Yuru Camp△ – 07 – Good Neighbors

The identity of Cool Campin’ Gramps is quickly revealed: he’s Rin’s grandfather, which makes sense as Rin must’ve caught the camping bug from him. It also explains why Rin has a loop-style tent rather than the commercially ubiquitous sleeve-style; we learn it’s a hand-me-down from her gramps. As for camping, she’s been doing it since her first year of middle school.

Rin and Nadeshiko have the lakeside to themselves but for one other couple: a friendly young lad (or possibly lass) with a wealth of fancy cooking gear and a woman in a hoodie surrounded by cans of beer and flanked by twin bottles of rum. While walking around to take some photos, Nadeshiko introduces herself but doesn’t pry too much, assuming they’re a couple couple and repsecting their privacy.

Nadeshiko returns to find Rin surrounded by a dark miasma—she’s used all of her firestarter but has no fire to show for it. Turns out starting her new grill isn’t as easy as the videos indicated. Nadeshiko immediately proves her value and asks the lad she met earlier to help them out. He lends them a couple instant-light briquettes to get the more fussy Binchoutan coals going.

They thank their camping neighbor and start cooking immediately, starting with grilled skewers and haddock hot pot. We learn from their conversation that the woman accompanying the lad is his older sister, who will soon start work as a high school teacher. If it’s at Rin and Nadeshiko’s school, I can see her ending up the Outclub’s faculty advisor…she’s certainly got Laid-Back down!

As thanks for helping them start their fire, the girls head back to their neighbors to offer some of their completed food, and the lad in turn offers some of his jambalaya, as too much was made for just two. The older sister offers rum, but her brother asks them to ignore her. They’re both pleasantly surprised by the high schoolers cooking skills.

After stuffing themselves on skewers, kalbi, and Hamburg steak, Rin uses the still-glowing coals to start a little wood fire to warm their bones before bed. Rin then learns Nadeshiko is originally from a town near Hamamatsu, where she had a view of Fuji-san, but he was tiny. The day they moved to Yamanashi, she fells asleep in the car and missed a much closer view, which is why she biked up to the campground where she and Rin met.

Now we know that were it not for Nadeshiko’s nodding off, they wouldn’t have met at Lake Motosu and had that lovely first taste of camping together that they’re now fully realizing. The hour grows late, and Rin starts nodding off first, so she heads into her tent, refusing to let Nadeshiko sleep with her as it would be too crowded. I dunno…it looks pretty roomy in there!

After sharing some face lotion with Nadeshiko, knowing from experience what campfire dries out the skin, Rin turns in, but thanks Nadeshiko through the tent for inviting her to go camping. Next time, she’ll be the one to invite her.

Rin wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and is rewarded with a gorgeous and serene view of the lake at night. All of Nadeshiko’s talk about the bull oni that sometimes appears on the lake causes Rin to mistake the drunk, vomiting sister for the oni, causing her to  freak out and book it back to the campsite.

And so, even though Rin wouldn’t let Nadeshiko sleep in her tent, a spooked Rin ends up slipping into Nadeshiko’s. The next morning, Nadeshiko wakes up first, notices Rin is there, and rolls herself over so they’re closer together, in what could be the cutest moment of the show to date. Once they’re both up and ready to break camp, Rin elects to go back the way they came, while Nadeshiko rents a boat to get to the other side. To each their own!

Talk of bull oni aside, this was a particularly laid-back and relaxing Yuru Camp. Other than the brief scene with Rin’s mom and granddad it’s just Rin and Nadeshiko plus their amenable camping neighbors. With their chemistry, there was never any doubt that Rin and Nadeshiko would make great camping companions. I also tend to agree with Rin that while all camping locations have their charms, there’s no substitute for the unique coziness of a wooded lakeside.