'Kusuriya no Hitorigoto' 3rd Season Airs in Split Cours, Gets Original Movie in December 2026

by Naitik7897
Oct 22, 2025 6:36 AM | 18 Comments

The official website for the television anime adaptation of Natsu Hyuuga's Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) light novel announced an original anime movie on Wednesday. The movie, featuring a completely new story by Hyuuga, is scheduled to premiere in December 2026.

Norihiro Naganuma (Mahoutsukai no Yome) is returning to direct the movie.

The official website also revealed a second anniversary promo and a super teaser visual (pictured right) for the third season. The third season will air in split cours, with the first part debuting in October 2026 on Nippon Television. The second part will premiere in Spring 2027.

Produced by OLM and TOHO animation STUDIO, the first and second season aired in Fall 2023 and Winter 2025, respectively, each airing in 24 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the anime with subs and dubs in multiple languages, excluding Asia.

Hyuuga began penning the novel on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website in October 2011. Shufunotomo began publishing the novel under its Hero Bunko imprint with illustrations by Touko Shino in August 2014 and published the 16th volume on May 30. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto has a cumulative 40 million copies of its volumes in circulation.

Nekokurage began drawing a manga adaptation in Big Gangan in May 2017. Square Enix published the 15th volume on March 25.

A second manga adaptation by Minoji Kurata began serializing in Sunday Gene-X in August 2017. Shogakukan published the 20th volume on May 19.

J-Novel Club licensed the light novel for digital release in English in November 2020 and published the 15th volume on September 12. Square Enix licensed the manga adaptation for English release in November 2019 and published the 14th volume on October 7, with the 15th volume planned to be released on March 17, 2026.

2nd Anniversary PV

Source: animate Times

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Movie on MAL

18 Comments Recent Comments

@WatchTillTandava If this is going to be an original spin-off, then technically there's nothing stopping them from positioning it somewhere in parallel.

Oct 23, 2025 2:08 AM by RobertBobert

RobertBobert said:
Um, where did I ever say anything like that? All I was saying was that since it's an original film, they don't have a strict timeline.

Just elaborating on that idea - The point is, if it comes out after the first half of a split cour season three which starts airing in autumn of 2026, then it's probably safe to assume it will take place chronologically after the events of that part of the series which just aired on television, likely to link the first and second cours/halves of the season. That's obviously not guaranteed, but because the series is popular and well-known and the film would be airing in theatres, it seems unlikely they'll squander the momentum and opportunity to "build hype" by having it slotted in just anywhere along the timeline, like having it be a random prequel or midquel set before or during the earlier seasons.

Oct 23, 2025 2:04 AM by WatchTillTandava

@WatchTillTandava Um, where did I ever say anything like that? All I was saying was that since it's an original film, they don't have a strict timeline.

Oct 23, 2025 1:51 AM by RobertBobert

slop anime for chinese women in their 50s

Oct 23, 2025 1:36 AM by Catalano

So excited for this

Oct 23, 2025 12:28 AM by Reecey91

No doubt this is going to create a lot of buzz in the anime community!

Oct 22, 2025 9:14 PM by Retro8bit

RobertBobert said:
So, technically they could place it anywhere in the original story?

Just because it is anime original content, it doesn't mean that it won't potentially include references to or even be dependent on aspects from the plot and character development which already happened prior in the anime series and wouldn't make logical canonical sense if placed before it on the timeline. Like, obviously if there is reference to something which happened in episode 48 (the season two finale) then it would be irrational to claim it takes place after episode two of season one or something extreme like that.

Unless by "original story" you meant placed anywhere in the light novel if adapted to that format or considered canon anyway by its readers, but the LN is way ahead of the anime series from my understanding and it doesn't seem like they'd place it much further in the future than the end of the first half of the upcoming season three slated to air immediately preceding it, or why would they skip ahead of all that to-be-adapted-to-anime content or have the second half of season three go backwards?

Oct 22, 2025 7:46 PM by WatchTillTandava

@Mythologically So, technically they could place it anywhere in the original story?

Oct 22, 2025 5:43 PM by RobertBobert

Toho animation is really dumping a lot of money on this series, I guess after MHA, this will be one of their main shows alongside JJK and SpyxFam...

Oct 22, 2025 2:37 PM by MadanielFL

I still need to watch the first 2 seasons at least if I get into this series i won't have to wonder if it will get a full adaptation

Oct 22, 2025 1:23 PM by yamiyugi101

Extremely excited for both the movie and s3 as someone who loved the other two seasons. Can't wait to see Maomao and the gang in cinemas

Oct 22, 2025 12:31 PM by iluvmozu

Wonderful news y'all, wonderful news!!!

Oct 22, 2025 11:33 AM by MoonlitGrass7

Please don;t let s3 and movie be a disaster like s2 which had the story quality of a cheap Chinese romance drama on netflix. I hope they will be as enjoyable as the first season.

Oct 22, 2025 8:41 AM by Yubisoft

@RobertBobert No, this is not possible. The movie was announced as a "完全新作ストーリー" ("completely new story") written by the original author.

Oct 22, 2025 8:32 AM by Mythologically

@Tendo_GM Is it possible that they decided that one of the "inner" arcs was perfect for a full-screen adaptation?

Oct 22, 2025 8:25 AM by RobertBobert

Just let this series die already

Oct 22, 2025 8:24 AM by TheSekiryuutei

@RobertBobert the weird thing is they're releasing the movie between the two cours which probably has something to do with the decision.
As you know, split cours are usually a product of production timelines and not marketing, but considering their production has been solid so far i doubt that's the reason. Maybe the movie fits into the story right between the cours in the timeline.

Oct 22, 2025 8:13 AM by Tendo_GM

I'm happy about the news about the film, but why do they need a split cour? Doesn't the current hype and critical acclaim give them relatively unlimited opportunities for further work on anime?

Oct 22, 2025 7:34 AM by RobertBobert