English Dub Season Review: Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! Season One

Huh, Crunchyroll doesn’t typically do the Netflix style “drop the season all at once” method, but I guess this is an exception. We’ve got another gay romcom show, though this one with a slight twist. On the day of his 30th birthday, disillusioned bachelor Kiyoshi Adachi awakens to find he can read anyone’s thoughts just by touching them. But that’s not the biggest surprise, as he soon finds out his tall and handsome co-worker Yuichi Kurosawa has actually been crushing on him hard for a while. And so begins the tale of how two people who may have never tried at love are given the push to give it a whirl. Oh, and one of Adachi’s friends also gets the power when he turns 30 and falls in love with an aspiring dancer, which is kind of a B plot. Anyway, those outside of Japan may not know this, but the premise for this is based on an urban legend in that country that men who stay virgins for long enough eventually gain special powers, which is a pretty solid springboard for a plot that leads to romance. I’m sure if former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who famously tried everything he could to combat Japan’s declining birthrate, could just make everyone who wanted to bang telepathic in order to make things less anxious, he probably would.

But this show is about DUDES BANGING DUDES, and in a way that I was surprised to find was actually more relatable than I expected. While I myself am not gay, I am in my early 30’s, and feeling behind in certain stages of my life, love included, has definitely weighed on me. Knowing who was actually into me so I could feel more confident in who I should pursue would be a big help. And even beyond that, who hasn’t wanted to read people’s minds just to get a sense of what they’re thinking? So, the simplicity of the premise is pretty good for creating drama and conflict when one side has information they shouldn’t have and has to decide what to do with that. Heck, add a few more plots like the B plot and you’d have a good framework for an anthology about superpowers leading to romance. But what makes the romance interesting between Adachi and Kurosawa interesting on its own is just how they grow to build each other up and change as people. Adachi’s low confidence is slowly chipped away as he takes in Kurosawa’s unconditional affection, while Kurosawa’s previous inability to make connections reveals a jealous and clingy side that has to be thawed to reveal someone who just wants to hang onto a good thing.

So yeah, if you’re looking for a sufficient gay love story, this definitely meets the requirements. It’s not anything special in production value, acting, or plot, but it’s structurally sound and checks off the boxes it needs to. If I had to lobby any major criticism, it’s that it does tend to lean into the cheese a bit too much at points, but that may just be the trappings of the genre at play. This is very much not a show that was made for me and certainly not one that I would seek out on my own, but I’m glad it exists for the people it WAS made for. And heck, there are apparently several different ways to watch it, with the original manga, this anime, or a live action drama that predates the anime by over four years. So, hang in there my fellow thirty year old virgins, you may just get some powers yet!