The Magic of Chocolate

The Magic of Chocolate (ショコラの魔法) is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Rino Mizuho. It has been serialized in the monthly manga magazine Ciao and its sister magazine, Ciao DX, since September 2008.

A 13-episode original video animation produced by SynergySP was released between 2011 and 2012, while a live-action film adaptation was released to Japanese theatres in 2021.

In 2021, The Magic of Chocolate won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the children's category.

Synopsis
The Magic of Chocolate is a series focusing on Chocolat Aikawa, the owner of a chocolaterie called Chocolat Noir, located deep in the forest. She sells chocolates that can grant wishes when consumed. However, the chocolates come at a price; as payment, Chocolat will take something precious to the customer. Many of her customers have concerns or grievances they wish to remedy with the chocolates, though some aim to abuse the chocolates' magic for nefarious purposes; Chocolat will curse those who do so to "plunge into the depths of darkness," resulting in often bizarre and ironic retributions.

Characters

 * Chocolat Aikawa (哀川ショコラ)
 * An emotionally stoic chocolatier, and owner of the Chocolat Noir. She is always seen dressed in lolita fashion.
 * An emotionally stoic chocolatier, and owner of the Chocolat Noir. She is always seen dressed in lolita fashion.


 * Cacao Theobroma (カカオ・テオブロマ)
 * A chocolate devil who was summoned by Chocolat's father, Shūga, and lives together with her. He is usually seen in the form of a black cat.
 * A chocolate devil who was summoned by Chocolat's father, Shūga, and lives together with her. He is usually seen in the form of a black cat.

Manga
The Magic of Chocolate is written and illustrated by Rino Mizuho. It has been serialized irregularly in the monthly magazine Ciao and its sister magazine, Ciao DX, since September 3, 2008. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual volumes, under the Ciao Horror Comics imprint. The first volume was released on July 1, 2009. As of March 26, 2024, 24 volumes have been released.

Instead of being ordered numerically, each volume is named according to the English alphabet. From October 11 to November 1, 2013, columnist Bourbon Kobayashi held a contest on Twitter for contestants to guess the subtitle of the then-upcoming volume 10, slated to begin with the letter "J." Mizuho herself judged the results, with the prizes awarded to the first three people who were able to answer correctly, as well as special jury awards such as the "Nice Silly Answer Award" and the "Cool & Sweet Award."

The series is licensed for Southeast Asian distribution in English by Shogakukan Asia.

Original video animation
An original video animation (OVA) adaptation was announced on the wrap-around band released with volume 3 on November 29, 2010. The episodes were distributed through the Ciao Ciao TV! DVD discs included in the monthly magazine Ciao, starting with the April 2011 issue; the final episode was published with the February 2013 issue. All episodes were made available to watch on Ciao 's official YouTube channel in 2021.

Light novels
The light novel adaptation of The Magic of Chocolate is written by Riku Hozumi (穂積りく) with illustrations provided by Rino Mizuho. Volume 4 was written by Sayoko Fujiwara (藤原サヨコ), with Hozumi credited as a co-writer. The light novel series is published by Shogakukan under the Shogakukan Junior Bunko imprint.

Film
A live-action movie adaptation, first announced in January 2021, was released on June 18 the same year. The film stars Maho Yamaguchi as Chocolat in her film debut. It is produced by Shinya Furugori and Kana Ohtsubo, with Tomonobu Morikawa directing and Tatsuya Kanazawa writing the script.

Other media and merchandise
An official fanbook titled The Magic of Chocolate: H to I was released on April 30, 2013. In February 2013, The Magic of Chocolate collaborated with lolita fashion brand Baby, The Stars Shine Bright to produce a dress based on Chocolat.

Reception
Along with Duel Masters, The Magic of Chocolate won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the children category in 2021.