Natsu no Sora 02 and 03: magic, yeah?

Episode 02: Tokyo
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Sora arrives in Tokyo and gets lost for a bit. Along the way, she uses magic to save an old woman and a boy from being crushed under a trailer that fell from the overhead pass. The boy doesn't seem too pleased by her interference.

After much walking and studying maps of the city, Sora eventually arrives at the Office of the Bureau of Magic, only to find that she's running late for her first day of class. She tries to make a subtle entrance by sneaking around the back only to stumble on the way, thus catching the attention of her teacher and the entire class.

Sora immediately hits it off with Hiyori, a classmate of hers at the Magic Bureau. Other classmates include a know-it-all glasses guy, a competitive proud girl and wonder of all wonders, the boy that Sora met earlier that day: Moridikawa Gouta. However, when Sora attempts to speak with him, Gouta acts aloof and cold around her. This embarrasses Sora somewhat, causing her to get emotional with her magic (their assignment was to make ice out of water). The result is a gigantic icicle mountain that looks like a chandelier. Everyone, except the teacher, is wowed by the sight. Gouta, on the other hand, can't even make one little ice cube from his tank of water.

After class, Sora comes home to Hara Seichiru's house. However, once she's there, she is surprised to find that Gouta is there, too.
Episode 03: Sora
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We open with a boy riding the waves on a surfboard. Then Gouta is seen carrying a surfboard. His guardian scolds him for going out without permission, reminding him that he is not in Tokyo to have fun but to work on his magic.

Later, Sora is assigned her first magic client: a 55-year old woman who always asks the same kind of magic, which is to open a safe. Apparently, the woman keeps locking the safe even though she does not have they key so every time she wants to open it again, she has to hire a mage to do it for her.

In school, the teacher asks the class whether they have ever used magic for personal reasons. Almost everyone in class raises their hands. Sora relates her own tale of saving that old woman on her first day in Tokyo. The teacher then tells them that from now on, they are not allowed to use their magic outside of their client's needs.

Later, Sora, accompanied by Professor Hara, arrives at their client's house. However, the client does not seem too pleased with Sora's attempt to explain her magic. More so when Sora, after opening the safe, runs away with the photoalbum contained inside. Eventually, she gave the photoalbum back to its owner but reveals that she did not use a "lock-opening" magic but a "destroying" one instead. Her reason is that this way, the client will be able to look inside whenever she wants without having to resort to magic.

After a bit of a rough patch, everything turns out well as the client warms up to Sora's particular brand of kindness. Even Professor Hara is not disappointed by what Sora did. However, things are not the same for Gouta.

COMMENTS:

As usual, great background. If you thought Bie in all its provincial, hicksville glory was breathtaking, wait till you see Tokyo's familiar streets depicted in these episodes. It's beautiful! On that note, I just found that the animators actually used real photos and just touched them up a bit to make them look like they're all drawn in. So that takes care of the realism, but still, it does not detract you from the wonderful cityscapes this anime offers.