An overview of the Apothecary Diaries soundtrack
The Apothecary Diaries soundtrack is an effort on the part of three seasoned anime composers: Satoru Kousaki, Kevin Penkin, and Alisa Okehazama (who also goes by Alisa Fukami). And with those composers, we get a three-disc soundtrack where each of the composers is given a disc in which to showcase their skills.
The first disc features music by Satoru Kousaki. Longtime followers of his work will know his tendencies for minimalistic fare which are simultaneously fitting in context, but hardly memorable. That type of music is present on this disc, but it’s kept to a small chunk of the tracklist. Rather, you’ll get a stream of Chinese-inspired themes that fit The Apothecary Diaries’ setting like a glove. There are also a few songs on this disc. Of those, I’m fond of the wistful, longing delivery in “Towards the Light” and Aoiema’s heartrending “When Wishes Bloom” from episode 24.
Kevin Penkin takes over the music for Disc 2 and honestly, his contributions are pretty seamless stylelistically. The Chinese-inspired melodies continue to stand at the forefront but it seems that he got some of the more dramatic tracks. Alisa Okehazama handles all of the tracks for Disc 3 and also doesn’t depart from the soundtrack’s existing style. Her tracks span slice-of-life pieces, notable action-y pieces like “Song Dance”, and some of the more emotionally intense pieces like “Angel’s Trumpet”. Her song, “Omoikaze” from episode 3 is also present on this disc and shines in Yuiko Hara’s poignant delivery.
Overall, the Apothecary Diaries soundtrack is serviceable but hardly memorable. Don’t expect it to knock your socks off aside from a few of the songs.