Hairi Takahara is an out-of-town student who has come to Torishirojima Island to help settle the estate of his deceased grandmother (I guess she was bored to death by this narrative too, bless her). Upon arrival at the house, he is met by Misaki Kyouko, the house caretaker. One night, after getting lost on his scooter, he encounters a strange silver-haired girl named Shiroha practicing swimming in the school pool. When Hairi tells her (rightly so) that it’s dangerous to swim all on her own, she blows him off. Later, Hairi meets Umi, Misaki’s young relative, who stays in the house. After eating breakfast and dividing up the house chores, Hairi heads back out and encounters a girl sleeping under a tree by the side of the road, drawing her wrath when she wakes up after he stops her from falling over before she runs off, late for work. Later that night, Hairi encounters the same silver-haired girl in the pool doing laps. He offers her swimming advice before running off, confusing her and the viewing audience. Uhh…Shenanigans?
Adapting a Visual Novel is a tricky hill to descend. One wrong step, and you can go from having a hit like Haruhi Suzumiya, Clannad, or No Game, No Life to a rolling, boring mess. Honestly, this show is rolling right along toward the latter in this initial offering. This anime feels about 20 years older than it is. I mean, it looks great, don’t get me wrong. This is a very well-produced show. However, Summer Pockets feels like a recycling of all the tropes and gimmicks that we’ve seen over the years in shows like this—the mysterious transfer student coming in from out of town to live with a relative who looks WAY younger than she is, the bubbly, adorable little sister character, the tsundere, the mysterious white-haired character, the goofy best friend with a heart of gold…it’s all here. We’ve seen this before, guys. In fact, while researching this one, I found that studio feel. made a similar anime adaptation a few years earlier—2018’s Island. And if memory serves, that show was also just as dull. Don’t get me wrong, I know that a lot of anime is made up of recycled tropes and character types, but the challenge is making them enjoyable to watch—how can you use them to make your narrative worth following for at least 12 episodes?
As mentioned, Summer Pockets is produced by feel., which has done its fair share of…shall we say…infamous shows. This studio brought us Kissxsis, Yosuga no Sora, and Makura no Danshi. Not the pinnacle of great cinema. But this company also brought us Dagashi Kashi, Hinamatsuri, and, surprisingly, Tsuki ga Kirei. So they know how to make beautiful shows…and some are even watchable. Summer Pockets is no exception, at least with regard to looks. Despite what I feel about the story, the production values are there, as this show is animated very well. The opening title sequence, though, set to “Alkatale” by Konomi Suzuki, feels old, once again, as though it were made 20 years ago. The song is uninspired, and the visuals don’t do anything to get me excited for the show to come.
So, where does that leave us with Summer Pockets? You might find something here if you’re a fan of visual novels adapted into anime. If you’re a fan of harems, then you might find a bit more to like, as this show is undoubtedly going down that path. As for me, this feels too slow and boring to keep up with in the long term. It’s like sitting through a long, drawn-out introduction scene in a video game, but you can’t press X to speed through the conversation and get to an option. I might come back for another episode or two to see if there’s any improvement, but my hopes remain low. To me, this show can’t seem to shake its origins, and by extension, it makes for a series that might be better played on a console than viewed on a TV.
Summer Pockets is available for sleeping…STREAMING on Crunchyroll.
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[…] in Summer Pockets is at least partially based on Naoshima. Summer Pockets is a new show, and as the linked review from Beneath the Tangles indicates, I’m unlikely to even check it out when I […]
i think it was way more enjoyable as a visual novel than it is as an anime. i had alot of fun playing the visual novel.