Review: THE ECCENTRIC DOCTOR OF THE MOON FLOWER KINGDOM

 It was inevitable that the success of The Apothecary Diaries would spawn imitators.  Those imitators can be enjoyable in their own right, but this book can't help but make me wish I was just reading about MaoMao instead.

THE ECCENTRIC DOCTOR OF THE MOON FLOWER KINGDOM (Gekkakoku Kaiden), by Tohru Himuka.  First published in 2018 and first published in North America in 2023.

PLOT:

Trouble is afoot in the capital of the Moon Flower Kingdom.  The head consort wants to clear the way for her own son, even if that means killing the crown prince Keiun.  His guard is injured during their escape, and this is what ultimately leads him to the small-town doctor Koyou.  Her pretty face and ditzy ways bely her talent for practical treatments and medicine-making.  Keiun takes it upon himself to bring her and her assistant to the palace to ply her trade, even if it means facing all the machinations of the royal court.

STORY:

I really want to be fair to The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom.  It is entertaining in its own right!  It's just that it's impossible to deny that this manga was clearly an attempt to cash in on the growing fame of The Apothecary Diaries (originally coming hot on the heels of both manga adaptations in Japan), and that echoes of that series can be found all over this one.

Admittedly, Koyou and MaoMao couldn't be much more different in personality.  Where MaoMao is prickly and aloof, Koyou is bubbly and blithe.  While Koyou is perfectly serious when it comes to practicing medicine, she is not above getting distracted by the sight of well-muscled men or touting the benefits of goat milk.   She also comes with a companion, a dark-skinned foreigner named Shingudamu who is mostly there to give Koyou someone to talk to and demonstrate how nobly unbigoted she can be.  That said, there are also some obvious similarities.  Like MaoMao, she learned her craft from her father figure who is strongly implied to be some sort of court exile.  Also like MaoMao she's clearly being set up for a romance with Keiun, who is less cagey than Jinshi about his royal connections but just as ready to manipulate Koyou in order to serve his own schemes.

Alas, the weakness in Himuka's writing become obvious when she has to rely on her own ideas.  When she does, she tends to reach for some exceedingly well-worn plot clichés.  You've got the 'noblewoman schemes against crown protagonist to put her kid on the throne" subplot, which I've seen done dozens of times over in shojo titles ranging from Red River to Nina the Starry Bride.  There's clearly an attempt to get a love triangle going with Koyou, Keiun, and another nobleman towards the end of the volume.  A bratty little pickpocket with a dramatically convenient sick little sister is introduced to give Koyou someone to mother.  These are all so very rote, and none of it is delivered with the personality or nuance that made The Apothecary Diaries unique from the very start.

ART:

At the very least, Eccentric Doctor is not slacking off when it comes to the art.  While the way she draws faces is not particularly great, she does take care when it comes to the details in the robes and backgrounds.  She even incorporates some actual patterns, something that would absolutely be present on the clothing for the noble characters (and the heroine, to visually distinguish her) but so often missing in these faux-Chinese settings.  Her panel are simple in structure and tight in focus, keeping any sort of overlapping or breaking out of the frame to a minimum.  

RATING:

The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom can try to copy The Apothecary Diaries all it wants, but its creator isn't capable of replicating the same sort of character writing or distinguishing themselves with their own original ideas.  It's not an unpleasant read, but if given the choice I would far sooner read the real deal versus the knockoff.

This manga is published by Seven Seas.  This series is ongoing in Japan with 14 volumes available.  12 volumes have been released and are currently in print.