The English title is “Laid-back Camp”.
If you read any of my earlier posts about Encouragement of Climb, you’ve already got the vibe of this show down. Cute girls doing cute things in the outdoors, and in this case, it is winter camping. Here the eps are a full 23 minutes instead of 12 or even just 3.
Sort of spoilers follow.
We have three girls in the Outdoors Activities Club, (Nadeshiko Kagamihara, Aoi Inuyama, and Chiaki Oogaki) one girl who joins a little later, (Ena Saitou) and one girl who is already camping solo and initially not interested in joining a group (Rin Shima).
Nadeshiko and Rin are really the two leads. The two meet when Nadeshiko rides her
bicycle into a rural area on a cold day and is unwilling to ride back. She has forgotten her cell phone and Rin allows her to use hers to call home and to hang out at her camp while she waits. She later convinces Rin to go camping with her, Other times she and the Outdoor Activities Club go camping on their own. Nade is a spark plug while Rin is laid back and contemplative.
The characters are drawn in a more girlish style than you would expect for first years in high school but not nearly as girlish as those in Encouragement. (Those girls looked like elementary schoolers.) The art is ok with a few especially nice scenes. There is nothing much in the way of fan service unless you get heated up over the obligatory hot springs scene and even that is pretty tame.
Another commonality with Encouragement is the explicit instruction on the finer points of camping, sometimes by Chiaki but most often by a male narrator. I find this to be a good thing. This is an anime I’d want young girls to watch to inspire them to step out and experience the outdoors. Even grownups mess up on the most basic stuff like this.
I do have to hand it to Rin. Riding a motorbike is cold work if you don’t have the proper clothing and that sure didn’t look like cold weather motorbiking gear. She is the cute girl doing difficult things here. I’ve also ridden in freezing temperatures and even with leather and thermal undies I was frigid.
I appreciate her desire to be alone. I appreciate the apparent desolation of the places she goes. Other people often detract from the experience.
There are people who see yuri here. Or at least shoujo-ai. I’m not seeing any romantic feelings at all, let alone sexuality.
If you don’t care for the cute girls doing cute things genre, you won’t like it. Myself, it tickles all those paternal instincts. I could totally imagine my own daughter doing this back when she was 15. I definitely give Yuru camp two thumbs up.
September 10, 2021 at 06:48
One of my favorites. I am a big wuss for Cute girls doing cute things together. Being a wilderness backpacker for quite a long time, although the girls are going car camping, still many of the lessons are very important. Very important to insulate from the ground. Even with the heaviest bag, the cold ground will penetrate so one needs to sleep on a mat. Winter camping is very challenging and is somewhat like desert camping in that you need to be prepared. In the desert you need to know where your next water is at all times. In Winter in the mountains, you need to be prepared for heavy storms, and to avoid the cold. One mistake the girls make is to setup camp in Winter next to a large lake. Water is a heat sink. In Summer you want to setup camp next to lakes and streams, but in Winter you need to stay as far away as possible, because like in the anime, the temps drop off the chart. Although somewhat didactic, still an excellent anime!
September 10, 2021 at 13:18
We’re both wilderness fans. I used to do a lot more backpacking, then my knees went and I got old. Still try to do some significant hikes to blog about.
September 11, 2021 at 06:46
Yeah, same here! With the knees and hips I now have, I had to give it up, but very reluctantly. Actually I really miss the deep woods, way far away from anything! Nothing in our modern world sounds or smells like that!
January 13, 2019 at 08:50
I have completed the season. The last few episodes seemed like they were too food-centric. There was also a fair amount of hot springing. Is it fan service?
I am not a judge of Japanese camping culture. There may well be hot springs near most campgrounds. Especially in the winter, I would certainly take advantage of them. If it is fan service, it is pretty tame stuff.
Their advisor seemed happily alcoholic and the kids seemed ok with that. This would be problematic, IRL. But this is an anime and I don’t expect anime to conform to my values.
Is there any yuri? If you put on goggles and wish it so, you could find it. I think it would be a false positive. The entire show was almost devoid of sexuality if you discount the hot springs. (Which I do.)
The episode “Night of Navigator” was fun. I’ve driven hundreds of miles only to discover a crucial road was closed. I have driven past road-closed signs because I was near where I needed to be. I’ve also tried to put up a tent in a strong wind. It inspired me to get a different tent.
I am glad that it did not take the tack that being a lone camper was something less desirable than being a group camper.
All in all an entertaining CGDCT. Not as good as Yama no Susume (Encouragement of Climb) but still well worth watching if the genre is one you enjoy or if you are into motor camping.