Seven versions of one story is an unusual problem to have. Cherry Magic started as a boys’ love manga by Yuu Toyota in 2018 and has since been made into a Japanese live action drama, a feature film, an anime series, a compilation film, a stage musical and Cherry Magic Thailand, GMMTV’s 2023 remake, spread across three countries and eight years.
The list below runs in the recommended order for approaching them, which is not the same as release order. The manga sits first because it is the source and the only version that goes the whole distance. The 2020 Japanese drama follows because it is the shortest good entry point and the version that carried the story overseas. From there the list moves outward: the 2022 movie that continues the drama, the anime that redraws it, the compilation film that condenses the anime, the musical that sings the interior monologue, and the Thai remake, which rebuilds the whole thing in Bangkok with the TayNew pairing.
Each entry notes what it covers, how long it takes and how easy it currently is to find. Where a version is hard to watch legally, the entry says so rather than pretending otherwise, and right now that applies to two of the seven.
Cherry Magic Thailand is GMMTV’s 2023 remake of Yuu Toyota‘s manga, and it is one of seven official versions of this story. The other six are the 2018 manga, the 2020 Japanese drama, the 2022 feature film, the 2024 anime, a 2024 compilation film, and a 2025 stage musical.
No other BL property has spread this far. Most successful boys’ love titles get one adaptation, occasionally two. Cherry Magic has been remade in a second language, animated, staged with a live orchestra, and re-cut for cinemas, and every one of those versions is still findable somewhere. That abundance creates a real problem: someone who finishes one version and searches for “what next” gets a scattered mess of answers.
This guide fixes that. Every version is listed with what it covers, how long it takes, where it currently sits, and how it relates to the other six.
All seven Cherry Magic versions at a glance
Seven versions, four formats, three countries, and eight years between the first and the most recent. Here is the whole franchise in one table, sorted by release date rather than by importance.
| Version | Format | Year | Length | Country | Relation to the manga |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Magic! (manga) | Manga | 2018 to present | 16 volumes, 69 chapters | Japan | Source work |
| Cherry Magic! (drama) | TV series | 2020 | 12 episodes, 23 min | Japan | Early volumes |
| Cherry Magic! THE MOVIE | Film | 2022 | 104 min | Japan | Continues past the drama |
| Cherry Magic Thailand | TV series | 2023 | 12 episodes, 44 to 51 min | Thailand | Early volumes, at greater length |
| Cherry Magic! (anime) | Anime | 2024 | 12 episodes | Japan | Early volumes |
| Special Edition | Anime film | 2024 | About 60 min | Japan | Re-cut of the anime |
| Cherry Magic The Musical | Stage musical | 2025 | Limited run | Japan | Stage adaptation |
No screen version adapts the whole manga. Three work from the early volumes, one continues past where the drama stopped, and one re-cuts another version’s footage.
Cherry Magic Thailand (2023): the remake that reframes the story
Cherry Magic is a 2023 GMMTV production directed by Nuttapong Mongkolsawas, twelve episodes that aired weekly on GMM25 from December 9, 2023 into March 2024, with episodes running roughly 44 to 51 minutes and an extended 67-minute finale. It is the first international remake of Toyota’s manga.
Achi Jittawisut (Thitipoom Techaapaikhun) is the mind reader; Karan Wongkarun (Tawan Vihokratana) is the colleague in love with him. The series reunited the long-running TayNew pairing after several years apart, and moves the Tokyo stationery company to a Bangkok office. Around them stand Jinta (Panachai Sriariyarungruang), Rock (Harit Cheewagaroon), Min (Jiruntanin Trairattanayon), and Pai (Ployshompoo Supasap).
The longer runtime is the real difference. Twelve Thai episodes at 44 to 51 minutes give the story roughly twice the screen time the Japanese drama had, and the extra room goes into Achi’s retreat rather than into new plot. One warning: international streaming was later suspended over a licensing issue, and no worldwide platform currently carries it. That makes Cherry Magic Thailand the second hardest version to watch legally, after the Special Edition.
The Cherry Magic manga: where all of it starts
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! is a Japanese boys’ love romantic comedy written and illustrated by Yuu Toyota. Square Enix began serializing it in the digital magazine Gangan pixiv in 2018, and the first collected volume arrived on September 7 of that year. Sixteen volumes and 69 numbered chapters have been published so far.
The setup is a comedy hook that Toyota then refuses to play as comedy. Kiyoshi Adachi turns thirty without ever having been in a relationship and wakes able to hear other people’s thoughts by touch. He brushes against Yuichi Kurosawa, the colleague everyone at the office likes, and hears that Kurosawa has been in love with him for years and has no intention of ever saying so.
What the manga has that no screen version does is structural. Toyota uses the mind-reading to remove misunderstanding instead of manufacturing it, which strips away the usual romance engine and leaves only one obstacle: Adachi cannot believe he is worth this much attention. Sixteen volumes give that idea room no screen version has. A page-to-screen comparison of the same kind is the look at how the Fake Fact Lips drama compares to its manga.
In November 2025 it was announced that the series will conclude with volume 17. Circulation has passed three million copies. The official English edition comes from Square Enix Manga, which rates it Mature, and it is also readable through the official Manga UP! Global app.
Cherry Magic Japan (2020): the live action drama that made it travel
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! aired on TV Tokyo’s late-night MokuDra 25 block from October 9 to December 24, 2020: twelve episodes of about 23 minutes each, plus two streaming-exclusive specials. Hiroki Kazama directed, working with Hiroaki Yuasa and Masataka Hayashi, from scripts by Erika Yoshida and Satoko Okazaki.
Eiji Akaso plays Adachi and Keita Machida plays Kurosawa. Kurosawa is written as universally admired at the office and privately devoted, and this is the version that carried the story to an international audience.
This is the first Cherry Magic live action adaptation, and it is built almost entirely out of restraint. Kurosawa never presses. Adachi is never humiliated. Nobody is outed as a punchline. It presents the romance as ordinary and unremarkable, and it found an audience far outside its home market. Opening theme “Ubugoe” by Omoinotake, ending “Good Love Your Love” by DEEP SQUAD.
Cherry Magic The Movie (2022): the sequel, not a retelling
Cherry Magic! THE MOVIE opened in Japanese cinemas on April 8, 2022, running 104 minutes, distributed by Asmik Ace. This is the single most misunderstood entry in the franchise. It is not a recap of the drama and not a standalone adaptation. It picks up after the series ends.
Kazama returned to direct, and the script came from Riko Sakaguchi rather than the drama’s writing team. Akaso and Machida return as a couple who are quietly together and still keeping it to themselves at work. Adachi is offered a transfer to Nagasaki, roughly 1,200 kilometres from Tokyo, and the offer is a genuine career step he has never before had reason to want.
The real subject is articulation. The two have never had to define out loud what they are to each other, and a transfer forces the question. Because Adachi can hear Kurosawa’s thoughts, he knows exactly what staying would cost the other man, which makes the decision harder rather than easier. Watch the 2020 drama first. The film assumes you know these people.
The Cherry Magic anime (2024): the same story, drawn
The Cherry Magic anime was produced by Satelight, directed by Yoshiko Okuda, with character designs by Takahiro Kishida, series composition by Tomoko Konparu, and music by Tomoki Hasegawa. Twelve episodes aired on TV Tokyo and BS TV Tokyo between January and March 2024. Chiaki Kobayashi voices Adachi and Ryota Suzuki voices Kurosawa.
Crunchyroll streamed it worldwide as it aired and produced an English dub, which currently makes the anime the most reliably accessible screen version outside Japan. If you have watched the drama, the anime covers ground you already know. What it adds is Toyota’s art in motion and more room for the supporting cast, including Masato Tsuge, Minato Wataya, Yuta Rokkaku, and Nozomi Fujisaki, whose side stories the live-action version had to trim.
Opening theme “Hajimete wa Zenbu-kun ga Ii” by Koe ni Naranai yo; the leads perform the ending theme “Magical Love” in character.
The Special Edition (2024): the twelve-episode anime re-cut as one feature
The Special Edition opened in Japanese cinemas on December 13, 2024, animated by Satelight and distributed by avex pictures, running about 60 minutes. It re-edits the twelve-episode anime into a single feature, with newly recorded narration from the two leads, some animated footage that did not appear in the broadcast version, and a new ending theme.
Sixty minutes covers the same ground as twelve broadcast episodes, and the film assumes prior knowledge of them. Distribution has stayed inside Japan; no international licence has been announced, so for most readers this is the one version of Cherry Magic with no route to view it outside Japan. Its content is the anime’s own footage re-cut, plus the new narration, the extra animation and the new ending theme.
Cherry Magic The Musical (2025): the version almost nobody has seen
Cherry Magic The Musical was written and directed by Keita Kawajiri (SUGARBOY) and ran at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL from April 11 to 20, 2025, then at Aiplaza Toyohashi in Aichi from April 25 to 27, 2025. Ryo Matsuda played Adachi opposite Yoshihiko Aramaki as Kurosawa, with Shuji Kikuchi as Tsuge, Satsuki Nakayama as Wataya, Sho Sakai as Rokkaku, and Kaho Takada as Fujisaki.
The story’s central device is silent interior monologue, and the stage production renders it by singing the thoughts: Kurosawa’s runaway inner voice becomes musical numbers, with the theme song “Demo ne.” produced by agehasprings Party. A live stream was offered during the run. This is the only Cherry Magic with a fixed run of dates rather than a release that stays available.
How much of the manga does each version cover?
No screen version of Cherry Magic has adapted the whole manga, and a substantial amount of the story remains unadapted in any medium. The 2020 drama and the 2024 anime both work from the early volumes. The 2022 film continues past where the drama stopped. The Thai remake covers a comparable early stretch at greater length. The Special Edition compresses the anime. The same source-to-screen relationship for other titles is set out in the guide to every BL drama and the novel, manga or manhwa it came from.
Put plainly: if you have watched every screen version that exists, you still have not reached the end of the story. The manga runs to sixteen volumes with a seventeenth announced to close it, and its later volumes go considerably further into the relationship than anything filmed so far. This is the single most useful thing to know about the franchise, and it is the reason so many viewers finish the drama feeling like something was left unfinished. Something was.
Which Cherry Magic should you start with?
Pick by what you want, not by release order.
- You have never seen any of it and want the shortest entry: the 2020 Japanese drama. Twelve 23-minute episodes is under five hours total.
- You want the complete story: the manga. It is the only version that goes all the way.
- You want something you can definitely stream today, worldwide: the 2024 anime, which Crunchyroll carries with an English dub.
- You came from Thai BL and want familiar faces: Cherry Magic Thailand, availability permitting.
- You already finished the drama: the 2022 film, then the manga from where the film leaves off.
- You are completing the set: the Special Edition and the musical, in whatever order you can find them.
Where to watch Cherry Magic in 2026
Availability is uneven across the seven versions, and this is where most guides go stale. The table below is the current position for each one.
| Version | Format | Where to watch or read | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Magic! (manga) | Manga | Square Enix Manga in English, Manga UP! Global app | Worldwide |
| Cherry Magic! (anime) | Anime | Crunchyroll, subtitled and dubbed | Worldwide |
| Cherry Magic! (2020 drama) | Live action | Licensed to several international platforms over the years | Varies |
| Cherry Magic! THE MOVIE | Film | Streaming distribution in Japan and abroad | Varies |
| Cherry Magic Thailand | Live action | International streaming suspended over a licensing issue | Suspended |
| Special Edition | Anime film | Japanese cinema release only, no international licence announced | Japan only |
| Cherry Magic The Musical | Stage | Recorded stage run with a live stream during the 2025 dates | Run ended |
Unlicensed aggregators are not worth using, and a version that is genuinely unavailable in a region is simply unavailable there for now. Licences for this franchise move more often than for most, so availability can change.
How much of the story each version carries
The manga runs to sixteen volumes and 69 chapters, with a seventeenth volume announced to close it. The 2020 drama and the 2024 anime each cover the early volumes across twelve episodes. The Thai remake covers a comparable stretch across twelve longer episodes. The 2022 film continues past the drama in 104 minutes. The Special Edition re-cuts the anime into about 60 minutes. The musical ran for a fixed set of dates in April 2025.
The pattern is one of room. The two versions with the most of it, sixteen volumes and a twelve-episode original, carry the most of the story. A 60-minute re-cut of those twelve episodes carries the least. How much of the manga a version covers tracks closely with how long that version runs.
Broadcast dates, volume counts, and platform availability are accurate at the time of publishing and subject to change.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where can I watch Cherry Magic Thailand?
Nowhere internationally at the moment. The 2023 GMMTV remake had its international streaming suspended over a licensing issue and no worldwide platform currently carries it. That makes it the second hardest version to reach legally, after the Japan-only Special Edition anime film.
Is Cherry Magic Thailand a remake or a sequel?
It is a remake. The 2023 Thai series is an independent adaptation of Yuu Toyota’s manga produced by GMMTV, not a continuation of the Japanese drama. It relocates the story to a Bangkok office and casts Tawan Vihokratana and Thitipoom Techaapaikhun as the leads.
Where can I watch the Cherry Magic anime?
On Crunchyroll, which streamed the twelve-episode 2024 series worldwide as it aired and produced an English dub. That currently makes the anime the most reliably accessible screen version outside Japan.
How many Cherry Magic adaptations are there?
There are seven official versions in total. Yuu Toyota’s original manga, the 2020 Japanese live-action drama, the 2022 feature film Cherry Magic! THE MOVIE, GMMTV’s 2023 Thai remake, the 2024 anime series, a 2024 anime compilation film called Special Edition, and a 2025 Japanese stage musical.
What order should I watch the Cherry Magic adaptations in?
For screen versions, start with the 2020 Japanese drama, then watch the 2022 film, which continues directly from where the drama ends. The 2024 anime and the 2023 Thai remake both retell the early story, so they can be watched in either order afterwards. The Special Edition compilation film and the stage musical are for completists.
Is Cherry Magic The Movie a recap of the drama?
No. The 2022 film picks up after the 2020 series ends rather than retelling it. Adachi and Kurosawa are already together, and the plot turns on a job transfer to Nagasaki that forces them to define out loud what they are to each other. Watch the drama first.
Which Cherry Magic version is the best?
The original manga and the 2020 Japanese drama are the two strongest starting points. The manga is the only version that tells the complete story, and the 2020 drama is the tightest and most influential screen adaptation.
Do I need to read the manga before watching any of the adaptations?
No. Every screen version works on its own and none of them require prior knowledge, with one exception: the 2022 film assumes you have watched the 2020 drama. The manga goes considerably further into the relationship than any adaptation, so it is the natural next step after finishing a screen version.
How much of the Cherry Magic manga has been adapted?
Not all of it. The manga runs to sixteen published volumes with a seventeenth announced to conclude the series, and a substantial portion of that story has never appeared in any screen version. Viewers who finish every adaptation still have not reached the ending.
Where can I watch Cherry Magic legally?
Availability varies by version and region. The 2024 anime streams on Crunchyroll with an English dub, and the manga is officially published in English by Square Enix Manga and available through the Manga UP! Global app. The Thai remake’s international streaming was suspended over a licensing issue, and the 2024 Special Edition film has stayed inside Japan.
Is the Cherry Magic manga finished?
Not yet. Sixteen volumes have been published and in November 2025 it was announced that the series will conclude with volume seventeen.
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