The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Is Officially a Streaming Hit Despite a Major Drawback

October 19, 2026, 4:22pm

The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 made its debut this month as part of the Fall 2026 anime lineup. Considering the anime’s popularity, it’s no surprise that the latest season had a successful debut. For fans in the U.S. and several other regions, the series is streaming weekly episodes on Crunchyroll, and it recently confirmed its English dub release. However, while Crunchyroll is the primary streaming home for the anime’s latest season, Netflix has also made for fans in select regions of Asia. In regions across the U.S., the streaming giant only has the first season in its library.

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Despite the regional limitations of the anime’s latest season, it ranked ninth on the global weekly streaming charts with over 1.5 million views. The ranking and number of views were shared by Netflix Tudum after recording them from October 5th to 11th, 2026. Considering that the anime is only available in a handful of regions, the numbers are more than impressive enough. The list also includes shows such as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run and Ramparts of Ice Season 2, which don’t have the same regional restrictions as The Apothecary Diaries. All three anime are rising up the charts during this Fall season, especially on Netflix.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Makes a Major Change in the Story

The second season finale already confirmed that the story will take a major turn from here on out. The latest season is adapting the fifth volume of the novel, where Maomao had already left the Rear Palace. Not only that, but Jinshi has abandoned his fake identity as the manager of the Rear Palace since he can’t pretend to be a eunuch anymore. As the Moon Prince and officially the Emperor’s younger brother, Jinshi has now taken on his royal duties. The third season is split into two cours, with the second one scheduled to premiere in April as part of the Spring 2027 anime lineup. The latest season opens up with a major crisis as a serious locust problem leads to a potential food crisis and famine scare. Maomao notices something is strange, and it’s no surprise she wants to get to the bottom of the mystery.

What’s Next for The Apothecary Diaries?

While the first cour of the third season will adapt Volume 5 of the light novel, the anime is all set for its first feature-length movie. The movie is based on an original script written by Natsu Hyuga, the light novel’s writer. The story takes place somewhere between the events of the light novel volumes 4 and 5, centering around Jinshi and Maomao trying to unravel the mysterious death of a mid-ranking concubine. While the movie will hit Japanese theatres in December this year, it will also have an internal release soon after. Additionally, in September this year, Prime Video confirmed a live-action drama, which will premiere in 2028. Fans are still awaiting more updates on the project, but for now, the anime season and the movie are more than exciting enough to grab all the spotlight for the rest of the year.

Have you been watching The Apothecary Diaries Season 3? Let us know in the comments!