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Release any anime from Key or Jun Maeda (Angel Beats, Charlotte, Clannad, etc) and I will be there. So once I found that the popular visual novel Summer Pockets was getting an anime adaptation during this Spring 2025 season, I had to give it a go. Early on, Summer Pockets is endearing in how relaxing and peaceful its setting is.

The story is quite simple in Summer Pockets: Takahara Hairi is a young man that travels to the island Torishirojima to stay with an aunt and help with the aftermath of his late grandmother’s ing. At the same time, the story quickly hints that Hairi is running away from some sort of recent unfortunate event, possibly related to the swim team he was part of.

The first episode of Summer Pockets is pretty darn slow, and not a lot happens at all. Normally, this would be a detriment to a series. However, Key and animation studio Feel happen to make this work in the series’ favor, at least to start. This is because few other anime series handle immersion and atmosphere as well as this one.

The island of Torishirojima is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Every inch of the island is so bright, cheerful, and full of vibrant colors. The stunningly blue ocean is frequently in the background of scenes, with the warm aesthetic giving off such a strong summery vibe. It also helps that the soundtrack is noticeably great as well.

Unlike a lot of anime series that feature forgettable soundtracks or far too many moments without songs, it feels like Summer Pockets constantly has music going in the background. Even an early montage of Hairi exploring the island felt so alive and grabbed my attention because of the high-quality music that accompanied it.

At the core of the series, though, is Hairi’s relationship with the girls that he meets on the island. You only get a tiny glimpse of this in the first episode, so it is hard to say how the romance will go here. This is especially interesting to see since the original visual novel has multiple routes focusing on each girl.

That said, Hairi’s few interactions with the main characters are adorable and fun. I even enjoyed his little moments meeting and getting to know his aunt. She also happens to be up there already for an early pick for one of my favorite female anime characters in 2025.

Few anime this season have the setting like Summer Pockets. This is even seen in a scene where Hairi’s aunt sends him to eat dinner at a local restaurant. This goofy moment has only him and the cook in the restaurant, which throws off the urban boy. These scenes do such a great job at building out the world and reminding me of my own time living in Japan in the past.

At the same time, the heavy summer vibe also has me wanting to lay at the beach all day. It is for this reason that I actually really wanted to take a nap after watching the first episode of Summer Pockets. This may sound bad at first, but it actually isn’t. Instead of boring me, this series managed to relax me with nostalgic summer vibes to the point where I wanted to just take a peaceful nap.

If the first episode is anything to go by, Key is back once more with its anime adaptation of Summer Pockets. If you like series like Kanon and Air, you will find yourself right at home here. The detailed atmosphere of Torishirojima is one of the most relaxing you will ever find in anime and it has me hooked enough to see how the romance there plays out between the main character and his love interests.

Summer Pockets is streaming right now on Crunchyroll. You can also purchase the visual novel on PC via Steam.

The post Summer Pockets Is Delightfully Peaceful and Relaxing appeared first on Siliconera.

Key is bringing warm romance to players on the go with a Summer Pockets Reflection Blue Switch version. Those who already own the base version of the game on Switch can the enhanced edition for a fair price. According to Ryokutya, the title will release in Summer 2021. The physical version will cost 8,000 yen, while the digital upgrade from the original to the new version will only cost 3,000 yen.

Developed by Key and published by Prototype on Nintendo's hybrid system, the Summer Pockets Reflection Blue Switch port is a romance visual novel. Reflection Blue is an upgraded version of the base game, which launched in 2018 originally. The enhanced edition adds four new routes, an expanded ping pong minigame, and new music.

The vanilla version of the game, Summer Pockets, released on Nintendo Switch in Japan in June 2019. Although the PC port of this base game saw an English language release, Reflection Blue does not yet offer English language . Unfortunately, the base game on Switch does not have an English option either.

As a refresher, here is the Switch trailer for the original release.

[embed]https://youtu.be/6mVO6VRT_7c[/embed]

In both versions of Summer Pockets, the player takes control of protagonist Hairi who is handling the death of his grandmother and her estate sale. Hairi has to go to an isolated yet peaceful island to manage the estate where he meets four girls as potential love interests.

The Summer Pockets Reflection Blue Switch version will release in Summer 2021. The physical edition will cost 8,000 yen. However, a digital upgrade for those who already own the base game will be available for only 3,000 yen.

The post Summer Pockets Reflection Blue Switch Port Will Arrive in the Perfect Season appeared first on Siliconera.

Back in December 2019, Visual Arts said the Summer Pockets English release would come early in 2020. Well, it is already here. The Summer Products Steam page has been updated, and people can pick up a copy for $44.99. However, it is temporarily $40.49 until February 12, 2020.

In Summer Pockets, a tragedy brings people to Torishirojima Island. Hairi’s grandma died, and it is left to him to handle her affairs. As he recovers from hectic and harrowing events in his life, he meets Ao, Kamome, Shiroha, and Tsumugi, four young women who each have their own reasons for being on Torishirojima. As players get closer to each one, they learn more about the women, the island, and Hairi himself.

There has been a lot happening for Summer Pockets lately. For example, Japan is getting an updated version of the game called Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue. It bumps the number of heroines to eight from four and will appear on PCs in Japan on June 26, 2020. It is unknown if it will also end up eventually being localized.

Summer Pockets is immediately available for the PC worldwide. Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue will come to Japan on June 26, 2020. 

The post Key’s Summer Pockets English Release Is Ready to Help More People Find Love appeared first on Siliconera.

Even though Visual Arts had said that the Summer Pockets English translation was finished, the timing made the promised 2019 release window seem more and more questionable. Now the company has confirmed on Twitter that Key’s visual novel won’t be making it out this year. The new Summer Pockets English release window is early 2020.

Two explanations were given for this Summer Pockets delay. The first is “technical hiccups.” Apparently there are some problems within the visual novel that need resolving before it could be released to the general public.

The other reason has to do with Valve and a “potential Mature content rating.” In Japan, it is considered an all-ages game, though the Nintendo Switch version does have a Cero C rating suggesting it is appropriate for players ages 15 and up. It does involve a cast where some of the characters are in high school. There have been some instances where visual novels have issues getting on Steam when younger casts are involved.

Summer Pockets will come to the PC outside of Japan in 2020. In Japan, it is also available on the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. In addition, Japan will also be getting an upgraded version of the game with more routes called Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue.

The post Summer Pockets English Release Delayed Until 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Another one of Key’s visual novels is one step closer to making its debut outside of Japan. The Summer Pockets English translation has been finished.

Key made the announcement on Twitter, where the developer also revealed new Summer Pockets English screenshots. These new images show part of a conversation with Umi Katou, the main menu, the options menu, and a minigame. It noted that the game has been submitted to Steam and is currently going through quality checks.

The Summer Pockets English localization was first announced back in August 2019. Key appeared and shared a single screenshot at Animaga Expo 2019. The PC version then received a 2019 release window at the end of September.

Summer Pockets is available on the Nintendo Switch, PC, and Android and Apple iOS devices in Japan. Its last updated said that it should come to the PC outside of Japan in 2019. More recently, an upgraded version called Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue was revealed for Japan.

The post Key’s Summer Pockets English Translation Is Finished appeared first on Siliconera.

Over the weekend, Key announced an upgraded version of their most recently released visual novel Summer Pockets. The upgraded version is titled Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue, and adds four new routes and more, with the entire game now boasting over 2 million characters of text total.

According to Key, Reflection Blue was originally meant to be a fandisc thanks to Summer Pockets' great reception and sales, but they felt it would be a waste to just leave it at that. So they decided on releasing a new version with new character routes.

Firstly, it was announced that Umi, Nozomi, and Shizuku are getting their own story routes.

There's also a completely new heroine, Shiki Kamiyama, who'll appear in the game. She's fond of traveling by herself, and likes eating rice balls.

Here are the main visuals for the four new heroines' routes.

Another big inclusion in Reflection Blue is the addition of new everyday life scenarios, where you can see the main character and heroines interact and have fun together.

[gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="815856,815855,815854,815852,815850,815848" link="file"]

As part of this, the Ping Pong minigame has been massively upgraded, now featuring doubles games where you choose a heroine to play with you, against two other heroines. Depending on who you choose, the teams will have different team names, and different voiced conversations will play during the minigame. (Sadly it doesn't seem you can make up nicknames for the losers.)

There will be a new theme song for the game, alongside two other new songs. Character songs will also now play in-game, and there's a total of over 130 CG artworks (without including different expressions, etc.).

Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue is in development for PC. The original Summer Pockets has been confirmed for a 2019 English release on Steam, although we're in December with no news on the release.

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People won’t have to wait too long to play Key’s next visual novel in English. During the third Key Channel livestream, it confirmed the plan is to release the Summer Pockets English version on PCs in 2019. People will be able to get it from Steam.

In addition, the Key livestream showed off a Summer Pockets English screenshot that originally made its debut at Animaga Expo 2019. At the time, due to the photo quality, people may not have gotten the clearest idea of how it will look. The newly released picture makes it much easier to see Shiroha cooking.

The announcement arrived at the 56:16 moment of the Key livestream.

In addition, when the Key character popularity poll held in honor of the developer’s 20th anniversary was announced, it was revealed that Summer Pockets’ Shiroha made it into the top ten. (She was number nine.) The top ten were, in order, Little Busters’ Kyosuke, Angel Beats’ Kanade, Clannad’s Nagisa, Little Busters’ Kud, Air’s Misuzu, Charlotte’s Nao, Clannad’s Tomoyo, Clannad’s Kyo, Summer Pockets’ Shiroha, and Little Busters’ Saya.

Summer Pockets is available on the Nintendo Switch, PC, and Android and Apple iOS devices in Japan. It will come to the PC outside of Japan in 2019.

The post Summer Pockets English Version Will Appear On PCs In 2019 appeared first on Siliconera.

Key’s most recent visual novel will be released outside of Japan. The developer recently attended Animaga Expo 2019 in Australia and brought Summer Pockets along. During the presentation, it confirmed the English version is in production. It also shared this news online via Twitter after the event.

As part of the announcement, Key shared one Summer Pockets English screenshot. It features Shiroha, one of the four heroines, making a meal. The text below the image reads, “After grilling, she carefully removes the bones with cooking chopsticks and takes out a plastic container.”

No release window or platforms were confirmed for the Summer Pockets English localization.

Summer Pockets is available on the Nintendo Switch, PC, and both Android and Apple iOS devices in Japan. The English version is in development.

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The big new game coming to Nintendo Switch this week is Yo-kai Watch 4, the latest game which brings together every protagonist up to this point in an adventure that spans four worlds. This time, the human characters fight alongside the yo-kai in action combat.

Apart from Yo-kai Watch 4, Yakuza 5’s PlayStation 4 remaster is also coming out, bringing back Kazuma Kiryu and the experience of playing as Haruka for the first time in even crisper visuals. Summer Pockets, Key’s latest visual novel that launched on PC last year, also comes to Switch this week.

While the console launch is next week, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, one of the first games in the Kickstarter era of gaming, launches this week on Steam.

As a reminder, Siliconera gets a small portion pocket change from your purchases from our Play-Asia links below. You can also save $3 by using the code “SILICON” by using the coupon button at the payment method selection screen.

Here are this week’s JP releases below:

Nintendo Switch

Yo-kai Watch 4 (+ eShop version)

Summer Pockets (+ eShop version)

Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku: Modern Nostalgie for Nintendo Switch (+ eShop version)

• Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku: Modern Nostalgie for Nintendo Switch Limited Edition

PlayStation 4

Yakuza 5 (+ PS Store version)

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana Super Price (+ PS Store version)

PS Store Only (PS Vita)

Gnosia

PC (Steam)

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Key European Releases:

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Steam)

Crystal Crisis

Key Domestic Releases:

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Steam)

Crystal Crisis

The post This Week In Imports: Which Is Scarier? Yo-kai Or Yakuza? appeared first on Siliconera.

A Japanese retailer has revealed that Summer Pockets, the latest visual novel by Key, is set to launch on the Nintendo Switch on June 20, 2019 in Japan. The game was slightly delayed from its original Spring 2019 release window.

The game is set on an isolated island called Torishirojima, with a rural community of around 2,000 citizens. Hairi Takahara, a young man visiting the island after the death of his grandmother who lived there, ends up meeting four girls who are also on the island for their own reasons.

You can check out an English fan-translated version of the game’s trailer below:

Summer Pockets is immediately available on PC, iOS, and Android, with the smart device versions having a pay-per-route payment method. The Nintendo Switch version comes out in Japan on June 20, 2019.

The post Key’s Summer Pockets To Explore Torishirojima On Switch On June 20, 2019 appeared first on Siliconera.

Fans of Key’s visual novels may be pleased to know that Summer Pockets, its most recent release, is finding its way to more platforms. Visual Arts has announced it is immediately available for Apple iOS devices. The Android version is in development. In adddition, Ryokutya2089 has noted that the most recent Weekly Famitsu says it is in development for the Nintendo Switch in Japan.

The Apple iOS version of Summer Pockets is immediately available on iTunes in Japan. People can play through Shiroha’s story for free, but must pay for the other characters. Single routes, for example for other heroines like Ao, are ¥960 (~$8.50) each. There are four of these. Someone can also pay ¥4,000 (~$36) to get the full game.

The Android and Nintendo Switch versions of Summer Pockets do not yet have release dates. Visual Arts noted the Android adaptation is “in preparation” and will appear on Google Play. The Nintendo Switch version will be published by Prototype and appear in Spring 2019.

A fan-translated version of the PV was put together by Kazamatsuri, and you can see it here.

Summer Pockets is immediately available on the PC in Japan.

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VisualArts has taken to Twitter to share its first localization survey. The VisualArts Localization Survey 2018 takes about 10 to 15 minutes and offers people an opportunity to provide insight that might help the company determine which visual novels could be released outside of Japan.

The VisualArts Localization Survey 2018 starts by asking people which Key visual novels they have played, with options like AIR, CLANNAD, Kanon, Little Busters! and Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet. After that, it asks about Key anime series. It also eventually asks about people’s interest in Key-related social games like Angel Beats! Operation Wars, Key Collection, Little Busters! Card Mission and Rewrite IgnisMemoria.

When the survey gets into Key titles, Summer Pockets is mentioned often, even before the question where it gauges interest in playing the game. It also asks if people want to see AIR, Kanon and Kud Wafter. Later, a question asks what features people want to see in English releases, with things like achievements, an English glossary of Japanese , minigame leaderboards, Japanese voice acting and HD artwork mentioned.

Some non-Key games are also brought up. VisualArts asks if people would be interested in seeing games like Floral Flowlove, Gakuen Heaven, Gin’iro Haruka Hanasaki Work Spring!, Hatsuyuki Sakura, Karumaruka Circle, Natsuyume Nagisa, Polyphonica Crimson, and Polyphonica the Black. There is also a segment where people can share the titles of any three visual novels they would like to see localized.

Key and VisualArt’s Summer Pockets will be released in Japan on June 29, 2018.

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VisualArts’ U.S. Twitter has posted the cast listing for Summer Pockets, Key’s next visual novel. Tomomi Mineuchi will be Kamome Kushima, Konomi Kohara is Shiroha Naruse, Emiri Iwai is going to be Tsumugi Wenders and Natsumi Takamori will be Ao Sorakado.

As a reminder, here are some past roles the actresses have played.

• Tomomi Mineuchi (Kamome) played Eiko Tokura in Slow Start and Yae Sakura in Yakiniku-ten Sengoku.
• Konomi Kohara (Shiroha) played Kokoa in The Irregular at Magic High School the Movie: The Girl Who Summons the Stars and Akane Tachibana in Classroom of the Elite.
• Emiri Iwai (Tsumugi) played Kasumi Haruno in Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head Kidou Kyukyu Keisatsu.
• Natsumi Takamori (Ao) played Miku Maekawa in The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls, Maron Yanagiwara in High School Fleet, Maco in Alice or Alice and Ariza in Granblue Fantasy.

While VisualArts’ U.S. has tweeted about Summer Pockets, it currently does not have a worldwide release date. As a reminder, this is a visual novel about a young man who comes to Torishirojima Island after his grandmother’s death and meets four young women.

Summer Pockets will come to the PC in Japan on June 29, 2018.

The post Voice Actresses For Key’s Summer Pockets Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

The next Key and VisualArt’s game has a release date. Summer Pockets will arrive on PCs in Japan on June 29, 2018. The visual novel will follow a young man named Hairi Takahara as he heads to the small Torishirojima island to grieve after losing his grandmother and finds himself presented with the opportunity to get to know four young women named Ao Sorakado, Kamome Kushima, Shiroha Naruse, and Tsumugi Wenders.

Key’s Jun Maeda, who people may from Kanon, Air, Clannad, Little Busters!, and Angel Beats!, came up with the concept, but is not writing it. Na-Ga, Key’s artist who worked on Kanon, Air, Clannad, Litle Busters! and Angel Beats!, is doing the character designs and is one of the people providing art for Summer Pockets.

Summer Pockets has not been confirmed for a worldwide release.

The post Key’s Summer Pockets Releasing On June 29, 2018 appeared first on Siliconera.