Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

Template:Nihongo is a Japanese boys' love (BL) manga series by Yuu Toyota.

A live-action television drama adaptation aired from October 9 to December 24, 2020, on TV Tokyo's Template:Ill programming block, which enjoyed high ratings during its broadcast. A sequel to the television drama was later released as a live-action film on April 8, 2022. An anime television series adaptation produced by Satelight aired from January to March 2024.

Plot

Having never had sex in his life, after Kiyoshi Adachi reaches his 30th birthday he becomes a "Template:Linktext": he develops an ability to hear the thoughts of other people by touching them. One day, he discovers that his popular co-worker, Yuichi Kurosawa, is in love with him. While dealing with the awkwardness of being able to hear Kurosawa's rather forthright feelings towards him, Adachi comes to terms with how much Kurosawa values him and starts to develop reciprocal feelings of his own.

Characters

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Adachi is a salaryman who, after reaching his 30th birthday as a virgin, develops an ability to read the minds of people he touches. Toyota described Adachi as "serious and straightforward" while also having a rough life because he lacks self-confidence. Toyota also states that he is starting to change because of his relationship with Kurosawa.

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Kurosawa is a salaryman working at the same company as Adachi. He is friendly and his good looks makes him popular in the office, but he is also secretly in love with Adachi and often fantasizes about him. Toyota described Kurosawa as being "handsome" but being a "mess" on the inside at the same time, while also having pure feelings of love for Adachi.

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Tsuge is Adachi's friend from college who is a romance novelist. Like Adachi, he reaches his 30s as a virgin and is able to read the minds of people he touches. He owns a cat named Udon which he rescued from abandonment. He develops feelings for Minato.

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Minato is a deliveryman assigned to Tsuge's neighborhood. Though wary of Tsuge, he is attached to his cat, Udon, which he had wanted to adopt but couldn't.

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Rokkaku is Adachi's co-worker.

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Fujisaki is Adachi's co-worker.

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Urabe is Adachi's co-worker.

Development

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! originated as a 4-page comic that Yuu Toyota posted on her Twitter and Pixiv accounts in January 2018. Toyota conceptualized the story seven or eight years prior by imagining what kind of power would be best for someone who has little experience in love, as well as the legend where one will gain magical powers if they stay a virgin past 30 years old. Toyota stated that initially, the main couple was supposed to be similar to Tsuge and Minato, but she felt it was more interesting if the person with the magical powers was the one being pursued. Adachi was created from the idea of a person who has little experience in love and lacking self-confidence, while Kurosawa was created as his foil. Toyota also stated that she has not specified who has the role of the top or bottom in Adachi and Kurosawa's relationship.

Toyota also intended for the theme of Cherry Magic! was to show how, even if one has magical powers, self-confidence is necessary for progress. An hour after it was posted, Ito, an editor who had been following her work for some time, offered her a publishing deal through Twitter. Ito also arranged for Kawai to be Toyota's editor as well. Toyota, Ito, and Kawai noted that Cherry Magic! had a diverse audience, including men and elementary school students. Because of this, Toyota included a disclaimer in Cherry Magic! stating that there may be "adult" developments later in the story, though there were no plans of drawing anything explicit.

Media

Manga

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! is written and illustrated by Yuu Toyota. It is serialized digitally on Gangan Pixiv since September 1, 2018. The chapters were later released in thirteen bound volumes by Square Enix.

A drama CD adaptation was released on October 23, 2019, starring Atsushi Abe as Adachi, Takuya Satō as Kurosawa, Kazuyuki Okitsu as Tsuge, and Kōhei Amasaki as Minato. The drama CD is narrated by Kentaro Tone.

An official Chinese radio drama adaptation began airing on April 6, 2022, on the online audio streaming platform MissEvan. It ran for 13 main episodes, with an additional two extra episodes.

At Anime Expo 2019, Square Enix announced that they were distributing the series in English in 2020 as their first boys' love series.

Television drama

Template:Multiple image A live-action television series adaptation was announced in September 2020. The series stars Eiji Akaso as Adachi and Keita Machida as Kurosawa. Additional cast members include Kodai Asaka, Yutaro, Takuya Kusakawa, Ryo Sato, and Suzunosuke. It is directed by Hiroki Kazama and written by Template:Ill. The series aired from October 9 to December 24, 2020, on TV Tokyo's Template:Nihongo programming block,Template:Efn and is also distributed through Tsutaya's online streaming service. The opening theme song is "Ubugoe" by Omoinotake and the ending theme is "Good Love Your Love" by Deep Squad. On December 24 of the same year, Tsutaya released two exclusive episodes through their streaming service.

Yuu Toyota initially was unsure that Eiji Akaso could portray Adachi's "nerdy" personality well, but she was later impressed when he got into character. For the drama adaptation, she specifically instructed the production not to use derogatory language towards the Template:Transl genre or virgins.

In December 2020, Crunchyroll announced that they had licensed the show in English for distribution outside of Asia.

Film

A live-action film adaptation was released in theaters nationwide in Japan on April 8, 2022. The film is a sequel to the live-action television series, with the cast returning to reprise their roles. The film's theme song is "Shinon" by Omoinotake, with the insert song "Gimme Gimme" performed by Deep Squad.

The film debuted at #6 on its opening weekend. Yuu Toyota, the author of the original manga, donated a portion of the adaptation rights fee to Marriage for All Japan, an organization advocating for same-sex marriage in Japan.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on July 14, 2023. It is produced by Satelight and directed by Yoshiko Okuda, with scripts written by Tomoko Konparu, character designs handled by Takahiro Kishida, and music composed by Tomoki Hasegawa. The series aired from January 11 to March 28, 2024, on TV Tokyo and BS TV Tokyo.Template:Efn The opening theme song is Template:Nihongo, performed by Koe ni Naranai yo, while the ending theme song is Template:Nihongo, performed by Chiaki Kobayashi and Ryōta Suzuki. Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia. Medialink licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia and streaming it on the Ani-One Asia YouTube channel. An English dub was announced by Crunchyroll on July 16, 2024.

A theatrical compilation film of the series was announced after the final episode of the anime on March 27, 2024. It will premiere in Japanese theaters on December 13, 2024. The compilation film's ending theme song is Template:Nihongo, performed by Chiaki Kobayashi and Ryōta Suzuki.

Other adaptations

In November 2022, a Thai television drama adaptation was green-lit. It will be directed by Nuttapong Mongkolsawas and star Tawan Vihokratana and Thitipoom Techaapaikhun.

Reception

Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network complimented the story, humor, and romance, but mentioned that the plot could get too "convoluted" and was too tame for its mature rating. Faye Hopper from Anime News Network stated that while the romance was "cute", there were some concerns over humor regarding Kurosawa's explicit fantasies about Adachi. Volume 2 was the 7th best-selling manga on its week of release at Tsutaya.

In a weekly survey for the Drama Satisfaction Ranking, the live-action television drama adaptation received 27/100 points for its first episode, 63/100 points for the second episode, and 79/100 points for the third episode. By the fourth episode, it received 86/100 points, making it the second highest ranked television series for the week. The seventh and eighth episodes both scored 87/100 points while the ninth episode scored 89/100, with all three being the highest ranked in their respective weeks. The tenth episode scored 90/100 points and was the highest ranked in its week. In Taiwan, the television drama was the highest viewed show on Template:Ill for six consecutive weeks.

See also

• Papa and Daddy's Home Cooking, another manga series by Yuu Toyota

External links

• Template:Official website Template:In lang
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• Template:Anime News Network