Whenever I see art of this pairing it makes me wish Maomao was a bi icon in canon at the very least lol
BakemonoJoker
May 30, 2025 11:18PM
^ well , Maomao doesn't even seem interested in Jinshi whatsoever ... like , she acts like how i would avoid a dude as a lesbian kinda vibe ... but ig they're making it some kinda trope that i would never understand
DrJamesFox
May 30, 2025 11:19PM
Maomao comes off as more Ace than anything from what I remember reading in the LNs. I'm quite behind on them though and no clue where the anime is at.
FluffyCow
May 30, 2025 11:30PM
^I don't think Maomao is Ace, more that she's never really thought about love in regards to herself and has been focused on learning
Also BakemonoJoker I think it's the type of story where romantic interest builds over time. Very slow burn on the romance as the story focuses more on character drama, crimes, and so fourth. Where she's put off by him at first but that changes over time, which I think is somewhat common in stories with eventual romantic progression regardless of gender and sexuality.
DrJamesFox
May 30, 2025 11:51PM
^I must not have got far enough into the novels. The volumes I read had her never showing anything close to sexual desire and she would always view any sex-related topics through a very clinical lens.
FluffyCow
May 31, 2025 12:03AM
^I'm anime and manga only, so I'm not entirely sure where the LN is at presently. Though I feel like the anime's current season got some progression in varied regards...but I don't think this is the place to get into it. I think we should steer the comments back to Maomao being cute with Shisui here lol
luinthoron
May 31, 2025 3:22AM
Interesting pairing choice... Especially after this week's episode. Cute, though.
last edited at May 31, 2025 3:24AM
ImheretoDie
May 31, 2025 7:03AM
Personally her whole relationship with Jinshi seems so ham-fisted.
She never seemed to like him and then suddenly...
Ugh, I wish they could have kept it platonic, just because 1 person likes another doesn't mean they need to get together.
last edited at May 31, 2025 7:03AM
Mr. Jones
Jun 17, 2025 2:10AM
I've seen it said before that the true OTP in this series is Maomao x Giant Pile of Toxic Weeds
Pyrrho
Jun 18, 2025 2:42AM
^ ^^^ ^^^^ etc
The canon romance is simple but so unconventional and choppy that it's trouble to explain without buzzwords. I'm judging from when I read the LNs and WN early releases to about~ where the anime probably currently is if not further. A while~ ago. The weird romance was super memorable.
Maomao is aroace or very close to it depending on the version. She respects but doesn't relate to romance except as a means to an end, which is central to the Sherlockian Great pharmacy-romance Detective power fantasy and romantic power fantasy of being pursued and immune from wooing by Jinshi the idealized supportive (het) partner. A lot of it isn't power fantasy for her mentality but power playing to a core audience presumed to be mostly allosexual het cis women in danger of falling in love. The romance parts that Maomao quits actively avoiding tend to be receiving gifts or femdom (mild BDSM as time goes on) as Jinshi worships her and she establishes boundaries in a way she finds satisfying. It's very unconventional because her aromantic and neurodivergent traits empower her socially and are contrasted with the risky romances of neurotypicals in the royal harem, brothel, and geopolitics. Maomao doesn't come off as superior or inferior so much as an outsider view on power dynamics within a fairly patriarchal China.
The catcat x not-eunuch romance is also crammed in after the web drafts! Sometimes it feels forced in but not too out of character. The WN draft has distinctly aroace Maomao with little to no titillating moments between the pharmacy detective stories. Her disinterest and hyperfixations are clearly explained by her upbringing and lifelong mentality (her whole bloodline screams neurodivergent). Fanservice and extra connective tissue with Jinshi is added into that for the LN releases, thus into the ongoing manga and anime. So her own romance is often out of place with her contemplating others romances, but even at its most forced and character-redefining moments it sort of respects how (nearly?) aroace romance can occur as a negotiation of boundaries. In this case femdom with a person who is devoted to finding a path through the cat-themed-phramacist's thorns. Even so, she doesn't pine over Jinshi in a traditionally romantic way, and pregnancy is just another science experiment she wants to conduct on herself someday. I don't recall the mangas forcing more romantic reactions but the mainstream anime might leave more doth-protest-too-much moments to interpretation.
last edited at Jun 18, 2025 2:48AM
FluffyCow
Jun 18, 2025 3:21AM
^That was an interesting read, thanks for sharing your perspective. I think while my perspective and view on the series is a bit different I do think it's good to read other views, and it provides me with more to think about as I continue my watch of the adaption.
FluffyCow May 30, 2025 10:41PM
Whenever I see art of this pairing it makes me wish Maomao was a bi icon in canon at the very least lol
BakemonoJoker May 30, 2025 11:18PM
^ well , Maomao doesn't even seem interested in Jinshi whatsoever ... like , she acts like how i would avoid a dude as a lesbian kinda vibe ... but ig they're making it some kinda trope that i would never understand
DrJamesFox May 30, 2025 11:19PM
Maomao comes off as more Ace than anything from what I remember reading in the LNs. I'm quite behind on them though and no clue where the anime is at.
FluffyCow May 30, 2025 11:30PM
^I don't think Maomao is Ace, more that she's never really thought about love in regards to herself and has been focused on learning
Also BakemonoJoker I think it's the type of story where romantic interest builds over time. Very slow burn on the romance as the story focuses more on character drama, crimes, and so fourth. Where she's put off by him at first but that changes over time, which I think is somewhat common in stories with eventual romantic progression regardless of gender and sexuality.
DrJamesFox May 30, 2025 11:51PM
^I must not have got far enough into the novels. The volumes I read had her never showing anything close to sexual desire and she would always view any sex-related topics through a very clinical lens.
FluffyCow May 31, 2025 12:03AM
^I'm anime and manga only, so I'm not entirely sure where the LN is at presently. Though I feel like the anime's current season got some progression in varied regards...but I don't think this is the place to get into it. I think we should steer the comments back to Maomao being cute with Shisui here lol
luinthoron May 31, 2025 3:22AM
Interesting pairing choice... Especially after this week's episode. Cute, though.
last edited at May 31, 2025 3:24AM
ImheretoDie May 31, 2025 7:03AM
Personally her whole relationship with Jinshi seems so ham-fisted.
She never seemed to like him and then suddenly...
Ugh, I wish they could have kept it platonic, just because 1 person likes another doesn't mean they need to get together.
last edited at May 31, 2025 7:03AM
Mr. Jones Jun 17, 2025 2:10AM
I've seen it said before that the true OTP in this series is Maomao x Giant Pile of Toxic Weeds
Pyrrho Jun 18, 2025 2:42AM
^ ^^^ ^^^^ etc
The canon romance is simple but so unconventional and choppy that it's trouble to explain without buzzwords. I'm judging from when I read the LNs and WN early releases to about~ where the anime probably currently is if not further. A while~ ago. The weird romance was super memorable.
Maomao is aroace or very close to it depending on the version. She respects but doesn't relate to romance except as a means to an end, which is central to the Sherlockian Great pharmacy-romance Detective power fantasy and romantic power fantasy of being pursued and immune from wooing by Jinshi the idealized supportive (het) partner. A lot of it isn't power fantasy for her mentality but power playing to a core audience presumed to be mostly allosexual het cis women in danger of falling in love. The romance parts that Maomao quits actively avoiding tend to be receiving gifts or femdom (mild BDSM as time goes on) as Jinshi worships her and she establishes boundaries in a way she finds satisfying. It's very unconventional because her aromantic and neurodivergent traits empower her socially and are contrasted with the risky romances of neurotypicals in the royal harem, brothel, and geopolitics. Maomao doesn't come off as superior or inferior so much as an outsider view on power dynamics within a fairly patriarchal China.
The catcat x not-eunuch romance is also crammed in after the web drafts! Sometimes it feels forced in but not too out of character. The WN draft has distinctly aroace Maomao with little to no titillating moments between the pharmacy detective stories. Her disinterest and hyperfixations are clearly explained by her upbringing and lifelong mentality (her whole bloodline screams neurodivergent). Fanservice and extra connective tissue with Jinshi is added into that for the LN releases, thus into the ongoing manga and anime. So her own romance is often out of place with her contemplating others romances, but even at its most forced and character-redefining moments it sort of respects how (nearly?) aroace romance can occur as a negotiation of boundaries. In this case femdom with a person who is devoted to finding a path through the cat-themed-phramacist's thorns. Even so, she doesn't pine over Jinshi in a traditionally romantic way, and pregnancy is just another science experiment she wants to conduct on herself someday. I don't recall the mangas forcing more romantic reactions but the mainstream anime might leave more doth-protest-too-much moments to interpretation.
last edited at Jun 18, 2025 2:48AM
FluffyCow Jun 18, 2025 3:21AM
^That was an interesting read, thanks for sharing your perspective. I think while my perspective and view on the series is a bit different I do think it's good to read other views, and it provides me with more to think about as I continue my watch of the adaption.