RandomUsagi

Wanted to post Machidas speech here too with small English adjustments for better understanding. Because it is directed to the fans as well. Thanks for sharing the site!

Machida Keita:
''I am honored to have received such support. I haven't had many chances to receive an award, so I gained courage from this. I am overwhelmingly grateful to Yuu Toyota (mangaka), the director and producer, all the staff and co-stars involved in this work, and Eiji Akaso, who starred in the original work.
In the first episode there is a scene where Kurosawa brought a can of coffee while Adachi was working overtime. It was the first scene that had a voice in Kurosawas heart (Kurosawas thoughts). I decided to try the rehearsal while actually expressing the voice of my heart out loud. However, when I said it out loud, the favor was leaking to my face (it was too obvious Kurosawa was into Adachi from expressions on the face). I remember laughter with Akaso and the staff.

There are many things I have in common with Akaso-kun, and for some reason the distance between us has shrunk naturally. Akaso-kun is full of warm charm to the extent that there is no end to the list. I really want to work together again someday. Thank you to everyone who enthusiastically watched "Cheri Maho" and loved it. I think this is a warm encouragement from everyone, and I will continue to do my best.''

Journalists and critics seemingly aren't fans of the BL genre then! I'm glad the public vote was that high! The result is indeed amazing ^^
I also learned from the interview of the producer Kanami Homma that Adachi slapping his face-cheeks before entering Kurosawas house was an ad-lib. Cute stuff

No problem, thank you as well for the backup on Thai BL information Aprillen!!! I'm not as familiar with it as with JBL or KBL. However, I am watching tale of 1000stars right now ^^

I had seen news that Machida won first place for something but wasn't sure. Great news!!!! :D We have good results for this show ^^

Hmm some Chinese people think that the firewall/censorship of internet content protects them from Western media influences. I think some will agree with it and some disagree, just like in every country.

Officially some releases will be banned/censored but technically it would be possible to watch it if they really wanted to and knew where to look on the internet. However, yes for the majority of Chinese people who aren't skilled at finding torrents/know the right websites, it becomes unavailable. You are correct that Western productions do attract a lot of attention in China.

Hongkong is indeed a bit different from mainland China, at least in current 2021 time. For example, the main language is different and from Hongkong I have seen tv-productions that do not uphold the regulations set by mainland.

All production of LGBT content is prohibited/discouraged in any form so yeah it can be tough to have that lack of mainstream representation. Self-censorship is indeed a valuable skill to have to remain well, mostly regarding anything that could ''work against national interests''.

I can assure you the Chinese market wasn't the cause of the no-kiss. This jdrama was never meant to leave Japan and the success of its story was completely unexpected. Chinese BL fans were pretty furious at the no-kiss and went to harass one of the main actors and the director in their mob mentality. They have since long calmed down/moved on though. As I said, they can be both the greatest support and the biggest harassment. I enjoy their fancontent though.

The frequent use is indeed 3 times a 6 in China as well but you can extend it to as many as you want. I used 6666 to avoid that direct comparison to the Western meaning. It's just about repeating the number multiple times.
It's something you type when you're impressed by someone and you'll see it show up in quickchats/bulletscreens.
The Chinese internet way of saying lol is 233.

No its okay I hope you gained some valuable insight from the conversation!

Jdramas are already less popular but combine that with no romance as a main plottheme? There's gonna be very little interest from a lot of drama watchers.
Anyway I love this story, it always keeps me engaged.

Also this guy that Riku stays with for a while in episode 5. Isn't he similar looking to the drawing they showed in episode 5? Might just be me though but I feel like if you drew a spot on his face he'd match pretty well. Less exaggerated chin though of course.

Really interesting episode 5. Highly enjoyable once again and got me to like Watanabe Riku a lot more.
The only characters I really dislike are the two corrupt policeguys.

Hmm yeah he's covering for his character XD but I get it though since it's not like he can do anything about the dramas plotline. He doesn't care what soul the queen has, he just kinda likes her naturally which is cute but also kinda basic and surface-level love.

It has some questionable scenes but they never go through with anything LGBT related.

Youtube is truly a warzone since anonimity is much more of a thing on there. Here people still have anonimity but some of us build relationships to other users and we adjust to others around us. Basically it's a bit like a real life community where social control keeps things going I guess. In this particular community we just prioritize being fans together.

MODCs ending was a crime against all of BL and I don't think anyone will argue against you with that XD And yeah UWMA had some repeating stuff like that as well. P'Deannn was iconic.

Alright I'll tell you the current situation of Chinese BL fans since Western fans are indeed often very unaware of the situation due to the language barrier. But let me tell you, the Chinese part of the internet can be a very interesting yet chaotic place that has its own rules. BL fans are a strong force to be reckoned with on the Chinese internet but also very vulnerable to censorship. I never participated in the Chinese BL community myself but I have watched their content/rants for a long time now.

Information about the internet culture in China is pretty rare in English and even more rare is a look into their BL internet culture. This is a pretty good opportunity you found to learn about it XD I had to learn about everything myself.

Soo basically China has a ban-list of websites. That includes most of the Western part of the internet which they can't access without a VPN. This doesn't mean they don't know what's happening outside of China though. In fact, they just upload and share content from Western/international sites onto their own.

So what are the main sites for BL content? Well, they can choose to share content privately on sites which a lot of people do. However, there's larger communities for BL content nowadays too. The main ones I know of are fandoms on Weibo and bilibili. Weibo is basically a social media site like Facebook and bilibili is Chinese youtube (or jokingly refered to as the gay dating app of China).

So what types of censorship will you find here? Well Weibo has tried in the past to put a ban on LGBT content but received so much backlash (undoubtedly a lot from the BL fandom) that they had to forget about it. Still... People in the Chinese BL community often adjust their words into codewords to avoid getting troublesome things their way.

So I haven't mentioned bilibili yet, this Chinese Youtube forbids gay kisses officially. However, many people just put a little sticker on the video when the guys kiss to get their video approved. I have seen male kisses on bilibili videos that escaped the video check as well. Besides that, bilibili hosts BL content very openly and even has the full Cherry Magic manga on there. Bilibili is THE place to get fancontent for BLs that would get strict copyright strikes on Youtube.

Now it isn't all easygoing in the BL community of China. It only takes one traitor who reports it to potentially get someone into a lot of trouble. So BL communities in China have a much higher need to keep control over the situation, this can end very badly sometimes. As seen in the AO3 incident of 2020 where an entire site got banned for one reported LGBT fanfic of a Chinese actor. We don't have that same fear here so we can be a lot more relaxed but Chinese BL fans work in mobs to get work done. They can be both the best support and the worst harassment for a BL show.

Anyway for Cherry Magic most Chinese people used either VPN to access Youtube or just watched the uploaded Chinese fansubs on bilibili. Chinese internet users are very crafty at getting the content they want, so its not like its all isolated. In fact, you'd be surprised how progressive some Chinese internet users (mainly BL fans) can be in regards to LGBT. Of course there are always negative people too though and the older generation is still very unaware of LGBT.

There are specific issues that the BL community in China is dealing with... Like the belief of some that gay relationships are the only true love in the world. Yes that is something some Chinese BL fans believe, they regard hetero love as solely being for reproduction. Many Chinese BL fans discourage this belief though. And of course the issues that the Western BL fandom has also appear in the Chinese BL fandom in different degrees.

Well, now you know more than most Western people ever will about the Chinese internet culture and this was just about BL.

Here's a fun example that may give some insight. A bilibili video review of Cherry Magic episode 3 by a Chinese couple. I know you likely can't understand a lot of what they say but they're talking positively about it. Notice that they cover the ending of episode 3 up just in case. Not because they're against it, but because they know the sites regulations and have adapted to it.
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1mr4y1w7iE/?spm_id_from=333.788

Oh if you want to see an example of how serious the Chinese fans take this show:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1LA411j7t9/
So there's a lot of bulletscreens/texts in this video and I'll teach you a bit about it. Basically 6666 means ''This was skillful!'' and NB means ''awesome!'', this 哈哈哈哈哈 is laughter and 啊啊啊 is Aaah!! as in a yell of a fan in this case.

The video goes in depth on Tsuges (the old guy) written books reappearing in the show, even Kurosawa reads one later. Kurosawa holding the evelator-door for Adachi after he got bumped by the evelator doors before. Or how Adachis dream included dialogue he had learned from Kurosawa. Or how Kurosawa reached for sugar before Adachi had said he preferred sugary food.

Don't worry there's English ones for this too if you search Youtube but I thought itd be interesting for you to see the Chinese view on it a bit.

I do have a GL custom list but I can't vouch for all of them cause I haven't watched the majority of them. Just saved them in a list. One that I do recommend is a short GL webdrama from Korea that is kinda cute: https://mydramalist.com/52951-out-of-breath

Akaso, Machida and the directors put so much thought into the show T__T
Reading this made me cry as well... I knew about some of the stuff like how they practically had no planned lines in the amusement park and it was them having fun or how Akaso went hunched for the entire shooting of the show to be in-character.

However, reading about the emotions they felt in that episode 11 scene was very touching. Realizing the amount of thought put into that iconic handhold moment was also good to read. The fact that Akaso actually trained himself to ''hear''/think of the voice of Kurosawa with the right timing was impressive! He really was the perfect Adachi.

True its very important to have good conversations about LGBT-related topics. Some of the fans I've gotten to know from CM are gay/bi men and I always hope that they do feel free to share their opinion on BL just like the rest of the fanbase. Anyone is welcome here if they want to fangirl/fanboy with us or share fair criticism.

I'm glad it got you to reconsider your approach to commenting though, kindness can indeed go a far way ^^ I do understand not every environment on MDL is the same. This is probably one of the only ones of its kind, a post-airing community is pretty rare and even more for a Japanese drama on MDL.

I'm glad to hear your boyfriend has had such a positive effect on your life! The way you talk about him makes him seem like a very healing and kind person. Hatred is indeed not a very helpful emotion for understanding other perspectives. I know the internet can be a tough place sometimes but luckily there are still places where the soul can be at ease.

Hey you are starting CM again?! Well I'm glad we reached an agreement XD For real though, I think having seen the fans perspectives may help with the viewing experience now. How it was actually something precious to a lot of people despite not being perfect. We actually theorized a lot about this show here and whenever the main characters got closer we celebrated and we created inside jokes in the fandom.

Like we had an active counter for the amount of times Adachi said ''ehh'' or we started praising either the cute cat Udon or the female character Fujisaki (who is actually canonically asexual). Whenever Kurosawa smiles/makes a handsome expression we would type ''Mabushi''/Shining as its what Adachi says when he sees Kurosawa smile. And when the characters run to their crushes we would root for them together in the chat. In the Chinese CM fandom people actually wrote each other letters with the love-poem of the main lead.

Anyway that's just a little fandom lore, that's not mentioning the amount of analysis that has been done on each and every detail. Like how episode 10 shows the insecurity/happiness of the main lead though the appearance and disappearance of LGBT couples in the background. Or small details like Adachi smiling when receiving a coffee can in episode 5 from Rokkaku cause it reminds him of Kurosawa in episode 1. There is a few hours worth of fandom analysis videos done on this show. It wasn't a show done without care.

Anyway now you're a bit more up to date on the fandom culture surrounding the show :D I wish you much love as well!! Yeah its a show very dear to our hearts and I'm glad we could talk out our differences. I do hope you'll visit sometime again, its good to get new people visiting here sometimes. Many hugs and hopefully you can still find some enjoyment in the show! Thanks for accepting the friendrequest ^^

Alright I revisited the bilibili fanvid section of CM to dig up some good content.
Basically the fanvid combines the most flirty and confident characters of Akaso and Machida in one video. That's right, Ne Sensei Shirananai and Prince of Legend. Enjoy their highlevel visuals!
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1NV411t79o/?p=2

Praise Fujisaki honestly. She's adorable as well ^^

Yeah there are some BL comment sections where I avoid all discussion cause I've seen comment threads on Thai BL pages last for a month with constant back and forth of arguments. Definitely not fun to be involved in.

This comment section is basically my home on MDL though. I check here almost every day and talk about various fun topics with fellow fans. In fact, we all put in a lot of effort into this small community. Here you can find my own contribution, I basically made a MDL page which shows most of the video content related to CM and there was an entire timeline made (warning for spoilers though) by another user. All that stuff is here (even a CM-themed drinking game):
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/30sai-made-doteida-to-mahotsukai-ni-narerurashi

Its fun to hear how well your boyfriend and you get along. You certainly have a very cool lovestory! I love how MDL can be a place to bring people together ^^

I do hope you'll give CM another chance, even if it's not your thing. The people here all love the show despite some of its flaws. Definitely check back sometimes since we update information regularly in the comment section or post fun fan stuff.

You weren't here during its airing but every episode we looked forward to with excitement and anxiety. I read some comments on MDL and Weibo about people who got hope from CM despite their depression/tough times. It was a light in our life for a while and we shared tears and happiness together in this place. The caring Kurosawa and the adorable Adachi gave us something to look forward to every week in dark times. The show means a lot to a lot of people and has gone beyond just its original purpose of a small lovestory.

Hm yeah some other BL drama comment sections can be quite explosive in their arguments on diverse topics so I'm used to seeing comments of all kinds. Usually the convos here are pretty calm though, we're a relatively peaceful community in this tiny hidden place on MDL. A bunch of people sustaining ourselves solely on content from the main actors and just sharing fun fancontent. Some of us occasionally do watchparties online to watch episodes together.

It's okay though, emotion posts happen to me too sometimes and now you know that ''pure love fans'' is a more preferred term ^^ Cause incels kinda scare me to be honest.

Your boyfriend sounds like a really sweet guy! I have met some good friends on MDL too whom I talk to occasionally. It's such a fun lovestory that you met through MDL! Im sure you two are a very good couple together. Give him my greetings and I hope you two continue to find many fun BL dramas in the future!

Yeah I initially went in full defense when I saw the comment (cause I'm a protective fan at heart) but in the past I've had similar discussions and usually its best to just keep things lighthearted. BL fans are already such a small group in the world, it's best to prioritize unity and peace whenever possible from my view.

Thanks for telling your story and I do hope you watch the video, its a really good one about genderless expression in Japanese fashion. Cause yeah those anime clips of cute girls/guys aren't really all there is to cuteness/kawaii which is an understandable misconception.

Yeah I know about the incel culture but most of the incels I know about are males. Considering that some of the most wellknown incels in the media are misogynistic murderers/terrorists I was a bit surprised to hear it used here. But yes I do suppose some women can have the same mentality but guided towards males. I haven't seen anyone here express that though. We're mostly just being fans of the main actors and supporting their work.

Reading the way you describe the term incel made it a bit clearer what you meant to say. Now I get it a lot better. I think the term ''pure love fan'' may be better suited though as that is often how BL fans who don't like seeing physical intimacy refer to themselves.

Oh you met your boyfriend on here? Congratulations :D It's nice that you both have the same hobby of watching BL/dramas!!

I won't explain what Kawaii means to Japanese (LGBT) youth as it's difficult to bring into words. I'll let the Cherry Magic actor explain for himself why he likes Kawaii and I highly encourage you to watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrYJE1sFVd8
I really get a feeling a lot of people got a very wrong idea about kawaii thanks to stereotypes from anime or Western media. Kawaii fashion is a form of freedom.

I would love to see a CM GL-version as well. Japan really needs to produce a good GL sometime in the future. A large part of it currently seems to be ''fleeting young love'' nonsense where they ''outgrow their love'' or just infidelity.