Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora Episode 4 – Gouta

Do you know how it feels like to have a gift that you do not want? For example, you are able to speak fluently and inspire people, but you are actually an introvert and hates to be the center of attraction. Even worse, because of your ability, people close to you starts to ostracize you, considering you to be a mere annoyance in their life. How do you adapt? Can you endure that pain and get angry about your gift that becomes a burden?

Gouta faces this in this episode and we see a little bit of his back story to understand this brooding young man. Is he truly just brooding for the sake of it, or he just does not know what is going on with his life. A life that he is no longer controlling.

For those who are wondering how the goons at #whitelight are doing with the super late release, we have some major problems with our ftp and it resulted in all our data lost. We are trying to get it back, so we will start releasing when we get back to our track. Sorry for that.

Episode summary

Gouta talks about being comfortable with fish, as it is pretty common to eat fish in his home town during breakfast. Due to Bie’s inward location, Sora is jealous about the sea being so close to Gouta, but Gouta says that the Hokkaido food is also good. In the Bureau, most of the students expressed satisfaction in their first job, but Gouta seemed reluctant to discuss. During a flashback, we see Gouta enjoying company with his friends, and also his friends’ admiration of his huge lunch box.

As Gouta reached home, he thanked his mother for the meal. His mother was surprised, as his father did the same. The flashback was cut off by a lecture on Gouta’s daydreaming during lessons. After the lesson, Gouta accompanies Saori to meet a rude client to use magic in order to find his insurance claim form. The client demanded that they clean up his room, so that they can find his form. However, Saori and Gouta argued that it was not part of their agreement, and Gouta left. Saori implored to Gouta that he cannot run away all the time to problems.

Back to the past, Gouta remembered why his mother left them. His father hid that he gave up on magic, and he did not dare to tell Gouta as Gouta hated magic. His mother said that she cannot stay with someone who lied, and left back to her family. Gouta was also ignored by his classmates when they knew that he was a mage, and he only ate bread instead of a packed lunch box.

Returning to that rude client, Gouta and Saori completed his request and apologized for their behavior. Saori praised Gouta’s ability to put up with the client, and tells him that there are many different types of people. On the other hand, Sora was listening to music recommended by Hiyori. Sora also was reminded of her fathe when looking at her watch. Gouta wanted to eat at a sushi conveyor restaurant. Sora decided to join him.

The next day, Gouta and Sora recalled the enjoyment of the sushi bar on the train. When Ayako heard about the activities, she wanted to join them. After classes, Kouji seemed to be troubled about something. Gouta and Saori met another client in the afternoon, but Gouta appealed for Saori to conduct the job as he did not know enough magic. The client wanted something sweet and warm, a drink that has memories.

With a suggestion from Gouta, Saori produced breast milk for the lady, and Gouta accounted that his mother used to tell him that the taste of breast milk was like this. The client praised Gouta and said that her mother raised an outstanding child. Back at home, Sora was talking about a goldfish in the pond, and it seemed that Saori’s daughter left her home three years ago.

Thoughts

One thing important about this episode is the behavior of the people who do not have magic, and how they treated Gouta and his father. Both Gouta and his father hated having magic in their blood. In fact, I am very sure that his father had the same treatment by his normal friends because of his power of magic. As people who do not possess magic do not know what it entails, they usually over-assume and believe that magic users have ability way beyond what they truly have.

Before you start to despise these people, isn’t it just normal to ostracize such people when you do not know them that well? It is bigot by any chance, but the truth is that humans are creatures that are easily swayed by jealousy and the need to quickly stereotype certain groups of people to easily understand the world around them. Gouta is just the perfect victim for those who have a niggling and jealous attitude toward him. It’s pathetic, but Gouta is made a victim by human feelings.

A comparison with his father is also pretty interesting. His father, realizing the limitations of his ability, decided to hide and escape from the forced fate to be a a magic user. He probably suffered just as much as Gouta in the world of no magic, but decided to run away from it all and live a life just like a normal person. Gouta hated magic and is limited in his ability, but he decided to face it on despite the obstacles that he faced. Does the world need a better winner than this? Should we applaud him? No one will though. Gouta is the quintessential archetype where he is not here or there, but fighting in order to survive.

As spoken by Totali (The Grand Meister) , I am extremely appreciate of the little changes that is shown. The thing about this show is that it never tries any huge pretense to touch your heart, but lets you explore it by your own. That is perhaps why it touches me more, because it is realistic.

Before I stop here, let me end off with a little reflection. What is the biggest impact/scene for you during this episode? To me, it is definitely the scene when Gouta explains his rationale, which is beautiful because it shows a very different side to him. How about you?