A nice quiet night along a haunted lakeside. What could go wrong?
What They Say:
Episode 07: A Night on the Lake Shore and Campers
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After being driven to the campsite at Lake Shibire last episode by Nadeshiko’s older sister, Rin and Nadeshiko begin their stay there, setting up camp. There are few others (actually, only one other couple) there, so they get to enjoy the site to the fullest. Taking a little break after setting up the tents, Rin and Nadeshiko chat a little and Nadeshiko asks how Rin got into camping, learning that she got a set of camping equipment (hand-me-downs) from her grandfather when she was started middle school and that was when she started camping. This all followed the before-the-opening section where we learn that the Narrator, the old man who offered steak to Chiaki last episode, is actually Rin’s grandfather, who has a great love of the outdoors that he has passed on to Rin.
While Rin sets up the fire, Nadeshiko goes around taking pictures. While on her walk, she meets the other people staying at the campsite, a pair of siblings with one responsible one and one…drunk (but a funny one). It actually comes in handy that other people are on hand when Rin has trouble with starting the fire in her portable grill, as she’s working with a type of charcoal that she’s not used before. One of the neighboring campers, who is an adult and more experienced, helps the girls out. I’m not going to continue summarizing since the rest of the episode is just eating, a funny ghost gag, and lots and lots of iyashikei.
On the surface of things, Laid-Back Camp should not really be anything special. It’s a slice of life light comedy focusing on a bunch of high school girls (where have we seen that in anime before…oh yeah…in just about every other show) with some yuri undertones that also throws in some exposition about camping basics. There is a pretty basic pattern in that the main girls go camping just about every episode. Nothing of any great importance or life-changing significance happens. In that respect, it’s not very different from a certain other show this season that has some overlap in terms of character types and dynamics. Except in this case…it all works. It all works very, very well.
Rin and Nadeshiko are a classic Odd Couple, with the restrained and somewhat fussy Rin matched with the carefree and ditzy Nadeshiko. In this case, Rin’s initial coldness toward Nadeshiko has slowly warmed up over the course of the show in a very natural manner. Nothing forced about it. The show also has a lot of other factors going for it, including the beautiful scenery (the usual Japanese focus on Mount Fuji dominates things at times, but the scenery they are showing along the way is very impressive and is rendered in quite good detail in this production) and the mouth-watering food. If it wasn’t for the camping explanations, you could easily have mistaken this for a food-themed show. And finally, the exposition sections are done in such a way that they don’t feel like lengthy lectures. I might not be interested in camping too much myself, not being a fan of the outdoors, but I don’t find myself ever bored or wanting to jump ahead in the video when the camp facts segments come on.
As usual, we have another humorous Outdoors Activity Club segment, this time focused on Chiaki’s goal of recruiting more members…so that they can get a real clubroom, versus the storage closet they currently inhabit. The club members form an amusing trio that will probably continue if Rin might happen to join. We will see.
More camping and cooking goodness next week.
In Summary:
Rin and Nadeshiko are camping next to Lake Shibire, one of the scenic Eight Fuji Lakes of Edo times. We have the usual mixture of camping camaraderie, cooking for delicious looking food, and a little bit of light humor. Does one really need anything more?
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra
