Summer Pockets Episode 9 Discussion

Mixed feelings about this one. It's been a while since I played the visual novel but I don't remember the spirited away part. Up to this point they made Tsumugis route look like a Hentai visual novel and it feels kind of weird. I remember the game being super funny but the anime version of tsumugis story feels kind of weird and gives me an uneasy feeling... She was one of my favorite visual novel characters but thanks to the anime I think shes pretty annoying now lol. The finale of tsumugis route was the saddest part of the original if you don't count the soul crushing true ending but I fear that the next episode won't bring the bowl of onions with it this time around.

@Luke_MK the vn does have the spirited away part, it just happens gradually over a period of days instead of suddenly. I agree that the adaptation seems more ecchi, but my assumption is because the vn just has text and doesn't have the animations or cgs for these scenes. There's no chance the finale will be as impactful as the original, but I'm hoping for the best.

@samsterbirdies no it happened suddenly, too if I remember right. This one, I mean. The disappearance.

but well... they changed the timing a bit, since in the novel Katou-san (the grandma) was much older when she died,


as for as more "ecchi" adaptation: it's just adding more "Hairi likes boobs" part to his characterization.
I think that's necessary for anime, since in a VN or a book that uses heavy first person story-telling you always leave slight room for readers to self-insert a bit as the protag (that's regardless of the type of VN it is).
An anime is mostly 3rd-person, since you gotta animate the protag a lot, the protag gonna appear on the screen a lot. So you gotta fill that empty "room" in the characterization of the protag.

If the stories are predictable, then we've already seen most of what there is to see about Tsumugi's arc, and in the next episode we'll see how she's spirited away by the damned butterflies, much like Kamome was.

This episode was far more satisfying than the previous one. The story now shows that each heroine has two versions: a "historical" one tied to some tragic historical fact, such as a medical condition or social problems, and a "present" one, living in Hairi's timeline, and all the historical versions are trapped in a supernatural realm full of butterflies, symbolizing unfulfilled potential. Hairi's task seems to be bringing all the historical versions into his present and realizing them.

Hairi now gets himself spirited away by the butterflies and meets a "historical Tsumugi". He manages to escape by singing Tsumugi's song, but the historical version of Tsumugi remains stuck because of her hesitation. It wasn't clear how Tsumugi's song actually helped Hairi to escape, and I consider that a plot hole, even if it's explained in the next episode, because there were already developments in the story that needed to be explained around that imo. There's no way to understand Hairi's decision to use that song to escape.

I laughed out loud when I noticed the Paringle veranda was the key to escaping the supernatural lighthouse. Hairi seemed to be able to stand on top of it, but this is physically impossible. An unopened soda can is able to withstand an adult's weight (I wouldn't try it myself because it's a dangerous thing to do, but this is actually true, soda cans are incredibly strong), but in Tsumugi's case, chip cans like Pringles are made of paperboard and are not pressurized, making them very weak structurally. They wouldn't resist Hairi's weight collapsing the whole structure. This is a significant inaccuracy.

We also learn that the lighthouse wasn't originally Tsumugi's but belonged to a young boy she was in love with and planned to elope with. It's a shame the story didn't focus into this romance between them and between Tsumugi and her family (she seemed to have a very strict German father with a mustache). I would've enjoyed Tsumugi's arc more if they developed her backstory as a subplot, later connecting it to Hairi's experiences, and then linking it to the main plot about the butterflies. That would've been amazing, and I would be fine with it even if it meant sacrificing Hairi's screen time. I think given the existence of this backstory, Tsumugi's arc should've focused less on Hairi for the most part, in contrast with the previous arc, and then it could've been called a masterpiece of a lifetime. But currently, I find it acceptable, and I like that the story is progressing, but there is a missed opportunity here.

The ending kiss was very romantic and perfect. Tsumugi looked more mature with her blue bow. So cute!

@gebraffe Hairi's decision of escape isn't the song. It's his choice to believe in his lover, which the original Tsumugi failed to do. He was singing simply because he was thinking about her.

@Revvie-chan for hairi's disappearance, yes. But tsumugi increasingly had trouble with meeting her friends on-time each day until she just didn't.