If season 3 of The Apothecary Diaries has you rewatching palace scenes and wanting more of that world, you are not alone. The anime came back on October 2, 2026, a film is due in Japan on December 11, and Viz Media started the second manga version in English on October 20. That is a lot of Maomao, and it tends to leave people looking for other manga set in ancient China.
So here are four. They are very different from each other: a poison-solving mystery, a war epic, a fantasy built on a Chinese classic novel, and a shōjo romance that was an isekai long before the word was everywhere. For each one I add a short note on how to read it well on an iPhone, using ComicFlow, the manga reader I build. It is $2.99 once, with an optional $6.99 one-time Pro unlock, and nothing in the reading tips below needs Pro.
Disclosure: I make ComicFlow at Applestan. The reader features below were checked against the app's source code for version 3.7, and the series facts against Wikipedia's entries and the publisher listings they cite, on November 2, 2026.
Quick Reference #
| # | Series | By | Volumes in Japan | Status | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Apothecary Diaries | Hyūganatsu (story), Nekokurage or Minoji Kurata (art) | 17 (Square Enix) or 22 (Shogakukan) | Ongoing | An empire inspired by Tang dynasty China |
| 2 | Kingdom | Yasuhisa Hara | 80 | Ongoing | The Warring States period, 3rd century BC |
| 3 | Hoshin Engi | Ryu Fujisaki | 23 | Completed (2000) | The fall of the Yin dynasty |
| 4 | Fushigi Yûgi | Yuu Watase | 18 | Completed (1996) | A book world based on ancient China |
Two are finished and two are still running. If you want a complete story you can finish this winter, start with Fushigi Yûgi or Hoshin Engi.
1. The Apothecary Diaries #
By: Hyūganatsu (original novels), adapted by Itsuki Nanao and Nekokurage, or by Minoji Kurata | Volumes: 17 or 22 so far | Genre: Mystery / historical drama
Maomao is a young apothecary from the pleasure district who gets kidnapped and sold to the imperial palace as a servant. She plans to keep her head down for two years. Then the emperor's babies start falling ill, she quietly works out why, and a very pretty and very persistent official named Jinshi notices. From then on she is the palace's unofficial poison detective.
The setting is a fictional empire. The author has said she modelled it on Tang dynasty China and borrowed from other periods too, so it is "inspired by" rather than a history lesson. That freedom is part of the fun. Every chapter has some herb, poison or palace custom at the centre of the puzzle.
The confusing part is that there are two manga versions of the same novels. The Square Enix one, drawn by Nekokurage, runs in Monthly Big Gangan and has 17 volumes in Japan as of July 2026. The Shogakukan one, Maomao's Notes on the Inner Palace by Minoji Kurata, runs in Monthly Sunday Gene-X and has 22 volumes as of June 2026. Both are good. They cover the same story at a different pace, so pick one and do not mix them.
How to read it: keep each version in its own collection, so volume 5 of one never sits next to volume 5 of the other. And because it is a mystery, use bookmarks. When a page has a clue, tap the page to show the controls and tap Bookmark. A badge at the top shows how many pages you have saved, and tapping it lists them with thumbnails, so you can go back and check the clue when Maomao explains everything ten chapters later.
2. Kingdom #
By: Yasuhisa Hara | Volumes: 80 so far (August 2026) | Genre: Historical / war
Kingdom follows Xin, a war orphan who wants to become the greatest general under heaven, and the young king Ying Zheng, who wants to unify China for the first time in 500 years. If you know your history, you know who Ying Zheng becomes. Knowing the ending does not spoil anything, because the series is about how they get there, one battle and one court intrigue at a time.
It has run in Weekly Young Jump since 2006, won the Grand Prize of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2013, and Viz Media started publishing it in English in November 2025. Hara has said he wants to take it to around 100 volumes, so this one is a commitment. I wrote more about why it is so hard to stop in 4 manga you cannot put down.
How to read it: Kingdom's big battle scenes are often drawn across two pages. In ComicFlow, open Reader Settings, set Page Layout to Auto and Reading Direction to Right to Left (Manga). On an iPhone, turn the phone sideways and the two pages sit side by side. On an iPad, Auto shows the spread in portrait too. If every spread lands on two different screens, switch on Show Cover Alone and the pairs line up like the printed book. With 80 volumes, the Continue Reading card at the top of your library is the fastest way back to your page.
3. Hoshin Engi #
By: Ryu Fujisaki | Volumes: 23 (completed, 1996 to 2000) | Genre: Fantasy / adventure
Hoshin Engi is Ryu Fujisaki's take on Investiture of the Gods, the classic Chinese novel about the fall of the Shang dynasty, called the Yin dynasty in the manga. A fox spirit named Dakki controls King Chu and the court is rotting. A clever and famously lazy trainee immortal named Taikobo gets the job of sealing 365 souls on the Hoshin List away, Dakki and her followers among them. He would much rather nap.
It ran in Weekly Shōnen Jump, so expect fights, magic weapons and a lot of jokes. But Fujisaki keeps twisting the story, and by the last volumes it has become something much stranger and bigger than a demon-of-the-week adventure. It is finished at 23 volumes, Viz Media published all of them in English, and Japan also has an 18-volume kanzenban edition.
How to read it: a finished series is perfect for a single collection you work through from start to end. Set the first volume to Right to Left (Manga). ComicFlow remembers the direction for each book, so you only set it once per volume, and the volume you read last waits for you in Continue Reading.
4. Fushigi Yûgi #
By: Yuu Watase | Volumes: 18 (completed, 1991 to 1996) | Genre: Fantasy / romance
Miaka and her best friend Yui find a strange book called The Universe of the Four Gods in the library, and it pulls them inside. Its world is based on ancient China and its four mythical beasts. Miaka becomes the Priestess of Suzaku and has to find seven celestial warriors. Yui ends up on the other side. It is a romance, an adventure and a story about a friendship falling apart, all at once.
It ran in Shōjo Comic for over five years and has had more than 20 million copies in circulation. If you liked the palace intrigue in The Apothecary Diaries, the young emperor Hotohori and his court will feel familiar. And when you finish, there are prequels: Genbu Kaiden and Byakko Senki.
How to read it: check the direction of your copy first. Viz Media's first English release from 1998 was flipped into left-to-right order for its first eight volumes. Later editions went back to right to left. If page 1 starts at the top left, set that volume to Left to Right. Because ComicFlow saves the direction for each book, a flipped volume and an unflipped one can sit in the same collection and both open the right way. More on telling the two apart in reading manga right to left on iPhone.
Put all four on one shelf #
Historical series are easier to enjoy when they are not buried between everything else you read. In ComicFlow, tap + New under the search field to make a collection, give it a name like "Ancient China", and pick an icon and a colour. Then long-press any volume and choose Add to Collection. Collections are included without Pro.
Getting these series as files you can read #
ComicFlow reads files you own: CBZ, CBR, ZIP, RAR and PDF. It does not open EPUB, and books bought inside store apps such as Kindle or BookWalker stay in those apps. Two routes work:
- Buy DRM-free where you can. Where to buy DRM-free manga lists the stores I could confirm and what format they sell.
- Scan volumes you already own. Older finished series like Hoshin Engi and Fushigi Yûgi are often easier to find in print. How to scan manga you own covers it.
To get the files onto your iPhone, Wi-Fi Upload lets any browser on the same network drop a whole series in, and a watch folder in iCloud Drive imports new volumes on its own. Both are included without Pro.
What is included without Pro #
Everything in this post is in the $2.99 app: right-to-left and left-to-right reading saved per book, Page Layout and Show Cover Alone, bookmarks, collections and the Continue Reading card. There are no ads or ad tracking.
ComicFlow Pro is an optional $6.99 one-time unlock, not a subscription. It adds saved reader presets, Komga, Kavita and OPDS server libraries, Face ID-locked collections and EPUB export for Kobo, Boox, reMarkable and PocketBook e-readers.
How this was checked #
ComicFlow claims in this post were checked against the version 3.7 source code, in these files:
- The Bookmark button in the reader controls:
ComicFlow/Reader/Views/ReaderConsole.swift - The + New collection button, Add to Collection on a long-press, and Face ID locking as the only Pro part of collections:
ComicFlow/Views/LibraryView.swift,ComicFlow/Views/Library/ComicGridCell.swift,ComicFlow/Views/Library/CollectionEditorSheet.swift - Page Layout, Reading Direction and Show Cover Alone:
ComicFlow/Reader/ReaderSettings.swift,ComicFlow/Reader/Utilities/SpreadPlan.swift - What Pro covers:
ComicFlow/Services/Pro/ProGate.swift
Series facts were checked on November 2, 2026 against the Wikipedia entries for The Apothecary Diaries, Kingdom, Hoshin Engi and Fushigi Yûgi, and the publisher listings they cite.
Related reading #
- 4 manga you physically cannot put down: including more on Kingdom
- How to read manhua on iPhone: Chinese comics next to your manga, each the right way round
- 4 manga with the best art ever drawn: and how to read the spreads properly
- How to track manga series you're still reading: for long runs like Kingdom
- Manga text too small on iPhone?: for the tiny labels on Maomao's medicine jars
ComicFlow sends anonymous usage analytics to help improve the app, and you can switch that off in Settings, then Privacy, then Share Usage Data. Your manga files stay on your device. The privacy policy has the full list.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best manga set in ancient China?
Four good places to start are The Apothecary Diaries, a palace mystery in an empire inspired by Tang dynasty China; Kingdom, a war epic set in the Warring States period; Hoshin Engi, a fantasy retelling of the classic novel Investiture of the Gods; and Fushigi Yûgi, a shōjo fantasy about a girl pulled into a book whose world is based on ancient China.
Which Apothecary Diaries manga should I read?
There are two adaptations of the same novels, and both started in 2017. The Square Enix one, drawn by Nekokurage, has 17 volumes in Japan as of July 2026. The Shogakukan one, Maomao's Notes on the Inner Palace by Minoji Kurata, has 22 volumes as of June 2026, and its English edition from Viz Media started in October 2026. Pick one and stick with it, because the two tell the same story at a different pace.
Is Kingdom finished?
No. Kingdom by Yasuhisa Hara has run in Weekly Young Jump since 2006 and reached 80 volumes in Japan in August 2026. Hara has said he plans to take it to around 100 volumes.
Why does my Fushigi Yûgi file read left to right?
Viz Media's first English release from 1998 was flipped into left-to-right order for its first eight volumes, and later editions went back to the original right-to-left order. If your copy comes from the flipped edition, set that book to Left to Right. In ComicFlow the direction is saved for each book, so the flipped volumes and the right-to-left ones can sit side by side.
Can I read these manga on iPhone without a subscription?
Yes, if you have them as files. ComicFlow opens CBZ, CBR, ZIP, RAR and PDF files and costs $2.99 once, with no subscription and no ads. Collections, bookmarks, right-to-left reading and two-page spreads are all included. The optional $6.99 one-time Pro unlock adds reader presets, comic server libraries, Face ID-locked collections and EPUB export for e-readers.
