Subculture Anime Blog

“Boku wa…”

Summary:

Previously, Kouji had run into trouble with the clients he had helped. The first requested to have his watch returned to the way it was before, but Kouji had made it seem new instead of having it bear the name that was originally written on it by the client’s parents. Despite the request not being properly described, the blame was placed on Kouji. The second client was a woman who was constantly annoyed with Kouji’s actions. Kouji was unable to preform her request to fix a broken object, causing him even more embarrassment. After parting ways with Hiyori and Sora in the present time, Honomi meets with Kouji in the city. Kouji describes his wish to bring Honomi around the nearby shopping mall, so the two spend quite a bit of time browsing the stores inside together. Honomi brings up the questions Kouji wished to ask her after awhile, but when he does not get to the point, she quickly becomes angry. With this, the two part ways before even discussing what they planned to.

After having received Kouji’s message the previous night, Gouta and Sora discuss the reason he would feel like quitting while traveling to the institute. Gouta also describes the great feeling of a satisfied client, however, making Sora mention that he seems to have changed a bit. At the institute, the usual students discuss visiting Kouji to try to convince him to do otherwise. Honomi refuses to go, however, believing it to be a waste of time. Sora almost gets into a car accident while at the agency later, and the residents discover that she has a cold. While Gouta attends to his usual activities later, most of the people he usually interacts with quickly notice that Sora is missing. Gouta and Hiyori finally visit Kouji, then attempting him to think about his actions. When Honomi shows up, she is quickly able to make Kouji do so. As she makes him realize that he has failed, and that there would be failure in magic, Kouji is brought to tears. After leaving together with the girls, Gouta expresses his hope that Kouji would change his thoughts.

Preview: Maho tsukai.

Impression:

Strong words for a strong scene. There’s something about those words that always gets me in anime, probably because such words can only be expressed in Japanese. This might not make complete sense at first, but anyone who has studied multiple languages will know that there are some things that just don’t translate into other languages with the same meaning. I really think that’s why art students are typically required to take language classes and gain new culture. It brings a whole new mindset to the table, which wouldn’t otherwise be able to be achieved. But if you’re one of the people watching this show, I guess you already know that.

This episode was great, and I appreciated it as much as ever. I loved the repeated use of scenes we have already seen, and that’s not a joke. It really makes you sense the feeling that life typically happens the same way each day, with small differences in each. This is how life really works, whether we like to admit it or not. Slice of life series typically break this border between real life and storytelling, hence the name. Doing this also made it obvious how different life was for Gouta when something drastic happened to Sora. It might be a given when someone is close to you, but when they’re gone, it becomes easily noticeable.

The song played by Yasuko (micc who sings the ED) in this episode was great as well, and I loved how it played in a way to advance time while showing all of the characters’ actions. I just can’t get over how amazing of a soundtrack this series is representing, and I’ve actually been listening to the OP single for quite awhile now. Voice talent is also notable, with Maria Inoue doing spectacular in this episode. Honomi is probably going to start getting closer to Kouji in her own way, and after this week’s episode, I’m already sure that she will be the one to save him. With the next episode being titled “Mahou Tsukai”, or mage, I think both Kouji and Sora will finally get closer to realizing their places as magic users.