As a refined version it felt very underwhelming, but looking at all the dialogue and small quests all around the islands made me realize that the writers were given freedom and had fun doing jokes and dialogue.
>A chef was late to work because he got stuck in his home door due to being fat
>Freedom of the press whoring reporter that appears a few times
>Suprisingly mature or risky jokes/lines of dialogue
>Just blatantly saying that you should collect pyukumuku from sand on the beach or they DIE
>A scene where a malasada worker sings their advertisement and everyone in the joint is cringing

These small things add up and make a less traditional region feel very comfy honestly.