Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! Volume 15 Review

Poor Adachi. He’s unwittingly found himself the object of Tachibana’s affections – yes, the very same Tachibana that he’s collaborating with on his first big project. Kurosawa came to the rescue but now Adachi earnestly asks him to teach him ‘more about the ways of love’. (Kurosawa is flattered but also flummoxed by such a direct request.) In the end, they both go to see Tachibana and Adachi apologises upfront for having unwittingly misled Tachibana while Tachibana apologises etc. etc. and with that seemingly out of the way, they get down to planning the upcoming event. However, when Tachibana hands over his smart phone for them to check they’re okay with the images they’ll be featuring, Kurosawa spots a photo of two women, one of whom he recognises. He asks Tachibana who she is, and he confirms that she’s Matsura-san, a regular at the bar he frequents. Alarm bells are ringing loudly by now in Kurosawa’s head as he realises that it’s President Matsura, the head of their company, who once made a pass at him which he politely but firmly turned down. The thought that she and Tachibana might be drinking companions unsettles him but he doesn’t mention it to Adachi.

Meanwhile novelist Tsuge and his boyfriend Minato are dealing with a troublesome photo too: a sneak shot of the two out together that’s gone viral on the internet. Tsuge has always insisted that their relationship must not impede Minato’s career chances as a dancer but as he can still hear Minato’s thoughts whenever he touches him (they haven’t done the deed together yet) he also hears all Minato’s uncertainties about their relationship. In despair, he goes to Adachi and Kurosawa for advice. But they’re also in a state of some distraction because Kurosawa has told Adachi that Tachibana is a drinking companion of their company president. Tachibana lost his last job because of a same-sex relationship with one of his co-workers – will the same thing happen to them both if the president finds out about them?

Volume 15 of Cherry Magic?! is action-packed – and difficult to review without spoilers of one kind or another. Mangaka Yuu Toyota has said that she will bring the much-loved series to a close this year with Volume 17, so things are definitely hotting up on the plot front. There are hints of a possible new direction for Adachi and Kurosawa – and fans of Tsuge and Minato won’t be disappointed with the chapters devoted to them in this volume. There’s also an intriguing development for Tachibana, who thus far, has been very unlucky in love. But the reappearance of President Matsura is leading in a very worrying direction; the free preview of Chapter 80 (Volume 16) at the end of the book leaves readers on a very big question mark indeed! (And we don’t even have a date yet for Volume 16 from Square Enix Manga.)

Translation for Square Enix Manga is, as before by Taylor Engel with lettering by Bianca Pistillo and both are of the consistently high standard we’ve come to expect in this series. There’s a colour picture at the front but no extras apart from the mangaka’s thank-you page at the end and a full-page image to celebrate the on-stage musical in April 2025 in Japan. Even though this volume has a Mature rating and Parental Advisory, there’s nothing really explicit and everything is consensual (an OT rating would have been fine).

This is a must-read volume for fans of Adachi and Kurosawa (and also those have been rooting for Tsuge and Minato) as Adachi’s cherished first solo project runs into yet more problems and President Matsura makes an unexpected and unwelcome return.

Read a free preview at the publisher’s website here (18+) 

Our review copy from Square Enix Manga was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).