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This manhwa has terrible synopses, so I will offer a basic breakdown:

There exist magical beings called witches, who have the power to travel through across both time and different dimensions/worlds.

The "grandma" witch (who happens to look like a young girl, because trope, and because these witches do not age) orders the younger witches to travel to different time periods and/or worlds in the pursuit of love with human beings.

However, witches have a strange concept of love, at least in the eyes of a human. They can manifest the obsessiveness of human love, but do not understand empathy nor the worth of human life. This manhwa ... explores the romances of each witch, which all spiral around this central concept (though there is one exception, which I'll get to).

Personally, I was only invested in the romances of Philippa and Lily, because they felt the most human. In other words, I liked how they developed human understanding through their experiences with love, while all the other witches basically stopped at the first step of questionable obsession and didn't really develop much else.

Philippa is the redhead you see in the cover and is the first witch whose romance we see. Her story is the most fleshed out, which contributes to her being my favorite witch. After her main arc, you have to read the last side story if you want closure, since the manhwa never returns to her story in between.

What about Lily? Well, technically Lily isn't a witch. She's actually Philippa's familiar (basically a magical companion, in this case a cat in a human-like form). Because she isn't a witch, her romance never really has that overbearing phase of obsession, so it is easier to read and connect with.

Overall, I give this manhwa an 8 because I wasn't invested in all of the characters, as I explained above. Also, be aware that it contains a fair amount of both fanservice and blood.

*FINALE SPOILER*

When you try to cram the plot of a 113 chapter manga into a 12 episode anime by cutting out 90% of the romantic drama, you get a very noticeable problem: wack pacing. This anime started off an 8 and ended a 4 (if I'm being nice), so I'll give it a 6 overall.

The beginning few episodes highlighted the feeling of living aimlessly, which I felt was executed well and arguably relatable. However, the way they cut off so much of the manga just didn't allow you to see how the characters developed over time; rather, it seemed more like the little tidbit of ... romantic drama they introduced in the anime was somehow enough for all the characters to mature by years (even if you do argue that it was enough for Rikuo and Shinako to realize their flaws, the anime left no room for the development of characters like Haru and Rou).

Also, (and this goes for both the anime and the manga), as for the story itself, it just left Haru in the dust until the very end, when Rikuo realized things didn't go as he had ideally planned and just turned to Haru. This was pretty jarring and even inconsiderate.

Story aside, the artstyle is warm and picturesque, with textured linework that makes some shots look almost like paintings. Also, the 1st ED is just phenomenal, even if the anime was disappointing. I keep finding myself going back to it, and its longing, nostalgic tone makes me feel something.

*MINOR SPOILERS*

A quick note: this is my first review, so if it seems like I don't know how to write a review, it's because I don't.

I'm going to have to give this manga a 6 in all categories. If I were to rate the first half, I'd give it an 8, but the second half gets a 4 for me. Thus, it has an overall average score of 6. Because many have already written reviews on the first half of the manga, I will be focusing on the flaws of the second half (if you want to know why the first half was good, read ... other reviews).

The main reason that I didn't enjoy the second half was because of this certain plot device called Kaguya. Kaguya is a child and cult founder with the supernatural ability to see and hear spirits. Essentially, her role in the story is to tell characters around her about what spirits are saying about them, which often channels emotional responses which lead to drastic actions. In other words, Kaguya is an immersion-breaking supernatural character and a cheap plot device for sudden character changes.

Kaguya's antics eventually just stomp over your moral compass, because every criminal around her gets instantly forgiven as soon as she spouts something about spirits. I'm not going to say anything specific to avoid spoilers, but she is part of the reason why I don't really feel like this manga was ever resolved.

This brings us to the last point - the resolution. I feel like nothing was really resolved by the end, because we didn't find out what happened to anything or anyone except for the players. However, even what we are given about the players is not fulfilling, because there are still many questions to be asked. Again, I'm not going to pick out anything specific, but let's just say that the players' actions on the island demand some sort of consequence, yet we are not presented with anything specific. Also, we never find out what happens to the company that created the game.

There is another reason why I disliked the second half, but to avoid spoilers I'll just say that Himiko's mental fortitude is godlike.

With all that said, the second half of the manga was a bit boring and disappointing as such. However, the first half was pretty good, so if you want to know what happens by the end, give the second half a try, I guess.

EDIT: I originally wrote this review having only read the light ending, but now I have read the dark ending as well (yes, this manga has alternate endings). It explains more about the behind-the-scenes of the game, but is, to say the least, incredibly absurd.