Rin gets the spotlight all to herself so by default, this is my favorite episode of Room Camp so far. I’m not even joking.
I thought for sure that we’d get to see Rin camp again. No way would she be cooped up in her room (unlike everyone else, she has expendable income) but surely, she’d fulfill at least one half of the show’s title. But nope! In this episode, we’re catching her during one of her off days — relaxing at home and working at the bookstore (also, hooray for an Ena appearance). Do I really need to wait until Season 2 for legit camping?
This episode does have my favorite set of callbacks so far. Rin catches a horoscope that warns her to watch out for a “surprise attack and spends the day what that would look like. I love that her first guess is a pet dog she encounters in the streets. No doubt, that’s referring to that time when one hit her in the stomach (easily one of Season 1’s best gag). Her next guess is a pine cone that flew and hit her head and it amuses me that she briefly considered it to being her possible “assassin”. Maybe she thinks the pine cone is avenging the brethren she kept using for fires.
What ends up being the “assassin” is a simulacrum. Rin prepares some soup for dinner and the ingredients start to look like Nadeshiko’s face (and not going to lie, I can see the resemblance). What really sells the joke is Rin hearing Nadeshiko screaming “Rin-chan!” in her head. Yumiri Hanamori delivers the line with so much drama and desperation; it’s simply great. I also can’t help but chuckle over what this scene says about Rin and her view of Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko is arguably Rin’s best friend but evidently, her energy is still a bit much for the latter. That and/or Rin isn’t over that scare Nadeshiko gave her when they first met.
I suppose if one issue there is with this episode is that it is filler. I’m all for giving Rin her deserved screen time but since she isn’t part of the Stamp Rally, we are technically taking a detour from the main plot. In fact, if you watch the ED, you’ll notice that Nadeshiko’s stamp sheet is still at two. Looks like the show will need to group some locations together.
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Xenodude's Scribbles 
I kept expecting the “assassin” to be a dog, a callback the Chikuwa in the penultimate episode of the first series.
Most of the callbacks don’t bother me the way they seem to bother you sometimes. Camp’s structure has always rested on a slim number of gags/tropes/references/behaviors… It was so good because of the way it wove them together. I think they stand out more in the short because there’s less “filler” (bridge? interstitial?) material smoothing them out. (Filler is the wrong word, but I can’t come up with a better one offhand.)
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I wouldn’t say I’m bothered by the callbacks per se. I’ve sounded pretty positive in every post so far and even going back to the original show, I never found it unfunny. I’m more just cautious really. So much media these days love their callbacks so I get wary in general and I was expressing that concern more broadly and not specifically towards the show. I think Room Camp is actually proving me wrong in that regard.
I do agree with you that you do notice the gags more easily though. Maybe “alternatives” is a better word? You’re right, the main show did a fantastic job weaving different bits of comedy together as well as the slice of life elements. Compared to that, Room Camp feels less versatile.
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