Laid-Back Camp Season 2

Episode 5

The Laid-Back Camp B-team prepares for camping and takes center stage in this week's episode. It's an ensemble-driven cast, but let's be real: Nadeshiko and Rin are the main characters, while Aki, Aoi, and Ena exist chiefly to bounce off the contrasting personalities of our leads. Still, every dog has their day, and in the case of Chikuwa, sometimes that dog also has his own upsettingly adorable doggo-sized tent. The trailhead might be a bit different than usual, but the fundamental appeal of Laid-Back Camp continues to lead the audience into cozy times with chill girls amidst grandiose natural wonders. And caribous wearing puffy vests.

Aki's the ringleader of this particular excursion, which makes for an interesting dynamic considering she's the most brazenly chaotic member of the bunch. Aoi's no saint herself; she embraces a subtler chaos and frequently weaponizes it against the hapless Nadeshiko. With their bubbly pink companion predisposed at her new job, however, Aoi's the one who has to take the reins of the straight man to Aki's antics. It's understandable, albeit a little disappointing for someone who enjoys her weird machinations as much as I enjoy her eyebrows. Ena, meanwhile, just seems happy to be there and go along with the proverbial ride while Rin has to stay back and work the bookstore. She's the kind of person who can get along with pretty much anyone, transmuting their potentially awkward B-team arrangement into another pleasant and relaxing time.

Unsurprisingly, Aki exudes unwarranted confidence and just barely lucks into keeping her plan together, but I can't bring myself to criticize her too harshly. I'm terrible at planning trips, yet I've also been undeservedly blessed by the itinerary gods on more than one occasion. It actually happened a lot on my 2019 trip to Japan. The small office where the girls purchase their bus tickets reminds me of a very similar office in Himeji where I ended up buying an impulsive round trip up Shoshazan, which also involved some unfairly serendipitous bus timing. I really like that Laid-Back Camp spends time on these extremely mundane moments, as I find my own sense of nostalgia frequently resonates loudest with the most boring details. To a certain extent, I think what's what iyashikei is all about.

This week's highlighted destination is Lake Yamanaka, another of the much-vaunted Fuji Five Lakes. We actually don't even get to the camping part, but that doesn't stop Laid-Back Camp from spicing up the preamble with its usual audiovisual sauce. The backgrounds this week in particular look painterly to the point of being photorealistic. At times, they're almost too good and don't quite mesh with the anime character blobs in the foreground, but the series' compositing game remains mostly on-point. I mean, this isn't EX-ARM we're talking about. The many views of Fuji are lovely, and even the sporting goods store (which is definitely NOT modeled after the Montbell in the exact same location) looks lively and colorful. I must also give my regards to the translator for their inspired use of “glomp” here—no other word so accurately communicates the girls' feelings towards that caribou.

Speaking of feelings, the least surprising development this week is everyone's mutual realization that they want Nadeshiko to be their wife. Even with her presence diminished to a series of texts, her hot pot enthusiasm easily infects all parties involved. I can also certainly relate, because a good portion of every Laid-Back Camp episode basically points a hunger-inducing laser beam right at my stomach. It's able to take something as mundane as ice cream and infuse it with the pleasantly cool contrast of a post-hot spring treat. On the other side of the coin, I didn't know anything about kiritanpo before, and now I'm looking at recipes online and thinking about making them on the grill. The nabe master Nabeshiko (more like Nabesthiko am I right?) is a culinary force to be reckoned with, and I wouldn't be surprised if the series ends with her at the happy center of a big lesbian camping polycule.

Aki, Aoi, and Ena end their journey this week at Cape Ohmama (insert Johnny Bravo voice here), and next week will presumably pick up with the camping itself. While this is a fun episode, it lacks one of the big magic moments that this season has excelled at delivering up to this point. That's a smaller complaint than it sounds, because Laid-Back Camp's consistent pleasantness is what I'd consider its primary draw. Anything on top of that is icing on the cake, but it's still nice to see the anime reach for something a bit more communal with the spectacle of nature. And I suppose you could argue that it does do that this week with its hilarious and horrifying epilogue. Oh, you thought the talking pinecones were a cute little affect? Well, we regret to inform you that those pinecones can feel pain. Maybe think about that the next time you need some kindling.

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Laid-Back Camp is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is thinking about those eggs. Please direct all egg and egg-related inquiries towards his Twitter