-Aprillen-

I'm grey ace (and probably grey aro too), and this is definitely how I read Adachi.

The thing is that a lot of "uke" characters in BL are played as if they were grey ace, but in fact are just written as if they were "pure girls", according to the prevailing heteronomative moralism, where the "pursued" party is allosexual and attracted to the "pursuer", but has to fend off advances in order to not appear as "easy", until the "pursuer" proves themselves "worthy" (or just makes them lose all control due to the incredible sexual attraction) -- which is a trope that I really dislike. (Forced kissing/necking/sex is a result of this very mindset -- if the intimacy is "forced", the "pursued" party doesn't have to feel guilty about having "given it up". But this romanticization of dub-con or even non-con is of course super problematic, which is one reason why I hate this trope.)

But Adachi isn't played this way at all. He is played as true grey ace, someone who is fine without sex or romance, even if he feels lonely and would like to have it some day, and also as someone who is very shy and introverted and easily overwhelmed, and his scenes of panic aren't the stereotypical "gay panic" at all -- they are *intimacy* panic, which is super relatable for a grey ace and introvert and neurodiverse person like me.

I think the people who are disappointed and angry with the ending are probably allosexual people who interpret Adachi according to the usual yaoi/danmei/BL stereotype, and get disappointed when events don't play out that way. Especially since the manga seems to have that trope. I'm very happy that they decided to go down a different route with the drama series.

I thought it was perfect. Very much in keeping with the drama as a whole. In fact, I don't really get why some people are upset -- in my opinion, those people had unrealistic expectations. Cherry Magic is what it is, and it stayed true to its own self all the way.

And in a kind of teasing way that fits Kurosawa very well, too -- "I don't care that you know about Adachi belonging to me, but the rest of it is only for me and him."

No hate from me. The production values, the acting and the writing here were miles above most Thai BL dramas, and that makes a lot of difference in how I feel about the absence of onscreen kissing. Cherry Magic has never made itself out to be the kind of series that would cater to the same fans that love 2Gether or TharnType, and so it would have been stupid to expect the things that those types of series advertised or teased (whether they delivered it or not).

Agreed on every point. The acting and the writing were so good here that I never missed the lack of skinship. I definitely do not mind well-performed skinship in BL (*cough*MaxTul*cough*), but it's the acting that pulls me in and makes the skinship justifiable. I'd rather have good acting and story with rudimentary skinship than obviously forced skinship scenes, or even lots of skinship with unconvincing acting. (And let's not mention unconvincing acting paired with unconvincing skinship, ugh.)

I don't think I've ever rewatched a drama the way I've been doing with this one!

Thank you! :) I ended up loving both 11 and 12.

I agree, and I think everything was perfectly in line with the tone of this series up till now. I wouldn't have minded seeing them kiss, but I wasn't the least surprised that we didn't, and I certainly didn't feel cheated at all.

Yes, episode 11 was sad -- it was, after all, the obligatory Cursed Penultimate Episode -- but I thought it was handled with the usual softness and sensitivity I've come to expect from this show. Nothing was out of character, there was no unnecessary drama. In fact, I felt as if this was a thing Adachi *had* to go through in order to be able to believe in his own feelings and agency, and to stop second-guessing himself and the relationship forever.
As for episode 12, I liked the ending. I can see that some people felt cheated, but I don't, despite my normal inclinations -- CM has never been the type of drama that relies on titillating skinship moments to convey the feelings. It has always been about other things as much as about the love story -- breaking one's isolation, daring to come out of one's shell, learning to stand up for oneself and others despite not being equipped for heroics. It's a journey of self-realisation for Adachi, and Kurosawa's love may be the trigger and the motivation (and one of the end goals) of that journey, but it's not the only thing that makes this show worth watching. And the ending left me feeling happy and, yes, content.

I finally mustered up my courage and watched eps 11 and 12. It wasn't nearly as painful as I had been led to believe!
I'm putting my thoughts in spoiler tags under this comment, even though it will only be spoilery about the general tone of the episodes and not about anything specific happening in them. So if you've been scared by some of the reactions in this comment section and are wondering whether you should finish watching this series, and don't mind being very vaguely spoiled, I think you'll be fine reading it. To sum up: Don't be afraid to watch them.

https://www.ichihachisubs.com/cherry-magic

I'm about to watch episode 11. I'm scared. Please someone hold my hand Ó_Ò

Yeah, there have been some really good ones, but even the best of the rest don't really come close to this one.
I hope it gets so many awards that it can't fail to attract interntional attention too.

I love it too :)

Aw. Thank you. I'll save it for when I can handle unhappy endings, then.

This is not a drama where you can skip scenes. Every scene is significant and meaningful, and you will miss a large part of what makes this so fantastic if you do. I agree with what others have said, if you don't feel comfortable with this kind of story, then just don't watch it.

If ITSAY doesn't wipe the floor with all other dramas in all categories in next year's awards circuit, I will be extremely surprised (and baffled).

Nope, it's too late now. Just accept that you will be forever trapped in those dimples.

Was it a sad ending?

No longer available, sadly,