The magic helps quite a lot.
Virginity is a weird concept that society puts a lot of emphasis on. The emphasis means that people tend to make suggestions about each other's lives, and some of these suggestions may simply be wrong. Cue in Kiyoshi Adachi, How Cherry Magic! Thirty Years Of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?! main character: a virgin who works in an advertising company in administration.
He's been pretty okay about his state: he couldn't find anyone who'd help him get rid of virginity due to his lifestyle and appearance, and he made peace with that. Until he turned 30 and got some virginity-induced magic — he can hear people's thoughts if he touches them.
That made his life living hell. Morning commute became torturous; rides in the elevator full of unwanted thoughts barraging his mind. But one day he accidentally touches his coworker, Yuichi Kurosawa, a picture-perfect goody-two-shoes top sales manager, and hears his thoughts about finding someone cute at work. Upon further examination it turns out that Adachi is the one who Kurosawa is infatuated with.
And that's how the story starts.
The premise seems silly and unoriginal: Mel Gibson already did something similar in What Women Want. Adachi, as much as Gibson, uses his ability to help him with his career — or, rather, help his coworkers. But the main point of the story is how Adachi's character develops through his interactions with Kurosawa.
He's wimpy, he lacks self-confidence, he prefers to run away instead of facing troubles. But constant unspoken acceptance from Kurosawa that Adachi feels from his fleeting touches is something that strengthens his spirit and helps him learn how to love and respect himself.
Why This Isn't Your Typical Rom-Com: It's All About Real Growth
Sure, this is a romantic comedy first, but the amount of though put into organic development of Adachi's character is something that keeps the readers glued to the story. Even when Adachi loses his mind-reading powers, he doesn't stop: he keeps working towards securing his job, keeps dealing with the challenges that life throws upon him instead of shooing them away, keeps moving forward.
And Kurosawa, the one who always supports Adachi, also growth: learns to accept his failures, allows himself to be goofy and emotional, understands that he can lack confidence.
This is not just a romantic story of two people getting together under a funny premise; it's a story of two characters growing up together, facing their fears and insecurities and learning how to overcome them with support of each other. The main point of this story is that the main couple actually talks, so the quarrels don't last long and get resolved in an unfairly satisfied manner.
For now the manga has 46 chapters, and in January we will see the anime adaptation of this story. One that shows a believable adult romance, despite the initial goofy magic.