Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! ‒ Episodes 1-3
On the surface – and once you get past the title that gives away this series' origins as a light novel duology – Hello, I am a Witch is just about two people talking. And as far as outward action goes, I suppose that's fair. This is an interior story, after all, less about large gestures and the weight of kingdoms, instead focusing on two people getting to know each other…and, more importantly, about one of them finding peace within herself.
Rose isn't just the eponymous witch asked by her crush, Harij, to make a love potion. She's a young woman struggling with her mental health. I recognize some of my own anxiety and agoraphobia in her; it's not that she wants to stay on her lake island, it's that she feels safest there. She can venture into town, but it's frightening and exhausting, and ever since her grandmother's death a few years before the main action of the plot, she's preferred to remain and let Tian the merchant bring her what she needs.
That trip to town four years ago is more or less the inciting incident for the story. (You could also argue that her grandmother's death is where things start. Full credit for either answer on your end of season quiz.) It's when Rose both met, or at least saw, Harij for the first time, but more importantly, it marks her first encounter with hate. She overheard some men talking about her grandmother's death as a good thing, the loss of a witch being a win for humanity in their estimation. It's like the first time I heard someone make an antisemitic comment in my presence, the sudden, horrible cold in your stomach as you realize that some people are going to hate you just because of who you are. It's a cruel moment because not only is it denying her personhood because of her witch heritage, it's also letting her know that these men don't see the value in her grandmother's life – and they wouldn't see any in her life if she were to reveal herself to them. No wonder she doesn't want to leave the island if she doesn't have to.
Harij is the only bystander who says anything, and that has outsize importance to Rose. It's hard to blame her for immediately falling for him, the one person who can be counted on to see her own humanity. So when he shows up asking for a love potion (which, we learn this week, is not for himself, but for Laura, who's either a noblewoman or a princess presumably facing an arranged marriage), she's forced to reckon with the thought that just because he sees her as human doesn't mean he likes her. Every hunch of her shoulders deeper into her cloak, every curt word or slide-away glance is to protect her fragile heart. She can't bear the thought of experiencing cruelty and disappointment again.
That, of course, comes with its own pitfalls. We can see that Harij is spending time with her not just because he's aghast at how she lives. (The look on his face every time he sees a new, horrible facet of her home…) He's worried about her and he's increasingly becoming charmed by her, although I'm not entirely sure he's aware of that last fact. Part of his continued visits is absolutely because he's worried she'll lettuce herself to death and get buried under a pile of dusty crap in her house, but I think he also enjoys spending time with her. Yes, part of that is that he likes watching her eat actual food, but he's not stopping to think about why that is. (Or at least, not that we've seen. These episodes are primarily from Rose's perspective.) Coming every day to talk to her is clearly something he looks forward to, as we can tell by the fact that he's not badgering her about the love potion.
While this is beautiful to look at on all fronts, including that smug deer, what's most striking is the way Rose's house transforms. Because Harij comes to eat with her every day, her table has gone from piled high and dusty to a cozy spot, sunlight coming in through a clean window and an embroidered tablecloth covering it invitingly. Harij's presence has started to have a positive affect on Rose, one that I suspect will continue to be slowly shown in her living conditions – and in the way she thinks about her own life, as he's already given her back a memory of her mother and an understanding of her grandmother's love.
So yes, this is basically about two people talking for twenty-three minutes each week. But as they talk, they both grow and find new things to like about themselves and each other. It's not action packed, but it is fully of the sort of emotional action that makes a romance satisfying.
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Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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