by One of the popular elements of the anime “The Apothecary Diaries ” is the frustrating relationship between Jinshi (voiced by Otsuka Takeo) and Nekoneko (voiced by Yuki Aoi). Many viewers couldn’t help but grin at the exchange between the two as they continued to misunderstand each other over the hairpin at the garden party.
In episode 8, Nekoneko returns home using the hairpin she received from the military officer Li Bai (CV: Akabane Kenji) at the garden party. Hairpins given at garden parties are meant to show that the person is a favorite or to show affection. The hairpin Li Bai gave her was a kind of “obligation,” but Jinshi mistakenly thought that Nekoneko had received Li Bai’s affection.
When Jinshi returns to the harem, he summons Nekoneko and begins talking in a sulky tone, saying, “What kind of man is Li Bai?” and “I thought I gave her a hairpin too, but she never contacted me.” Nekoneko, on her own, maliciously interprets this as, “In short, he’s not happy that he wasn’t contacted,” or “He’s a man with a lot of free time, so he wants some troublesome attention.”
Nekoneko had provided a prostitute to Li Bai in exchange for him acting as a guarantor for his return home, and explained that “he was delighted with the one-night dream” and “he seemed very satisfied, so it was worth our efforts.” However, these words were enough to make Jinshi believe that Nekoneko had spent the night with Li Bai, and he was frozen in shock.
