Beatiful Finale! Psychologist Reacts to The Apothecary Diaries Episode 24
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2024
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About the power dynamics you talked about, this is something I've been sitting on for a couple of episodes, but haven't brought up in order to avoid spoilers.
It all boils down to one aspect: as an unintended consequence of the events she orchestrated this episode, MaoMao is now a noble. Not technically, but actually a noble.
Basically, Lakan never shied away from recognizing her as his child. Furthermore, he married Fengxian, which resulted in MaoMao being seen as his legitimate child, therefore of noble birth.
Even if she didn't have access to the family's assets, combine her noble status with all the goodwill she cultivated in the Rear Palace, and it translates in a significant degree of influence.
The only caveat is the fact that MaoMao herself doesn't appear to be aware of this fact, seeing herself as an overreaching commoner due to her past traumas. But I have the feeling that everyone else around her is aware, and treats her insistences of acting like a commoner as one of her eccentricities (which MaoMao is entitled to, by virtue of WHO her father is).
In conclusion, I think that the power imbalance between MaoMao and Jinshi is fairly manageable, certainly being far lower than the one between the Emperor and his concubines. Therefore, the only thing that stops an actual relationship from forming is her own hangups due to trauma, and the fact that she doesn't seem all that interested in romance.
Another take would be that Maomao uses her "lowly" status as a shield against having to actually deal with emotions that make her uncomfortable. A relationship with Lakan is uncomfortable for her, even if it could technically make her life easier. And when it comes to Jinshi, she basically bludgeons him with her status over and over every time he tries to reach out to her in a self-protective display. It's one reason I love the discussion between her and Suiren about how viewing everything in terms of status is limiting.
To be clear, it was Fengxhian's wish that no ones disclose that she's still in the brothel and sick with Syphilis. Grandma just respected her wish on that. That's why she's kept to the same stance towards Lakan and anyone else "Fengxhian is no longer here". She also is using part of her money to take care of her even though keeping a woman with Syphilis in her brothel could backfire easily if word was to go out; ruining the brothel's reputation in one go.
As Lakan said, Fengxhian's personality is just full of pride. It's pride that let her make a plan to lower her value to get bought by the man she wanted to be with, WITHOUT telling anything to the man in question. it's her pride that kept her from saying anything still when her plan started to backfire, and her pride that made her refuse to show herself in front of the man she wanted to be with after she had fallen from grace. This is why Meimei said "why couldn't you be honest with yourself sooner" and why Maomao says "foolish woman" in an earlier episode. She pretty much organised her own pregnancy without telling anything to Lakan, and then when everything backfired she refused to call for help in any way, then after falling completely for grace, she asked others to not say anything about her state. Her own pride was totally her downfall.
As for keeping Maomao away from Lakan, it was Maomao's wish that she respected.
And yes, she's a former very successful courtisan herself who chose to retire to manage the brothel rather than being bought for lots of money and live in luxury.
To me, this episodes shows the devestating effects miscommunication can have.
Think about it; if Fengxian had been honest from the start and told Grandma that she was in love with Lakan and wanted to be bought out by him, I think there's a fair chance that Granny would've accepted that. Instead of communicating that clearly, she went along with her harebrained plan that relied soly on the fact that Lakan would visit her again on the same time.
As for Granny being considered evil and cruel, I don't see her like that. For all we know, Granny was raised in the brother herself and would have a similar POV as Maomao on life. Emotion would be a dangerous thing and life would be better seen as a business transaction because it's safer. If she truly didn't care about Fengxian, she could have easily thrown her out to the streets the second her pregnancy was revealed.
Yet she kept Fengxian in the brothel and allowed her at least some form of safety compared to the streets. Knowing that Fengxian apparently brought the brothel to the brink of bankrupcy, that Fengxian had endangered the lifelyhood of EVERYONE in that brothel because of one act of selfishness. Compared to modern standards, Granny is awful. Compared to that era, she gave Fengxian way more than most would have. Even when she got syphilis, she kept Fengxian in the Anex which once again put the brothel at risk; if anyone saw her in that state, their reputation would once again be ruined beyond belief.
I'm not saying Granny is good or evil. I'm simply saying that in the time and era she lived, with how women were seen as discardable props, she did the best she could and offered the best she had. If she truly was as greedy as some would think her to be, she would've forced Fengxian to abort the child and hide the fact she lost her virginity to be sold anyways. She would've kicked Fengxian to the curb like she's some nasty secret to be hidden from the world in order to save her hide.
Even if Fengxian were open with the madam, I think the madam would’ve needed some convincing - in the beginning, that no, Lakan didn’t ~seduce~ her or ply her with false promises, this was something Fengxian wanted and decided on. And then, after he’d been gone for a year or more, there probably would’ve been some arguments with the madam convinced he’d abandoned her, Fengxian trying to think of ways to defend him… I wonder if inquiries could’ve been made, and they could’ve found out about his orders to leave the country indefinitely? Supposing they never learned… I think it might’ve been hard for Fengxian to admit even to herself three years later that she still wanted him, and especially to persuade the madam to forgive him.
It could’ve happened, yeah. They could’ve found some happiness a lot sooner, when her prognosis and quality of life were much better. But there still would’ve been a lot of bad blood to work through.
I don’t see Granny as a bad person, just a ruthless pragmatist, trying to protect her own flock from inside the fold! She would probably make excuses for putting the business first, and is presumably well aware of the dangers and pitfalls of the profession! But she certainly doesn’t appear to view sex and prostitution in a negative light, and probably thinks her women are safer in a reputable institution and community, than out in the streets! Safer even than fraught palace intrigue and affairs!
Few things I feel we need to take into effect about granny's actions.
Fenxian was trained and raised by her courtesan mother(granny) to be the pure ideal to ensure she could secure a rich husband to give her a better life.
Granny was setting up a high dollar buyout, and fenxian sabotaged the deal by getting lakan to impregnate her. This only works if she makes the pregnancy known. Fenxian was likely the source of the leak.
Unintentionally this caused a massive scandal that the brothel was trying to sell courtesan who were already pregnant, nearly bankrupting the business.
It's not specifically said, but I'm sure granny was furious and when lakan didn't return, fenxian probably took customers as a street walker out of guilt for ruining the business. I doubt granny forced her, it was fenxians way to pay financially to support maomao, until she got sick.
As the years past with no lakan, and being sick, maomao became a focus of her pain, physical and emotional. Thus the lashing out at maomao. I assume Granny moved maomao in with her adoptive father to protect her granddaughter and hopefully calm fenxian.
I also imagine granny sees lakan as the source of her plans failure, and the source of pain her daughter suffered. That kind of person is not likely to sit down for tea and listen to what happened, no you beat him with a broom and claim your daughter is "gone" so he can't cause more pain.
I _would_ like to learn more about the timeline of those few years, between Lakan being sent away and that first meeting with Maomao, when she was already calling Luomen her father. We know the broad strokes, but it’s not clear to me how fast Fengxian went from losing her status, to giving birth, to catching syphilis, and eventually to pulling her insane yubikiri stunt (when Maomao still seems to have been an infant). Or how the relationship between Maomao and Luomen developed. Or, for that matter, how a young Joka started working with Fengxian’s kamuro and the teenage dancer with galactorrhea to take care of the child, and how the three of them eventually became the most elite courtesans around.
Shoutout to the people animating the dance scene at the end. Outstanding work especially for a 2 cour anime. Really looking forward to the second season was a pleasure to watch you analyze this anime! Btw any chance you’re gonna finish zom 100? Stumbled over your analysis to it by chance and there’s still some nice stuff to come
In terms of Granny being evil, it's important to remember that Maomao's mother was violent towards her for most of her life, and it's only recently that she deteriorated to the point of no longer being so. She was a danger to herself and others. I think Granny did an incredible kindness by taking care of her under those circumstances, and considering how Lakan comes off as a complete creep to most people, I wouldn't have let him meet her either. It's only because Maomao understands the context of their relationship that she can see the potential for a reunion, and only because her mother is no longer violent.
Well, even we disregard the potential reason for why Granny tis taking care for Maomao's mom instead throwing her to the streets the moment she couldn't work as any reasonable brother owner at the time should, the fact that she doesn't want to be involved with the man who ruined one of her best courtesans any more than necessary for business shouldn't be surprising or perceived as villainous. Intentionally or not Lakan did fucked up and there is no reason for Granny to trust him at all. And Lakan well constructed facade of a "weirdo" doesn't help him to gain said trust.
There is only one reason why Granny took care of her and that was the bare minimum she could do as a person.
But for everything else the Granny is not only in the wrong but also caused it directly.
-Let Fengxian take the lowest of the low as customers. Now, the house may have hit rock bottom bust considering how Meimei and the other princesses turned out, there is no reason to believe that this was a long period or that Fengxian wasnt the only one forced to take the worst customers.
According to flashbacks, the 3 top princesses were already established when Pairin had to breastfeed Maomao.
-Refused Luomen's help because, "checks notes", he was an eunuch thrown away from the palace?
-Refused to hear Lakan out who 1)could use his connections for better treatment for Fengxian and 2)provide a MUCH better life for Maomao.
-Maomao's first meeting with him was bad because he was injured after being assaulted by Granny.
-Maomao is forced to remain in the brothel and be trained as a future asset instead of meeting Lakan and having a better life for 14 years.
-Fengxian is forced to a painful life for 14 years because Granny cant listen to Lakan, who she still accepts him as a CUSTOMER.
I mean ... Would you trust a doctor who got fired for being incompetent? Or a random person who's selling cheap medicine? They didn't know enough of Luomen to trust him at that point.
@@user-sq2jw3tz6u Accepting Lakan as a customer when he previously fucked up her business contradicts the whole point of why she wont let him near Fengxian.
@@ssjokg4952not really a contradiction tho. Even in the past eps a troublesome costumer that has done many problems are still excepted because his family are rich and have power. Fengxian made the house into the brink of bankruptcy, any potential high money costumer helps.
Other people have been dressing Maomao up this whole season, but this is the first time she dressed herself up. And it’s all the more beautiful for the fact of what it means - after all the pain that her relationship with Fengxian has brought, in her final months, Maomao chose to bring the man she loved back to her, and honor her with this farewell dance.
There is so much more love in this girl’s heart than she lets on.
And when you think about her whole “I am but a lowly commoner” thing, her constant sense of her social position, it is _really_ interesting that she’s chosen that position. One of the most powerful men in the empire, who can get away with the most absurd breaches of etiquette, desperately wants her to be his daughter. And she rejects all the status and security that would bring, so she can stay Luomen’s daughter.
(Her relationship with Jinshi… sorry, my feelings are shaped too much by later LN material to say.)
The madam really is a hard character to read. I can’t call her selfish; she’s mercenary, but for the sake of the brothel. But at the same time, no good came from her hiding Fengxian from Lakan for all these years. It was a lot of potential money she was passing up… and I keep thinking about the aspect of “a courtesan’s pride”. To her, Lakan is the man who brought Fengxian, and nearly all of Verdigris House, to ruin. The last episode made it clear she despises him, though the anime omits some details for the sake of time and narrative economy - IIRC, he had to pay a lot of money in damages before she’d even let him inside, and even then Meimei was the only one who’d take him as a customer. (No doubt this is part of why Maomao practically considers Meimei a saint.)
And both Lakan and Fengxian are bad at explaining themselves (as Jinshi said of their daughter in ep12), so the madam may well have gotten a distorted idea that validated her hatred - we already saw she didn’t know he was sent abroad. (And Lakan strategically trying to make himself look good? After the guilt and grief we saw consume him? No way. He framed himself as the villain when he told Jinshi the story, and I think he sees it that way.) Above all else, I think her guiding principle when it comes to him was _don’t let the bastard win._ She’ll treat him with civility, she’ll take his silver, but he had his damn chance to be worthy of Fengxian, and unlike Maomao, the madam does not forgive.
You can Monday-morning quarterback her, sure. But one thing I _don’t_ think was an option is hiding the pregnancy - not when Fengxian’s whole plan was to use it to abort the bidding war. Given Maomao’s conclusions later, I wouldn’t be surprised if Natsu Hyuuga wrote a flashback scene where Fengxian herself announced the pregnancy as publicly as she could manage. (Then walked out without elaborating further, in the most Maomao way possible.) And even if the rest of Verdigris House _was_ willing to bend the iron law of the courtesan - don’t work, don’t eat - to keep her fed and sheltered, we’re talking about a woman defined above all else by pride. Would she really have accepted?
Above all, I think the madam’s response to her critics would be “You think I didn’t think of that? You think I didn’t try to come up with every conceivable option? I broke my back to keep this place running! I was THERE when everything went to hell, you weren’t, you don’t get to judge me.”
Her relationship with Maomao is still something I don’t feel I have the best grasp on. We see she had the sense and decency to forbid the courtesans from telling the little girl that her existence was the reason they were all struggling. She’s had plenty of squabbles with Maomao over the years. But like Maomao said way back in ep12, she _must_ realize that Maomao’s talents don’t lie in entertaining customers. (Says the commenter who finds her massively entertaining, ha.) And the brothel does benefit from having a medical worker on-site. So why the push for courtesan work? And there’s been a couple mentions of Maomao owing the brothel money that don’t just seem to be about Lihaku’s romp with Pairin; I’m not clear on what that’s about. (She definitely doesn’t want Maomao to go to Lakan. Lakan said a while back that he’d been trying to persuade the madam for ages before Jinshi took her. If she was considering it, it was only reluctantly.)
Watching him breaking down character's thought (and breaking down himself), made me wanting to see him react to Bunny Girl Senpai.... I mean it's only 13 episodes + 3 movies, and there were many things in every episodes for him to paused and talk about.
I like this kind of anime where you can emotionally connect and empathize with the characters. Looking forward to your Oshi no Ko videos! Keep it up, ignore all the people saying 'prewatched', always better to focus attention on positive people and ignore those negative ones who are just trying to ruin the mood.
Thank you.
Ahora debe ver otra obra maestra: Youjo Senki (la protagonista también tiene la voz de Yuuki Aoi)
Thank you again for another excellent analysis.
I found your channel with the Bocchi videos and only watch on TH-cam some of the series I already watched to not spoil myself.
Until now I though the whole "pre-watched/wizard" was a joke similar to rats. I did not realize it was a way to diminish your analysis and you been dealing with this for 3 years. No wonder you are upset.
Don't let the haters get to you Ed, we appreciate what you do. Honestly the way I see it you could pre-watch everything (not saying you do) and start your videos saying "already watched, here is 1h breakdown of this episode from a psychologist point of view" and you would still have all your viewers. The point of watching you cook should not be to mock you on how right/wrong you are, but on how you go about making the analysis itself.
Love you Ed, never stop cooking.
Welcome to the end of Season 1! I'm glad you had as much fun watching this as we had watching you react! Time for the bullet list!
1.) F*ck Lakan. I empathize with his tragic romance as much as you do and his reunification with Fengxian is absolutely brilliant and heartwarming. But I think it's interesting that you gloss over just how little respect Lakan has for Maomao's boundaries. As a light novel reader, I can tell you that the anime actually cut a lot of Lakan and Maomao's early interactions for time, doing their best to encapsulate it with that one shot of Lakan reaching for Maomao as she cowers against Luomen. But I will say that his actions this season haven't actually changed since Maomao was a child.
Lakan wants to be Maomao's daddy. And, as he says when Maomao has clearly bested him and made it clear that she doesn't want to be his child, "I'll have to try again another time." He doesn't care that the role is already filled. He's not reaching out to try to build a relationship on Maomao's terms. He's not trying to build trust and connection. He wants what he wants and to hell with what Maomao wants. You do not reach out to an estranged child by focusing on YOUR needs.
Lakan's crime in Maomao's eyes has never been maliciousness. It's carelessness. He was careless with Fengxian and her reputation and worse, he continues to be careless with the lives of the people around him (re; the assassination plot against Jinshi which led to Maomao being hurt). He has. not. learned. his. lesson as of the end of this season.
2.) Wow, all the discussion of the Madam as a romantic spoiler is really stripping Fengxian of her agency. I wish you'd gone a bit more into what I think is a clear depiction of postpartum depression turning VERY dangerous. That could be an interesting discussion.
But regarding the Madam just being able to raise her prices to cover the cost of Maomao? Something I think Ed missed on the first watch (which Lakan mentions in ep 23) is that what Fengxian did didn't just affect her. It dragged the ENTIRE brothel down with her. "She dragged her brothel's name through the mud." (Ep 23, Lakan's monologue) There was no margin to raise prices at all - in fact, the prices had to be lowered. Worse, the ability to screen their clientele for disease and violence (something you see happening in Episode 1 and throughout the series) went down the drain. Fengxian's syphilis is a terrible consequence of her own actions.
The Madam is not innocent in this situation - but then again, nobody is, with the exception of Maomao. Everybody was doing their best at the time with the information they had - and frankly, the Madam's rage is just as valid as Lakan's pain.
3.) Re Jinshi and Maomao's power imbalance, well that's part of the story and as a light novel reader I can tell you that it is going to play a huge role in the development of that relationship. But neither the author nor the characters ignore it.
Also, I think the beozar question was my favorite time Ed slid down the chair crying, "Por que?!"
4.) Regarding Concubine Loulan and her father - if you think episode 23 was pain? JUST WAIT FOR IT. Season 2 is going to make you cry.
Yeah, I am generally recognized by people I know as being Good With Kids, and Lakan… is not. In that first meeting, what he really needed to do was accept her on her own terms - if she calls Luomen her father, then accept that, and introduce himself as Luomen’s nephew. Signal that you’re happy just to be in her company. Don’t be intimidating; let her approach you if and when she wants. (Though come to think of it, in his defense, he’s not used to interpreting facial expressions. He might’ve never realized how scared she was.)
I don't know if this is true, but I like how when Lakan finally sees MomMao everyone stops having Go pieces for heads, because he only has eyes for her. Everyone else doesn't matter anymore.
Tomorrow is self care day as all Fridays should be
Question: What, to Maomao, is romantic love?
Answer: *Romantic love is the reason her mother mutilated her.*
This probably explains a lot about her.
(I’m behind and I don’t have time to catch up, being on vacation with family, but I wanted to make that point. Looking forward to watching your analyses of these last few episodes and commenting more.)
This show is my all time favourite from it Web novel ,light novel to it manga and now the anime , the story telling is incredible and the world building is fenomenal , and to add to this greatness the characters are very unique ❤❤❤
to think that manga and animé readers haven't witnessed the Best arc 😂
I think the granny was just very stubborn, her narrow minded attitude makes some of her become unreasonable to others. My grandma was kinda like that too. Maybe not to that extent but on their narrow views. 😅
To a weird extent I can see that the grandma sees that being a flower on the pleasure district are generally “saver” than a flower being stepped on the dirty streets. Not necessarily good but that’s what they believe in. I don’t believe she’s evil and her being insistent about maomao joining the business might be BECAUSE she cares about maomao.
Maomao has a high curious behavior and as we can see often roaming around in search of herb and medicine, she even got kidnapped because of it.
TLDR; I do believe the does care more than just her business, but her views and stubbornness made her showing it in the kinda messed up ways lol😅
(This was a fun experience rerewatching this great of anime Ed! I hope to be seeing you next season ❤❤)
Granny does care a lot about money, but Lakan offered her 100 k for Fengxiang (somebody who was only a “cost” to granny at that point) and granny was refusing the deal before Meimei stepped in.
I think the reason she didn’t offer Fengxiang to care for her while she had a child was that it would be seen as favoritism by the other courtersans. And Fengxiang wouldn’t have agreed to do that either, we’ve been told time and time again that Fengxiang was an extremely proud woman
op1 supremacy
LETSGO 🐀
When it comes to this show, my hot take is that Jinshi and Maomao would make a terrible couple, based on the fact that throughout this whole season, Jinshi constantly displays little to no respect for Maomao's boundaries or ability to look after herself, and I absolutely never want them to hook up.
My _hotter_ take is that the last two episodes don't actually change anything about how I view Lakan. Yes, he was seemingly a decent guy stuck in an awful situation. But even so, being Maomao's biological father does not, and _should_ not, give him any right to be a part of her life-especially when she makes it clear that she dislikes him and wants not to associate with him.
And my _hottest_ take... is that all things considered, I would have been happier if you watched BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! instead.
I agree with hot take 2, sort-of agree with hot take 1. As of the end of season 1, Jinshi and Maomao are not ready to be in any sort of relationship - both of them have a LOT of growing up to do. However, as a light novel reader, I will point out that AD is a romance. The question is not will they, it's HOW will they and the story is what happens over literal YEARS of growth to get them to that point - and as of the latest English translation of novel 11 (out of 15 in Japan), they are still not together. Re; hot take two, I find it interesting that nobody is talking about how Lakan's inability to see the vast majority of people as PEOPLE makes him absolutely chilling as a character. Like, let's not try to turn Lakan into a woobie man who needs to be babied - this is someone who can and does play with people's lives for his own amusement.
Yeah, granny was the villain in this story.
She kept Loumen out who could have saved Fengxian. And she continued to refuse Lakan even after he explained the whole situation she still didn’t care. He continued to get up and come over and over after getting beat but she still refused.
Why keep asking Maomao to become a courtesan? It’s clear Maomao hates it. It’s because she has problems understanding people. She doesn’t understand Lakan or Loumen either. So idk.
Ignorance is a sin I guess.