Forum - View topicREVIEW: Summer Pockets Anime Series Review
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bassgs435
 Posts: 463 |
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Heaven's Feel movies better? Only in the visual department. Otherwise, they're far more rushed than this work is, which is bad for an slow paced route with lots of introspection and drama that is absolutely lost in the anime. The climatic spoiler[ Shirou vs Kirei ] fight at the very end of the route is completely ruined in adaptation. HF movies are very overrated and only saved from being on the same tier as disasters like Dies irae by Ufo's visual spectacle (which is not to the taste of many, so not even that may save it to some. I don't blame the staff really. Compressing HF into 3 movies is basically mission impossible. And the fight I mentioned has a lot of dialogue and monologue that would just ruin the pacing if properly adapted: works in VN format but as an anime fight, it's hard to make it work without being on constant slow mo for monologues and dialogues. Even if I understand, it doesn't change my views that HF adaptation isn't all that great and doesn't deserve to be put on a pedestal of VN adaptations.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19138 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I can't comment on how the series plays as an adaptation, since I haven't done the original VN, but beyond that I generally agree with Kennedy's comments. (I would grade it a bit higher in most categories, though; it was an overall B grade series from the perspective of an anime-only viewer.) I especially agree with the "it's a Key adaptation, for better or worse" comment, which perfectly sums up the essence of the series for anyone familiar with previous adaptations of their work.
While there are twists on individual girls' details, the pattern of how everything plays out will be familiar to anyone who's seen AIR or Kanon (among others), even down to the "surprise" Final Boss girl. (It's pretty obvious all along who that's going to be, to the point that even Key newcomers can figure it out well before it happens, though how exactly she fits into the overall scheme is quite the twist.) And how impactful the end stages are will depend heavily on how much you can buy into Shiroha being the Main Girl. (Agreed that she isn't the strongest choice for that, personality-wise, but it's also pretty clear that she's being set up for that from the earliest stages of the series so I don't consider that a spoiler.) I own or have at least watched most previous Key adaptations and agree that this is a solidly middle-of-the-pack series from that group. |
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grooven
Posts: 1473 Location: Canada |
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Having played the visual novel, and a huge KEY fan, I agree with this review.
From the start, the pacing was really off. It's a really hard balance with any media to get pacing right, but with one that is based on writing and interactions, the pacing has to be mastered to get the emotional payoffs. Overall, the story is indeed weaker than Kanon, Air, Little Busters and Clannad. I would rank it above Rewrite, but everything else is above it for a full-sized game. I found some side routes to be a bit lacklustre (cough Tsumugi), and the main story mimics beats of previous games, but doesn't reach the heights of those. And it certainly didn't translate to the anime either. Having said all that, it was a decent adaptation, but I think Kyoani really spoiled everyone, so almost everything pales. Little Busters did a much better job with the anime, however. |
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Glordit
 Posts: 1185 |
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After watching all the other Key adaptations, this is by far the least entertaining and most frustrating. It felt like it was taking too long but also rushed through some things.
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rizuchan
 Posts: 992 Location: Kansas |
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I rather liked this adaptation, but maybe my expectations were just in the hole with Rewrite.
I have played the original VN, and the biggest problem with Summer Pockets is that it really doesn't do a whole lot new, or better. If you've seen/played Kanon, Air, Clannad, and Little Busters, you can almost certainly predict most of the twists in Summer Pockets. But it doesn't improve on any of them either, like Clannad did for Kanon and Air. It is interesting that they didn't even try to hide that it was a time loop, I can't decide if it was a lazy decision, or a fine one considering that most of us know the drill with VN adaptations by now, and it avoids the problem of a surprise time loop feeling like it came out of nowhere, like Clannad. So yeah, I agree with the sentiment "It's a Key adaptation". |
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Eilavel
Posts: 483 |
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While I read VNs, I've not read Key (well, except Planetarian and dropping Air very early) meaning I'm really more an adaptation consumer, but I feel like I've absorbed more tropes than that by osmosis. To me, this feels like a low tier adaptation.
The casual slice of life just didn't feel that strong to me for this kind of material, while some of the arcs really failed to hit the emotional notes they aimed for. Tsugumis arc was, for me, probably the low point of the whole seasons shows- paringles and mguyu still pain me. If it had been arc 1, I would have dropped.. I guess I actually prefer Key when they swing for the biggest, silliest melodrama and probably enjoyed the final sequences of routes from Ao on the most overall, although episode 20-21 were very repetitive and dull. Still, I personally couldn't overall recommend the show and contrary to the general view I think the anime would benefit from being shorter- but this is difficult as by the nature of the fan base including all routes is baked in. Still, I'm not a Key fan (I guess mildly the opposite?) so if Key fans like it better they are probably doing something right. |
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BlueAlf
 Posts: 1768 |
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Reading this review, it weirdly reminded me of the ISLAND anime adaptation, which for a moment I thought was a Key production, before I remembered it was made by Frontwing instead.
Nevertheless, thank you for the write up. |
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