As I said in my "FIRST IMPRESSIONS: CHERRY MAGIC" post, If I do a first impressions post for the drama - expect a review once it is done. HERE IT IS! HERE IS MY FINAL REVIEW OF THE JAPANESE BL DRAMA CHERRY MAGIC!
Now here is a quick synopsis of the drama if you have not seen it yet - Adachi Kiyoshi turns 30 years old and because he is still virgin gains a special power. That special power allows him to read other people's minds if he is touching them. At first, he doesn't like that he has gained this power and it isn't very helpful for him. One day he accidently touches his coworker Kurosawa Yuichi and learns that he has feelings for him. Now Adachi has to decide to come to terms with what he has learned and deal with his awkwardness, eventually developing feelings for Kurosawa as well.
This drama is 12 episodes with 2 special episodes afterward that tell some cute side stories about both of the couples and some support characters featured in the drama. I have seen all the episodes including the 2 special episodes. I can tell you right now, my feelings have not changed from my FIRST IMPRESSIONS post of this drama. If anything, my feelings have increased and I have fallen even more in love with this drama. It really was my happy place as it aired every week.
WHAT I LOVED IN THIS DRAMA:
-ACTING
I said in my FIRST IMPRESSIONS post that I was impressed by the acting in this. I still am! Given the fast that a lot of the lines in this were voice overs because the lines were thoughts, the actors had to act out facial expressions without saying a word to correlate with the voice overs. That can't be the easiest thing in the world to do so it is very impressive that they made it believable and it worked so well. Akaso Eiji who portrayed Adachi especially excelled at this, in my opinion.
The actors also had to make the relationships believable for the audience. I think they pulled it off well. The cast had great chemistry with each other! Akaso Eiji and Machida Keita who portrayed Kurosawa playing a romantic couple sold it for me. They seemed so comfortable around each other and acted well off each other. All of the actors involved in the production worked well together and it showed that they cared about the story they were telling in this drama whether it was a main character or a side character.
-STORY
What this story exceled at was it was so much more than just the story of a romance. Yes, the romance was the focus of the drama but the relationships and the development of those relationships were the heart of this story. Then you also had little side stories that really rounded out this drama into a full fledge, beefy, fulfilling drama to watch.
The fact that we did not get a kiss till the end just shows that this story was about the relationship. To have a character suddenly gain the power to hear thoughts by touch and then find out that his "perfect" coworker likes him, THAT WAS A LOT FOR ADACHI at first. This drama really is centered around Adachi. It is about his insecurities. It is about him gaining self-confidence whether through his relationship with Kurosawa or through his revelations with his power. The drama is through his eyes, of course, so you see this front and center. Hearing Kurosawa's thoughts is a gift to him sometimes because he hears compliments or intimate thoughts of Kurosawa's that no one has ever said to him about himself. It changes the perspective he has of himself, slowly helping him gain self-confidence and get out of the depressive state that he is about himself.
The drama's story really comes down to an issue for a lot of people and that is insecurities. Everyone in this drama has some sort of insecurity, never expressed out loud but through Adachi's power. This drama shows how insecurities can really prevent a person from living the life they want and going for their dreams, no matter how small they are.
-RELATIONSHIPS
The relationships in this drama both romantic and platonic was so fun to watch. The develop of both kinds of relationships for all the characters were so heartwarming and made me smile through the entire drama.
Adachi and Kurosawa's relationship was front and center in the drama and grew from coworkers to friends to dating to boyfriends. As I said in my FIRST IMPRESSIONS post, even though Adachi found out about Kurosawa's feelings because of his power, their relationship still seemed to grow organically. I still stand by the statement, now more than ever. There are 2 factors that lent to this organic growth. One was Kurosawa and his character. He was HEAD OVER HEELS for Adachi and everything about him. He was ecstatic to be a relationship with Adachi and getting to know him more BUT he was careful and patient. He knew Adachi as a person and knew when he was uncomfortable with something. Kurosawa was just happy to be around Adachi and never wanted anything from Adachi. I mean even when he found out about Adachi's power his first thought was is Adachi okay and he was so calm about it.
The second factor that led me to think that this relationship between Adachi and Kurosawa was still organic was Adachi and his decisions in the drama. He read Kurosawa's thoughts and realized that he wasn't as perfect as he perceived. He found out the Kurosawa had doubts and was scared of things. He was "normal" and not perfect. I think this helped Adachi feel more comfortable around Kurosawa. This was REALLY prevalent with the break up. THIS COUPLE BROKE UP IN THE WAY THAT WAS MOST FIT FOR THEIR CHARACTERS! I applaud this drama for that. Adachi broke up with Kurosawa because he didn't want to be in a relationship because of the power, he wanted to be in a relationship with Kurosawa because there were true feelings there. It took a lot for Adachi to make confessions in this drama, let alone decide to break up with Kurosawa because he wanted a relationship that wasn't relying on the power. He thought Kurosawa liked his powers and not him again bringing in the self-doubt. THAT IS SO ADACHI'S CHARACTER! Kurosawa, true to character, let Adachi break up with him because he thought it would make Adachi happy and he lived to make Adachi happy. IT WAS A BREAKUP THAT MADE TOTAL SENSE! I just loved how this relationship grew and evolved over the 12 episodes!
The platonic relationships of Adachi benefitted from his power as well. His coworkers discovered confidence within themselves to strive for their desires and dreams because they saw the change in Adachi. His power strengthened his relationship with his coworkers and in turn they supported him in life along with Kurosawa which was nice to see.
-SUPPORT CHARACTERS/SECONDARY COUPLE
The secondary couple of Tsuge (portrayed by Asaka Kodai) and Minato (portrayed by Goto Yutaro) had some aspects of Adachi and Kurosawa's relationship but also their relationship was their own relationship. Tsuge has characteristics of Adachi where he has no self-confidence and hidden himself away. He gains the power as well because he turns 30. Minato allows him to come out of his shell. Tsuge gains confidence, a lot faster than Adachi due to plot but he is sincere in his relationship and supports Minato so he is a mix of Adachi and Kurosawa in their relationship. Tsuge uses this new found confidence to even counseling Adachi through his relationship which was great! Tsuge support Minato in his dream of being a dancer and supports him in the most adorable way that he knows how.
Supporting Adachi and Kurosawa in their relationship is what the supporting characters do best! All of the supporting characters become loyal friends! They push Adachi and Kurosawa to overcome their own insecurities with themselves and their relationship. This also allows the side characters to take their own advice. Fujisaki strives to go against the grain and strives to not bow down to the marital and work expectations of her being a woman. Rokkaku strives to be the top worker at the company and takes steps to do it once he sees Adachi do the same.
-MAKES YOU THINK
Cherry Magic made the audience think. What would we do if we gained the power to hear people's thoughts? Would it be a blessing or a curse? How might it affect our lives? On the surface, the drama has good acting, great story and romantic pairings that we cheer for. This drama also brings up themes of important topics as well.
The importance of communication in relationships whether in friendships and romantic relationships. Honesty in a relationship can be everything for the relationship to be fulfilling and stay strong whether that is friendship or more. The theme of accepting yourself and your insecurities. Believing what people tell you about yourself. Overcoming insecurities to live a happier life. Work life and how societal norms might construe your behavior with coworkers or how outward appearance might have you judge someone before you know them.
All of these themes had me asking do I do this myself? Do I think like this? How would I handle this scenario? Would I have the same reaction? When I start thinking like this, you know I am really enjoying a drama.
Rating: 10/10 - I wouldn't change a thing about this drama. I loved everything about it.
SO IS MY REVIEW OF CHERRY MAGIC!
What do you think? Did you watch this Jdrama? Did you like it? Will you watch it now that you read my FINAL REVIEW?