#30 sai made dotei da to mahotsukai ni nareru rashii

[waitmyturtles]

Y’all. 

[liyazaki]

Kurosawa gave me a reason to change. he gave me the courage to confront my fears, again & again. Adachi accepted me as I am. he made me feel it's OK to be uncool & weak- for the first time.

CHERRY MAGIC THE MOVIE [2022]

[sadfaxmachine]

Welcome to the family.

[kexing]

Japanese BL men running to their men for @khunvegas

Cherry Magic: 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii (2020)

Ossan's Love (2018)

Kei × Yaku: Abunai Aibou (2022) — Considered a Bromance for now but I’m including it.

Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko (2021)

Kieta Hatsukoi (2021)

Life: Senjou no Bokura (2020)

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! (2022)

Old Fashion Cupcake (2022)

[kairyuasahi]

Prolly do more of this cursed stuff

Kurosawa as Tamaki duh!!!

I have achieved peak brainrot levels of making stupid crossover stuff

After I was done with this I only noticed afterwards what the background text spelled

[my-boys-love-boys]

2022 has been the year of meaningful and messy BL, and I predict next year is going to be even better.

[sashimi-time]

When you're seeing/watching/reading something sweet/romantic:

[leekimdramas]

Say it louder for the people in the back!

[desire-for-madness]

I just finished the Cherry Magic movie and it was so positive that I cried many times. It's not the kind of movie that's going to blow you away with the plot, or throw you into a spiral of obsession or etc, it was just a soft and warm, a wonderful movie.

It felt like a movie that was needed, the characters were all brought back, their main essences stayed the same, lots of connections to the original series and no audience pleasing scenes.

The scene that for me is a interpretation of this movie is the ending scene. They could've waited and made a beautiful shot of cherry blossoms or blooming trees, but they didn't. They didn't try to unnecessarily add a filter to their story, life is life. It's up to us to put in the effort, communicate, be grateful for what we have and treat others with kindness.

10/10, will be looking for a way to support this movie by buying dvds or smth; I'll do research.

[ddreamzee]

WHY DID NOBODY MENTION THAT GMMTV ARE MAKING A REMAKE OF CHERRY MAGIC WITH TAYNEW UM WHAT THE FUCK

[waitmyturtles]

Okay -- deep breaths, it’s Cherry Magic the Movie review time. Just as a forewarning, I’m feeling so emotionally full, hyperbolic, dizzy, happy, etc. -- this review WILL gush at times, at many times. Please accept my gush, thank you in advance. <3

And with that, I struggle with where to start, ha. Let me start chronologically. Long review.

If you’ve been following this space, you’ll know that I’ve lately been in dorama rabbitholes involving both Akaso Eiji and Machida Keita, and I’ve been somewhat critical of the array of cishet roles and scripts available to the both of them (although I was just slayed by a 2018 dorama that Machida was in, Life as a Girl). 

So to come back to the Cherry Magic universe, where they both CLEARLY THRIVE in boundary-pushing material, was a great break from what I’ve been watching recently (I’m looking at you, Super Rich, what an total waste of the chemistry between Akaso and Machida). 

And for me, did this movie ever push boundaries. Of course, over the huge scope of Japanese BL, we have seen boundaries pushed a lot.

But from the framework of Cherry Magic, what I didn’t expect from this film was to see Adachi so wholly grow, as a whole and holistic person, into his personal context as Kurosawa’s eternal partner. I didn’t expect it. In the television series, we saw Adachi giggling and being slightly unnerved, if sometimes uncomfortable, with Kurosawa’s abundant sincerity.

I didn’t expect the totality of the overarching theme of the film to be how Adachi sought permanence and wholesale stability in their relationship. For me, that transition from the series to the movie was unbelievably beautiful to watch.

I probably didn’t expect it because of how the television series ended. The series needed to end on the note about Adachi’s virginity, because that was the entire premise of the show. And of course, when you’re dealing with a topic like virginnniiiityyyyy, there will be some amount of giggly context to it. When the series ended, we had assumed they had bonked and Adachi had stopped being a wizard.

So when the movie started with Adachi still being a wizard, I understood why the writers had to re-write the ending of the series, to keep up the momentum of the wizard context for the movie.

But I was really spun around and floored by what happened with that storyline. From Adachi getting transferred, and -- even without his wizard power -- KNOWING that moving to Nagasaki would deeply trouble Kurosawa, was powerful to watch. And THEN seeing that Adachi KNEW that his communication about his love to Kurosawa was what Kurosawa needed.....

...that was deep, deep empathy and compassion right there. 

What so moved me about the series was watching Adachi’s growth into being compassionate for Kurosawa via the context of Kurosawa’s love for Adachi. Adachi saw it almost as his responsibility to respond to Kurosawa’s love and desires. As Rokkaku had identified in the series regarding his Adachi-senpai -- Adachi is a great guy because he’s compassionate. To show that compassion, for himself, in the context of a brand-new queer experience, without judgment, with some fear, but with courage specifically for the sake of responding to Kurosawa -- it’s a deep, complicated emotional paradigm that our otherwise quiet and unassuming Adachi was willing to confront and shoulder. 

And I think that’s why Adachi is such a wonderful character. I want to say “lovable,” but I feel like that word undermines what I’m trying to say about Adachi. I respect the hell out of this character. Adachi is someone who’s willing to face growth, and to act on his growth. 

We saw it, and he admitted it, as he explained his feelings to Kurosawa’s mother. He was steadfast and determined. He told Kurosawa later -- if I had used my magic, I wouldn’t have been able to be as firm with her.

But he was also so, so firm in his convictions. He wasn’t even contemplative when he told Kurosawa in the kitchen that he wanted to make their relationship a permanent one. He had already done the contemplating. He was determined. We saw that determination in the series when he was in the stationary competition, and we saw how his magic threw his confidence off. 

Without the magic, Adachi could be his true self -- a seemingly unassuming guy who is actually a human being with such an awareness for his morality and ethical behavior to others, that it drives his relative existence in the world to be good to others, and himself, in positive ways that I think many of us would pooh-pooh as being sentimental or unrealistic -- because we might be overtired, cynical creatures.

In other words, Adachi doesn’t operate from a place of cynicism or irony. He operates from a place of responsibility to himself and his community around him. I think that there’s likely some analysis about that from the Asian collectivist mindset behind what I’m saying, but I’ll save that for a re-watch review. 

I’m letting my words flow here, and didn’t expect to write so much about Adachi, but I will say that I think Akaso Eiji was absolutely MASTERFUL in this role. Of course I want to MILF my way into Machida’s fantasy life I enjoyed Machida’s performance tremendously, but Akaso carried this storyline and gave it the quietly huge depth it needed to really move me and, I hope, the Cherry Magic fandom. It’s no wonder Akaso is winning awards for his turn in Ishiko to Haneo, he was probably amazing in it, and I can’t wait to catch up with that series when I am done with the pile of flaming logs that is Super Rich. 

And: one last note about Adachi before I offer some last side thoughts. Aishiteru. I love that Adachi used that word to Kurosawa’s mother, and I love that Kurosawa called Adachi out for saying it while they were walking on the beach after meeting with Kurosawa’s parents -- and remember the last time that Kurosawa called Adachi out for a public confession? When Adachi revealed to Tsuge, in the series, that he and Kurosawa were dating. Adachi does that sometimes, and makes Kurosawa’s heart go flippy-flop. But that’s Adachi, needing to say something BIG because that BIG thing he needs to say reflects the depth of the conviction he needs to convey to his audience. I LOVED THIS, and I LOVED THAT THE WRITERS BROUGHT AISHITERU into the conversation -- because that’s what Adachi realized that he had with Kurosawa, and needed to embody it and live it with every ounce of his being. 

Whew. Okay, other last thoughts on the film:

1) @absolutebl​ noted that the film is quieter than the series, and I definitely agree (see my point about virginity and the series above). The quietness factor is one that I see often in Japanese media (Kinou Nani Tabeta, anyone), and it keeps me coming back for more. I noted in my review of Life as a Girl that my first ever introduction to Japanese art was Banana Yoshimoto’s novel, “Kitchen,” and that still is probably the quietest, most contemplative book I’ve ever read -- and I love, love it. The quiet flow of the film, to me, reflected the pace of Adachi’s growth and allowed Kurosawa’s abundant love for Adachi to just shine.

2) Not a lot of Rokkaku or Fujisaki in the film, but I think they were used beautifully anyway. I’m going to guess that Rokkaku was busyyyy anyway (love him love him love him!). 

3) Also not a lot of Tsuge and Minato, but I think their storyline was still so beautiful and sweet. I REALLY LOVED THE DINNER PARTY SCENE! What a wonderful note of domesticity and collective support for their relationships. 

4) I posted a few liveblogs last night of the scenes that gutted me immediately during my first watch, and I feel like I have a lot to say about family acceptance in Asian cultures, of which a tremendous amount has already been written about across the internet, of course.... but let me just say, one scene I didn’t capture was Kurosawa’s mother’s transformation. Without revealing too much, I experienced years and years of family discontent about my marriage to my partner (my partner and I are cishets), and I’m an Asian, so I see these potential transformations in doramas from a place of absolute utter panic and despair that nothing will change about stodgy parents. (And where my family discontent comes from wasn’t necessarily about who my partner IS -- we are in an interracial and interfaith marriage. It was about my status in my family structure as a younger member of the family making my OWN decision to marry, without allowing my family members to APPROVE of my decision. That self-confidence rocked the family dynamic, and we’ve never really recovered.)

I may just need to process all of this out as anonymously as I can, because this movie is making it crop up for me, but I’m going to take my time with writing it all out, because it’s pretty traumatic. So I’ll just say: when Kurosawa, on the beach, said that he panicked for a moment when his mother refused Adachi’s gift -- man, I felt it in my skin and bones. 

I think I have so much more to say, but I just need to take a warm shower, cuddle in my Gelato Pique sweatshirt because I’m a stanny, and kinda recover from the shock of being able to see the movie as soon as the DVD dropped. I’m still very eagerly awaiting my Blu-ray, but I’m so glad I have this much more time as it ships to contemplate my feelings on this gorgeous piece of art.

This was such a moment, y’all, hugs to the fandom. <3

[liyazaki]

to be fully seen by somebody & be loved anyhow- this is a human offering that can border on miraculous. -e. gilbert

CHERRY MAGIC THE MOVIE [2022]

extra emotional annihilation bonus

[sadfaxmachine]

I wish we could always be there for one another.

- Cherry Magic Ep. 5 vs Cherry Magic the Movie

[kairyuasahi]

Shinji looks different the last time I saw him while watching evangelion...

[absolutebl]

Top 10 Great BLs That Are REALLY hard to find (but worth tracking down)

But you may want to go hunting anyway!

Seven Days

Seven Days: Monday-Thursday

Seven Days: Friday-Sunday

Japan 2015

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

Cherry Magic AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii

Japan 2020

The sweetest fluffiest magical realism BL, packaged as a pinning office romance, very low heat (practically chaste) but the cutest. It’s truly great.

Cherry Magic Thailand

Thai 2024

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth, with no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up. Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it still stands. I personally like it slightly better than the Japanese live action, but I think that’s because I just really like Thai BL and I LOVE TayNew. Also all the kissing was both present and better than any other iteration. As it should be from Thailand.

I Feel You Linger in the Air

Thai 2023

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show could easily have earned a 10/10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls in the final quarter. Argh. Whatever.

All about the ecstasy and the agony here.

Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Japan 2020

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience, low heat, low angst, and stunning.

Given

Japan 2021

Boy joins band, falls in love with other boy. The singing is terrible, fast forward through that but with the possible exception of the hair styles, this BL could have been made in 2015 and no one would be surprised. As such, it wasn’t ground breaking, but it didn’t disappoint either.

Make a Wish

Thai 2023

A doctor who can see the dead strikes a bargain with a wish-granting irreverent tree angel - naturally they fall in love (from Sammon: Manner of Death & Triage). Stars Fluke Natouch opposite not Ohm, but who cares because Fluke has chemistry with everybody. Once again the Thai afterlife is incredibly bureaucratic but I enjoyed the premise and the unfolding of the story (it’s not predictable but still satisfying and with nice little twist). I like that the doctor is just gay AF - fag hag bestie and all the swagger. The cast is excellent but the comedic stylings are a bit overblown and tonally off. It had sad parts and did make me cry but is ultimately happy with a great sex scene, good smiley kisses, and all the agency.

2 Moons The Ambassador AKA 2 Moons 3

Thai 2022

A Thai pulp that felt like it came out 5 yrs ago with many of the flaws inherent to that time and studio system, including manufactured angst and convoluted plot, but an ultimately sweet main couple that (as a pairing) feels a bit more modern and satisfying to watch than they started out. This will probably go down in history as one of the few BLs where I genuinely didn’t care about any of the side couples. All that said I find this show oddly appealing and rewatchable and I have no excuses for that.

I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai

Japan 2022

This is a beautiful, well acted piece of cinema, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura pines after outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no).

Triage

Thai 2022

BL does Groundhog Day featuring a doctor stuck in a time loop who must save a poor little rich boy from death by seducing the stuffing out of him, then PLOT TWIST, poor little rich boy must do the same for doctor! Unfortunately... stuffing keeps leaking. I thought the plot was engaging if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry and the support characters were likeable (or unlikeable, as required). If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot, but that doesn't stop this from being a genuinely good show.

HONORABLE MENTION

Great Men Academy

Thai 2019

Bodyswap involving unicorns making a teenage girl into a boy makes this questionable as a BL (because, ya know, gender). But the fact remains that James is killer in the lead, and I (who do not like bodyswap) loved this damn show. Look, there is actual plot, hotties at boarding school, "bully the one you love" trope, some weird VR shit, very bad CGI, and yes, the boys end up together... whether they boys or not, so to speak.

Some of these shows may appear on a smaller streaming service, like WeTV, or they may be on a legal platform in your territory. I hope it goes without saying you should check there first.

(source)

This list updated Spring 2024, not responsible for cool stuff that went missing (or was added to a platform) after that date.

It's it last in a series the rest of which are:

[leekimdramas]

If I get to hear people's thoughts when I turn 30 and still virgin, I'm definitely going for it 🤭