Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion Volume 2 Review

This time last year I reviewed the first volume of Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion. There we were introduced to heroine Rose who makes her money selling potions and her client Sir Harij who is looking for a love potion. Rose, perhaps foolishly, has fallen in love with him and hopes their days together won’t end too soon. Let’s check in on our cast here in Volume 2 . 

While Rose continues working on the love potion for Harij, he continues to visit her home in the middle of the lake and brings tasty treats with him. Rose is delighted to be fed such delicious snacks and to spend time with another person, but the problem is the closer she gets to Harij, the more it’s going to hurt when she completes her assignment for him. 

Currently, Rose is still under the illusion that Harij wants the potion for his use because he’s in love with someone. However, we quickly learn at the start of this volume that what Rose believes is not actually the truth. Harij wants the potion on behalf of his employer, Princess Billaura, but because of her being royalty,  Harij has been unable to tell Rose any of the details surrounding his request. 

So, the misunderstanding between our two main characters continues and this leads to confusion when Rose is greeted by friend and travelling merchant Tien. When Tien runs into Harij and realises the reason Rose’s home is tidier and more comfortable is that she’s been getting frequent visits from Harij. Never did Tien think he’d see the day there was a clean space for someone to sit in Rose’s cottage! When he meets Harij, he quickly realises that the two have feelings for one another and decides to tease Harij. 

Seeing how close Rose and Tien are, Harij can’t help but get jealous of their relationship. He’s never seen anyone else visit the witch before and wrongly assumed he was the only one who spent time with her and got to see her with her guard down. But now he’s realising that he didn’t even know her first name until Tien let it slip, despite the fact a whole season has passed since he started visiting her to obtain a love potion.

It’s fair to say that the majority of this volume revolves around Rose and Harij’s relationship and their inability to be honest with one another. This isn’t just because of the misunderstanding surrounding the potion, but also the fact that Rose thinks she’ll never see Harij again once the job is complete. Meanwhile, Harij just doesn’t understand why he cares so much about Rose, but the more he visits her, the more he looks forward to these quiet moments of sharing a meal in her quaint home. It’s still a joy to watch over these two as they slowly figure things out. 

What I especially appreciate about Volume 2 is that some of the chapters are told from Harij’s perspective, which gives us a better understanding of his character and motivations. It also helps clear up some of the questions readers had, not just about why he wants the love potion but also about his position as a knight. Given we only ever see Rose at home on the island, it’s nice to have the opportunity to see more of the world outside of her safe space. 

Some of the problems I had with Volume 1 persist, notably, the fact that pages can often be overwhelmed by dialogue. Although I will say this time around that only happened in a couple of places, so it has improved from the series’ first outing. And even despite that, I would still recommend the manga over the original light novel because mangaka Kamada’s art does add a lot to the experience. There continues to be a fantastic assortment of comical faces in the chapters compiled here. 

Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion Volume 2 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and continues to be translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley with lettering by Rachel J. Pierce. This release opens with colour pages and also contains a short story written by original creator Eiko Mutsuhana. Volume 3 is currently scheduled for a release in October, so not long to wait to see more of this one! 

Overall the second volume of this manga adaptation of Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion continues to be an enjoyable read for both existing fans and newcomers. With more focus on Harij this time around, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into while enjoying watching over these two characters as they figure out their feelings for one another. 

Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.