Latest: Japan Weekly Light Novel Sales Ranking As of July 21 2025 Announced by Oricon

Oricon (Japanese research organization) released its weekly Light Novel ranking for the week of July 21 2025.
※The English titles of works may not always be accurate as some have not been released overseas. Thank you for your understanding.

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Oricon Comic Ranking Summary

5th place: The Apothecary Diaries vol.5

The beloved and highly satisfying series enters an exciting new chapter! While the mysteries remain as compelling as ever, you won't be able to take your eyes off the evolving relationship between Maomao and Jinshi!

With the rebellion of the Shi clan quelled and a new prince born within the palace, Consort Gyokuyō is officially elevated to the position of principal consort.
Jinshi, too, sheds his role as a eunuch and begins acting openly as the emperor's younger brother, engaging directly in state affairs.

On the surface, all seems peaceful and stable—but a disturbing tension lingers in the air across the capital.

As for Maomao, she's once again drawn into a series of peculiar incidents: a mysterious case involving poisoned sweets, growing concerns over a locust plague, and a dispute over ownership of a papermaking village. As always, she can’t help but poke her nose into trouble.

Soon, under Jinshi's orders, she is dispatched to the western city of Seito—Consort Gyokuyō’s hometown. Amid a grand ball where brilliant flowers bloom in dance and festivity, a dark conspiracy quietly takes root.

Will Maomao be able to uncover the truth behind the scheme before it’s too late?

4th place: The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 16

■ Volume 16 of the Original Novel
Half a month has passed since the Emperor’s surgery was successfully completed, and the season edges toward winter.
Thanks to the treatment being entrusted to a senior court physician, Maomao’s busy yet steady daily life has resumed.

But one day, when Lady Gyokuyō reads a letter addressed to the old physician, her face turns pale.

“This might become something terrible.”
The letter reports an increase in patients suffering from blisters.

Maomao senses something ominous—and her premonition comes true.

“An outbreak of smallpox.”
A terrifying epidemic known for its high infectivity and mortality rate, and for leaving lasting scars on the face and body.

There is no known cure, and even Maomao realizes it would be nearly impossible to find one now.
If it spreads, it could lead to the total quarantine of entire villages.

In the midst of such despair, hope comes from a surprising place:

“I survived because of a doctor,” says Lady Gyokuyō, who had once recovered from smallpox herself.
The only physician Maomao knows who specializes in smallpox is Kokuyou.

After an interview process, Kokuyou is officially appointed and dispatched with Gyokuyō to a rural village of several hundred residents, where the infection is beginning to spread.

Meanwhile, Maomao is approached by Jinshi with a troubling matter.
The daughter of the head of the Empress Dowager’s family is suspected of having cast a curse on someone.

That daughter is Zhizi, a frail girl born of a concubine and the Empress Dowager’s niece.
Maomao begins investigating at the Empress Dowager’s request to save her niece—only to discover that Zhizi may have been poisoned.

As Maomao listens to Gyokuyō’s accounts while she battles the outbreak, a question arises:

“Where did the smallpox come from?”
In seeking the source of the infection, Maomao and her companions uncover a shocking truth...