Apothecary Diaries goes live-action in 2028. What our ancient-China shelf holds
A live-action Apothecary Diaries series reaches Amazon Prime worldwide in 2028, and nothing of the anime is playable here. Of the 62 entries our index files under the ancient-China setting, exactly two state a free episode count, and both are donghua.
By June Maravilla · AnimeSphere staff · September 3, 2026
A live-action series based on the Apothecary Diaries novels is coming to Amazon Prime, worldwide, in 2028. Mana Ashida has been cast in the role of Maomao, and her earlier credits include Pacific Rim and Mother, according to Anime News Network.
That premiere is a long way off. It is worth asking what our own index holds in the meantime.
Our index carries five Apothecary Diaries entries. Three are named seasons: the first from 2023 and Season 2 from 2025, both recorded with 24 episodes, and Season 3 from 2026 with no episode total on file. The other two are a further part of the third season and a film. All five pages loaded today, and none of them states a free episode count. Nothing of the Apothecary Diaries anime is playable here.
The ancient-China shelf
62 entries in our index carry the descriptive tag Ancient China. It is a setting tag rather than a country-of-origin field, and it covers 28 ONA, 21 TV series, 6 films, 3 TV shorts, 3 OVA and 1 special. Four of the five Apothecary Diaries entries carry it; the film does not. All 62 pages loaded today, and the sweep ran twice without a single count changing between passes.
Exactly two of the 62 state a free episode count. They are The Ravages of Time 2, at 16 episodes, and How Dare You!?, at 24. Both pages carry the language note Chinese audio, English subs, both are recorded with China as their country of origin, and both are titled as donghua rather than as anime. Kingdom has six recorded TV seasons on this shelf and not one of them states a count. Ya Boy Kongming! states none either.
What plays tonight
The Ravages of Time 2 is recorded as an ONA of 16 episodes at 25 minutes each, with no season year on file. Its page states 16 free episodes, and our records hold 16 rows numbered 1 to 16 with no gaps, on a channel called Made By Bilibili that carries a YouTube verified badge. Nine of the sixteen were opened today. All nine played, each reporting an authored English subtitle track, six of them alongside a simplified Chinese track, and they run from 1,243 to 2,057 seconds against that recorded 25 minutes.
The first season is free here too. It is recorded as a 16-episode ONA on the same channel, its page states 16 free episodes with the same language note, and five of those were opened today and played, each reporting an authored English subtitle track. That first season does not carry the ancient-China tag, so the census above counted the sequel and missed the original. Across the two seasons, 32 free episodes.
The number that does not hold
How Dare You!? advertises the larger figure, 24, and eleven of its rows are marked retired, with the video recorded as unavailable. Five of its videos were opened today, and four came back unplayable from a United States request: three of the retired rows, and one row that is not retired at all. The fifth, the first episode, played, reporting authored English, Japanese and Korean subtitle tracks. Its channel carries no YouTube verified badge. The advertised 24 is not reachable.