{"id":730973,"date":"2026-06-02T13:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-apothecary-diaries-exhibition-kuala-lumpur-report\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:40:23","slug":"the-apothecary-diaries-exhibition-kuala-lumpur-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-apothecary-diaries-exhibition-kuala-lumpur-report\/","title":{"rendered":"The Apothecary Diaries Exhibition Kuala Lumpur Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The moment I saw the preview images of The Apothecary Diaries Exhibition\u2019s recreations, which brought to life objects like the medicine-filled Maomao\u2019s Clandestine Cabinet, a couple of costumes (one Maomao\u2019s, the other Jinshi\u2019s), and a Go board playing area, I started fantasizing about the potential immersiveness of the exhibition. Would it whisk me away into the historical China-inspired setting of <\/span>The Apothecary Diaries<\/span><\/i>. Would there be a zone explaining medicinal ingredients while surrounding us with props of said ingredients? Would there be a full fashion gallery? What about a section describing the politics of the Rear Palace?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Well, no. The Apothecary Diaries Exhibition, which recently landed in Malaysia as part of its Asia tour, is primarily focused on delivering visual material of Season 1\u2019s characters and greatest hits. To illustrate that, the first thing you see when you peek through the curtains hanging over the entrance is Maomao\u2019s back from the teaser visual, and one of the last sights in the journey is a section theme<\/a>d on her climactic Episode 24 dance, where you weave between suspended stills and words to get to the screen playing the dance and the nearby storyboards for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The exhibition is technically sectioned, most often by noren curtains \u2014 small exhibits in themselves due to their images and\/or lines of dialogue or descriptions. However, it feels less a series<\/a> of distinct, neatly segmented zones and more a continuous stream, perhaps because Incubase Arena Malaysia\u2019s usual, presumably larger exhibition area is currently occupied by Crayon Shin-chan. That stream largely sweeps you from character to character, shown as stills, illustrations, design sheets, and key animation drawings. Mingled with these are video footage and materials for moments like the Episode 19 scene where Maomao gets beaten up by a distrustful guard before Lakan assists her, or when she declares, \u201cThis is poison.\u201d Storyboards, related to a character and\/or a particular scene, are in large supply too. Simply put, there\u2019s lots of nice art to enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Dotted here and there are the immersive recreations, one of my favorite parts of The Apothecary Diaries Exhibition aside from the keyframes and the behind-the-scenes content (which I\u2019ll get to later). A few of them are for dedicated photo spots, but all are certainly photo-worthy. You can find a photo spot that recreates Jinshi\u2019s desk (and changes the background color to mimic some of the anime<\/a>\u2019s notable scenes), and also the poison-tasting setup at the Garden Party. There\u2019s a Verdigris House-themed area that welcomes you with a lantern-covered entrance and the aforementioned Go table, which together creates the exhibition\u2019s most immersive corner.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I still wish there were more, such as the recreations of the consorts\u2019 and courtesans\u2019 costumes and not just one of Maomao and Jinshi\u2019s outfits. At least we get a number of accessories, the ones Maomao receives from various people, on display.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Because of my past anime\/manga exhibition experiences, I thought it was a bit weird that this one didn\u2019t have character profiles beyond the very simple relationship chart near the start. There\u2019s also not much in the way of context-providing text for the exhibits that are based on specific parts of the story, outside of character quotes. My memory of Season 1 was fortunately sound enough for the most part, but when I got to the exhibits dedicated to Lakan\u2019s relationship with Feng Xian, I had to refresh my memory with a visit to Feng Xian\u2019s Wiki page because I\u2019d forgotten the reason behind her finger severing, and seeing Lakan\u2019s line about it being a curse wasn\u2019t enough to fully jog my memory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

On the other hand, it was easier to connect with the behind-the-scenes material, which is fairly prominent. There are comments from staff members such as director and series composer <\/span>Norihiro Naganuma<\/b>, character designer and chief animation director Yukiko Nakatani, and color designer <\/span>Misato Aita <\/b>on their approaches to their respective tasks and noteworthy challenges. Sprinkled throughout are compilations of Naganuma\u2019s personal highlights from the series (one per episode) with some commentary. They aren\u2019t mega deep dives, but there\u2019s just enough trivia and meat on the whole to make them more than a momentary distraction from the next character illustration.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I was especially drawn to the parts touching on the utilization of 3D layouts (proclaimed to be \u201cessential to the achievement of realistic visuals that resemble live-action dramas\u201d for the anime), the background art work, and color. I spent some time gazing at rows of environmental stills of the Rear Palace, meant to illuminate the variations in the background art\u2019s color and mood due to the scene\u2019s time or weather. Close by, a screen shows visitors a glimpse of the 3D models that helped the production to realize <\/span>The Apothecary Diaries<\/span><\/i>\u2018 world. These particular production-focused displays are where the exhibition feels most engaged with the setting.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Despite my minor quibbles, this is definitely an exhibition that fans of <\/span>The Apothecary Diaries<\/span><\/i> anime should visit. There\u2019s the artwork and production material, the making-of sections, and the zones that are all about reminding you of some of the series\u2019 most memorable scenes. If you liked the mystery elements of the show, there\u2019s a part of the exhibition that revisits its case-solving moments. I just feel that the experience would feel more complete with a few more props and basic lore descriptions. It was easy for me to enjoy the visual elements of this exhibition, and I recalled enough of Season 1 to never feel completely lost, but the world of <\/span>The Apothecary Diaries <\/span><\/i>felt a little distant at times.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Photo by Melvyn Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Apothecary Diaries Exhibition is running at Incubase Arena Malaysia, located on the second floor of the Fahrenheit 88 mall, until July 12 as part of its Asia tour. An announcement revealed that the themed cafe meant to accompany it will not be operating during the exhibition\u2019s run, with no word on its launch at the time of publication. A merchandise section is available, however.<\/span><\/i><\/span>
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