Episode 4 Summary - Gouta

Pay attention to what Gouta was like in the past!
Your lunchbox was great, Maeno!

It's another day for the magic trainees as they start off with a delicious breakfast of fish. Sora has problems splitting up the fish to eat but Gouta had already finished. As Sora looks at him, he explains his home was by the sea back in Shounan so he had fish a lot. Butter fish was the best there. Sora was envious that Gouta could live by the sea because Biei, which is in the middle of Hokkaido, wasn't close to one. On the other hand, Hokkaido did have a lot of delicious produce such as the hair crab.

On the way to school, Gouta gets a message from his father Yuuichi Midorikawa asking him how was he doing. He closes his phone shut and heads onto school. There, Sora was talking about how their first requests went with her classmates. Asagi wasn't particularly impressed that all Sora did was break a lock. You don't need magic to do something like that. Sora should be doing something much bigger. On the other hand, the magic training that Yamabuki had been worried about went better than she had thought. Everyone was glad for her. Kuroda turns round to see how Midorikawa did but he ignores them.

Class soon begins and the lecture was about society's knowledge about how magic has been recognised by society and how it has changed through history. Midway, Gouta falls into a daydream remembering the good old days when he used to hang out with his friends. They would tease him about how beautiful his mother Kazumi was and the great lunchboxes she made. He always got better marks than them too.

After some calling from Morishita, Gouta finally snaps out of his dream and apologises for his manners. Soon, it was time for requests again and Shouta had two today. The first was a man named thirty-two year old, free writer Eiji Aimoto who wanted them to help find his lost insurance certificate. Upon arriving, Saori and Gouta find themselves in a very messy room and finds a very rude Aimoto was wanting them to clean up his room too with magic, even though it wasn't part of his request.

A little dispute breaks out as Saori refuses to do so. Aimoto's phone rings and he picks up. He complains that his "guests" didn't understand Japanese. Gouta begins to get irritated at Aimoto's attitude but is forced to leave the room as Saori stops him from doing anything rash. She's catches up with him outside and tells him there are all sorts of people in life and Gouta will have to learn how to deal with them to survive in this world. He shouldn't run away whenever things get rough for him.

Gouta retorts he doesn't want such a world and thinks back to the old days once again. Things started to change for him when his father returned home to reveal that it was time for Gouta's training in magic school. Kazumi was angry that he had never told her and kept it a secret for seventeen years. She was disappointed because the man she loved was one that would tell her everything.

Gouta's father explains he didn't tell them because he had given up on it long ago and that he knew she hated mages. Kazumi found it unacceptable and decides to leave the family. She asks whether Gouta will be leaving with her. Gouta couldn't decide because it was all too sudden. He had school to get through too. Hearing that, Kazumi leaves alone, a sad look on her face. Yuuichi doesn't give chase, feeling guilty.

Since that day, everyone at school found out Gouta had a mage's blood in him. They tease him, thinking he'll use magic on them if they get too close. Maybe he used his magic to get those good marks. His friends ended up ignoring him too and no longer invited him out to soccer matches with them.

Returning to the present, Aimoto's room was cleared. Both Saori and Gouta had their heads lowered apologetically. After leaving, Saori praises Gouta for managing to keep his patience up. She reminds him that not everyone was like that and there are lots of nice people in the world.

It was soon evening. Gouta returns home to find Sora sitting outside the door, who was relaxing and thinking about her father. It was dinner time soon but Gouta didn't feel like eating with the others. He decides to eat out and Sora joins him. They stop at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant which was something completely new to Sora. Gouta watches Sora's eyes following the rotating dishes and asks if it was her first time then shows her how to eat. He was surprised at how much the little her could eat.

The next day Sora is talking happily to Yamabuki about their little day out at Shimokita. Asagi overhears them and can't help but want to join them the next time. They were surprised Asagi was actually asking them nicely but then laughs when she changes her tone. They didn't mind, though and thought it will be more fun with another person coming along.

Their next client was a thirty-one year old translator named Yuuko Takenaka who wanted to taste nostalgic from the past but didn't quite know what it was. All she could remember was it was sweet and round with a certain gentleness about it. Gouta notices her giant suitcase and asks if she was going on holiday and finds out she maybe going to hospital for sometime. This gave him an idea as he whispers to Saori. Saori nods and performs the magic, filling the glass before them.

Kaori takes a sip and found the taste horrible. The taste she wanted was something sweet. Before complaining any further, she suddenly pauses and takes another sip. It was the taste she was looking for. She looks up surprised and asks what she just drank. It was breast milk, something that Gouta remembers her mother said to him. When she brought Gouta up, she had tasted the breast milk herself before and has also said it tasted bad but she could feel a gentle power in it of one bringing up a baby. Gouta was a little embarrassed but Yuuko thanks them. She reveals she has breast cancer but won't be giving up now that she remembers her mother.

That night, Sora sits in the garden admiring the giant goldfish in the pond. She learns from Fuune it was caught by Saori when she was at a temple festival with her daughter. Its been three years since they had an argument and her daugher left her. The goldfish was very precious to her now.

Come and get caught by the magic next week too!
"Wow!" by Kana.

Next episode, "Shimokitazawa".

Thoughts

So the moral of this story is, life is difficult but you must stand up to your problems. And... Maybe don't lie to your girlfriend because you may regret it later? I think Kasumi kind of over-reacted when she found out that Midorikawa's father was a mage which she hated though unless she asked if he was a mage before. Keeping quiet about something that you're not asked about isn't exactly lying is it?

Also didn't see why Gouta's two buddies left him too after the school caught up with his "secret". I guess they just gave into the peer pressure of everyone else shunning him.

Noticed Takenaka's apartment had a lot of old appliances in there... I mean look at radio on the bookcase and the TV. The TV looks like the old black and white types! When were these photos taken? Either they're old or someone likes collecting antiques.

And looks like the artists are already hoping Japan will host the Olympics after London in 2016 from this screenshot. Only been watching this year's Olympics randomly. Good to see China topping the tables with 47 gold medals just now but, I've been rooting for UK too of course while watching.

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Damn, the sushi looks delicious in these shots! Never actually tried sushi before though because I'm not sure my stomach will like it. Maybe I should drop by Wagamama sometime to try.

Think they're advertising this Tenjo Sushi store? Maybe business will pick up for them after this if it really exists.