Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!
A virgin salaryman gains mind-reading powers on his 30th birthday.
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! is a Japanese boys' love manga series by Yuu Toyota that began as a webcomic in 2018. It gained popularity through a live-action television drama and film before receiving an anime television series adaptation in 2024.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Boys' love, comedy
Facts from the source article.
Characters
Kiyoshi Adachi is a salaryman who, upon turning 30 as a virgin, gains the ability to read minds through touch. Yuu Toyota described him as serious and straightforward but lacking self-confidence, and noted he begins to change through his relationship with Kurosawa. Yuichi Kurosawa, Adachi's co-worker, is handsome and popular yet secretly in love with Adachi, often fantasizing about him; Toyota called him a mess inside with pure feelings. Masato Tsuge, Adachi's college friend and a romance novelist, also becomes a virgin wizard at 30 and owns a cat named Udon. Minato Wataya is a deliveryman attached to Udon, which he had wanted to adopt. Other co-workers include Yuta Rokkaku, Nozomi Fujisaki (a secret fujoshi), and Kengo Urabe.
Development
Cherry Magic! originated as a 4-page comic posted on Twitter and Pixiv in January 2018. Toyota had conceived the story seven or eight years earlier, imagining what power would suit someone inexperienced in love and drawing on the legend of gaining magic if one remains a virgin past 30. Initially the main couple was to resemble Tsuge and Minato, but Toyota found it more interesting if the magic user was the one being pursued. Adachi was created as a person lacking self-confidence, with Kurosawa as his foil. Toyota has not specified which character takes the top or bottom role. The theme was intended to show that self-confidence is necessary for progress even with magical powers. An editor named Ito offered a publishing deal an hour after the comic was posted, and later arranged for Kawai to be Toyota's editor. The series attracted a diverse audience including men and elementary school students, prompting Toyota to include a disclaimer about possible adult developments, though no explicit content was planned.
Media
The manga is written and illustrated by Yuu Toyota and serialized digitally on Gangan Pixiv from September 1, 2018, with sixteen bound volumes released by Square Enix; the series is set to end with its seventeenth volume in 2026. 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, narrated by Kentaro Tone. An official Chinese radio drama aired on MissEvan from April 6, 2022, with 13 main episodes and two extras. Square Enix announced English distribution in 2020 as their first boys' love series. The live-action television drama aired from October 9 to December 24, 2020, on TV Tokyo's MokuDra 25 block, starring Eiji Akaso and Keita Machida, with direction by Hiroki Kazama and writing by Erika Yoshida. The opening theme was "Ubugoe" by Omoinotake and the ending theme "Good Love Your Love" by Deep Squad. Two exclusive episodes were released via Tsutaya's streaming service on December 24, 2020. Crunchyroll licensed the show for English distribution outside Asia in December 2020. A live-action film sequel released on April 8, 2022, with the cast returning; its theme song was "Shinon" by Omoinotake and insert song "Gimme Gimme" by Deep Squad. The film debuted at #6 in its opening weekend. Toyota donated a portion of the adaptation rights fee to Marriage for All Japan.
Reception
Critics liked the story, humor, and romance of the manga, though one noted the plot could get overly complicated and felt too mild for its mature rating. Another reviewer found the romance cute but had issues with jokes about Kurosawa's explicit thoughts about Adachi. Volume 2 ranked seventh in weekly sales at Tsutaya. The live-action drama's viewer satisfaction scores climbed steadily: 27 out of 100 for the first episode, rising to 90 out of 100 for the tenth, which topped its week. In Taiwan, the drama was the most-watched show on KKTV for six weeks straight.
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