Cherry Magic! utilizes the trope of a main character who can hear others' thoughts--including the thoughts of his boyfriend-to-be. He gains this ability when he, a virgin, turns thirty.
He can only hear people's thoughts when he is touching them, which is a nice variation from being bombarded by others' thoughts. And what he hears is all over the map, from odd to profound to trite to entirely work-related.
Part of what makes the manga and television series so hilarious is the British-like use of "hai" as "what?" or "huh?" That is, Adachi is often astonished--"What?! What?!"--by the gap between what he hears and what is expressed.
Hearing others' thoughts allows him to accept Kurosawa's unfettered interest in him. However, that interest also alarms him since Kurosawa's cool outside is at such variance with the heated inner voice.
"What?! What?!"
Another insightful part of the series is that communication doesn't automatically get easier. Mind-reading simply adds a layer. It doesn't solve the problem of having to connect with people.
"I know how he feels," Adachi reflects at one point. "I still don't know how to react."
In sum, dating is hard. (Honestly, reading and watching BL emphasizes the "dating is just way too much" nature of Japanese storytelling. Personally, I think everyone feels this way. Japanese stories admit it. It is very refreshing.)The approach here is a nice change from versions of the "reading the lover's mind" trope that involve such a huge invasion of privacy and supposedly wondrous "living in the other person's skin" self-applause, I can barely stand to read the books. In fact, I was leery of Cherry Magic! at first for precisely this reason.
However, the manga series is a festival of fun--plus down-to-earth reflections on human relationships.
A review of the BL live-action series will follow.
