I make it no secret that Rin is my favorite character in Laid-Back Camp so unsurprisingly, I gravitated more towards this episode than the previous one. Putting my bias aside, this episode is unique in that it has Rin trying to camp while it rains. Most of the time, the characters camp when it’s nice out (and to be fair, who wouldn’t?). There are a few rare instances where the weather is less than ideal but funnily enough, it never once involved the rain. Rin is admittedly the only one who is hardcore enough to deal with the rain but I honestly would love to see this scenario with the whole crew.
The rain-themed trip makes for a fun episode. To deal with the weather, Rin rents a tarp large enough to cover her tent and motorbike. This allows her to do some of her usual activities such as reading a book and warming up some food for herself. There are nevertheless some amusing setbacks that occur throughout the episode. Rin learns the hard way that she can’t go sightseeing unless she wants to get mud over herself. The tarp also backfires on her as the ground gets muddier and it causes the tarp to fall apart, forcing Rin to do some trial and error. It all sucks for Rin but it’s entertaining to me. You also get some other shenanigans such as Rin dreaming up an encounter with cryptids (I’m only now realizing that Rin dreams some pretty weird stuff) and her carving out a wooden spoon to impress Nadeshiko (knowing Nadeshiko, that probably is the reaction she’d give).
After calling it a night, Rin wakes up to a much clearer sky and a pretty, post-rainstorm view of Mt. Fuji. A predictable outcome but still a welcomed one. It really makes you think that Rin trudging through the rain was worth it. I’m a sucker for the wide vista shots in this show but the particular context provided by this episode does add a refreshing spin to this recurrence.
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