I’m so glad the anime introduced a lot more people to the Apothecary Diaries. I remember that I never had much luck getting people to read the manga before the show was even announced but now those same folks are eager to talk about it with me and it makes my day. It’s a story and a setting I really enjoy.
I mentioned the setting. I know that I have talked before about my fascination with the inner workings and structure of the Forbidden City. And to be clear, I’m not endorsing it, I’m just really interested in it. Well I am just as interested in Verdigris. The inner workings of a high-class brothel are fascinating and rarely explored anywhere, really. And they do represent one of the rare forms of social power women had at the time and historically. I, unfortunately, am not knowledgeable enough to figure out just how likely it would be for a woman to own a prestigious brothel but sadly, I do recognize that even just as a star attraction in a brothel, and essentially merchandise, women often had more power in those positions. I mean all women were treated as property anyway so the products that were valuable and could make you a profit were obviously taken better care of…
But putting that aside, I’m gonna ramble about the depiction of women in anime for this post. I understand if that’s not what you came here for and I promise to be back to business next week.
The Apothecary Diaries is somewhat notable for not only having such a huge cast of female characters but for having so many of them be, for lack of a better word, some form of sex worker. Both the madam, the prostitutes at Verdigris, and the courtesans are expected to make their bodies available to a man for their livelihood. That’s already very unusual to see… anywhere. The show didn’t quite go as far as making the main character part of that group, that would have been unheard of. But it’s still a huge step in representation.
And representation is the keyword here. Neither the prostitutes nor the courtesans are treated as an archetype. They are all very different, with very different attitudes, feelings, and views about their positions. Moreover, The Apothecary Diaries does not judge them for what they do. A lot of those characters are shown to be noble, kind, intelligent, or just generally great ladies you would love to spend time with. And some of them are not. Some are petty or unfair or selfish, because they’re, you know, people…
We have seen a lot of consort Gyokuyou’s baby lately. And eventually, we’re also going to see some of the prostitutes with babies. Also, we have seen that Maomao herself was raised by them up to a certain point. And that got me thinking. This is a piece of fiction where women can be sex workers who enjoy their trade and also be nurturing. Not in some self-sacrificing I’m doing this to pay for food for my family sort of way. In an unrelated, this lady is a successful prostitute and also this lady is a good mother sort of way. And honestly, we rarely see that. I personally have never seen it in an anime. And that made me think.
The Apothecary Diaries presents women’s not always very comfortable roles in historical China in such a matter-of-fact way that it feels almost irrelevant. Sure it’s glamorized and although the dark sides of the coin are shown from time to time it’s rare and softened. It is an anime for all ages after all. But it’s such a fantastically positive representation of sex work in such a casual way that I can’t help but to be impressed. I think we need more of that.
What’s fun to me this episode how they portrayed the hacking-order: First we have this conversation with Jinshi’s right-hand man, about how tasters are expandable. Well, Maomao’s a taster, and… she’s still got all those pins, which makes that soldier’s confusion about who she is just a tad more fun (given we’ve just been reminded of her expendable position in a previous scene). And by the end of the episode, I myself wonder, too, who *is* this girl (rear palace, a twist of fate? huh?). She might not even know herself (but then again she might).
I’ve never thought about it, but you’re right! I honestly can’t think of another anime that represents courtesans, brothels, and concubines in such a human way. I recently watch Samurai Champloo and there was an episode that featured a wife that was sold to a brothel by her evil abusive husband. The story was shown as a tragedy of a kind wife that needed to be saved by one of the main characters. The episode never really got into whether the woman liked or preferred her new life. I mean, yes she was in a brothel, but she was also away from a husband who had beat her, so wouldn’t her life be a little better or at least safer? The episode never dug that deep into the woman’s character, and maybe there just wasn’t enough time in one 25 minute episode, but I find it refreshing that Apothecary Dairies is exploring that deeper level of life for these women.