Les Carnets de l'Apothicaire

The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto in Japanese) started out as a light novel series written by Natsu Hyuuga, published since 2011, before receiving a manga adaptation and then an anime produced by TOHO Animation and OLM that exploded in global popularity starting in 2023. The story follows Maomao, a young apothecary from the pleasure district forcibly enlisted as a servant within the imperial palace, where her powers of observation and her knowledge of pharmacology make her a formidable solver of court mysteries.

The critical and commercial success of the anime, driven by a blend of whodunit-style mystery, palace drama, and humor, quickly spread beyond the circle of light novel readers to reach a wide Western audience, to the point of becoming one of the most talked-about Japanese franchises of recent years on streaming platforms.

Until now, the franchise had remained confined to novels, manga, and animation. With The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother, Koei Tecmo and Gust - a studio renowned for its mastery of narrative games and crafting mechanics, notably through the Atelier series - are adapting it into a video game for the first time, in collaboration with TOHO Games. This move into the interactive medium marks a new step for the franchise, confirming its status as an intellectual property in full expansion beyond its original format.