First college, now this darn crazy weather as of late has delayed this post much farther than I anticipated…
Anyway, we start this batch of episodes with Nadeshiko and Rin beginning their trip to Lake Shibire in earnest. It’s neat to finally see the two on board with camping from the start. In the past, it’s been Nadeshiko paying Rin a surprise visit, be it intentional or unintentional. The chemistry between these two remains really charming. It’s a simple hyperactive personality playing off with a more stoic one but it works really well here. Episode 7 is full of some great moments with these two, particularly when a scared Rin opts to sleep besides Nadeshiko despite insisting that they sleep in separate tents earlier.
There’s another moment in Episode 9 that showcases how they are good friends. That episode had Nadeshiko ill and stuck in bed but she nevertheless wanted to be a part of Rin’s latest adventure, offering to take the role of a “Navi”. Even though Rin points out that it’s the 21st century and everybody has phones with GPS, she still indulges in the offer as a way to be a good friend. I was expecting Rin to get really annoyed with Nadeshiko but much like how the latter is flexible about the former’s more antisocial tendencies, Rin is willing to play along with her friend’s hyper personality.
While I really like this duo, I do feel as though the other main characters get sidelined pretty often. Clearly, Laid-Back Camp felt the same way since they dedicated Episode 8 to those characters. I actually forgot Ena (and her dog for that matter) were a part of this show. Was she and her dog napping in her bedroom this whole time? I don’t want to harp on this because the stuff with Nadeshiko and Rin has been really good but I do think it’s a shame that the rest of the cast haven’t gotten much attention. I do like how Chiaki and Aoi are eternally broke and Ena’s straight man personality plays off against Rin’s antisocial tendencies nicely. Hopefully, that big Christmas trip this show is now building up to will fix this. We even saw the scene as the cold opening of Episode 1 so it’s pretty much inevitable.
Before I finish this post and proceed to the “Other Thoughts” column, I just want to give some more praise to Rin’s character. I suppose this can be read as me declaring Rin as Best Girl…and by all means, fight me on this. But in all seriousness, I really adore how Laid-Back Camp has painted Rin’s preference to camping solo in a positive light. All of her adventures in Episode 9, for example, were depicted as cathartic and entertaining for her (yes Rin, buy the little dog figurine). Even as she grows more flexible with having company, she still clearly gets a kick out of doing things by herself. Sharing your interests with friends is great but there’s also nothing inherently wrong with preferring to enjoy them on your own and Laid-Back Camp completely gets that. Maybe Rin will become a part of the Outdoors Activities Club but one thing this show has made crystal clear is that how she’s enjoying her hobby is perfectly fine as well.
Other Thoughts:
- Man, seeing Rin’s grandfather really explains a lot about Rin herself. The same can also be said about Nadeshiko’s family.
- I imagine that drunk lady will play bigger role in this story. I’ve seen enough CGDCT anime to know that a club needs a faculty supervisor.
- I’m thoroughly convinced the creator of Laid-Back Camp loves dogs. Not that I’m complaining though. If you had to pick a visual gag, dogs are a good choice.
- Of course nobody in the club buys anything at that sporting goods store….
- I kind of love how Episode 9 interrupts “Shiny Days” to accentuate Rin’s bad luck when it comes to finding open roads.
- I had to pause the video when it’s revealed that Chiaki pretended be Nadeshiko for a bit. That might be my favorite joke in the show so far.
- Rin definitely needs to talk to a psychologist about that dream she had.
Thanks for reading!
Laid-Back Camp is officially available on Crunchyroll.
For all of my Episode Reviews for Laid-Back Camp, check out the show’s archive page!
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