Cherry Magic! - Anime Review

Not just for BL lovers! Cherry Magic! is a great way to enter the BL world... just with your eyes squinted.

A big warning right away - I cannot stress this enough. I am not biased. My first anime was yaoi, and this is yaoi too. While I was too nice during it's airing time, I am not playing any games now during reviewing this show.

Story:

How would you feel if I told you, that if you won't loose your virginity by the time you're 30 years old, you will get magical ability? How does reading mind sounds? Well, Adachi and his friend Tsuge will both find that out, and not only that. They are going to learn a lot about their life, and they are going to do it while everything is changing.

When Encanto (bear with me) came out, it was a huge hit. Why wouldn't it be, it was Disney made right. However, my generation (that being college kids) started analyzing everything and finding out little details about the show. One of them was Dolores' super hearing ability that meant she was hearing everything all the damn time. Adachi nor Tsuge have that problem, they can control their ability. It only works if they are touching each other - or they can use it as a telepathic communication device with other magicians.

While having this ability, one finds out his popular colleague is in love with him and the other uses it to get closer to a boy he falls in love with.

As your typical yaoi, it had drama, it had good moments, it had cringey yelling and cute confessions. It was awkward in the best way of possible! The story wasn't anything original, but it was made tastefully, in a way that you didn't mind that you knew what would happen.

Animation:

Could be better at times. While the usual stuff was in the usual quality, I wished some things (e.g. dancing) was a bit better animated, so it wouldn't look as shitty. Or kissing. We didn't have too much of that, so would it kill them if they went all out on it? Or at least hugging. God the important moments! Seriously! I was so unhappy when something that needed to be good wasn't.

I do guess the part when it mattered was animated nicely, but other than that, this was the anime's doom. Bad animation killed a lot of moments.

Art:

While the boys themselves were incredibly pretty (at least Adachi and Kurosawa), the art was shitty. I saw a few chapters from the manga, and god it looks good. So this is the studio's fault - I presume.

Awful faces, terrible close ups, twisted bodies, bad proportions... I was so upset, I could rant about it for hours. Some episodes looked so good, some were shit. The first episode was so good I rewatched it right as it aired, the third episode upset me the most. They reused half of the second episode - giving us nothing but moments of something new, fresh.

After a few episodes, you got used to the "new" art & animation and it wasn't especially awful... it just never reached the same level as in the first episode. God knows what happened there...

Characters:

In romance anime there is always the couple you're rooting for and the couple you don't care for. For me, it was a clear choice. (That is a bad thing. Why? I'll explain.) While the two main guys Adachi and Kurosawa very absolutely adorable together and made my heart flutter, I could not get into Tsuge and Minato for the life of me. They weren't bad, they had interesting story and that "fateful meeting" vibe to their romance. I just dislike both of them so much. I couldn't care less for them!

In moment that story focused only on them, I found myself bored and wished it would be over soon. And that is not good. It's the worst that can happen. Because that's how a lot of twists and turns loose your attention and you are left with "get on with it already".

To be fair, I blame anime and it's flow. I am watching Cherry Magic! Live action, and Minato and Tsuge's story is very interesting. The characters are totally different and it makes me enjoy them much more.

Rokkaku. Let's talk about Adachi's coworker Rokkaku. His voice (I'm sure his VA is great) was so annoying. I couldn't stand him. He was a great tool for Kurosawa's jealousy, but that was it. I hated him with all my might. Again, not in the Live action, just in the anime.

But! Fujisaki - Adachi's female colleague was the sun of my life. She was so good. As a fujoshi (girl who... no I am not explaining this) she was so incredibly funny and relatable. She was sweet, she was adorable, she has the softest heart in the whole world, I would give my life for her. She was another great addition to the story and to romance between Adachi and Kurosawa, and her presence was such a gift.

But hey, I didn't talk about Adachi or Kurosawa yet! While Adachi had to grow on me, Kurosawa was my sweetheart from the day 1. He was dazzling, funny, and good mix of jealous and chaotic. I want to have him so much! (Yeah, yeah, I know that's cringy.) I think he went on a great journey, being with Adachi. While I hated the range of perverseness he hit at times, I forgive it because he was funny.

And like I said, Adachi had to grow on me a lot. While I think he was cute & pretty, I was the most surprised with him. Taking the first step, going to such lengths for Kurosawa and accepting his fate... he grew the most.

Music:

Opening - I liked the opening a lot! I am not sure who the singer is, but his soft voice fit perfectly with the vibe of this anime. It's no best opening by any means, but it was really great to vibe to!

Ending - The same goes for ending. I like it less than the opening, but it was tasty enough to be enjoyed. (Not the spoken parts...) Good soundtrack.

Insert song - another "what the fuck ♡". The little song Kurosawa sang on their date haunts me in the best way possible.

Entertainment value:

Telenovela. That's how it felt at times. But if you are a fan of BL and know what you like, I promise you, this will give it to you. I was squealing like a crazy at moments, and I was just as dramatic as the show. It was... a great experience for me.

Conclusion: recommended 👍 

Are you a BL lover? Go watch this.

Are you not a BL lover? Well, give this a change. I know, the art and animation might be a breaking point for someone who is looking for reasons why to drop it, but the story itself is so very worth it. The ending especially. (It might seem hurried but it's perfect for romance!)

Like I said, I am not going to lie. This could be better. But it wasn't bad and if you like romance, if you like drama and ridiculousness, go give this a try. 9/10.