Few anime series in recent memory have had quite the same impact as 2023's release of The Apothecary Diaries season 2 in early 2025.

Part of the reason the anime was so successful was the direction courtesy of season 1 director Norihiro Naganuma. Naganuma is a talented animator who has directed such hits as The Ancient Magus' Bride while also providing storyboarding and art for series like Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan, and Vinland Saga. With Naganuma at the helm of both directing and writing, The Apothecary Diaries' genre bending story from the original novel series was faithfully translated into the anime adaptation, helping it become the success that it is.

In anticipation of the series' second season, we sat down to talk to Naganuma to discuss what it was like to work on the series and why he thinks Maomao is such an interesting protagonist.

Screen Rant: So you took over both writing and directing duties for this series. Was taking on those dual roles particularly difficult. Or did doing one make doing the other easier?

Norihiro Naganuma: As a director, to express what I wanted to, it was very important to be able to be part of the structuring, scripting, and all that in order for me to have a full creative expressiveness. So it was very essential to me that I not just do the directing, but also the writing. Even during the structuring, I was thinking about how to use the music would sound, for example. So it went like that for the whole process, and it helped me to direct in a better way.

What was your favorite episode of the first season? Was there a specific episode that you really felt proud of?

Norihiro Naganuma: the first episode and the final episode. The first one, of course, introduces the show to the audience. So I was very nervous about how the audience would feel after watching that. So then episode 24 obviously is the finale of the whole season. And so I wanted to make sure that we have a proper conclusion and have the theme delivered to the audience successfully. And that's why I was really paying attention to those two.

Was there any specific moment or quote from the season that really resonated with you?

Norihiro Naganuma: So at episode 24, I cannot the exact full quote, but the line goes like "Do you know the pinky finger? Even if it gets cut, it will regrow." So that's the one that left the biggest lasting impression on me. That specific line represents the fact that Maomao's own trauma, the trauma of her birth, of her mother and father, can also be cured. And the fact that Maomao is telling that to Jinshi shows her growth as a human.

Maomao doesn't understand love, and so there's a lot of scenes in each episode where she looks at her pinky finger, and so that's a representation. So being able to tell Jinshi that line, and then the fact that the pinky finger can even cure and regrow, really show Maomao's character arc in a beautiful way.

As you're talking about with the pinky line, a big theme of the series is overcoming trauma. Was that something you were actively trying to push forward as a key message of the series?

Norihiro Naganuma: So the big themes of this series is self love, and the love between a mother and a child. And so, there are pieces of that puzzle scattered in each episode. So what I paid attention to was placing those pieces in the right spot, like a puzzle. So each piece from each episode will come together towards the end.

Do you have a particularly favorite character in the series?

Norihiro Naganuma: Not as a director, but on a personal level, I like Gaoshun the most. The fact that he can step back and see things more objectively, that's why I think he's in the best position to watch the Maomao and Jinshi's relationship.

Have you had any interesting encounters with fans of the series, and do you keep up with fan conversations surrounding the series?

Norihiro Naganuma: I was too busy creating it, so I didn't have time to actually pay attention to what the fans were saying. So my wife's reaction is the easiest and the most effective way for me to gauge how I'm doing on the project, but my wife kept saying, "Oh, I want to see the next one, I want to see the next one!"

Maomao is a very morally upstanding character, but she still has a lot of nuance and depth that makes her really compelling to watch. What do you think is the key to making characters like her so interesting?

Norihiro Naganuma: So it's all thanks to the original characters by Natsu Hyūga. But there's this audio drama where Maomao is a little bit more emotionless. In that, her feelings are much more hidden, but in animation, I pay attention to how we can make her more expressive and be more willing to show emotion. We want to create those kind of moments where, if she loves something, she expresses it. So we had to kind of emphasize those moments.

Thank you to Norihiro Naganuma for speaking to us! Look forward to The Apothecary Diaries season 2 when it releases in early 2025!