The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 is on the horizon, premiering in October 2026 with more mysteries as Maomao and Jinshi navigate their new circumstances. At Anime Expo 2026, Anime Trending had the honor of sitting down with Aoi Yuki and Takeo Otsuka to talk about their respective roles as Maomao and Jinshi, the process of building their characters’ chemistry in the studio, and the trust and camaraderie between the cast and staff.
This interview was conducted via an interpreter and has been edited for clarity.
How has your relationship with your character changed compared to the beginning of The Apothecary Diaries? What parts of your character were you most excited to perform for Season 3?
Aoi Yuki: From the very beginning, Maomao was a character with a very stable mentality, a very grounded character. I think the thing that’s kept us at the same distance throughout is Maomao’s individuality, which was set and established very early on. So even from Season 1 all the way through to now, I think I’ve been able to maintain a similar distance to her and her particular style. I’d say we have a very good business relationship. [laughs]
Takeo Otsuka: Before we recorded the very first episode of Season 1, the director Norihiro Naganuma-san, the sound director Shoji Hata-san, and I talked about how we’d capture the essence of Jinshi and how I’d express his character through my performance. We had a plan, so to speak, but there are things you just don’t know until you actually do it. So as we recorded more dialogue, even around the middle and later stages of Season 1, we were still doing some exploration — figuring out how to get even closer to the essence of Jinshi.
Yuki-san, how long did it take you to prepare to take on the role of Maomao?
Aoi Yuki: The first time I played Maomao was actually on a drama CD, so I had the chance to familiarize myself with the character before the anime was even in development. I kept some of that Maomao I built during the drama CD phase, but once the anime adaptation was decided, I was working together with other actors and building on top of that earlier version of Maomao within the constraints the anime industry has.
So it really depends on what aspect of Maomao you’re asking about, in terms of how long it took me to prepare. Japanese anime production is usually very stretched for time — I’ll get the script for an episode maybe a week before recording, so within that week I try to understand the dialogue, what the character is trying to express, and just really focus in. It’s a job that requires a lot of concentration.
And for Otsuka-san, how did you prepare for this role?
Takeo Otsuka: Basically, I receive the script, prepare at home, and bring that preparation with me — but when we record for The Apothecary Diaries, we actually go into this big booth with all the actors for a given scene, so it’s very comfortable to feel the atmosphere that’s created there, and it really helps everyone’s acting. I’ll try to come up with my own image of Jinshi before going into the booth, but when we’re acting off each other, it’s almost like we’re building the character together. There are even moments of new discovery for me about my own character, because I get to act alongside other very talented actors.
Throughout these two seasons, we’ve watched Maomao and Jinshi gradually grow closer. What is it like working together to bring that dynamic to life, and has the way you play off each other during recordings changed as the relationship deepened?
Aoi Yuki: What is it like, Otsuka-san? [laughs]
Takeo Otsuka: I don’t know what to say [laughs]. Well — I’m a very shy person. In the first season, I had a lot of roles to play, and there were a lot of actors I was meeting for the first time, starting with Yuki-san. I did my best to prepare for the role of Jinshi, but trying to focus on acting as this character took up almost all of my bandwidth. But as we kept recording from Season 1 into Season 2, I got a lot more comfortable with everyone and the production setting for The Apothecary Diaries, and I think that helped me express the character more.
Aoi Yuki: During Season 1, since I was the only one coming into the anime with the drama CD background, I was a bit nervous, actually, to go into this different type of recording structure. But I wanted to share everything I’d learned about The Apothecary Diaries with the other cast members and share the warmth of the work with them, because I thought there was a lot of value in that. And once I was standing in front of the mic acting together with Otsuka-san’s Jinshi, I felt like I was properly tuned in to this version of Maomao — it was almost immediate. Hearing how Jinshi was playing off me really helped me dial in the Maomao we now see in the anime.
Over the course of the recording, even though I was working with a lot of the actors for the first time, the rhythm and tempo of our acting together really improved, and that carried all the way into Season 3. I think there’s a certain shorthand and trust between us now — when I act a certain way, I have an idea of how Otsuka-san will respond, and often he’ll do exactly that and add even more on top of it, which really helps me play off of him too.
I feel that everyone we go into production with becomes really good friends, including some of the main characters we’ll see in Season 3 — it’s a really fun atmosphere when we’re recording, and I think the two of us perhaps got a little closer too? Not that we weren’t friends before, but at one of the parties after a recording session, when the whole cast came out, the sound director Hata-san suggested that instead of everyone doing a round of introductions that would take forever, let’s break off into smaller groups for more intimate conversations — and that’s when the two of us really began to talk with each other. We got a lot closer during that conversation, didn’t we?
Takeo Otsuka: [laughs] We did.
Aoi Yuki: So now, in any case, we’re at the point where we can make small talk with each other! [laughs]
Maomao can sometimes be misunderstood as emotionally aloof by those around her, but she clearly thinks deeply about all of her relationships, whether they — or she — realize it or not. Yuki-san, as her voice actor, what is your understanding of the emotions Maomao decides to show versus hide?
Aoi Yuki: It really depends on the scene. The story itself has a lot of comedic gags, but also some serious parts, and even some romantic parts; I think the balance of the show is defined by the play between those three aspects. The staff did such a good job with the visuals and the script. All I have to do is place myself on the rhythm they’ve created, and often the right performance just comes through. You could say that I rely on instinct to lead me there.
There’s sort of a template for how much “acting” a normal character does, but with Maomao I rein it in ever so slightly — I think that’s what makes her look like Maomao. Basically, she’s a bit self-contained, and I think it helps me to imagine her with a fairly clear, composed look on her face — like she’s not really interested in anything other than medicine. Imagining that helps me to keep a good baseline.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 premieres in October 2026, with The Apothecary Diaries the Movie: The Late Consort’s Secret Treasure following in December 2026. The first two seasons of The Apothecary Diaries are available to stream on Crunchyroll.
