The Apothecary Diaries: Are the Manga and Light Novel Finished or Ongoing?
The Apothecary Diaries is a Japanese light novel series written by Natsu Hyūga. Originally published in 2011, the series was acquired by Shufunotomo, who published it in a hardcover volume released in 2012 and then republished it in 2014 as a light novel series. The work was adapted into a manga series published in May 2017. An anime produced by Toho Animation Studio and OLM has been broadcast since October 2023. The series has become fairly popular among shojo fans, and that is why – now that the anime is on a hiatus – we have decided to tell you whether the original novel, light novel, and manga are finished or ongoing.
The Apothecary Diaries novel is still ongoing
As we have said above, The Apothecary Diaries is actually a novel series that debuted on October 27, 2011, and has been published since. The original work is being published online in Japanese and you can find it online without much trouble (the original source is the Shōsetsuka ni Narō site); reading it might be a problem if you don’t know Japanese. Since web novels don’t have the same structure as printed works, there is nothing much we can add in relation to the structure of this work.
The Apothecary Diaries light novel adaptation is still ongoing
Based on the written work of Natsu Hyūga and with illustrations provided by Touko Shino, the light novel adaptation of The Apothecary Diaries has been published online and in printed format by Shufunotomo since August 29, 2014. As of the time of writing, the series has a total of 14 volumes and is still ongoing, becoming a popular source for fans. Since it is an adaptation of the original novel, we can expect more volumes in the future. This is the current structure:
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 29, 2014 | 978-4-07-298198-6 | February 14, 2021 (ebook) May 14, 2024 (print) | 978-1-71-836118-8 (ebook) 978-1-64-609272-7 (print) |
| 2 | January 31, 2015 | 978-4-07-410821-3 | June 3, 2021 | 978-1-71-836120-1 |
| 3 | June 29, 2015 | 978-4-07-401176-6 | September 14, 2021 | 978-1-71-836122-5 |
| 4 | September 30, 2015 | 978-4-07-403100-9 | January 5, 2022 | 978-1-71-836124-9 |
| 5 | April 30, 2016 | 978-4-07-416947-4 | May 9, 2022 | 978-1-71-836126-3 |
| 6 | November 30, 2016 | 978-4-07-420788-6 | October 10, 2022 | 978-1-71-836128-7 |
| 7 | February 28, 2018 | 978-4-07-429772-6 | March 1, 2023 | 978-1-71-836130-0 |
| 8 | February 28, 2019 | 978-4-07-436884-6 | May 29, 2023 | 978-1-71-836132-4 |
| 9 | February 28, 2020 | 978-4-07-442420-7 978-4-07-441030-9 (LE) | October 9, 2023 | 978-1-71-836134-8 |
| 10 | January 29, 2021 | 978-4-07-447215-4 | January 18, 2024 | 978-1-71-836136-2 |
| 11 | April 30, 2021 | 978-4-07-448226-9 978-4-07-448440-9 (LE) | May 20, 2024 | TBD |
| 12 | July 29, 2022 | 978-4-07-452400-6 978-4-07-452386-3 (LE) | — | — |
| 13 | February 25, 2023 | 978-4-07-454379-3 | — | — |
| 14 | September 29, 2023 | 978-4-07-455775-2 | — | — |
The Apothecary Diaries manga is still being published
As far as the manga adaptation is concerned, it is written by Hyūga, alongside Itsuki Nanao, who is also the illustrator. The Japanese manga has been published by Nekokurage since May 25, 2017, while the English edition is being published by Square Enix. As of the time of writing, twelve volumes have been published, but since the manga is based on the original work as well, we can expect more manga volumes in the future. As of the time of writing, the structure of the series looks like this:
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 25, 2017 | 978-4-06-388690-0 | December 8, 2020 | 978-1-64609-070-9 |
| 2 | February 24, 2018 | 978-4-7575-5640-9 | February 9, 2021 | 978-1-64609-071-6 |
| 3 | July 25, 2018 | 978-4-7575-5794-9 | September 21, 2021 | 978-1-64609-072-3 |
| 4 | February 25, 2019 | 978-4-7575-5963-9 | December 28, 2021 | 978-1-64609-073-0 |
| 5 | July 25, 2019 | 978-4-7575-6216-5 | July 12, 2022 | 978-1-64609-074-7 |
| 6 | March 25, 2020 | 978-4-7575-6581-4 | September 13, 2022 | 978-1-64609-086-0 |
| 7 | November 25, 2020 | 978-4-7575-6856-3 | December 13, 2022 | 978-1-6460-9120-1 |
| 8 | May 25, 2021 | 978-4-7575-7271-3 | July 11, 2023 | 978-1-6460-9134-8 |
| 9 | November 25, 2021 | 978-4-7575-7586-8 | August 15, 2023 | 978-1-6460-9135-5 |
| 10 | June 23, 2022 | 978-4-7575-7985-9 | November 28, 2023 | 978-1-6460-9136-2 |
| 11 | February 25, 2023 | 978-4-7575-8324-5 | March 5, 2024 | 978-1-6460-9252-9 |
| 12 | September 29, 2023 | 978-4-7575-8813-4 | September 3, 2024 | 978-1-6460-9296-3 |
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