Considerations This is a spoilerfree review. 80+ in my rating means very good media. Ive got to read this work on a friends recommendation. I read a bit of the synopsis and the herbal medicine mention got my attention and thats what gave me the last push to read this work. As this work is still being released I would like to start off by saying that at the time that Im writing we are at chapter 66. If things change drastically with time I will come back and rewrite or edit this review. The Story The story is centered on Maomao a 17yearold pharmacist who lives and works near a redlight district. One day while gathering herbs in the forest she gets kidnapped and sold as a slave. She ends up working at the emperors palace. Her knowledge attracts the attention of Jinshi an eunuch with high rank who assigns her the role of food tester for a highclass courtesan. The story of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto is really well told. It has several arcs that differentiate the style. Sometimes you have arcs that are more investigative others focused on a SoL Slice of Life style while others are done exclusively for character development uncovering backgrounds and such. As Maomao is a pharmacist and gets assigned as a poison tester you get to see a lot of rudimentary medicine. While at times they also take a liberty using more complex solutions for problems than you would expect at the time those moments have an excuse in the story and also create better puzzles for the reader to think about. The Art Style The art of this work is absurdly good. That was the first thing that caught my interest because it is not a popular manga but I was greeted with a drawing quality similar to that of more popular works such as Kaguyasama. With further reading and specially on volume 4 extras I was able to see that there was actually a big team of assistants which explained the quality. 420https://files.catbox.moe/xcwiss.jpg The characters are very well designed with different heights hairstyles and clothing characteristics. Theres even commentary talking about how they aim to grow Maomaos hair as the volumes progress. Backgrounds shadows lightning and everything else are very well done in this matter. No complaints. 350https://i.ur.com/PDqNYKu.png The Characters There are a fair number of characters in this manga Maomao her family Jinshi a giant number of courtesans officials and the list goes on. In my personal opinion theyre very unique each one has a different mentality and things they aim for. Of course the manga has a lot of mystery but with time you start to understand more about the characters. In the main character department Maomao is absolutely sublime. She behaves as if she is the point far from the curve sometimes being very tomboy. She is also very rational and funny. For a main character her personality just makes everything else shine as her interactions with other characters give an extra flavor to the series. 320https://files.catbox.moe/lbu6js.jpg Sometimes shes so cute Conclusion If youre like me you skip everything and read only the conclusion because you dont want to get spoiled with other themes. So I will try to be brief on this point: Read it. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto has everything you would expect from a popular manga. Amazing art characters and story with a lot of genres in a single work. Mystery drama slice of life and more. I cant wait to see this work get an animation.