Danica Davidson
April 23, 2024 
When Yuu Toyota started Cherry Magic: Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! as a short webcomic, she had no idea how successful it would be. Now it’s a whole manga series (with ten volumes currently out in English), a live-action show and film, and a new TV anime series. Otaku USA spoke to Toyota about how she got the idea for the story, how she was involved with the anime adaptation, and what she’d like her North American fans to know.
How did you come up with the idea that people who are still virgins by the age of 30 can gain the power to read minds?
I thought that if a person who had never had a relationship gained the incredible ability of being able to hear what someone was thinking upon touching that person, he or she would become overwhelmed by the other person’s thoughts and would not take full advantage of it. I also thought this idea would be interesting in a rom-com manga, so I combined it with the Japanese urban myth that “30 years of virginity can make you a wizard” and the story foundation for Cherry Magic was born.
When I was posting it on Twitter (at the time), I figured it would be more interesting if the one with the ability was the one who was pursued by the other one, so that’s how it came to be what it is now.
Why did you decide to not only show Adachi and Kurosawa’s relationship, but also the background relationship of Tsuge and Minato?
The story I originally came up with was about a wizard who had a one-sided crush on someone else, like in Tsuge and Minato’s case, so I wanted to draw that storyline as well. I am glad that I ended up being able to draw two completely different love stories and dramas: one between Adachi and Kurosawa, who are colleagues and the same age, and one between Tsuge and Minato, who are freelance workers and have an age difference.
You started Cherry Magic having no idea how far it would go. When you started it, how much of Adachi and Kurosawa’s journey did you plan to cover?
At first, I only planned to post it online as a 4-page comic. When I received the offer to publish it as physical books and it was decided that the series would be serialized, I decided to draw the story until the two of them get together, so about up to volume 3 of the published manga.
Congrats on the anime adaptation! What does it feel like to have an anime of Cherry Magic? Are you involved with the creation of the anime?
Thank you! I was really happy because getting my manga adapted into an animated series has been a dream of mine since before I became a manga artist. I was so touched to see the pictures actually moving, with voices added, and especially to realize anew that this was created thanks to the hard work of many people. I had the opportunity to check all the scripts for the anime and went to the recording studio three times. Everyone involved in the anime listened intently to the opinions of those of us involved with the original manga. We had many discussions and passionately worked together to create an anime.
Is there anything else you’d like your North American fans to know about you?
Thank you very much for supporting Cherry Magic always! I will keep uploading to X (@toyotayou), so please continue to follow it if you would like.
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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