As a huge Boys’ Love anime fan, I sadly was not enamored of the just-ended Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity anime series.
An anime that was poorly animated by Studio Satelight, with main characters Adachi and Kurosawa looking different in every scene, an art style that was just “off” much of the time, and with a voice actor — Yuusuke Shirai who voiced Yuuta Rokkaku — with the most annoying, high-pitched voice I have had the misfortune of listening to – ever.
Not his fault, I’m sure, as Shirai has superbly voiced some of the most memorable anime characters in recent anime history — so likely a decision the director made.
Sure, it was nice to get a BL anime, as we get so very very few of them.
It was simply a pity Satelight decided to treat the adaptation as shoddily as they did.
Anime series being edited down into a feature-length film Cherry Magic! film
That’s why, with the Cherry Magic! anime getting average ratings, and with more Boys’ Love fans (the ones who have read the manga) seemingly more disappointed than not, I am surprised with today’s news the Cherry Magic! anime is getting an edited version of the story released as a feature film. (Announcement here)
That means, out of the approximately 290 minutes running time of the anime series, that already edited story compared to the far more interesting events in the 13 volumes of the manga will now be whittled down to less than half of that.
Considering Episode 12 of the Cherry Magic! anime series, which began streaming earlier today, just crammed the events of the last six volumes of the anime series into its last 30 seconds, I can only imagine how bad that will be.
Thankfully, at least for now, the Cherry Magic! film is only set to premiere in Japan sometime later this year.
Hopefully most Japanese Boys’ Love fans won’t be conned into giving their hard-earned money to something that is clearly nothing more than a money grab, and a milking of the last possible yen out of an incredibly mediocre anime series.
Meanwhile, the Cherry Magic! film just got an equally mediocre teaser visual to celebrate its upcoming existence (below).
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! manga is superb
Should you be as disappointed in Satelight’s Cherry Magic! anime series as I have been, do be aware the manga series by Yuu Toyota is a million miles better.
As a collector of Boys’ Love manga, it was the second series I began collecting, and is still one for which I pre-order every new volume months before it’s due out, as Adachi and Kurosawa never cease to charm.
Square Enix is publishing the manga series in English, with 10 volumes of the 13 volume Japanese series already out, and Volume 11 due in June.
If you want the more in-depth and much more heart-warming story of Adachi and Kurosawa, as well as more of the equally sweet Tsuge and Minato, as well as wish to know what really happens in the six volumes Satelight edited down into 30 seconds, I recommend you grab all of them.
And, of course, if you must, you can now watch all 12 episodes of the Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Will Make You a Wizard?! anime on Crunchyroll.