Summer Pockets: Season 1 Episode 14 – Recap and Review
In what might be the final episode of Ao’s arc, a familiar ending could undercut the highs Ao brought back to Summer Pockets.
Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Episode 14 “Dawn Memories” Details
- Available On: Crunchyroll
- Public Release Date: July 7, 2025
- Director(s): Shinichi Tatsuta
- Writer(s): Visual Arts
Episode 14 “Dawn Memories” Recap (With Spoilers)
Exchanging One For The Other: Ao, Ai, Takahara
Unfortunately, no sooner than Ai wakes up, Ao ends up going to sleep. This sucks for Takahara since one of the obstacles of his potential relationship with Ao was Ai being in a coma, but this situation does allow Takahara to get to know Ai, and she doesn’t like him. Mind you, Ao has said nothing bad about him, but maybe it is jealousy, potentially being tired of hearing about him, or just an older sister, even if by minutes, thinking no one is good enough for her younger sister.
Either way, Takahara visits daily, and Ai sees his commitment and hears her sister talk about Takahara in her sleep, so she warms up to him.
A Promise For Forever: Ao, Ai, Takahara
But, after a few days, Ai does wake up, and Takahara keeps seeing the Shichieichou butterflies around her. She asks to be taken to the Mayoi Tachibana to send these butterflies on their way, and Inari joins them.
However, before going to the tree, being that this is one of the last days Ao expects to be awake, she has Takahara give her a piggyback ride through town, seeing everyone, before they head into the mountain. There, a huge amount of Schichieichou comes from the core of Ao’s being, including one that contains her own memories. Takahara runs to catch it, and in touching it, he sees how Ao fell in love with him.
With that, he promises to get a job and visit every weekend until the next summer to get Ao’s butterfly back to her, and Ai promises to get her strength up to help and pay back her sister for looking for her memories all these years.
The End Of The Arc?: Umi, Takahara, Ao
This leads to the end credit scenes of Takahara living up to his promise and us seeing Umi which means, likely this is the end of this arc and now we’re left to wonder if we’re finally getting to Shiroha, or if Miki (Nomura) may become prominent, since it appears this is going to be a 20+ episode season likely.
Links
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Review and Commentary
Highlights
Overall, A Good Arc [83/100]
Ao’s arc revived our interest in Summer Pockets, and it is hard to fathom how it will handle giving the baton to someone else. Shiroha feels overdue, but so does revealing more about Umi, who clearly has a story behind the bits and pieces we’ve seen.
In fact, it would be a welcome change of pace, for while we have gotten a sense of who Takahara’s family is, with his grandmother made notable in this arc, Umi and his aunt remain a mystery. For one, was his aunt working with his (Takahara’s) parents to get him away from whatever was going on at school? Is that why he was lured to the island to help his aunt, who never asks him to spend a day or an hour helping?
Heck, when it comes to Umi, what is she running for or towards? Reading the Wikipedia page spoiled that a bit for us, but not all anime end up being direct adaptations of their source material, or games, so who knows if they may follow the same footsteps? All I know is, there is a good chance things remain on the up and up as we enter the second half of the show, and a new girl becomes the focus of Takahara’s summer.
Overall
Our Overall Rating [83/100]
With it appearing the Ao arc has come to an end, so comes the hope that we won’t experience another stumble, but the show will move full steam ahead as it introduces the next young lady for Takahara to focus his summer on. Maybe this time without a bittersweet ending.
Check Out Our Past Coverage Of This Series
Summer Pockets: Season 1 Episode 20 – Recap and Review
Umi’s arc continues to be a bit of a struggle to watch, especially as it rehashes parts of Shiroha’s storyline, which we just saw.
Summer Pockets: Season 1 Episode 19 – Recap and Review
Big reveals come from Umi that shift her dynamic with Shiroha and Takahara.
Summer Pockets: Season 1 Episode 18 – Recap and Review
Umi gets featured, and the way things start out may make you wonder the truth about her and Takahara’s origins.
