ
When does The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 come out?
October 2, 2026, with cour 2 following in April 2027.
Where can I watch it?
Crunchyroll in the US and most regions, Netflix in parts of Asia.
Which novel does Season 3 adapt?
Volume 5 in cour 1, volume 6 expected in cour 2.
Is there a movie?
Yes. The Late Consort’s Hidden Treasure opens December 11, 2026 in Japan, between the two cours.
Read our explainers and the latest anime news. Details via Anime Corner and ComicBook.
Catching up first? Our Apothecary Diaries watch order guide lays out every season, the film and where the English dub stands.
My take: Season 3 is the first time this show has to survive without the rear palace, and I think that is a bigger risk than anyone is saying. The rear palace was the format. Every mystery had walls around it, a fixed cast of consorts and eunuchs, and a reason Maomao could not just leave. Volume 5 takes her and Jinshi out of the building and onto the road, and road stories are harder to make weekly. What makes me confident is Fudesaka. Season 2 was better than Season 1, which almost never happens with a 24 episode sequel, and it was better because he trusted the slow scenes, the two of them not saying things. That is the exact skill a travel arc needs. The split cour is the part I would push back on. Twelve episodes, a film, a four month gap, then twelve more is a schedule designed around the December movie, not around the story, and volume 5 was not written to stop at a cliffhanger in December. My prediction: the Bai Niangniang mystery is the best single arc the anime has done, the film does big numbers in Japan and confuses everyone abroad because it is a side story, and the four month wait for cour 2 is the first time this franchise loses momentum. The 57 million copies say it can afford to. The rest of the fall lineup cannot, and on Friday nights this show is going to eat everything scheduled against it.
