There Is A Scene In Cherry Magic That Exemplifies What I Love About Stories With Magic Realism.

There is a scene in Cherry Magic that exemplifies what I love about stories with magic realism.

During a drunken game at a work dinner, Adachi and Kurosawa are asked to kiss.

Adachi braces himself. He’s uncomfortable with the whole thing and it shows clearly on his face. Kurosawa, who’s leaning over to plant the kiss and get it over with, notices his distress. So, instead of kissing him on the lips, he drops a quick peck on his forehead. 

Adachi - who can hear thoughts through touch - is startled at Kurosawa’s thoughts. He’s sorry. He didn’t want to force a kiss on Adachi like this.  Since Adachi already knows Kurosawa’s feelings for him, he follows the man out to check on him. This time when Adachi’s fingers accidentally touch Kurosawa, Adachi is the one to notice the other man’s internal distress.

Kurosawa is wrestling with himself. He had already told himself that Adachi would never reciprocate his feelings. So even though a small part of him was happy to get close to Adachi, most of him was crushed at the thought that Adachi must have hated the kiss.

The reason this scene is so great is because of what happens next. Kurosawa is the confident, outgoing colleague Adachi has always been in awe of. Adachi is introverted and doesn’t express himself too well. But because Adachi has heard Kurosawa’s most intimate feelings, he feels the unfairness of knowing too much. He understands that there’s an imbalance and feels compelled to correct it.

You can almost feel the crushing pressure on his narrow shoulders as he pushes himself to explain to Kurosawa why he looked distressed. It wasn’t because of Kurosawa, it was because he was inexperienced and afraid. He didn’t hate the kiss.

It wasn’t a confession, just a deep desire not to hurt the man who’s been exceptionally kind to him and somehow also seems to really like and respect him. But saying just that much would have been beyond Adachi, if he didn’t suddenly develop mind reading powers which made it impossible for him to ignore Kurosawa’s feelings.

The guy who would usually keep to himself, second guess anything he did notice about others, and live by a motto of inaction was pushed to speak out because he couldn’t pretend he didn’t know Kurosawa was hurting.

Of course a scene like this could be written without magic realism, but for a character as insular and hesitant as Adachi, you’d need magic to make this happen.