Genuinely, this is one of the best shows I’ve ever watched. I enjoyed literally every second of this show, and I cannot recommend it enough. If you have any doubts about this show at all, know that they are for nought. I can’t imagine someone watching this and not thinking it’s sweet, wholesome, romantic, and just all-over amazing!

Shows with this sort of speculative/magical twist are always a favorite of mine. A slight magical edge to an otherwise contemporary story is so much fun when done well, and Cherry Magic incorporated Adachi’s newfound mind-reading power wonderfully. The limit where it only works when he’s touching the person was a good touch, and led to a couple hilarious moments when it was “nonchalantly” trying to get a hand on someone to read their mind. And the show even addressed the drawbacks of an ability like this! How Tsuge struggled to communicate after his disappeared and Adachi was afraid Kurosawa wouldn’t like him without it. It was very well done.

There was also something so… sweet about the set-up for the story. Adachi (and Tsuge, his best friend) is a 30-year-old virgin who’s never so much as been on a date before the story starts. It was nice to see adult characters falling in love for the first time, and learning as they go. These stories are so often constrained to high school (and /maybe/ college) students, but that’s not everyone’s experience. This was like a breath of fresh air in that way.

The characters and the acting were all very well done, too. Even minor roles like Fujisaki were written thoughtfully and as a full character, which was really nice to see.

All in all, this was a very nice, very low-conflict show that just warmed my heart in all the best ways!!

Also— B R U H, Adachi called Kurosawa “sexiness personified” in, like, the second episode and then had the gall to act shocked when he realized he liked him back???