Shortly after the season 2 finale of The Apothecary Diaries aired on July 4, a new short story titled Sazen’s Secret was released online by original author Natsu Hyuga.
The story, which focuses on Loulan and expands on events following the anime, was published on July 7 via the official X account for the original novels.
The announcement invited fans who had finished Season 2 to read the new story, noting that it explores what happened to Loulan after her departure from the palace.
The post also encouraged viewers to continue the story in Volume 5 of the original light novels, which picks up directly after the anime’s ending.
Originally distributed as a bonus with previous volumes of the novels, the story has been re-edited for this online release.
Following the announcement, the linked website experienced a massive spike in traffic, causing temporary access issues. The official account issued an apology, citing the high volume of visitors and asking fans to wait before trying again. As of now, the website is back online, and the short story is accessible.
Aside from the short story, a sequel to the anime series has also been announced.
The Apothecary Diaries season 2 premiered on Jan 10, 2025, with a two-cour run.Â
The season was directed by Akinori Fudesaka, who had served as an assistant director for the anime’s first season. Norihiro Naganuma was in charge of series composition.
The Apothecary Diaries season 1 aired from Oct 22, 2023, to March 24, 2024.
Crunchyroll streams the series worldwide outside Asia, in addition to the Middle East, the CIS, and South Asia. Netflix streams the series in select regions of Asia.
The anime is based on the light novel series written by Natsu Hyuga and illustrated by Touko Shino. It was serialized online since 2011 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shosetsuka ni Naro.
In the following year, it was acquired by Shufunotomo, who initially published the series as a novel with a single volume in 2012, and then as a light novel series in 2014.
It has been adapted into two manga series in 2017, with one published by Square Enix in Monthly Big Gangan, and another one published by Shogakukan in Monthly Sunday Gene-X.
The light novel is licensed in North America by J-Novel Club.
Source: Oricon
