“I think that growth and spiritual awareness come in slow increments. Sometimes you don’t know it’s happening.” –Mariel Hemingway
With a little time left before spring break concludes, Nadeshiko suggests travelling to an off-the-beaten-path campsite that has a gentle lake and a mountain view of Kofu. Rin recognises it as Lake Inaga. Although Rin had travelled past it on several occasions, she never knew there was a camp ground here. She accepts Nadeshiko’s invitation to go camping here, and on they day they’re set to meet, Rin rides her moped up here ahead of Nadeshiko to get checked in first. After signing in, Rin receives a message from Nadeshiko, who plans on cycling up to Lake Inaga. Estimating that Nadeshiko will make the ten kilometre distance from her place by around noon, Rin decides to set up camp and explore the nearby area. Meanwhile, Nadeshiko powers up the mountainside roads and takes a brief break, spotting that Mount Fuji is covered in clouds. At Lake Inaga, Rin finishes exploring the area and settles down with a good book, thinking to herself that this site is one worth returning to. She receives a message from Nadeshiko, who’s exited to report the presence of an onsen nearby. As Nadeshiko progresses with her ride, she finds herself descending the steep mountain paths and eventually ends up at the viewpoint in Takaori, where Chiaki and the others had tried to see a Diamond Fuji during the New Year’s. Nadeshiko quickly realises that she completely went the wrong way, having missed a turn at Hirabayashi, and is forced to backtrack. She ends up reaching the campsite as evening sets in, and after whipping up some chicken tortillas, for dinner, Nadeshiko begins preparing a baked apple tortilla for dessert. While she roasts the apples over a campfire, Rin’s gone to buy some ice cream. Once the desserts are ready, Rin and Nadeshiko dig in, with Rin finding that despite Nadeshiko’s generous application of ice cream, the results are delicious. Nadeshiko comments on how tortillas are suited for camping, being easy to prepare and reducing the number of dishes that need to be washed. The pair consider trying another tortilla recipe the next time they go camping with Chiaki, Aoi, Ena and Minami. As night sets in, Rin unwinds with a book, and Nadeshiko browses around for nearby campsites in Takaori. Spotting that pickings are slim, Nadeshiko expresses hope that a new one will open. While Rin remarks that such a campsite will be very busy during the New Year’s Eve, Nadeshiko comments on how an expansive grassy field would be nice. To this wishlist, Rin adds that a solo site would appeal to her, as well as a place to buy firewood from. Nadeshiko also indicates that a dog-friendly camp would let Chikuwa and Ena come with everyone on their camping trips. Regardless of whether or not such a camp exists, Nadeshiko wishes to see the Diamond Fuji event with Rin and the others next year, and Rin decides to consider it.
In this gentle OVA, the third and final of the Yuru Camp△ 3 special episodes, Rin and Nadeshiko are given a chance to camp together after Nadeshiko and Rin’s curiosity lead them to a secluded site at Lake Inaga. By this point in time, it speaks volumes to how close the taciturn Rin and spirited Nadeshiko have bonded – at the suggestion of a camping trip, Rin immediately jumps on board, agreeing to go with Nadeshiko without the faintest hint of hesitation. Similarly, whilst contemplating new dessert tortilla recipes, the fact that Rin is the first to suggest varying up their tortillas the next time the camp in a group shows that, in the few short months since she’d met Nadeshiko, Rin’s come around and is very much open to the idea of camping with Ena, Aoi and even Chiaki. Although short, the third Yuru Camp△ 3 OVA acts as yet another gentle reminder of how profound the changes in Rin’s personality are ever since she’d met Nadeshiko, and despite her initial reservations, Rin’s evidently come to see the merits of group camping, too. While she still enjoys her solo camping, Rin is now more than willing to take up Nadeshiko’s invitations to go out, and at the prospect of larger groups, Rin remains open to attending. While the growth in Rin has been evident throughout Yuru Camp△, accentuating this in an OVA makes it clear that chance encounters can have profound positive impact on people, and being open to these encounters result in memorable experiences that enrich the individual. Besides showcasing the shift in Rin’s camping mindset, the third Yuru Camp△ 3 OVA also foreshadows the events of the Yuru Camp△ Movie – wishing there was a campground near Takaori so it’d be easier to witness the Diamond Fuji phenomenon during New Year’s, Rin and Nadeshiko begin bouncing ideas off one another. By the events of the film, circumstance allows this dream to become a reality, and some of the things the pair suggest, such as wide, grassy areas and a dog-friendly grounds, do end up becoming reality in the campsite that Rin and Nadeshiko create alongside Chiaki, Aoi and Ena. In providing a tranquil camping story, reiterating character development and respectfully foreshadowing the future that awaits Rin and Nadeshiko, the third Yuru Camp△ 3 OVA becomes a fitting way of wrapping Yuru Camp△ 3 up.
Screenshots and Commentary
- With the release of the final BD volume to Yuru Camp△ 3, the third and final special episode has also become available. This OVA is the longest of the Yuru Camp△ 3specials, with a runtime of eighty minutes and forty-three seconds, and the overall tone here is consistent with the quieter, more introspective form of camping that Rin is particularly fond of. Set in the final week of March, greenery still has yet to return to the world, and this means that here in the third OVA, the landscape is still that familiar shade of brown that much of Yuru Camp△‘s scenery is dominated by.
- Upon arrival at Lake Inaga, Rin attempts to locate the administrative building so she can check in, but instead, comes upon an exhibit of the local wildlife. In Japan, I found that of the sites and attractions I visited that had admission fees, the fees were always less than 1000 Yen (about 9.10 CAD). By comparison, tickets to Calgary Heritage Park is 15 CAD, the Royal Tyrell Museum costs 21 CAD for adults, and Telus SPARK in Calgary has an admission cost of 32.95 per adult. Japanese sites are so inexpensive that at first glance, it’s a miracle the sites recoup their operational costs. However, having now visited places like the Kinkakuji, The Tale of Genji Museum and Byōdō-in Temple, it’s clear that high attendance rates, coupled with comparatively smaller grounds, allows admissions to be lower.
- The fact that Japanese attractions don’t tend to be all-day attractions like Heritage Park or the Royal Tyrell Museum means that one could visit several spots in a day; costs are therefore distributed over several locations, and so, the overall costs end up being quite similar if one’s aim is to fill a day. On the flipside, in shows like Yuru Camp△, the characters often just visit a handful of places and take their time there, allowing for a budget-friendly way to accrue memories with their friends. This à la carte approach isn’t bad, letting people pick and choose what they’d like to go with, but at the same time, the way I’m more used to, of paying one sum to gain access to everything, also has its merits.
- Perhaps spurred on by Yuru Camp△and the host of other anime (Tamayuraand Hibike! Euphonium also come to mind), I did end up walking up to several viewpoints for the purpose of taking photos. While anime tend to make the walks up these paths trivially easy by skipping right past them, carrying a full-frame camera, plus lenses and water, makes the going a shade slower than what’s shown in anime. During the past summer, I hauled my camera and lens setup up Sulphur Mountain to see how that fared: with a 655 metre elevation gain, I knew that when I made it to the top, I could take on any hill in Japan. Compared to Alberta, Japan lacks the same craggy, towering rocky peaks, and their mountains are typically gentler, resembling more rugged versions of the Appalachians. This geography means accessible viewpoints are more common, and here in Yuru Camp△, the story takes advantage of these to accentuate the beauty of places that are less travelled.
- While Rin’s checked in and prepares to get her camp set up, Nadeshiko powers her way up the mountain. Speaking to her remarkable physicality, Nadeshiko is able to maintain a good speed on a folding bike, and in anime such asLong Ridersindicate that budget bikes can be trickier to ride under some circumstances. On the other hand, good technique and using a mid-range bike can mitigate these challenges. For Nadeshiko, her delay in reaching the campsite comes not from her fitness level, but rather, her propensity to become distracted by the things she sees along the way.
- Here, Nadeshiko stops at a viewpoint and notes that Mount Fuji is completely obscured in clouds. On my previous trip to Japan in 2017, our tour group did travel through Yamanashi, and on the day I was there, Mount Fuji was similarly obscured by cloud cover. Although conditions didn’t improve enough for me to capture an iconic photo of Mount Fuji, my most recent visit to Japan suggests to me that a return trip is well within the realm of possibility: aryokanstay in the Yamanashi or Minobu area, coupled with a bike rental, could allow me to reach some Mount Fuji spots on consecutive days for photography. Such a trip remains in the realm of the hypothetical for the present: since I feel like I’ve had a year’s worth of fun in the past few weeks, I’ve got no particular inclination to plan another trip this soon, and I’d much rather unwind from the comfort of home for the next little while.
- Rin stops to admire her assembled campsite before moving on to explore the Lake Inaga campground and its surroundings. Looking at the background visuals here in Yuru Camp△ 3, I find them to be largely consistent with the artwork done by C-Station – aside from changes in the character artwork, Eight Bit has done a good job of carrying on with adapting Yuru Camp△.I admit it took me a few episodes to get used to the character designs, but beyond this, the third season remained quite good. For this reason, I’ve opted to pick up the official animation guidebook to Yuru Camp△ 3: despite costing considerably more than its predecessors and having the same amount of content as the guidebook to season one, I am rather looking forwards to reading about the thought process behind Yuru Camp△ 3‘s production and how the production staff handled things.
- The primary reason behind my enjoyment of Yuru Camp△ 3 comes from the fact that the third season touched on more abstract, thoughtful topics about camping, travel and hobbies in general: having now established the characters, the manga would go on to delve into the philosophical aspects of living life out, and the resulting messages are agreeable, although I concede that they might require a modicum of patience and relevant life experience to spot. Further to this, after the Izu Peninsula trip, Afro would ease back on the throttle and turned the series to a more introspective tone to provide a bit of a breather prior to the introduction of new characters. The anime, being a direct adaptation of the manga, would merely continue with the story the manga portrays, and as such, one cannot fault Eight Bit for the change in pacing seen in Yuru Camp△ 3.
- As such, I disagree with the prevailing sentiments that Yuru Camp△ 3 “was easily the worst season” that some viewers “didn’t like…all that much”. Yuru Camp△ 3was deliberately structured to act as a breather between the Izu Peninsula camping trip and the increased energy that will accompany Mei and Ema’s entry into the Outdoor Activities Club. Because curiosity has led me to read later volumes of the manga, I can say with confidence that Yuru Camp△ 4 will be a return to the more spirited and boisterous antics that accompany Chiaki and the others as they strive to persuade Ema and Mei into joining their fledgling club. For my part, I had hoped that Yuru Camp△ 3would conclude with Mei and Ema accepting invitations to join the Outdoor Activities Club. However, Eight Bit’s handling of the ending to the third season was not only passable, it was also appropriate – it expanded out Rin and the Outdoor Activity Club’s hanami camping trip without disregarding Afro’s condensed presentation, preserving the idea that by now, Rin’s become an unofficial member who has no qualms in joining the others.
- My critics will likely argue that criticism of a work is healthy, and that by “forcing” myself to be positive, I’m only hurting myself. I counter-argue that being critical is not mutually exclusive with being fair and constructive – when I look through an anime, my primary objective is to see what idea a work aims to present, and how its execution assists or hinders the portrayal of said idea. While I may occasionally offer a suggestion on how something might work better for me, I also stress that my opinions are not expected to be universal. Thus, when it comes to criticisms of Yuru Camp△ 3, I find them invalid on the whole – the third season faithfully reproduces the manga’s outcomes with a few adjustments for better flow in the animated format, and the slower pacing is a willful choice, acting as a breather for what’s upcoming.
- As for gripes about the backgrounds resembling “real world photography”, I also find that to be an incorrect assessment of Eight Bit’s portrayal of settings: C-Station’s backgrounds were similar in both style and quality. In fact, the only difference is that, contrasting C-Station’s backgrounds, Eight Bit’s edges are a little sharper. Beyond this, the style and aesthetic are preserved, and the characters don’t pop or standout excessively from the environments. Here, Rin admires the view from a path adjacent to Lake Inaga, and inspection of these frames find Rin’s kitted out in a simple but stylish brown poncho. Rin’s quiet wanderings of the campground is her usual routine after getting her tent and gear set up, and once she’s satisfied with exploring, she’ll usually sit down to read.
- Reading is a pleasant way of passing the time, and while in Japan, I noticed a large number of passengers on the trains reading small books. While younger people were playing mobile games on their phones, folks my age were more likely to read. For me, when I commute or need to waste time, I typically read off my phone from the Books app, with the font size cranked up for visibility: Western novels tend to be quite bulky and cumbersome to carry around compared to their Japanese counterparts, and while browsing around a Japanese bookstore in Kyoto, I noticed that most novels tended to be quite compact.
- When I first started watchingYuru Camp△, I would’ve likely have written that if I were to go camping, I’d probably do what Rin does and plop down with a good book after wandering around a campsite with my smartphone’s camera. In the present day, however, I would’ve probably walked out over to the most photogenic spot with my camera and, depending on the trip, set up a tripod, as well. I’ve found that photography is something that can fill time very quickly, and even without camping, when I get into landscape photography, an entire morning or afternoon can vanish even if I’m just standing by my tripod and taking the occasional shot.
- I’m sure at least one of my readers will find amusement in this screenshot of Nadeshiko zooming down the mountain. To emphasise the speed Nadeshiko is travelling at, the background is completely blurred out. I’ve never taken any photos like this before: keeping a fast-moving subject in focus while allowing the background to blur isn’t something that can be easily done, since it requires the photographer to be moving at the same speed as the subject. Professionals achieve this by having their photographers ride in a vehicle and then take their shot with a wide aperture and fast shutter speed to keep the subject clear. In the realm of animation, this effect is easier to achieve: keeping Nadeshiko steady and then moving an approximation of a blurry background behind her results in a satisfactory result.
- Nadeshiko eventually comes to a screeching halt at the bottom of a hill. Having not tried my hand at location hunting in quite some time (since moving day, actually), curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to trace Nadeshiko’s route over to the Takaori Diamond Fuji viewpoint. While I’m nowhere nearly as efficient as I was at the height of my Google Maps-powered location hunts, knowing where Lake Inaga and Takaori Diamond Fuji viewpoint was made this task more manageable. This particular intersection is located in Fujikawa, two thirds of the way between Lake Inaga and Takaori (about 11.9 kilometres south of Lake Inaga by road distance). Nadeshiko’s travelled down Highway 413 to reach this spot, and here, she takes a moment to regain her bearings here before continuing on yet another wild ride down the mountain.
- After a roaring ride further down the mountain, Nadeshiko eventually reaches the same viewpoint that Chikai, Aoi, Akari and Minami had driven up to so they could see a second Diamond Fuji event at Takaori. However, because Chiaki had misread the sunrise time, they ended up missing the sight, causing an irate Aoi and Akari to chase Chiaki around with the aim of pummelling her with snowballs. Nadeshiko is intrigued and finds herself wishing to see such a sight. For my part, I would be very interested in photographing such a phenomenon: a one second exposure at f/11 (and appropriate ISO) could create a starburst sunrise, and at Mount Fuji, the presence of a fantastic landscape would turn out something remarkable.
- It suddenly hits me that, when Chiaki and the others had gone out to Takaori, it would’ve been during the events of Yuru Camp△ 2. The second season had begun airing back in January 2021, and I vividly remember how back then, the results of the 2020 American Presidential Election had meant the end of the XL Keystone Pipeline project. My second start-up’s angel investors accumulated their fortunes through oil and gas, so the loss of the pipeline caused them to fully withdraw funding despite the fact the start-up had been revenue positive. Having already endured a year of low funds as a result of the global health crisis, I would make the difficult decision to resign from my posting and apply for a new position. I would start this position a day before Yuru Camp△ 2‘s finale aired.
- The mention of Takaori also brings back one other memory – by November 2022, the Yuru Camp△ Movie had released, and its story brought Nadeshiko, Rin and the others back to Takaori, where they would end up creating a brand-new campsite from formerly abandoned grounds as a part of Chiaki’s work for the local tourism board. The framing in this OVA was such that it showed that particular campsite on several occasions, and I found myself wondering if the OVA was deliberately referencing the events within the movie. Here, while Nadeshiko basks in anticipation of coming back here with Rin and the others in the New Year, another thought overtakes her mind: she’s completely missed the route to Lake Inaga.
- By the time Nadeshiko backtracks and reaches Lake Inaga, it’s late afternoon. The lateness of the hour does little to dampen Nadeshiko’s spirits, and over dinner, she recounts her day’s misadventures to Rin. The girls’ attention soon turns towards preparing dessert, the focus of this OVA, and here, Nadeshiko puts to use her experience in foil-roasting to warm up some apples for the evening’s highlight: roasted apples on ice cream-filled tortillas. It was pleasant to see Nadeshiko’s old learnings making a return; it feels like a great deal of time has passed since Nadeshiko first experimented with roasting foil-covered vegetables over a campfire, and while only a few months have passed in Yuru Camp△, for us viewers, this gap is a few years.
- While Nadeshiko prepares the apples, Rin’s driven off to buy some ice cream. A quick look at the maps finds that the nearest supermarket is about seven kilometres to the east: it’s the Ogino the girls have previously stopped at to buy provisions from, and by moped, Rin could easily make the drive within the space of fourteen minutes. By this point in time, it is apparent that Yuru Camp△‘s mangaka had clearly done his research, and in fact, I am confident that Afro would have camped at all of the spots in Yuru Camp△for himself before writing the stories out, transferring his experiences over into the story. The end result is that the experiences Rin and the others have in Yuru Camp△are things people can do for themselves.
- In reality, fans of the series have indeed taken the initiative to visit the same places that Rin and the Outdoor Activities Club travel to, and folks familiar with the Yamanashi area have also marked out filming spots from the Yuru Camp△live-action drama and locations relevant to the series. The sort of travel that Rin and the Outdoor Activities Club do in Yuru Camp△is equivalent to travelling to off-the-beaten-path destinations far removed from the tourists, and while this is a very enjoyable way to spend one’s time, the popularity of Yuru Camp△also means that the spots shown in Yuru Camp△could become crowded with fans of the series.
- The final product resulting from Nadeshiko’s apples and Rin’s ice cream is something called 焼きりんごのデザートトルティーヤ (Hepburn yaki ringo no dezaatto torutiiya, literally “Baked Apple Desert Tortilla”). Preparation couldn’t be simpler: the roasted apples are placed on top of the tortilla and then covered with ice cream, before being rolled up. Nadeshiko is a little heavy handed with the ice cream, but the end results prove delicious; as Rin and Nadeshiko dig in, Rin finds that the flavours are nicely balanced. Enjoyment of food is an integral part of Yuru Camp△, and with everyone enjoying a spectrum of foods, from something as elaborate as Genghis Khan to instant noodles, the series is one that strives to (and succeeds in) reminding viewers to be more appreciative of their meals, as well as how a little creativity can spice one’s cooking up.
- It’s now been a week since my flight back home from Japan – a week ago a this time, I’d just finished dinner at the local Cantonese restaurant and returned home. At this point in time, I’ve reacclimatised to Mountain Time. Jet lag hasn’t been a problem, and in fact, the end of Daylight Savings means it gets dark early, making it much easier to sleep. Since returning, I’ve also had a hankering for Canadian burgers, and so, on Friday, I took advantage of the coupons I had to go pick up an Uncle Cheddar Burger from the local A & W with a side of fries and sugarcane root beer. The hearty flavour of a grass-fed beef burger was the surest sign to me I was back home, and it suddenly hits me that, since I took a very large number of food photos while travelling, I’ll need to go back and also curate said photos for my recollection posts.
- While I leave readers with a delightful image of Rin and Nadeshiko munching on their tortillas, I note here that, at the time of writing, I’m almost done with processing all of my photos from Hiroshima and Miyajima. As such, readers can expect that post to appear over the next few days, and in between my preparing presentations for the photo club meeting, I’ll also strive to continue processing the remainder of my photos. This is why I’ve not posted any of my food photos yet. Having gotten reasonably comfortable with Camera Raw, this isn’t an especially daunting process, and this past long weekend, I’ve also had time to go pick up a new glass display case from IKEA.
- The want for a glass case came about because of a chance purchase in Kyoto, where I bought a Luminasta figure ofSaekano‘s Megumi Kato (Pajamas Version) at Kyoto’s Animate Avante for 1680 yen. This translates roughly to 15.26 CAD, which is half of the price I’d need to pay if I bought it online. While I was at Toyosato, Elementary School, I also browsed through their collection ofK-On! merchandise, and there, I spotted a Mio Akiyama figure that was especially eye-catching. When I returned home, I did a quick search and learnt that this was the Alter 1/7 Scale of Mio in her Sakuragaoka uniform, and what’s more, some online stores still sell this particular figure, despite its being released in December 2010. Although considerably marked up now, I admit here that I’ve long wanted a proper figure of Mio ever since I’d watchedK-On! back in 2011.
- Thus, in order to accommodate the Megumi Katō and Mio Akiyama figures, a new shelf was needed. To this end, I swung by the local IKEA yesterday, enjoyed their Swedish Meatballs for lunch and then bought my display case, along with some odds and ends. The Swedish Meatballs, served with gravy, lingonberry jam, peas and mashed potatoes, proved surprisingly delicious, and the difference of the afternoon was spent browsing the market hall. Upon returning home, I immediately set about building the display case, and while most of the build was smooth, there was a small roadblock in trying to screw the screws into the door frame to hold the magnets. In the end, this particular barrier was overcome by gently inserting my screwdriver into the pilot hole and rotating it to widen it. This allowed me to get the screws and magnets in.
- While the cabinet is a little sparse right now, I expect that once the Alter Mio Akiyama and Pop-Up Parade Rikka Takarada (L-Size) arrives, the shelf will look better-appointed. Having a new shelf opens the floor up to more display options, but I’ll need to be mindful not to fall into the rabbit-hole that is figure collecting. Back in Yuru Camp△ 3‘s final OVA, after the dessert tortillas are squared away, Rin and Nadeshiko unwind. While Rin continues reading her book by firelight, Nadeshiko is browsing around the web for nearby campsites and is surprised to find that there aren’t any. This leads Rin and Nadeshiko down a conversation of what their ideal campsite would look like, and listening to the girls’ wishlist immediately reminded me of the Yuru Camp△ Movie, which would see the realisation of such a dream.
- The fact that this OVA openly foreshadows what happens in the Yuru Camp△ Movie, I am left to wonder if this OVA is one of the omakechapters that accompanies the manga, or if it’s an anime-original (I’ve only reached volume fifteen of the manga). On one hand, when Afro wrote Yuru Camp△, I do not expected that he anticipated that the anime adaptation would become as popular as it did, but at the same time, it is also possible that he’d long drafted a story for what happens to Rin and the others post-secondary, and further to this, since Yuru Camp△is ongoing, Afro might have also have retroactively written the film’s events back into a discussion for anomake chapter. Since this is unknown for the present, I am going to have to wait for my copy of the season three official TV animation guide to arrive to see if I can obtain an answer for this question.
- With this post on the third Yuru Camp△ 3 OVA nearly at a close, I note that this post won’t mark the last time I write about Yuru Camp△here. Just Friday night, it was announced that Yuru Camp△would be receiving an incredible fourth season – even the iconic and popularGochiUsa has only received three seasons until now, speaking to Yuru Camp△‘s remarkable presence on the market. This is welcome news, but it’s also not terribly surprising; Yuru Camp△ 3‘s introduction of Mei and Ema set the expectation that viewers would get to see them join the Outdoor Activities Club, and the series’ popularity has meant that from a production standpoint, it would be viable from a financial standpoint to produce another season.
- Thus, viewers do have another season of Yuru Camp△to look forwards to in the future, and as my time allows, the unique insights and approach that I take towards reflecting on slice-of-life series. Looking ahead into the blog’s more immediate future, I’ll mention here that, contrary to my original plans for writing aboutSword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online‘s second season after three episodes, I’ve decided to wait until the current Squad Jam event ends before doing so, and in the meantime, having wholly caught up on everything (I’ve also wrapped upAlya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian now), the time has come for me to finally open my journey intoFate/ZERO.
The timing of this post could not have been better – a few nights ago, the official Yuru Camp△ Twitter channel announced that the fourth season, Yuru Camp△ 4, is in production, and a commentary from mangaka Afro indicates that the focus will be on the new freshmen, Emi and Mei, as they join the Outdoor Activities Club. Yuru Camp△ 3 had concluded about a third of the way into volume fourteen – in the manga, the girls conclude their hanami camping tour with Aoi and Akari being shaken to the core by the fact that the Inuyama family recipe for Gengis Khan uses pork rather than lamb. The next chapter opens immediately with Chiaki, Aoi and Nadeshiko trying to work out how to gain the upper hand in recruiting new students into their club when other clubs begin aggressively advertising their activities by incorporating camping into things. The anime had elected to wrap up the third season with an extended show of how Rin and the Outdoor Activities Club’s trip went – rather than a short flashback reminiscing on how much fun things had been, the episode took advantage of its format to emphasis just how laid-back their trip ended up being. News of a fourth season, then, is most welcome: while Yuru Camp△ will now take the direction of a more conventional series that will see a club struggle to attain new members, and then have said new members experience life-changing things, Yuru Camp△ is uniquely positioned to show how a love of the outdoors can apply to everyone. Whether it be Ema’s love of drawing on her digital tablet, or Mei getting into cycling, camping represents a chance for the pair to simultaneously try something new and greatly expand the scope of their own chosen activities, as well. To put things in perspective, if I got into camping in the backcountry of the Canadian Rockies, I would open myself to sunrises and sunsets under verdant meadows and far-flung brooks. Having a spectacular mountain vista would lend itself to shots of the Milky Way and aurora borealis beyond compare. On the other hand, if I got into RV camping, I’d be able to drive myself out to dark sky preserves or a national park campground for a weekend, set an alarm to wake myself up at 0200, spend a few hours taking photos of the night sky, and return to bed following a short walk back to the RV. While this represents photography at a much higher level than is my wont, it is plain that adding camping into my list of activities would dramatically augment my photography, too. Thus, when Yuru Camp△ 4 is slated to deal with Mei and Ema as they experience camping and learn about how these experiences can tie in with their hobbies, it is understandable that anticipation for this fourth season is tangible: the premise may be familiar, but the implications are quite remarkable, and for this reason, I find myself looking forwards to Yuru Camp△‘s fourth season very much.
