Apothecary Diaries is such a good narrative because just like today’s episode it doesn’t shy away from showing that both genders can be equally disturbing in their behavior. Because, and I’ve mentioned this before, it’s not about whether someone is male or female in this world it’s about their individual actions. We’ve all been shown by this story how the former Emperor was a pervert but on the flip side we know his mother was power hungry and filled the rear palace with young women. It’s that resentment that’s led to the very destruction unfolding in the plot at the end of season 2, yet at the same time Lady Shinmei is almost equally a pervert and an abusive creep in her own right. She corrupts the men and women around her out of spite, murdered Suirei’s mother, makes gross remarks at Kyou-u about spanking his rear with her nails and is just vile to Loulan and Suirei since they were young girls. The uncomfortable nature of her behavior goes to show that the narrative is willing to cast blame equally at the feet of men and women for the destruction of a clan and nation because people can’t take accountability for their own individual wrongs and behavior, if they had then things might be different. It’s not easy topics to watch always and deal with but I like that one side is not always saddled with the blame, it makes the stories all that more realistic and scarily humanizing.
