Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~ is not an ordinary anime by any means. I have no idea why it would be rated as 7 or below by so many people unless they are incapable of viewing this for what it truly is.
As a very picky anime viewer, I must say that the art work in Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~ is impeccable. I found it interesting that the characters were drawn so simply while the atmospheres they were in were so vastly realistic, and in some case, downright cinematic and photographic. The amount of detail and precision in the artwork is fundamental to the stories depth and the intellectually of the whole anime as a product. If you love great art in anime's, you will love going through each episode and trying to guess which scene was filmed, which was photographed, and which was a mix of drawing, photography, and film. It's not easy at all to fit all of these components together and make it worth watching, but this anime achieves it so well that it has SPOILED me for many other anime's. My expectations have increased so much more than they were before.
Story wise, it's simple. Not dumb simple, not plain or ordinary or boring simple. It's classic simple. It's rich in detail, rich in curiosity, and pleasurable to the mind. Instead of dragging you on a million mind bending twists and turns to distract you from the flaws of the anime (in my opinion there are almost NONE), it gives very well chosen moments to leave you going "wait, what just happened" and as in my case, gripping your pillow in eagerness to find out what's developing. The story may seem slow paced to some, but have patience, the entire point of this anime is patience. Learn to love it for what it is. It is art, it is the emotions and fears that we all have somewhere inside of us.
Character development is basic. I like that. Yes I love character growth, and this anime does have it, quite a lot of it actually. It's subtle though, natural. Like real life. No one changes from one day to the next, and a good anime will remind us that not even magic can change someone from night to day. An individuals maturity develops over time, and the pace of this anime makes it so that we grow with the characters too. In all of its efforts to display the characters as real as possible, Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~ has succeeded. Their faces are sometimes simple, not overly done. This allows us to really know them for their stories and personalities, and not for the surface alone.
Overall, this has now become one of my top five favorites, and I'm so stubborn about anime that really, it takes a very good anime to make me budge on any of my current favorites, but this one just bumped one of them off and it's a spin-off for goodness sake.
I'll say this much though, since I've praised it to death. Not every anime fits every person. I do suggest watching this, as much as I suggest watching Beck or Noein, but if you don't enjoy it, it doesn't make you any less deep than anyone else. Everyone develops at a different rate. If you don't like it now, you might like it in 10 years, maybe never, but it just might help you figure out where you stand on art, affection, and cultural exploration. These are all pretty great things.
Enjoy!
