Review of Laid-Back Camp: The Movie

In the opening act of the final episode of the 1st season, we see the Yuru Camp girls all grown up, with Rin arriving on her grandpa's motorcycle and Aki taking on the mantle of Miss Chug. Everything looks realistic until the punch line where Nadeshiko arrives on a rocket-powered tent. "Hey, maybe this is how we'll end up in 10 years?" "BS." Evidently someone saw this and said, "Hold that thought. No, not the rocket tent, that's absurd." You get a taste of what the research and animation teams are capable of when the film starts with Shochiku's towering Mt. Fuji signature card and fadesinto a shot of Mt. Fuji at the exact same angle. It would have been much easier to trace or re-render Shochiku's Mt. Fuji, but because our intrepid heroines often camp where the sacred peak is visible, it was fitting that the studio found the exact same spot and drew it in their own style. While the characters are based on Afro's style, the backgrounds are of impeccable quality. After a scene where the girls look forward to what they might be capable of when they're no longer limited by age restrictions, the opening song by Asaka fires up, transporting us 10 years into a day in Rin's life as a magazine columnist.

The series has always been slice-of-life with a nod towards realism, but the film's central theme is "freedom, limitations, and revival". The opening act had the girls ready to embrace the freedom adulthood brings, while the film's events show them that for various reasons they can't do whatever they want. Sometimes they don't have the resources to make something happen. Sometimes Japan's shrinking population forces the issue. Sometimes a better cause gets priority for government funds and policies. Even though no one is harmed in this film (except maybe a 1990s-era robot), these adversities make the film all the more believable, and the solutions the girls come up with track with the feel of the show perfectly.

The other thing that makes it believable are the characters and the performances by the main cast. For the most part the glimpse of the future we saw in season 1 was carried over to inform the performances, but making sure to include what they've learned in season 2.

This time the big how-to narrated by Grandpa Shima is how to build a campground, in a corner of Yamanashi called Takaori. Its conversion into a campground parallels a real-life conversion story, and both were used to promote one another. While much of the dirty details are omitted, and the story takes a good deal of artistic license, if someone wants to turn an abandoned community site into a campground, this film isn't a bad place to start.

The soundtrack is what happens when Akiyuki Tateyama gains access to a full orchestra, which gives him the flexibility to start small with the Takaori theme using only a handful of instruments, almost going away completely when the project seems doomed to fail, and bringing in everyone for a rousing buildup to the climax. Personally I like his take on bluegrass and folk and there's a little of that here too, but you won't hear the stuff from the TV series except as small reprises.

This is a worthy coda to the Yuru Camp story, and yet a great way to keep the series going until the 3rd season.