How would you feel if the person you loved asked you to help them win someone else over? Would you turn them down, or would you help them despite your broken heart? Hello, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! (Horemajo) asks its heroine that, and we’re spectators to the aftermath. But can we enjoy that potentially uncomfortable watch? Or will the anime devolve into the season’s depression inducing anime? Don’t think it will? I bet you didn’t think Plastic Memories or Happy Sugar Life would affect you as they did. But I’d wager a furry sex toy that those anime traumatized you.
Horemajo probably won’t cause that much emotional damage, but I can’t assure that outcome.
Great news: J-List has started a new sale, giving you 18% off all DVDs, Blu-rays, and Nintendo Switch games. That means an instant 18% off all imported anime Blu-rays, sexy live-action JAV titles, hentai anime, and region-free anime games for your Nintendo Switch! Browse all sale products now!
Hello, I’m a Witch — a Very Short Synopsis
Wanna see me condense a deeply nuanced story into an easily digestible paragraph (or two)?
Doumo, Suki na Hito ni Horegusuri wo Irai sareta Majo desu follows Rose, an orphaned witch who has lived a reclusive, solitary life since her grandmother’s death. Though she harbors no ill will toward people, Rose realized long ago that the hoi polloi hate witches. So, she spends her days alone in her unkempt home, with her only “friend” being a traveling merchant who sells her spells and concoctions.
While Rose is content to live in isolation, she yearns for love. In fact, for almost half a decade she’s loved the noble knight Harij Amz, who defended her grandmother (and witches in general). But her distant hope of a far-off romance with Sir Harij is dashed when he asks her to craft a love potion for him. And since witches can’t lie, heartbroken Rose must set her feelings aside to help Harij win over his crush. However, she won’t make it easy for him. To delay Harij’s love, Rose asks him to collect the most convoluted ingredients she can think of! And maybe, if Rose is lucky, those convoluted ingredients will give her enough time to gain Harij’s affection.
When Hiding Your Feelings Work
Kashou detests wishy-washy romances. Life’s fragile. Like a T. rex in a rearview mirror — the end is closer than it appears.
So, it aggravates me when an anime takes twelve (or more) episodes to do something it could achieve in five minutes. Tonikawa and Dom Kanojo should be the industry standards. Ninety percent of romance anime would be better if the male MC met his waifu, asked her to marry him, and a cozy life together followed by episode three. If that can’t happen, they should have a one-night stand and let the sexual/romantic tension follow. That said, sometimes a roundabout romance works. And Hello, I’m a Witch cozily snuggles in those scenarios, mainly from a lack of social understanding and support.
While our innate traits strongly influence our personalities, our environment also plays an important role in shaping them. Our surroundings shape how we view and express ourselves. As viewers, we might see Rose as a “must-protect, put-a-ring-on-that-finger, let’s-search-Pixiv” waifu, but that isn’t how she sees herself. She knows others regard her as detestable. She may not agree, but it clearly affects her. Beyond her self-deprecating comments, even her messy house offers clues to her mental state. Hello, I’m a Witch gives viewers plenty of hints about Rose’s outlook — and that outlook is bleak. Rose’s upbringing, place in society, and self-worth all eloquently intertwine to give viewers a tale where a character’s hesitancy to reveal their love actually makes sense. But that doesn’t make it perfect.
Will Hello, I’m a Witch Be a Breakthrough Romance?
Quickly judging anything rarely results favorably. Countless times, something I thought I’d enjoy turned out to be, at best, merely passable. And on a handful of occasions, something I thought I’d loathe became something I loved.
Those experiences make it difficult to approach articles like this. How do I judge something on a small part of it? I’ve rated shows highly based on their first few episodes, only to be disappointed by the rest of the season. The opposite is also true, and that bothers me. I don’t want to dissuade anyone from watching what could become one of their favorite shows. Yet even if Hello, I’m a Witch fails to meet my lofty expectations, I feel comfortable telling people it should be on their seasonal watch list. Studio diomedéa’s adaptation is aesthetically ornate. For a show that burns slower than a wet candle, it has enough underlying tension to make its upcoming episodes dazzle. At the very least, there’s enough to get you invested in Rose and her would-be romance.
That said, Hello, I’m a Witch is not for everyone. A slow-burn josei romance that leans heavily on slice-of-life pacing is the bane of many otaku. I’m sure plenty of people will drop this show because of its pacing. I can’t blame them. I’ve repeatedly mentioned that I hate slow-burn romances. But there are exceptions. Spice and Wolf and Fruits Basket are undoubtedly “slow burn,” but they’re among the most loved in the romance genre. I’m not saying Hello, I’m a Witch meets their standards, but you shouldn’t discount something because of its pacing. That’s the case here.
I’d give the show a 4 out of 5 Megumis based on the first two episodes.
Will you watch Horemajo? Or is it a hard pass? Let us know on Discord. Hello, I’m a Witch is based on Eiko Mutsuhana’s novel. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime. Until next time, ja ne!
© Eiko Mutsuhana / Futabasha / Horemajo Production Committee
Let’s Chat
You made it to the end of this post! Thank you! As a token of our appreciation, enjoy an extra 5% off your next order with code BLOG at checkout. Also, don’t forget to follow J-List on all our platforms!
- Twitter/X, where Peter posts anime booba for you.
- Megumi Channel is our new YouTube channel, where Megumi-chan discusses all things anime. Please give us a follow!
- Bluesky, where we post several times a day.
- Facebook, where you can find our blog posts… though the site has become hostile to anime memes and other fun content.
- Discord, if you want to chat with other J-List customers of culture.
Great news: J-List has started a new sale giving you 18% off all DVDs, Blu-rays, and Nintendo Switch games. That means an instant 18% off all imported anime Blu-rays, sexy live-action JAV titles, hentai anime, and region-free anime games for your Nintendo Switch! Browse all sale products now!
