In my preliminary review early on I said that there was not a single bad thing I could say about this anime. Now that this series had ended I can say with complete and honest sincerity that that statement hasn't changed one bit. While I do have one minor complaint, which I'll get to later, it's not enough to bring this down this gem of a show.
EASY TO UNDERSTAND
Yuru Camp is an anime that appeals to anyone who enjoys camping and the outdoors in general. Even in an age where just about everything is now digital, the old -fashioned ways of the outdoors going all the way to the beginning of mankind still resonates with us, and that's exactly what this show does well through its animation. It shows the beauty of the outside world around us and how camping, whether solo or with friends and family, can be memorable experience even when the hard work may be required.
The fact that it also goes into detail of what to do(and not to do) on a camping trip and the things you could do to make it more memorable is also a nice touch for this series. In addition you learn quite a few things, including stuff you never knew about. For example, the Canadian/Scandinavian style camp fire is something is something I never knew about even in my Boy Scout days. As I mentioned before, the level of attention to detail is nothing short of astounding.
EASY TO FOLLOW
While the animation and the attention to detail are to be met with high praise, it's really the characters that make this show so enjoyable to watch. From a energetic air head to a teacher with a drinking habit, they all represents ourselves when it comes to the joy of camping.
The story itself is easy enough for it's a story of a group of young ladies of different backgrounds and personalities who form a special bond by sharing one thing: The Great Outdoors, especially for the first two girls you see in the opening episode.
Nadeshiko herself is one those characters you just can't get enough of for she has a habit of making everything and not just camping more enjoyable that it should be. Even if you find her annoying you can never truly hate her because she'll make you smile and laugh no matter what. Rin Shima on the other hand is more of a kuudere character since she doesn't socialize much at school and she when she goes camping she usually goes solo.
It's through Nadeshiko's energetic personality that causes Rin to open up more and to explore new things about camping, especially with others instead of just going by herself. Seeing their friendship grow from a simple understanding to a very close bond was the biggest highlight of this show when you consider how different they were when they first met.
The other characters are also fun to watch. Chiaki represents the character who always makes the most out things no matter how difficult or impossible it seems, Aoi being the easy going and always down to Earth character, and Ena is the rich girl who doesn't get out much but is always willing to learn new things, such as camping.
My only real complaint, as I mentioned earlier, is the teacher character. It's not the character herself that was the problem for she was fun to watch with her hilarious drinking habits, it's the way she was handled in this series. I feel that the anime should have brought her into the story an episode or two sooner than they did. The fact that they brought her in so late makes me wonder if she was a last minute addition to the cast for she wasn't given enough time to properly develop. In the end, she ends up being nothing more than a character only put in for comedic purposes and not adding anything to the story. But as I said before this one one complaint isn't enough to bring this show down in any significant manner.
EASY TO CARE ABOUT
As a writer myself, I follow a very specific motto: KEEP IT SIMPLE. And that's exactly what this anime did. It kept it simple. It would have been very easy for the studio to force in some kind of pointless drama, like one of the characters getting seriously hurt, or forcing in some equally pointless romance, like adding random boys to the cast or teasing us with Yuri(like what Slow Start). But it didn't, instead the studio stayed focused on the what the main premise of this anime is all about, and I cannot thank C-Station enough for the fantastic work they've done for this anime.
CONCLUSION
Yuru Camp gets a solid 10 from me. It may seem like a generous score but its the honest truth. It does bug me, however, that some people find this show boring because nothing "big" happened or that they outright despise it because they think that a show that needs to explain everything is insulting their intelligence. Well, I have three questions for those people.
Why are you here?
What exactly where you expecting out of this anime?
Why the hell do you care so much?
I understand that Slice Of Life anime isn't for everyone, especially for a niche genre such as this but I have to ask: SO WHAT? The fact that they're making such a big issue out of it makes me question their intelligence.
Yuru Camp may not be a masterpiece in a literally sense or a entertaining perspective, but it was never meant to be. It was done to be to be it's own thing. It knew what is was and it shined from start to finish. And that's exactly why I say this anime is a masterpiece. So if any of you ever go camping again, especially with others, watch this anime with because it is a perfect example of what camping is: Creating memories that will last a lifetime.
I'm DirectorK and until next time, stay tuned!
