5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love is a silly yuri romance manga by Zeniko Sumiya and it’s a release that I’ve been greatly anticipating. The enemies-to-lovers setup of a witch and a witch hunter falling in love seemed very promising and I was excited to check this manga out.
Sadly, this wasn’t quite the supernatural romance home run I was expecting, though it wasn’t terrible either, instead falling somewhere in the middle.
Synopsis:
Meg is a carefree witch who enjoys causing mischief in town and tussling with Lilith, the Witch Hunter who’s determined to put a stop to her troublemaking. When she transforms her nemesis into a cat during one of their “playful” bouts, she decides to flirt a bit and tells Lilith that the only way to break the curse is if she and Lilith share a kiss. Will Lilith figure out that Meg is only taunting her for attention and actually has a big ol’ crush on her? Or will she stay stuck as a cat forever?
Review:
Meg has got it bad for Lilith! Everyday she dresses up in a cute witch outfit and makes trouble so that her beautiful, young witch hunter crush will come and play with her. Unfortunately for her, Lilith is too naïve to figure out what Meg’s true motives are for doing things like making a horde of fish grows legs and dance around town, so she does her best to subdue her and put a stop to her pranks. Meg’s teasing and Lilith’s earnest efforts to stop her are entertaining to watch and I enjoyed their flirty back and forth.
I just wish there had been more of it.
5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love is a collection of two yuri stories, so unfortunately Meg and Lilith’s romance (which is split into two chapters: 5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love and 5 Seconds Before Falling in Love with a Witch) doesn’t get as much time as I would have liked and winds up feeling under-developed.
The second story in the manga, Demon’s Harem, is a light-hearted comedy about a girl named Kanna who can see spirits and monsters. When she stumbles upon an injured demon and angel, she can’t help but try to assist them, inadvertently winning the affections of both.
The angel and demon’s constant sniping as they jostle for Kanna’s love was humorous, and it was hilarious to see Kanna’s harem of supernatural admirers grow as the story progressed, but this story was also, sadly, quite short.
Both of the stories in 5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love were funny, but at the end of the book I was left with a general feeling of “What, that’s it?”.
I guess my desire to read more speaks to how cute the stories were, but I ultimately wound up wishing that they’d been given a full volume treatment, especially the title story. Still, this manga had its fun moments and if you’re in the mood for some fluffy supernatural yuri romance, 5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love will probably scratch that itch.
Final Score: 6.5 out of 10
For more information on this manga, visit Seven Seas Entertainment’s website.
What did you think of this manga? Let me know in the comments.
Be sure to check out some of my other recent yuri manga reviews:
- The Girl I Want is So Handsome: The Complete Manga Collection Review
- Otherside Picnic (Manga) Vol 1 Review
- I’m in Love with the Villainess (manga) Vol 1 Review
- The Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except for Me Review
- Manga Mini Reviews: Yuri Edition!
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Al's Manga Blog 
Always disappointing you have one/two-shots that should have at least been a full volume.
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It sure is. Overall, I was left feeling unsatisfied, despite the manga’s potential.
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