Webtoon rec: "Potion Witch"
What it is: A 90-chapter webtoon about the titular Potion Witch Vanna, who lives a double life: light-haired pharmacist by day and dark-haired vigilante by night.
This is a good, tight, case-centered story with het romance and equal-opportunity emotional hurt/comfort. The ML, Sion, is an ex-nepo baby who turned away from his family to eke out an honest (or at least, relatively honest) living as a cop. Due to his lack of physical endurance, his duties are mostly paper-pushing and cat-feeding.
Sion and Vanna are equally competent investigators with deep personal wounds, which makes for fun interactions and dynamic relationship progression. The vibes are part Detective Conan (especially with the deaging), part vintage magical girl anime (…I’m specifically thinking about St. Tails), and part Apothecary Diaries with how gleefully Vanna uses Sion as a guinea pig for her potions.
Interestingly enough, the first half of the story is about unpeeling the layers of Sion's family trauma while Vanna, though empathetic, remains opaque and unaffected until the last act that finally reveals her, which I found unusual and refreshing as it’s usually the other way around. I loved the little found family beats between the two main characters and their actor friend Aron, and Sion's antagonistic relationship with his estranged brother and privileged nepo baby peers. There's also a very cute sidestory where Vanna's pet weasel meets a cat and goes on the sweetest little adventures.
Cons: Disappointed that the 2FL's storyline didn't really go anywhere outside of being a plot device. She's seen at the beginning as being unhappy with her family situation and abusive towards her employees, but nothing comes out of that?
But overall, a very enjoyable read that restored my faith in webtoons. Would recommend!
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