Spoiler warning: this review covers episode 2 of Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion!, including its final scene. It does not spoil the light novels or the manga beyond what the anime has shown.
Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! episode 2, "The Good Witch of the Lake", had one job as far as I was concerned. The title of the show is the whole premise: a witch named Rose is asked for a love potion by Harij, the knight she has loved from a distance for four years, and she stalls him by sending him after ingredients. That is a good joke. It is also a joke you can finish telling in one episode.
So the question for this review is whether there is anything underneath it. This is my first article on the show and it covers the second episode only. I have not read the novels. My answer is yes, and the surprise is how little of this episode is about the potion at all.
The short version
Episode 2 of Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! barely mentions the potion. Rose orders a new robe from the merchant Tien and then cannot bring herself to wear it. Harij notices how thin she is and brings bread, walks in on her bathing in the lake, and learns that witches cannot lie. Rose panics and reaches for poison; he stops her. I give it 8 out of 10.
Where the story stands
Rose is known as the Good Witch of the Lake. She lives alone in a cluttered hut on an island, brewing potions, and has done since her grandmother died. Witches in this kingdom are born, not trained, and ordinary people look down on them.
Four years ago she saw the royal knight Harij Azm and has been in love with him since. In episode 1 he arrives at her door for the first time, with a request for a love potion. She assumes it is for another woman. She cannot bear to hand it over, and cannot bear to send him away, so she tells him the potion needs rare ingredients and names them one at a time. He keeps coming back with them.
What happens in episode 2?
The episode opens with a visitor who is not Harij. Tien, a merchant who buys Rose's potions, comes by on business, and Rose asks him whether he has a new robe. Tien is startled. She has never cared what she looks like. He works out at once that there is someone she wants to look nice for, and brings her cloth in a better colour and pattern than the black she lives in.
Rose gets the robe and then decides against wearing it when Harij visits. It would be too obvious. She settles for pinching her cheeks to put some colour in them, which is of course more obvious.
When Harij comes, he is less interested in ingredients than in the house. He asks about a bowl on the table. It holds wilted lettuce, and Rose explains that this is what she eats when she is alone. He pushes for a straight answer, she dodges, and he loses patience: he catches her arm and backs her towards the wall. What he finds is that her arm is skin and bone.
Rose asks for time to prepare the ingredients he has brought. He comes back early anyway, carrying a basket of bread and a jar of apple butter, and finds her bathing in the lake outside the hut. She bolts.
Once she is dressed, she lets slip that she already knew who he was before he ever knocked. Harij asks how. Rose tries to slide past the question and cannot, because of the rule the episode now confirms: a witch cannot tell a lie. Convinced that her secret is out and everything is over, she goes for a vial of poison. Harij gets to her first.
My review: a romance that is really about one anxious person
The best scene is the smallest one. Rose has a new robe, wanted it enough to ask for it, and leaves it off. Nothing happens in the scene. She looks at a piece of clothing and talks herself out of it. But it tells me more about her than the whole premiere did. She is not shy in the cute way anime heroines are shy. She is frightened of being seen trying.
The episode keeps finding that same fear in different rooms. She has not cleaned because cleaning is too much. She eats lettuce because feeding herself properly is too much. She bathes more now that someone visits, and resents the bother. Mikako Komatsu plays all of it lightly, as a string of flat, practical excuses, and that is why it is funny and a little sad at the same moment.
It looks good, too. Diomedéa has put real care into the hut, the lake and the light, and the two leads are directed like people in a conversation and not like a pair of reaction faces. The show knows how to hold a pause.
What didn't work for me is the wall. Harij grabbing Rose by the arm and crowding her backwards is staged as worry, and the payoff is that he discovers how thin she is. I understand the intent. It is still a tall, armed man cornering a woman who lives alone and is scared of him, and the show treats it as a romantic beat. Rebecca Silverman at Anime News Network called it a poor move on his part, and I agree with her.
I have a smaller complaint about the lake. A man walking in on a woman bathing is the oldest scene in the genre. The episode uses it well, because what Rose is upset about is being seen as she is and not anything coy, but I would have respected the show more for finding another way in.
Is there more to it than the one-joke premise?
Yes. Episode 2 answers this by nearly dropping the joke. The love potion and its shopping list are the excuse for Harij to be in the room, and almost nothing more this week.
What the show is about, on this evidence, is a woman who has decided in advance that she is unwanted, and a man who keeps turning up with evidence against that. Every scene is built the same way. Rose predicts the worst reading of a situation. The episode shows us something kinder. She does not notice. He notices her diet; she hears criticism. He is surprised she knows his name; she hears anger. He comes back early with food; she hears an intrusion.
That is a real engine for a series, and a better one than the premise. A stalling scheme has to end. A person learning to believe she is liked can take twelve episodes without cheating. The writer handling the scripts is Wataru Watari, who created My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, and you can hear it in how much of the comedy is one character over-thinking in circles.
My one doubt is range. The episode has three living characters and one hut. Critics have compared its mood to iyashikei, the Japanese term for gentle "healing" stories where not much happens, and I think that is right. It is lovely for two weeks. It will need the world to get bigger.
Why can't witches lie?
The episode states it as a fact of what witches are: Rose is unable to say something untrue. It was mentioned in episode 1 and could have been a figure of speech. Episode 2 confirms it is literal. The show has not yet said where the rule comes from.
What matters is the gap Rose lives in. She cannot lie, but she can stay silent, change the subject, or answer a different question. That is how the entire potion scheme works. She never told Harij the potion did not exist. She let him believe it needed ingredients. One blogger covering the episode argued that this is lying by another name, and they have a point, but I think the show knows it. The rule is there to trap her. Sooner or later Harij only has to ask a direct question: is there someone you love?
This is the smartest thing in the series so far. The usual weakness of a slow romance is that one honest conversation would end it. Here the heroine is physically incapable of anything except honesty, and has built her whole life around never being asked.
Who is Tien?
Tien is a travelling merchant who buys Rose's potions and sells her supplies. He has known her since she was a child: the episode shows a memory of small Rose hiding behind her grandmother's skirts when Tien and his father first came to the hut. Hiro Shimono voices him.
He matters because he proves Rose is not completely alone, and because he is the first person to say out loud what she is doing. He looks young for someone in that role, which one viewer found odd; the anime's Japanese character notes describe him as older than he appears. I liked him immediately. Every awkward lead needs one person who is allowed to tease them.
Why does Rose only eat lettuce?
Because it grows outside her door and needs no cooking. She tells Harij it is simply what she eats when nobody is around. The episode treats it as a gag, with Harij comparing her to a rabbit, and then turns it serious when he feels how thin her arm is.
I read the lettuce as the clearest picture of how she lives. Rose can brew complicated potions for strangers. She does not think she is worth a meal. The bread and apple butter Harij brings is the first thing in the show that anyone has done for her without being paid.
Does Harij like Rose?
The episode does not say so, but everything he does points that way. He studies her house, questions her about her food, comes back before he was asked to, and brings her something to eat. None of that is how a customer behaves.
There are two readings. One is that he is a decent man who has found someone living badly and cannot leave it alone. The other is that he is already interested and does not have the words for it. I lean towards the second, mostly because of his face when she lets slip that she knew his name. Rose sees a man who is angry. I saw a man who was pleased and trying not to show it.
Episode 2 ending explained
In the last stretch, Rose admits that witches cannot lie, decides that Harij now has the means to find out everything, and reaches for poison. Harij stops her before she can drink it.
It is a startling place for a gentle comedy to go, and the episode plays it quickly, closer to farce than tragedy. But it is consistent with everything before it. Rose's reaction to being known is not embarrassment. It is the belief that being known is the end. She would sooner be gone than be looked at clearly by the person she loves.
The other half of the scene is his. He moves without thinking. Whatever Harij wanted the potion for, the episode closes on him holding on to the witch, not the potion. I could not confirm from the coverage I read exactly which shot the episode ends on or whether anything follows the credits.
Details that are easy to miss
- The episode is named after Rose's public title, "The Good Witch of the Lake", in an episode about how little she thinks of herself. The gap between the name and the person is the subject.
- Four years is doing double work. It is how long Rose has loved Harij, and it is also when she overheard men in town talking about the local witch in a way that made her stop going. The crush and the hiding started together.
- Pinching her cheeks is the one piece of effort she allows herself, because she can pretend it is not effort.
- The potion she is "making" is already made. The premise is that she brewed it before he ever asked, which makes each new ingredient a little crueller and a little sadder.
- The smug deer from episode 1 is back. It has no lines and steals shots.
Theories: what I think happens next
These are guesses from the two episodes alone.
The potion is not for Harij to use on someone. A royal knight who is this blunt does not seem like a man who would drug a woman into loving him. I think he was sent for it, or needs it for a reason that has nothing to do with his own heart. The other reading, that he has a secret love, is the one Rose believes, and Rose has been wrong about him in every scene so far.
He will ask the direct question soon. Now that he knows she cannot lie, he holds the only key that matters. I do not expect the show to wait until the finale. A twelve-episode run built on a girl dodging one question would wear thin, and this script is too tidy for that.
Rose leaves the island. The cast list includes a princess of the kingdom who has not appeared yet. The story has to go to the capital to meet her, and getting Rose out of the hut is the growth the episode is pointing at.
The light novel and the manga
The anime is based on a light novel by Eiko Mutsuhana with illustrations by Vient. It began as a web novel that ran from April 2019 to March 2020 and was published in two volumes, so the original story is short and complete. A manga version drawn by Kamada has been running since 2020 and has six volumes.
I could not find anyone listing which chapters episode 2 covers, so I am not going to guess. Rebecca Silverman, who has read the books, wrote after the premiere that the anime matches their descriptions closely. With only two novels behind a season that the Japanese Blu-ray listing puts at 12 episodes, the anime has room to take its time, and this episode suggests it intends to.
What the episode changes for the season
Harij now knows two things he did not know a week ago: that Rose knew him before he came, and that she cannot lie to him. Rose knows he will show up with bread when he has no reason to. The stalling game from episode 1 cannot go on as it was.
Against the premiere, this is the better episode. Episode 1 set up a funny situation. Episode 2 found the person inside it.
Rating: 8 out of 10
For this episode alone: 8 out of 10. The robe scene, the lying rule and the two lead performances are the reasons. The wall scene and the walk-in at the lake are why it is not higher.
Episode 3 release date and time
Episode 3 is due on Monday 19 October 2026. In Japan the show's first broadcast each week is on AT-X at 9:30pm, which is 6:00pm IST. Crunchyroll streams it on Mondays; I could not find an official hour for the stream, so I am not giving one. No title has been announced that I could find.
Expect the aftermath of the poison scare, and a Harij who has just learned that every answer Rose gives him is true.
FAQ
What is episode 2 of Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! called?
It is called "The Good Witch of the Lake" ("Mizuumi no Yoki Majo" in Japanese), which is the name Rose is known by.
When did episode 2 come out?
It first aired in Japan on Monday 12 October 2026, on AT-X at 9:30pm Japan time, which is 6:00pm IST. It streams on Crunchyroll on Mondays.
Can witches lie in this anime?
No. Episode 2 confirms that a witch cannot say anything untrue. Rose can stay quiet or change the subject, but she cannot answer a direct question falsely.
Who is the love potion for?
The anime has not said. Rose assumes Harij wants it for a woman he loves, but after two episodes that is only her assumption.
Does Harij find out that Rose loves him?
Not in episode 2. He learns that she knew who he was before he visited and that witches cannot lie, but she does not confess.
Why does Rose reach for poison?
She panics after revealing that witches cannot lie, believing Harij can now uncover her feelings and that everything is ruined. Harij stops her before she drinks it.
Who is Tien?
Tien is a merchant who buys Rose's potions and has known her since she was a child. In episode 2 he brings her cloth for a new robe and guesses she has someone on her mind.
Who voices Rose and Harij?
Mikako Komatsu voices Rose and Yōhei Azakami voices Harij in the Japanese version. Hiro Shimono plays Tien.
How many episodes will the anime have?
The Japanese Blu-ray release is planned as three volumes covering episodes 1 to 12, which points to a 12-episode season. I have not seen the number announced separately.
Is the light novel finished?
Yes. Eiko Mutsuhana's light novel is complete in two volumes, published in 2019 and 2020. The manga adaptation by Kamada is still running.
Where can I watch the anime?
On Crunchyroll, which streams new episodes on Mondays. In Japan it airs on AT-X, Tokyo MX, BS Nippon TV and MBS.
Who made the anime?
The studio is Diomedéa. Keizō Kusakawa directs, Wataru Watari handles series composition and Masakazu Ishikawa designed the characters.
Is it worth watching after two episodes?
Yes, if you like slow, character-led romance. Episode 2 shows the series is about Rose's fear of being seen, not only about the potion in the title.
My verdict
There is more here than the title promises. The love potion is the excuse, and the show is about a woman who cannot lie to anyone except herself. I did not like how the episode handled Harij's temper, and I want the story off that island before long. But this was the episode that had to prove the premise was not all there was, and it did.
