Obviously, I don’t believe in witches, hexes, and all that occult nonsense. They’re fun to read about, but it’s all nonsense — nonsense drummed up because people like to play the blame game and thus vilify that weird woman living on the outskirts, away from society. My goat suddenly died last week, so it must be her fault! She’s an Etsy witch! Having said that, love potions are whack, aren’t they? No, it’s not whimsical, it’s not quirky. It’s not cute to brew up a cauldron of what is technically a mind-altering drug. Just go back to burning sage or whatever. Look, you want people to fall in love with you because they’re in love with you. If you gotta make them love you, then it doesn’t count. More importantly, anything that forcibly alters someone’s thoughts and feelings is automatically problematic, and I don’t think I need to explain why.
Unfortunately, a love potion is exactly what Harij, the male love interest, is requesting from Rose, the Witch of the Lake. Harij? More like Bear, am I right?! You can’t drug someone into having feelings! You just can’t! It doesn’t matter if Harij wants it for himself or if he’s just asking for his liege or whomever. Helping someone else mindfuck the victim is just as bad. And it’s funny, because this is supposed to be one of those slow burn, wholesome romances. We all know what’s obviously going to happen: in spending time with Rose, Harij will gradually develop feelings for her. See? You don’t need to drug someone. You could just court them the old fashioned way — the way grandpappy used to do it! But it’s like how a single rotten apple spoils the bunch, it’s kinda hard for me to just sweep the love potion under the rug. The rest of the series could be a complete banger, but at the back of my mind, I’ll always remember that this guy wanted to drug someone. Imagine telling your kids about how you two first met: “Well, your father wanted to chemically alter someone’s feelings….” D’awwww… no, no d’awww.
Rose proceeds to send Harij on a wild goose chase of sorts, giving him a list of difficult ingredients to gather. Some of them have ridiculous requirements. I thought she opened this episode by telling us that witches couldn’t lie. Nevertheless, the great knight keeps getting the job done. There’s a moment where Harij side-eyes Rose’s cabin, because she’s kind of a slob. When she gets one of the ingredients, she immediately shoves everything off of her work table. No wonder the place is a mess. But y’know, people who are trying to emotionally roofie someone aren’t in a position to judge. We’ve got an entire season to tell this story, so Rose immediately tries to stall again. She stalls so much that she angers the guy. This is the guy you’re pining for? Really?
Well, a flashback tells us how it all went down. Four years ago, Rose had just recently lost her grandmother. To make matters worse, she paid a visit to town one day just to hear everyone trash the dead woman. Like I said up top, we are always looking for a scapegoat, and they were all too willing to attribute all of their bad luck to the old woman simply because she was a witch. The sad thing is, they relied on her everyday remedies. They’re relying on Rose’s everyday remedies even now. They just don’t know what witches actually do, probably because Rose and her grandmother rely on a middleman. A guy who goes by the name Tien drops by the witch’s hut every now and then. He picks up the latest batch of homemade, witch-brewed remedies, then sells them to his clients. He even suggests a fancier bottle for perfume, because this would sell better. But why do the witches even need a middleman? Why can’t Rose just sell her stuff directly? This way, people would get to know her, and maybe they wouldn’t spread hurtful rumors about her grandmother if they did. Granted, you shouldn’t be speaking ill of the dead anyway, but shutting yourself away from the rest of society and being a recluse doesn’t help. Nevertheless, Harij stepped in and scolded the random townsfolk for insulting Rose’s deceased grandmother. As a result, she’s been in love with him ever since. Meh.
Rose is rather soft-spoken with some cute, rabbit-like mannerisms. The anime has a slow, deliberate pacing. As a result, people are already reminded of Secrets of the Silent Witch. But I’d be surprised if Rose starts flexing battle magic, so I don’t think the comparison makes much sense other than that both heroines are rather shy. Plus, I have a ton of reasons to like Felix more than Harij. I’m sure if we could just take the whole love potion thing out of the equation, this might end up being a rather sweet romance. But eh, even if it’s not for his own personal use, it’s kinda hard to get around the request in general, y’know?
