Boys’ love, as a genre, has been getting rather popular in recent years. It seems there’s a new BL anime almost every season, and 2024 is already poised to begin bold with an omegaverse (if you know, you know) boys’ love story,Tadaima, Okaeri, coming out in the spring. It wasn’t very long ago, though, that it was incredibly rare to see a boys’ love anime in a seasonal lineup and even rarer to see one readily available on amainstream anime platform like Crunchyroll.This is at least partially attributed to the fact that the boys’ love genre has a less-than-stellar reputation for being full of problematic tropes and stereotypes.However, series likeGivenandSasaki and Miyanohave found incredible success with anime fans and served as proof that there are plenty of fantastic stories that exist under the BL banner that don’t play into those negative aspects as much (or at all).
Of course, for everyGiven, there’s aMask Danshi: This Shouldn’t Lead to Loveor aHitorijime My Herothat leans into those problematic roots, showing relationships that are severely lacking in consent or feature large age gaps and extreme power imbalances. So, it’s always refreshing to see a BL that avoids those things in favor of a stable and respectful relationship, which is exactly whatCherry Magic: Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!provides.
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!
Adachi, a quiet office worker mid-30s, has the power to read minds. One day he discovers that his popular workmate Yuichi has a crush on him.
‘Cherry Magic’ Is a New Office Rom-Com With a Supernatural Twist
Cherry Magic: Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!began airingjust a few weeks agoon January 11, but the manga it’s adapted from has been ongoing since 2018.The story follows shy office worker Adachi (Chiaki Kobayashi), who wakes up on his thirtieth birthday with the ability to read the thoughts of anyone he touches.This has only worsened his anxiety, especially in crowded places like trains, and he finds the power to be useless and annoying. When he runs into his handsome, seemingly perfect coworker Kurosawa (Ryouta Suzuki) in the elevator one morning, though, he gets curious and touches him to see what’s going on in his head.
It turns out that Kurosawa’s thoughts are full of fantasies about Adachi!Kurosawa constantly thinks about how cute Adachi is and how much he likes him, which immediately flusters and confuses Adachi. However, Adachi finds himself drawn to Kurosawa and the two spend more and more time together as something other than friendship blooms between them, though it’s certainly slow-going as Adachi struggles to understand his feelings. It’s a sweet (and slightly spicy) office romance that has been getting rather favorable reviews on Crunchyroll, and it’s for good reason. In terms of boys’ love, it has been adapting its source well and has been able to avoid some of the biggest turn-offs for viewers.
‘Cherry Magic’ Emphasizes Consent Between Love Interests
A big issue many people have with theboys’ love genreis the way consent is handled in many shows.Earlier series, likeWorld’s Greatest First LoveandJunjo Romantica, are especially notorious for displaying non-consensual encounters between their love interests, but there is no shortage of modern boys’ love manga that follows the same formula. This is why series likeGivenandSasaki and Miyanoare often praised for the way they handle interactions between characters, as they try to ensure that all parties are comfortable with the actions taking place.
However, bothGivenandSasaki and Miyanoarehigh school romances, and many viewers find that BL anime targeting adults hasn’t done much to fix the issue.Cherry Magic, though, doesn’t allow itself to fall back on this behavior.While Adachi can read Kurosawa’s sometimes steamy thoughts, we never see Kurosawa do anything that acts on those thoughts without Adachi’s permission. Adachi is nervous at first that Kurosawa will try something, evident in how tense he was sleeping over at Kurosawa’s place and how he worried Kurosawa would touch him in his sleep when he’d come back to get his phone, but then notes that Kurosawa never tries anything. When they go out drinking with their coworkers and get asked to kiss each other, Kurosawa notices that Adachi is clearly uncomfortable with the idea and only kisses his forehead instead of his lips.
It’s also worth noting that Adachi and Kurosawa are on an even footing.It never feels like one of them has power over the other or that anything that happens is coerced. When Adachi is unable to pay for dinner, Kurosawa steps in and foots the bill without any expectation of Adachi repaying him, be it monetarily or otherwise. Adachi does repay him on his own accord, but it’s because Adachi doesn’t want to take advantage of Kurosawa’s kindness, showing that he respects Kurosawa as a person and doesn’t want to do anything that would hurt him. It’s common in some BL series for characters to use these types of situations as a way to have the other person indebted to them, or to coerce a sexual relationship, butCherry Magicrefuses to do this.It’s a story about a healthy relationship between men, just with the added twist of one being able to read the other’s mind — and even with that power, Adachi doesn’t use it to his advantage.
‘Cherry Magic’s Adachi Never Falls Victim to This Tired Anime Trope
If you’ve watched or read any amount of BL, you’ve probably seen what I refer to as the “but I’m not gay!” trope. This is rampant in the genre, but the trope doesn’t refer to what many would colloquially call “gay panic,” a term used to describe a character who is struggling to come to terms with their identity. A character going through this exploration may indeed say they aren’t gay, and that’s understandable.The “but I’m not gay!” trope instead refers to a common trope in BL where a character vehemently insists they like women, and this feeling they have for another man is completely bizarre and one-off.It’s more of a trend in older series, but it’s a gripe many people have with the genre, as it diminishes the identity of men who love men and adds a fetishistic quality to the genre that is uncomfortable (and infuriating.) Stories that use this trope typically aren’t about the experience of discovering and understanding identity; they’re about wanting guys to do the horizontal tango.
This trope isn’t found inCherry Magic. Adachi says he’s never liked another man the way he likes Kurosawa, and he’s clearly confused about his own feelings and how to handle them or what to do with them. He mentions a few times the kind of girl he likes, but we see him talk more about Kurosawa. At first, he’s constantly grappling with his feelings about Kurosawa himself, and later, he has to grapple with what it’s like to be in a relationship when he’s never been in one before.Cherry Magicis a series about firsts, mainly for Adachi but also for Kurosawa. While Adachi mentions not being into guys before Kurosawa, it doesn’t become a focal point of the relationship between them, which is ultimately what the “but I’m not gay!” trope usually results in. It’s instead a glimpse into Adachi’s discovery of himself, andit turnsCherry Magicinto a sweet romance instead of some kind of wish-fulfillment spectacle.
Cherry Magicgets relationships right in a way that many BL series don’t.It places an emphasis on how respectful Adachi and Kurosawa are towards each other by showing how they are considerate of each other’s boundaries and how they are conscious of how they make each other feel. Despite us seeing Kurosawa’s thoughts about Adachi, we never see him act on them in a way that would make Adachi uncomfortable. We never see Adachi take advantage of Kurosawa’s feelings for him. Consent is important in the series, and it can be seen in every interaction. The series also avoids some of the pitfalls in discussing identity that many BL series do by not tethering itself to the “but I’m not gay!” trope and instead exploring Adachi as he comes to terms with his feelings and his relationship with Kurosawa. At its core,Cherry Magicis alighthearted and humorous office romancebetween salesmen, and that’s what continues to draw people in.
Cherry Magic: Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
