Cherry Magic: The Movie provides a salient reminder that the medium of film works differently than the medium of television. Even when two projects share a title, and a cast, and one story flows directly from the other, each filmed drama should be judged according to criterion appropriate to its medium rather than from a direct comparison of one to another. And, if the progenitor project happens to rank among the most widely acclaimed, most exemplary examples of its genre ever produced, then the potential for backlash against the sequel project loom large. Cherry Magic: The Movie is a fizzy, frothy rom-com that is almost achingly sweet. It even sneaks in one of the most pro-gay marriage subtexts I've encountered from any Asian gay film or BL television series. Yet, most of my fellow reviewers on this site have harped on the ways in which the film disappointed them. That disappointment likely reflects the near-universal esteem in which fans hold the 12-episode 2020 television series Cherry Magic. If those fans expect the 2022 film sequel to deliver the same magical mix of charm and whimsy, then they will register disappointment when they see the film. But don't fault the film for underdelivering--instead fault the fans for their unrealistic expectations. If, instead, fans allow the motion picture to exist as its own creation, with expectations appropriate for the medium of film, then they will likely appreciate that Cherry Magic: The Movie succeeds on its own merit.

This film Cherry Magic picks up the story from that television series Cherry Magic. As a film, the sequel lacks the runtime to lavish attention to beloved side characters--all your favorites are present, but they don't do much. Also, the sequel lacks the space to delve into the office romance angle that made the series stand out amidst a sea of BL dramas about campus life. Also, it has no chance to build romantic tension across three months worth of once-weekly hour-long episodes because it has to wrap up all its business in under two hours. Shorn of these qualities better suited to the serial narrative of episodic TV, the film has only Kurosawa and Adachi to work with. Their palpable chemistry still anchors the story, but there's not much story to speak of. Newcomers to the Magic might find that off-putting, but most fans of the series won't mind because they came for Kurodachi in the first place. We might divide the film's plot into three phases. An initial phase reacquaints us with how the couple came to be and with the influence of Adachi's wizardry on that relationship. A secondary phase relocates the mind-reading wizard to distant Nagasaki. There, he must learn to read his boyfriend's thoughts without actually touching him. An accident highlights the fragility of same-sex relationships as social constructs when Kurosawa can get no information about Adachi's well-being because no one recognizes the validity of their relationship. The movie's third phase thus concerns their efforts to come out to important people in their lives, most notably their respective families. This aspect of the story generates great good will and warm feelings--traits BL genre stories thrive on--but does so by delivering a decidedly LGBT-genre message about the value of coming out and of being accepted by family, by friends, and by employers.

This writer deems the 2020 Cherry Magic to represent the pinnacle of BL greatness. That is to say, no other episodic BL story succeeds as a television project the way the original Cherry Magic did. Expecting any sequel to live up to that standard is unfair. Indeed, Cherry Magic: the Movie will not be in contention for any list compiling "Best Movie" ever made. But before I watched, I accepted that that standard was unrealistic--the TV series set a bar so unreasonably high that expecting a repeat of that wizardry was never a realistic expectation.* The 2022 movie delivers what a sequel should: fans can revisit beloved characters to see how their story progressed. It delivers also what a film should: a story that breezes along quickly in an easy to follow way. It delivers what a rom-com FILM should: nicely packaged romantic moments that move briskly from one to the next. It over-delivers on BL by infusing the film with a hard-to-miss commentary regarding the importance of having family and society recognize queer relationships. Subtly, it endorses the idea of gay marriage. For a country that at this writing still does not authorize same-sex marriage equality, that ending has a decided political bent. For all these reasons, Cherry Magic: The Movie succeeds as a movie. Enjoy it as one.

*--Sidenote: I write this review on the exact same day in November 2022 that GMMTV has announced a Thai adaptation of Cherry Magic. That's very brave of them--because judging that finished product against the 2020 original...sounds like a fair proposition to me. Which means, let's hope the enduring popularity of TayNew can still deliver, because lest you missed my opinion above, the series GMMTV now seeks to emulate happens to be the pinnacle of BL creativity. Good luck living up to that, lads! 'Cause if you fall short, the critics will come with the long knives and the tart reviews.