[Spoilers] Summer Pockets - Episode 15 Discussion

Finally, they revealed the truth behind the Naruse family and why Shiroha always tries to keep people at a distance. Hairi being called the "Champion with the Broken First" was pretty funny, too, even though he's not exactly a fighter. But remember that nickname, because it’ll (kind of) make sense later. Also, Umi calling Hairi "Onii-chan" was super cute, and I’m glad they showed the water gun squad shooting the boys, such a fun moment.

I really hope they handle the next episodes with care, especially for her route. It seems like they added a few anime-original scenes that weren’t in the VN, which I think actually help give more context. But according to some leaks, it looks like this route will only have 3 episodes, so I can only hope for the best, because we all know that Shiroha will play a major role in this anime overall.

~Kamome Route -> Tsumugi Route -> Ao Route -> Shiroha Route -> A Route -> P Route ~

Not sure if it's spoiler territory in any case so I'll keep it vague and spoiler-tagged.
What's the deal with the fried rice cooked by Umi being seen by the aunt? I have been exposed to the spoilers about the routes and the backstory of Umi hasn't formally been revealed apart from the OP/ED and obvious VN spoiler leaks.

Rip to Shiroha’s watermelon bar and the water gun fight was so funny. Very good information shared with Hairi at the end of the episode.

Well..
1) Why is like every guy on the island ripped?^^'
2) Hairi definitely has A LOT of patience
3) Some folks are really fu**ing stupid..

First time commenting is these anime threads.
I just had the chance to keep up with the episodes released and it reminds me of when Little Busters aired and I started to watch it around the beginning of the 2nd cour as well, kinda nostalgic.
However, I have been feeling very mixed about the anime so far. I did not play the vn and I was expecting it to work more like a summary than going into details, given the number of eps. But even without comparison criteria, I can easily say how fast the adaptation has going. Which got me thinking: Little Busters was criticized for cutting a lot of content and not being a proper adaptation, but, at the time, the 12 years younger myself loved it a lot and never felt like it was rushed. Can someone tell me what do you think? Is Summer Pockets' pacing faster, or are my memories deceiving me?

Well, that aside, something else I noticed (and I'm more confident about this) is how Summer Pockets has a higher amount of sexual jokes than any other anime from Key. I can't tell about Rewrite since it's the only one I passed, but among the rest, there was not so many jokes regarding this topic, especially referring to abuse, which I found "old fashioned" and a little bit insensitive. Did anyone else feel uncomfortable with that?

And lastly, it kinda bored me to see how many character/plot tropes are repeated from other Key stories, with slight modifications. It made me reconsider the way I felt about the other adaptations, like "was it as good as I remember? Or am I just too old for this kind of show?". Idk, will keep watching for curiosity sake, but without caring too much.

I was positively surprised, though, by how Kamome was a nice character, very lovely. Definitely (and by far, I guess) my favorite. Her route was much more adventure-ish, so it was the most fun to follow as well.
Tsumugi was sweeter than I was expecting (the "mugyu" made me fear she was just another Ayu from Kanon or Fuuko from Clannad, who I find a little annoying). But her route was so full of dumb fanservice that I probably blushed while watching. I still feel her plot was confuse compared to the others, though.
Ao had a better story than Tsumugi, but her route was less fun to watch. Again, some disconcerting jokes, especially since most of the abuse-related ones revolved around her from what I remember.

As of technicalities, the anime looks surprinsingly pretty, way more than I thought it would. Consistent character design and beautiful backgrounds, almost as good as those from Non Non Biyori. The sound needs no introduction, it's Key after all, the only part of their work I can never call bad is the music. Simply a pleasure to listen to (and, hey, I noticed a couple new tracks!)

*Edited to complement some points and to fix some grammar mistakes

Thank you for sharing you thoughts, it was very much helpful.

I feel a little relieved that my memories are not that distorted, but since it has been so long, I'm mostly sure that I would be disappointed at some parts of LB too. Moreover, there are characters that might annoy me if I rewatched it nowadays. For example, at the time, I didn't mind much about Kud, but, thinking well, she was probably not so different from Tsumugi in terms of personality, and I'm not any fan of the childish girl trope.

I understand the motivation for the lewd content, but it's kinda ironic to think that LB had a 18+ version and (at least in the anime) it felt very "innocent" most of the time... I remember there was an episode about the girls having a pajama party at the dormitory and calling Riki over to join them, but aside from that, I have no memories of it being anywhere near Tsumugi's and Ao's routes.

As for the similarities, I may have expressed myself badly. I didn't mean SP has nothing new to offer, in fact the whole "island lore regarding the butterflies" is completely original (and Key's stories tend to have a central plot that differs from each other noticeably, albeit having themes in common sometimes). I also like how SP has a structure of "walking around the island and coming across a certain character" that values the environment/landscapes it has to offer. It also feels fresh since there's no scenes in the school.

I meant there are some cliches like the "unidentified disease" in Kamome's route, the "drama between twin sisters" in Ao's route, etc. that reduce the impact of the plots revealed, at least in my opinion. But I totally get the reason from your explanation, it makes a lot of sense SP reminds LB and Clannad in several aspects. LB vn is still on my plans to play it someday, and perhaps I do so with SP too, who knows?

Now, I'm surprised to read Rewrite was not very popular, I always thought it was the opposite for some reason. In fact it looks considerably different from the previous Key works, but I've seen people talk about it several times, and its average score in vndb is high as well. By the way, I'm currently playing Harmonia, but I'm a slow reader. It has been so different from SP, much more comfortable if you ask me, but I gotta admit, a little bland sometimes.