I watched the drama + movie this past week after reading the manga in summer 2023. I found about Cherry Magic because of Toyota-sensei's anime adaptation announcement, Became Absolutely Normal About It over the span of the past several months, and saw glowing reviews of the drama. I was surprised to see how popular it was, like to the point some people thought there was no source material, or that the anime currently airing was based on it.
I do think there's a way for this story to be told without all the major plot points in the original manga, but I found myself not enjoying the characters or story in the drama as much because it was missing a lot of nuances from the OG that I personally liked for specific reasons. I do see a lot of people complaining about no kissing, but I think it makes sense they didn't, given the characterizations of Adachi and Kurosawa in this show? Where in the manga, kissing and touch is shown as necessary to conveying feelings/emotions beyond words (and happens more often), in the show it's a barrier Adachi has yet to break down because of his own indecisiveness or reservations and Kurosawa wanting to make sure Adachi is comfortable and happy. Unfortunately, while I understand why certain characters did certain things, given the characterizations in the show, that doesn't necessarily mean I enjoyed all of them in the first place. Fujisaki comes to mind as an exception--I like what they did with her.
With that said, I really do feel like anyone who wanted more on-screen physical intimacy or whatever should just read the manga LMAO. Overall I would personally rate this a 6/10 for an adaptation. But I'm open to like...conversation because I could be missing something as someone not super familiar with how drama adaptations are usually fleshed out.
I do think there's a way for this story to be told without all the major plot points in the original manga, but I found myself not enjoying the characters or story in the drama as much because it was missing a lot of nuances from the OG that I personally liked for specific reasons. I do see a lot of people complaining about no kissing, but I think it makes sense they didn't, given the characterizations of Adachi and Kurosawa in this show? Where in the manga, kissing and touch is shown as necessary to conveying feelings/emotions beyond words (and happens more often), in the show it's a barrier Adachi has yet to break down because of his own indecisiveness or reservations and Kurosawa wanting to make sure Adachi is comfortable and happy. Unfortunately, while I understand why certain characters did certain things, given the characterizations in the show, that doesn't necessarily mean I enjoyed all of them in the first place. Fujisaki comes to mind as an exception--I like what they did with her.
With that said, I really do feel like anyone who wanted more on-screen physical intimacy or whatever should just read the manga LMAO. Overall I would personally rate this a 6/10 for an adaptation. But I'm open to like...conversation because I could be missing something as someone not super familiar with how drama adaptations are usually fleshed out.