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Laid-Back Camp
Episode 8

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 8 of
Laid-Back Camp ?
Community score: 4.2

If I could change one thing about Laid-Back Camp, I'd like it to take a little less time off after every outing. This episode steers clear of anything that could be considered a campground, starting instead with a return to the high school. Chiaki shows off some new (and conspicuously low-budget) cooking gear to Aoi, then drafts her into helping season a freshly purchased skillet. Then it's off to a specialty camping shop, where the members of the Outclub check out plenty of fancy equipment and agonize over their perpetual lack of funds. After a quick side trip for snacks, both the characters and the series call it a day.

Last week's episode essentially turned the series into “The Rin and Nadeshiko Show,” so it's a nice change of pace to see Aoi and Chiaki get some screentime. The skillet scene is a good fit for their particular chemistry, with Aoi providing plenty of bemused reactions to Chiaki's fired-up antics. It feels like they're deliberately setting up jokes for one another, especially with Chiaki's extended reveal of the new cooking gear. That back-and-forth style of comedy reinforces the idea that the two of them are old friends, giving the scene a relaxed and conversational atmosphere. It'll take some more development before they're able to carry a full episode on their own, but a shorter segment like this works quite nicely.

Between seasoning the skillet and browsing the outdoor shop, this episode goes pretty heavy on the camping trivia. Laid-Back Camp presents most of this in its usual style: commentary and reactions from the characters are mixed in with the narrator's monologues, and there are plenty of jokes about how the Outclub is desperately underfunded. It's all fine for what it is, though I'd lean toward calling it more informative than entertaining. There's also some sightseeing to be done in the neighborhood around the shop, which should work for a broader audience than the equipment-related trivia.

My issue with most of this is that is leans away from Laid-Back Camp's strong points. This series has been at its best when the characters are at an actual campsite, taking in the scenery and having the occasional moment of insight or personal connection. Without that “great outdoors” magic, this episode feels kind of bland. It's more in line with what I'd expect from a mediocre slice-of-life series, with the main characters munching on sweets and talking shop about the writer's favorite subject. As easy as that can be to watch in the moment, nothing about it feels special or memorable. Laid-Back Camp has proven that it can do better than just meeting the minimum standards of its genre. Combined with a slight dip in character animation quality, this episode's low narrative ambition puts it a step below what I've come to expect from the series.

So this isn't so much a bad episode as it is a forgettable one. The characters remain as charming as ever, and the script does at least drop some hints about a future outing with the whole cast camping together. There's nothing here that I'd call an outright bad call. For a middling slice-of-life show, it might be just fine. Unfortunately for Laid-Back Camp (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), it's a little too good at what it does to just underachieve. Here's hoping the series can get out of this little holding pattern and turn back toward its strengths next week.

Rating: B-

Laid-Back Camp is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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