Laid-Back Camp (Season 3) – Ep. 7

At long last, Season 3 begins its second major adventure. I admit that I am biased with the main cast of Laid-Back Camp. I much prefer watching Rin and Nadeshiko go camping over anyone else. That said, I still like Chiaki, Aoi, and Ena and their trip in Season 2 was fun so I was still looking forward to this trip. It also has been a while since these three last appeared in a major capacity so this season was bound to rectify that at some point.

So offscreen, the Outclub has apparently procured some firewood for themselves with Toba-sensei. All they need to do now is chop them down. I really shouldn’t be stunned at seeing Nadeshiko chop wood just fine, even being better than Chiaki and Aoi. She did use Rin’s billhook a couple of episodes ago. But I don’t know, watching her with anything potentially dangerous amuses me. While the girls are chopping the wood, Chiaki reveals that she, Aoi, and Ena all went on a trip parallel to Nadeshiko, Rin, and Ayano’s. Their trip had them traveling by bus, with Mount Mizugaki Natural Park as their destination.

Things start to get weird from here. In lieu of a standard flashback with a narration, the trip is presented more as a recreation of itself. Chiaki, Aoi, and Ena go through the beats that they’re expected to recount but they actively break the fourth wall, acknowledging that they’re recounting the trip and directly interacting with Nadeshiko as she comments on the trip. Some details are also apparently embellished, the most notable being the inclusion of Chikuwa, whom Ena didn’t actually bring, as well as a new dog named Hanpen. It’s as if the weirdness of the OVAs has seeped into the main show.

I kind of get the reasoning behind this approach. Laid-Back Camp is, overall, 32 episodes in. At this point, it may need to mix things up a little. This approach also allows for a stronger interaction between the past and present scenes, especially for Nadeshiko since she’d otherwise be absent from the scenes set in the past. There are however some aspects that don’t add up. Like, Chiaki has Nadeshiko stay in her own square to avoid screwing up the space time continuum but that doesn’t make any sense since we’re technically watching a recount anyway. I also don’t get Ena adding in Chikuwa and Hanpen as Ena herself isn’t actually with Chiaki and Aoi in the present to tell the story. What, is Ena beyond Chiaki and Aoi’s control even in their memories? I guess that’s in-character but how does that even work?

I also harp on this element because honestly, I find the episode to be at its most enjoyable when it’s playing things straight as per usual. All the different vistas the girls check out, all the banter between them, all the screw ups along the way. That’s where Laid-Back Camp‘s strengths lie. Nadeshiko constantly interjecting and causing Chiaki and Aoi remember things differently is pretty funny but I would’ve preferred it if the trip was presented in the normal fashion. Admittedly, I’m not too bothered with the inclusion of Chikuwa and Hanpen but they are cute dogs. Of course, I wouldn’t bat an eye over them.

One last thing to note is that the Outclub is planning a trip during spring break, in order to see the cherry blossoms. They of course invite Rin, who agrees to give it some thought. This is presumably the big group trip to cap off the season. We won’t get to it immediately however as next episode is part two of this current adventure with the Outclub ft. Ena. It’s been dawning on me that, in-universe, the winter season is coming to an end. I wonder if the plot will then transition to summer camping or if it’ll do a time skip over to the next winter.

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