Laid-Back Camp: The Movie

It's funny. Laid-Back Camp is a series that I didn't really see myself gravitating towards. I know for a fact that if this had come out when I was a kid, I probably wouldn't have given it a chance because I was pretty judgmental about certain things until I learned more and grew out of certain toxic mindsets. But having seen two seasons and this new movie, it's honestly kind of amazing to see that every new iteration of Laid-Back Camp not only manage to be better than their predecessor, but even expand on the series further while still staying true to its whole ethosand what makes the series work. The first season is an admittedly cute show that didn't really hit any highs and was sort of held back by its formula. The second season remedied this by expanding not only on some characters and fleshing them out more, but also throwing in some conflict while making sure it made sense in the context of the series, never trying to overly dramatize it. The Laid-Back Camp Movie, which just came out this year (And is due to be streamed on Crunchyroll in a few short days!), in my humble opinion, actually managed to surpass both in terms of pretty much everything, and I'm honestly amazed at just how wonderful a movie like this turned out to be! The movie takes place three years after the second season, but interestingly enough, the staff who made the movie expressed that the movie isn't really meant to be viewed as a continuation of the series, more like a "what-if" scenario if anything. Plus, they, with original mangaka Afro's approval and supervision, wanted to make the movie feel like a standalone film that doesn't require viewers to have seen the first two seasons of the series. Basically, our favorite Laid-Back Camp girls have grown up, graduated from high school, landed some jobs, and are moving on with their lives, but still remain good friends even if they don't have as much time to see each other as they used to. One day, Rin and Chiaki go drinking at a bar, and Chiaki, who now works at the Yamanashi Prefecture's tourism promotion organization, tells Rin about her company's plans to redevelop an abandoned facility in the prefecture. Rin offhandedly suggests making it into a campsite as a joke, but the suggestion gets Chiaki fired up, resulting in her dragging Rin all the way there so they can scope it out. After some...persuasion on Chiaki's part, Rin decides to go through with it, recruiting the rest of the girls to help out. With this, the five happy campers put on their coveralls, mow the grass, hold planning meetings, and build a campsite from scratch, in scenes reminiscent of their club days in high school. Before I get into the nitty-gritty, I'm just going to address what I feel might wind up being a point of contention for some viewers: If you're someone who prefers your movies to have fast pacing, lots going on all at once, and a lot of action, you're in the wrong place. Laid-Back Camp, at its core, has always been a slice-of-life series first and foremost, with slow, leisurely pacing and a fairly episodic structure most of the time, leaning pretty heavily into the realistic side in terms of storytelling and fleshing out its characters. Since this is a two-hour movie, and not a series of half hour episodes, some might say the movie runs too long or the story may seem too simple, bordering on tedious because of the long run time. I can understand where some people are coming from in regards to finding a slow-paced, down-to-earth movie like this to be dull in terms of its pacing and lack of huge conflicts. Earlier, I finished watching the movie Princess Arete, which, while its fairly beloved by people who like it, is also pretty infamous for having agonizingly slow pacing, even if said slow pacing was a deliberate storytelling choice—even slower than Laid-Back Camp's pacing, ironically enough—and while most movies tend to favor trying to take on too much, rush things, and think that not having constant noise or explosions will make people get bored, going too far in the opposite direction does come with its own issues. That being said, in the case of LBC, I personally disagree, firstly because the movie's slow pacing isn't indicative of its quality, but more because of the show's laid-back approach, and because there's a lot of care put into not just the animation but the depth of its storytelling, even down to how it approaches its themes of adult responsibilities. Plus, Laid-Back Camp Movie isn't interested in trying to do too much and be too dramatic, preferring a more subtle, nuanced, understated approach to its story, which is good because this is a franchise that never called for any unnecessary melodrama. Nobody bursts into overly dramatic crying fits when they face an obstacle, there's no villain to defeat, and any issues the characters face are all tackled in a down-to-earth, realistic manner, with the characters reacting to them in ways that people in real life can relate to. All of these things add a whole new layer of realism to the series, allowing it to really shine like no other. All of this is reflected in the show's strong character writing, which to me helps mitigate the movie's slow pacing. Our favorite happy campers become adults and have jobs now, giving them a lot more freedom to do what they need to as opposed to them being stuck in high school, but the writers were careful to keep their overall personalities and characterization in tact while still allowing them to grow and mature as people. To quote another review, adult responsibilities are a big theme of the movie, but it's not equated to a loss of passion, nor is the transition from childhood to adulthood played up as this huge, dramatic, super life-changing thing that makes everything different the second it happens, like other media tend to portray it to be. I also like a lot of the more unexpected directions the writers took with the characters in terms of their jobs and what they managed to accomplish, yet they still manage to be not only refreshing compared to other moe series, but actually give more depth to the characters than previously shown. I mean, did anybody expect Nadeshiko of all people to get a license to use a friggin' excavator machine and be able to use power tools, and actually be really good at them? It's so out of nowhere, yet not only do these details make sense for the core story, but also help to make Nadeshiko feel more than just a cutesy pink-haired moeblob, with more depth to her than...say, Yui from K-On. The other characters are given this treatment as well, and it just works wonderfully. Also, the idea of Ena working at a pet salon is just adorable, and makes sense considering she has a dog that she dotes on. The animation and music are also pretty top-tier as well, and I don't think I need to repeat myself on that front. There is one detail that really confuses me: Akari is said to be going to an art school, but whenever I think of art school, I think of college or a high school that specializes in art. If you take into account the fact that Akari is in elementary school when we first meet her in the series, and this movie taking place three years after the second season, it also seemed like they were trying to imply that she somehow got into high school within three years. Granted, Japanese middle schools go for three years as opposed to America's four, so maybe the movie was trying to say that Akari just started high school or is in middle school during the movie. For a second I thought the movie was implying that Akari got into college within three years, but I know that's impossible. I do wish the movie was just a bit more clear on what grade level Akari is in during the movie, rather than just saying she's in an art school. That's really the only issue I had with the Laid-Back Camp Movie as a whole. The past few years have been pretty great for anime movies, not just ones based on popular IPs, but even original ones as well. Most of the time, anime movies are just lazy recaps of their main series or take too little risks out of fear of angering their fanbase. Thankfully, there are plenty of movies, both original and based on IPs, that really try to explore their own ideas and visions while still staying true to the ethos of the source material, with the Laid-Back Camp Movie being one of them. There are plenty of big ones like Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen 0, sure, but even the small, low-key movies like this one prove that you don't necessarily have to be epic, incredibly complex, or rely entirely on special effects to work, no matter what certain bigwigs in the movie or animation industry may claim. Laid-Back Camp, both as a series and as a movie, may not appeal to everyone (Especially those who want their rollercoaster movies full of high octane action), but whether you're a fan of the series or just getting into it, the Laid-Back Camp Movie is a nice, wholesome, heartwarming time killer that actually manages to enhance its source material, so I say don't miss out on it. Do keep in mind, the movie hasn't been billed as the grand finale of the series. There's a third season for the TV series due to come out next year, and you can bet your ass I'll be watching that as soon as it drops.