budding-bl-librarian

[budding-bl-librarian]

I will get back to posting tropes when I can. Currently unable to use the computer due to a chronic illness flare up. Hope everyone has enjoyed them so far!

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Chivalrous Pervert"

Kurosawa may be a natural born lady killer, but when it comes to the person he truly loves, he's the most awkward bean who ever lived. Of course, this is only a problem because the person he's madly in love with can read his mind. It makes the constant back and forth of "knight in shining armor" and "pervert" a stark and hilarious dance.

There are honestly too many examples to count, so for this explanation I used the awkwardness of the first chapter to really highlight this trope.

One moment bringing a gift and wanting to help (genuinely from the bottom of his heart) to thinking about tasting his skin almost immediately, Kurosawa has Adachi confused as hell about what exactly his intentions are. Poor Adachi doesn't really understand that both sides of him are equally honest and genuine.

When Adachi misses the last train, Kurosawa gives him his scarf and offers to let him crash at his place. From the outside looking in, without knowing how crazy his inner thoughts are, this seems to be a kind offer with no ulterior motives. But because Adachi knows he also fantasized about licking his neck... that "thank me with your body" comment doesn't exactly come across as innocent as Kurosawa hoped. It all makes Adachi wonder just how honest are Kurosawa's intentions. And as we know, the answer is always kind of both!

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Chick Magnet"

Kurosawa is your quintessential chick magnet. With his good looks and sociable personality, he's never wanting for attention from the women around him. Honestly, there are a lot of examples of this, but I'll just share a few. You all understand this trope without too much explanation!

From the time he was a child, he's drawn in the ladies like a moth to a flame. Unfortunately for his prospects with Adachi early on in the story, this attribute makes him less attractive to the man he's hoping to romance.

On the work trip in particular, all the office ladies attempt to win his heart by spending time with Kurosawa outside of the office atmosphere. It's really too bad for them that the man has his heart set on someone already.

[budding-bl-librarian]

if skipping the side couples in here u are was a crime.....

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Beach Episode"

While most use this trope specifically for episodes/chapters where the usual gang heads to the beach for some fun in the sun, I take it a bit more liberally. There are so many important scenes that happen when a couple (not necessarily a group) visit the beach together. Usually it's a scene of emotional importance for the story, whether that's a confession, a deep personal conversation, or even a breakup. The beach isn't just for fun, it's an oft used setting for pivotal moments in a relationship. And that's exactly what happens in Cherry Magic.

After visiting Kurosawa's parents and having a painful but rewarding conversation with his mother, Kurosawa and Adachi head down to a nearby beach to unwind and express some feelings that couldn't exactly be said in front of the older Kurosawa's. Adachi really gets a moment to shine, showcasing his growth in the manga up until this point. He talks about how Kurosawa's love made him stronger and how he intends to learn from his short time reading minds so he can become a better person. Kurosawa is so moved by his impromptu speech that he begins to cry, and then they share a heartfelt kiss and reaffirm their love for each other.

All of this makes this particular "beach episode" one to remember.

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Big Damn Kiss"

By the time Kurosawa and Adachi finally lock lips, they have already been through a decent amount of turmoil together. From Adachi learning about Kurosawa's over the top crush, a failed first (and second) kiss, two anguished declarations of love, a bad first date, and an increasingly stressed out Adachi keeping secrets from Kurosawa... it's 28 chapters of frustration and waning patience before we get the perfect two page spread BDK.

This kiss is a perfect example of this trope for two reasons. The first, the above mentioned two page spread. In manga, a mangaka will use a two page spread for important moments that need more room to truly shine. The lighting, the empty room... the absolute peace they both feel at finally getting to this point is highlighted to perfection.

The second reason this is a perfect example is the emotional impact scene directly before the kiss. Adachi finally breaks down the last wall between them by coming clean about his ability to read Kurosawa's mind. This leads to Kurosawa putting every genuine feeling he has into letting Adachi know exactly how he feels about him. He reaches through that broken down wall and they finally cross the line from a platonic relationship to the very real possibility of becoming lovers in every sense.

It's an absolutely beautiful scene.

Bonus:

Tsuge and Minato got their own two spread BDK in chapter 64. For those who ship these two, it's a moment they've been impatiently waiting to see for years.

[budding-bl-librarian]

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Cherry Magic Tropes "Bad Date"

There are two different kinds of bad dates. The first is where you go home at the end vowing never to see your date again, the second is when the date itself fails miserably but you can't hold it against your partner. Cherry Magic had an incredibly painful bad date of the second variety.

During their first date (and Adachi's first ever date), the boys are unfortunately traveling at very different speeds with their heads in completely different places. Adachi is worried about how they look to everyone around them, if he's doing everything right. Kurosawa is focused on planning a date so perfect that Adachi will never forget it. Neither is great at communicating at this stage, and they just can't calm down and enjoy their time together.

After a failed attempt to feel like a team playing a VR game, and another failed attempt at romance in the sky, Adachi and Kurosawa end the date on a sour note. Both are convinced they ruined everything and may not even have a second date.

Thankfully our awkward mind reader realizes that he can't leave things that way and asks Kurosawa out again. Thus saving the relationship and the story we all love so dearly.

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Aroused by Idiocy"

Though this trope is called "Aroused by Idiocy" it's not really the normal kind of stupidity that I mean with this particular couple. Kurosawa and Adachi are actually both quite intelligent in their own rights, both the studious kind and with emotional (Adachi) and social (Kurosawa) intelligence as well.

For these two, the idea is more that Adachi seems to love Kurosawa's cringefail/awkward side more than the perfectly put together facade that he shows the rest of the world. Things that would have other partners running for the hills make Adachi's heart flutter.

When our boys decide to introduce the other to their families, Kurosawa is absolutely losing his mind. Both because of how adorable Adachi's niece and nephew are, and because he's so overwhelmed with the idea of meeting the people who brought his beloved into the world. For Adachi, there's nothing cuter than the insanity and idiocy that is his partner.

When Kurosawa and Adachi go on a double date with Tsuge and Minato, Tsuge is absolutely horrified by the crazy thoughts he sees in Kurosawa's mind. He goes to Adachi, expecting his best friend to be just as concerned, but Adachi is instead sad that he misses out on Kurosawa's craziness now that he can't read his mind anymore.

As they say "There truly is someone for everyone" and Adachi and Kurosawa simp over each other's flaws in the most adorable way.

[budding-bl-librarian]

Your translations are a life saver, do you think you could maybe try translating this cherry magic art? I’ve been trying so hard but its so difficult 😭 honestly don’t know how you do it 💔

A: ...my shirt on him is practically yelling for help. kurosawa really is in good shape... damn it, he looks so cool...

K: aahh, i've dreamed of this! he's so cute! adachi in a boyfriend shirt... no, not boyfriend, but life partner. he's so cute! his boyfriend shirt—my shirt, that is—looking that baggy on him is seriously dangerous. it's making me want to do something bad—

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Anywhere but the Lips"

When Adachi is gifted with the ability to read minds, his life becomes a series of new experiences for him. From actively trying to help a coworker that he never imagined could benefit from his help, to being the guest of honor at a work drinking party, Adachi is making great strides to being more involved in his own life. What he didn't expect was being faced with a public kiss with Kurosawa before he had comes to terms with his feelings for the man.

While Adachi is having an internal crisis over the situation, Kurosawa is feeling like it's his lucky day. He gets to kiss the man of his dreams and he can blame the King's Game rather than his own feelings. But when he realizes that Adachi is freaking out, he puts Adachi's feelings over his own and compromises the situation by kissing his forehead instead of his lips.

He feels so guilty about everything that he rushes off, claiming a phone call, just so he can have a minute to himself to process his disappointment and Adachi's panic. Thankfully, Adachi has his ability to read minds so he knows how bad Kurosawa is feeling and follows him.

Unfortunately for both of them, Adachi gets swept away easily by Kurosawa's emotions and their situation becomes an almost kiss... After which Adachi continues to panic and practically shouts that kissing is fine, as long as it's nowhere near his lips (aka forehead).

So that's this trope gone and done! Hope you enjoyed this silly peek into Adachi's descent into Gay Panic (TM). I'll try to get back to work on some more tropes for your enjoyment, and my librarian categorizing needs.

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes Master List

A (semi) comprehensive list of romance tropes found in the Cherry Magic manga up to Volume 13 (current volumes in English/will update with new volumes). There will be spoilers for this series in the tropes. I will also be adding links to each trope as I post them.

There are 84 at the moment, so prepare for a long list!

1.) Almost Kiss

2.) Angel/Devil Advice

3.) Anguished Declaration of Love

4.) Anywhere but the Lips

5.) Aroused by Idiocy

6.) Bad Date

7.) Beach Episode

8.) Big Damn Kiss

9.) BL Mole

10.) Catching When They Trip

11.) Chick Magnet

12.) Chivalrous Pervert

13.) Clothes Shopping Date

14.) Coupled Couples

15.) Crush Blush

16.) Crush Filter

17.) Cup Phones

18.) Damsel in Distress

19.) Dinner, Bath or Me?

20.) Don't Suit

21.) Drying their Hair

22.) Dude, She's like in a Coma

23.) Emotive Ahoge

24.) Entryway Kiss

25.) Feed Me

26.) First Love

27.) Forehead Temp Check

28.) Green Eyed Monster/Crazy Jealous Guy

29.) Hair Kiss/Touch

30.) Hands on Approach

31.) Have You Tried Not Being a Monster? (or Bigots against LGBTQ)

32.) Heart Eyes

33.) I Kiss Your Hand

34.) I Won't Give You to Anyone Else

35.) If You Break Their Heart

36.) Interrupted Intimacy

37.) Kabedon

38.) Kissed Keepsake

39.) Kissing Warm Up (or Kissing Practice)

40.) Lap Pillow

41.) Let Me Recharge

42.) Lip Touch

43.) Love at First Sight

44.) Love Can Make You Dumb

45.) Love Can Make You Gonk

46.) Love SICK

47.) Love Theater

48.) Marks of Passion

49.) Matching Items

50.) Meet the In-Laws

51.) Meet Ugly

52.) Minis

53.) More Experienced Chases the Innocent

54.) Nothing to do with You

55.) Onsen

56.) Open Minded Parent

57.) Our Hands Touched

58.) Possessive Love Bite

59.) Princess Carry

60.) Promise Rings

61.) Protecting on the Train

62.) Race for Your Love

63.) Red String of Fate

64.) Removing the Rival

65.) Saving From a Car

66.) Say My Name

67.) Secret Relationship

68.) Sex Ban

69.) Sexy Santa

70.) Shared Coat

71.) Shared Earbuds

72.) She's My Sister

73.) Shipper on Deck

74.) Shot Through the Heart

75.) Stalking is Love

76.) The Cold

77.) The Moon is Beautiful

78.) The Proposal

79.) The Shirt Tug

80.) The "Tongue" Thing

81.) Tying their Tie

82.) Umbrella of Love

83.) Unexpected Virgin

84.) Valentine's Chocolate

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Anguished Declaration of Love"

Surprising absolutely no one, this manga has several instances of the confession from a character coming from an almost painful emotional place. As the bard once said "The course of true love never did run smooth" and that is certainly true with both of our couples in this series.

When Kurosawa utters these words to Adachi, it's in a moment of defeat and desperation. He's just saved him from walking out in traffic, and some part of him understands that he's the reason that Adachi can't focus. At this point in the story he has more or less decided to spill his feelings and try to move on. It's not doing him or Adachi any good to pretend like he's okay being just a coworker.

He may look calm on the outside, but inside his emotions are just gushing through him and into Adachi's head. After he confesses it all, he takes his leave and rushes away as if he can't run from his feelings fast enough.

Kurosawa is the King of masking his emotions, but Adachi and the readers all understand just how painful it was for him to lay all his cards on the table and run away. Little does he know that his feelings are about to be returned with an emotional deluge that matches his own.

When Adachi finally understands and accepts his own emotions, it's all he can do to find Kurosawa as soon as he possibly can and spill his own feelings. By the time he reaches him, Adachi is exhausted and overwhelmed, and just a little desperate in his own right. By the time he's able to get his words together, his embarrassment and desperation are overflowing.

Unfortunately for Adachi, his embarrassment and inability to hold himself together when faced with Kurosawa's emotions are just beginning.

Bonus:

Anyone familiar with the Shovelsawa au will understand what I mean when I say that these two pages depict the most desperate, anguished declaration of love imaginable. Though we don't see the words spoken between them, the look on Adachi's face after Kurosawa opens his mouth speaks volumes. And after the pain this version of Kurosawa has gone through to hide his love for Adachi, it's most likely going to be intense when they finally come together.

That's it for now! I'll give TsugeMina their own post for this trope, as this is already pretty long. See you then!

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes "Angel/Devil Advice"

Oh Kurosawa, his head is such a complex and frenetic place to be. Though his dual parts don't continue to be angel/devil, it still serves the same purpose when it becomes reason/instinct.

The first time we see his two sides arguing, it's over whether or not to touch a sleeping Adachi (more on that specific situation in Dude, She's Like in a Coma trope). Though Kurosawa wants to follow his baser nature when it comes to Adachi, he always tends to hold back and favor his angel or reason. He loves him enough that he doesn't want to make any missteps when it comes to their slowly building relationship.

When Adachi is sick and Kurosawa is bullied into staying with him for a few days by his sister, Kurosawa finds himself struggling to listen to reason yet again. Adachi is just so cute, so vulnerable that Kurosawa can't help but want to take advantage of that fact. Thankfully, reason takes over yet again and beats him into submission.

When Adachi finally confesses his own feelings to Kurosawa, instinct again tries to take control and actually wins this round. It's only Adachi's ability to read his mind and realize that their coworker is about to stumble upon them that saves the day. Instinct (or the devil) in this situation is just too compelling after Adachi is finally his.

And as an added bonus: The Wizardsawa au!

Instinct and Reason make a comeback in this three part au as Kurosawa is struggling to decide whether or not it's okay to touch Adachi and read his mind. He really does try to hold onto his moral compass here and focus on work rather than seducing the guy he's crushing on.

The best part of this re-emergence of his dual sides? The outfit glow up. Instinct is slaying.

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes Part Five

Cherry Magic is a manga filled to the brim with romantic tropes. Some require a bit of explanation and will get their own post, others are understandable just with a single panel. This first post will cover several of the simpler tropes that need little to no explanation. With that in mind, let's go!

Shot Through the Heart

Tsuge is struck by cupid's arrow shortly after agreeing to let Minato into his home for the first time. The actual image representation is just icing on the cake.

The Moon is Beautiful

"The Moon is Beautiful" is another way of saying "I love you" according to an old story about Natsume Soseki and a student. Kurosawa is thinking about this story as a way of stating his feelings to Adachi without saying it outright.

(My personal assumption on why this "translation" makes sense is the similarity between the Japanese word for Moon: Tsuki, and the Japanese word for Like: Suki. They aren't pronounced exactly the same, but are very similar.)

The Shirt Tug

During their helicopter date, Adachi is so freaked out that all he can do it tug on the sleeve of Kurosawa's shirt to get his attention. This is generally seen as a cute gesture, but here it's more one of desperation. (More about the helicopter date during the Bad Date trope)

Tying their Tie

Kurosawa is the type to really enjoy soft domestic moments such as this. If he can do anything domestic for Adachi, he jumps at the chance.

And that's a wrap! I hope you'll enjoy the bigger and more in depth tropes that will be coming up next! There are still so many to cover.

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes Part Four

Cherry Magic is a manga filled to the brim with romantic tropes. Some require a bit of explanation and will get their own post, others are understandable just with a single panel. This first post will cover several of the simpler tropes that need little to no explanation. With that in mind, let's go!

Princess Carry

Literally when one character carries another like a princess. Kurosawa is a pro at this.

Red String of Fate

Usually used in covers or extra art (though can absolutely come up in a story) the red string of fate is an old folktale about a red string connected from your pinky to the pinky of your soulmate.

Saving from a Car

Kurosawa saves Adachi from walking out into the street while his mind is racing with worries about the relationship between the two of them. Kurosawa then proceeds to confess his feelings (which will be covered in another trope), realizing that it's his own actions that have put Adachi in this situation where he was almost hit by a car.

Sexy Santa

rough tl: K: it'll be christmas soon box: tree A: where should we order the cake from? sfx: doorbell ringing A: ah, let me get it! K: thank you ?: Thank you very much~ K: I wonder what bakery Adachi is choosing- laptop: "christmas cosplay" (Thanks to @redxx95 for the rough translation of this mini comic)

Sexy Santa is pretty much that, a not traditional santa costume (like the one pictured at the bottom) that is a bit more on the sexy side. Pretty sure Kurosawa will think anything Adachi wears is sexy XD

Shared Coat

Shared Earbuds

And that's it for this tropes compilation! There will be one more of these collections and then I'll get started on individual trope posts! Hope you enjoy!

[budding-bl-librarian]

Cherry Magic Tropes Part Three

Cherry Magic is a manga filled to the brim with romantic tropes. Some require a bit of explanation and will get their own post, others are understandable just with a single panel. This first post will cover several of the simpler tropes that need little to no explanation. With that in mind, let's go!

If You Break Their Heart

In the original Japanese for volume 8, Adachi's sister in law says her husband is a "bro con" (which was translated to "attached much?" in the official English) and nowhere is this fact more evident than when he threatens Kurosawa before his and Adachi's wedding.

Kabedon

The wall slap. Classic, effective and honestly kinda hot. Does it need more explanation?

Kissed Keepsake

During the months that he's transferred to Nagasaki, Adachi finds himself kissing the ring that connects him to Kurosawa. It's a subtle, but lovely way for the author to show how much he misses his partner.

Lip Touch

A simple but intimate gesture of affection and desire.

Minis

Slightly different from chibis (which are usually just the characters normal sized but done in a smaller and cuter style) minis are usually used for comedic effect or just to enhance the cuteness of a situation. Toyota-sensei has this trope locked down.

And that's it for this collection of tropes! Hopefully you enjoyed them as much as I did! I'll do a few more collections like this before diving deeper into some of the bigger and more story driven tropes.