Laid-Back Camp Season 2

Episode 7

After last week's dance with danger, Laid-Back Camp settles back into its usual tempo of exploratory coziness with Rin and Nadeshiko's parallel solo camping adventures. The sights are exquisitely detailed, the food is sumptuously rendered, and the girls' facial rotundity could not look any squishier. There are no surprises in this episode, and one could argue that this is the entire point of Laid-Back Camp. It's honed a formula that works, and I tune in every week because I know it works as well as it does, warming and soothing its audience like a streamable kotatsu. Sometimes, I feel vulgar writing about this anime—why must I fumble around with the irregularities of words when the latest episode's pleasantly soporific effects politely insist I heed its soft gospel? Alas, someone has to write about the awe-inspiring sight of Nadeshiko's tomato-round face poised under a tomato sign that reads “I am Tomato.” Such is my yoke.

In a comically pointed contrast with the series previous (and nearly disastrous) outing, Nadeshiko's first point of order in her solo camp quest is to get as much advice as she can out of Rin. Again, the edutainment component of Laid-Back Camp is nothing new, and it has detailed the unique specifics of solo camping in prior episodes, but it's nice to have a simple and ordered list in the back of our pocket now. All of Rin's advice is sage and practical, from the safety-oriented obligations to the unobvious stuff that might make or break a campsite. Nobody wants their overnight stay ruined by a horrific public toilet, but that's also not necessarily something you'd consider in advance. Naturally, experience is the best teacher, and I'm sure Nadeshiko will run into a few snags once she gets to the campsite. You can't account for everything. However, Rin is a good resource and even better friend, and the warmth of her conversations with Nadeshiko could keep my apartment cozy throughout the winter.

While there's no actual camping this week, these touristy preambles have become just as integral and enjoyable a part of the whole laid-back experience. Having not been to these locations myself, I obviously can't speak to their authenticity, but I can say that the feel of these scenes is one rooted in the infectious pride of a friend who wants to introduce you to their favorite new restaurant (in the Before Times, anyway). I mean, I can't think of a single featured location that I haven't wanted to immediately visit myself. I don't need much, and neither do our main characters. Both Rin and Nadeshiko are perfectly content walking around an unfamiliar town, sharing pictures of the sights, and enjoying a plate of the local cuisine. Sometimes, modest pleasures are the best.

Along those lines, Laid-Back Camp's understanding and fondness of alone time continues to be one of the series' best refrains. Back in season one, I loved that nobody pressured Rin out of her solo camping predilection, and I further love that she inspires Nadeshiko to try it out herself this season. There's nothing wrong with spending time with friends, and there's also nothing wrong with spending time by oneself. I think we all have different internal calibrations for how much we need of one compared to the other, but both are important. To support this, Laid-Back Camp also frequently emphasizes social media in arguably its best possible use-case: as a way of bridging the gap between being alone and sharing your experiences with friends. A lesser version of this material, for instance, might have conflated Rin's preference for solo-camping with being anti-social, but Rin shares pictures and chats with the other girls just as much as they do. While this is a subtle component of the show, Laid-Back Camp is all about evoking those soft contours, and I really appreciate the nuance with which it approaches even the characters' friendships.

A friend reminded me of another point I've been meaning to make for a while: the fashion sense in this series is near-perfect. It's relatively rare for an anime to focus so intently on winter wear, but basically all of the outfits on all of the girls strike a wonderfully snug balance between fashion-forwardness and comfort. The colorful wool beanies and scarves, the puffy jackets, the shorts-plus-leggings combo, the practical boots—it's sensible and it looks good. This also contributes to the anime's sense of authenticity, because these are just normal clothing combinations that people wear to stay warm when it's cold out. I can't imagine what a more fantastic and fanservice-oriented version of the show might look or feel like, so I'm glad we got the one we did. I also admit that this is ironic timing on my part, considering that Sakura's bath scene towards the end is probably the closest we've gotten to “typical” fanservice in Laid-Back Camp. To paraphrase a great theologian: none of us are free of sin.

Laid-Back Camp remains remarkably consistent, and Rin's and Nadeshiko's excursions this episode invite the audience to vicariously enjoy some destination-based respite (and remind us of days when waiting in line for a restaurant was a thing). I'm also always happy to see Sakura get some screentime, and I hope her nerdy little bonding moment with Rin blossoms into a subplot of its own. Next week, the NadeRin power couple will progress to the camping portion of their parallel solo trips, and we'll find out if Nadeshiko comes to understand what Rin meant when she was talking about the pleasures of loneliness. It's not exactly a thrilling cliffhanger, but Laid-Back Camp doesn't need those when each new episode feels as nice and toasty as my favorite sweater.

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Laid-Back Camp is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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