Sequel movies are often a big gamble, how do you conclude the story told before in a hour or so worth of time? When you get it right, you get some masterpiece like "The Disappearance of Haruhi" or "Liz and the Blue Bird." Both which are amazing in their own rights and becomes even greater when you know the prequel that introduce some themes but never explored too much into them. Laid Back doesn't really introduce any new idea to it's movie, it's a great conclusion to how do you end a show that involves CGDCT? Well, kids will eventually have to grow up and we will have to eventually face the fact that we aren't young anymore. We will explore a new world and learn that life wasn't all we expected it to be, but we push forward, because the world isn't stopping for us.
One aspect of that idea that I appreciated this movie for doing was, taking some of their quirks and who they were from the show and introducing their adult version as a reflection of those characters. I love how each one of them grew up to do jobs or do things that has some callback to their childhood.
(Shared review with @Veemon23)
Rin Where she works really matches her character. Since she was always often seen in the library, so to become someone who writes newsletter and such make sense for her. Though often seen camping alone and often wanting to be left alone until Nadeshiko force her way basically into her life. That Rin slowly starts to open up. We see that she still struggle with that as even a adult but as the story goes forward, she starts to see her coworkers who covers her back and she starts to learn to work with them. Rin is someone who's always been capable on her own out in the woods but in the real world, life can sometimes overwhelm you and it's something we need to learn to depend on others. Something she slowly learns to grow and learn to become more of a team player. Despite being forced to take the role of manager, she does an amazing job at it and promoting the camp and taking the charge at the end to go and help guide people to the camp. She's grown a lot as a character.
Nadeshiko It's fun to see her working in a store that focus on camping. As we see her passion and love not only for camping but she is someone who can relate to others. As she was someone who didn't know what camping was and fell in love with it. She is someone who can understand how scary it is for the first timer but also know how fun it is. If we want someone to love something we do, we want them to have the best experience possible. We saw this was true when she didn't try to sell their company product but was kind to introduce the family to what they would need instead. She is often always looking at others and cares despite her looking like she seems clueless at times.
Also the more extrovert version of Rin.
Aoi She's always been someone who likes to joke around and have a lot of fun. Also takes good care of her little sister, so seeing her as a teacher for kids makes a lot of sense for her adult path. I often see her as the center piece of the group. Chiaki is the leader of the group, the one taking charge. Nadeshiko being someone who's not afraid to step forward and follow. Ena is more of a background and Rin is more of a lone wolf. Aoi is more often someone who's quietly there supporting and why she's a perfect fit for the teacher role.
Chiaki Not so much her career, but seeing her drink a lot in this movie made me remember how she did work in a liquor store or a store that did sell alcoholic drinks. Not sure if this was a intentional callback or not, but I thought it was funny. As always being the one to take charge as always as being the club leader as well. Despite all that thoughts, she is someone who's always been a leader and the one coming up with ideas and taking the charge. She knows what she wants and must adventure forward, never satisfied with just one thing but wanting to do more and explore more. Why she can't really keep one job and jump job to job, since she can never be satisfied with just doing a 9-5 job.
Ena And last but not least, we have the one who had the least amount of presence, but still a valuable member of the five girls. Her love for her dog and her path makes sense. She is more of just the quiet supporter who's there to just enjoy and always have a fun time. Sometimes all you need to do in a group is just be a presence there for others.
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Basically Veemon summary here
What a perfect way to send off our girls, to end it with a wholesome way. It is a bittersweet feeling to know that this is the end of this beautiful journey of these wholesome girls (YES WE WILL GET A SEASON 3).
The part of capturing growing up and how things change was a nice touch to this show. We can do more things but at the same time we are limited as well. We would think growing up means more freedom but there's always more responsibility as well. And you and your friends may go far away.
It's great to see that they can find a dream to share together and achieve it together, something they all loved. Still waiting for that jet flying tent they planned to invent someday.
Share what you have a passion for and love to others. As we see they have so much happiness camping they share this with others by creating a place and using their resources they have available to make a dream become a reality. A great lesson to learn from. Share what you have a passion for so that it continues on with the next generation. It’s the best way to show your love for what you enjoy. Off course this should go without saying but only good appropriate things.
I see this is true for my friends and I as well. We used to camp every year but as we get older now, we haven't camp in a few years now. We all have careers now and some of them are getting married. So, life keeps moving and you look back at these precious memories and realized you should enjoy it while it last because it's not stopping for anyone, blink and you may miss it.
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I can talk so much about why I love this show, the comfiness to it and the nostalgia to it. My own memories of camping and how much fun I have. And just the love to see the passion in these girls eyes for camping. Also the way they eat the cup noodles, those are always the best moments. It's something we do as well even before this show. We would often eat that late at night and just talk all night. And look at the stars and just enjoy nature. There's a beauty to this show and it captures the beauty of reality as well. Sometimes just need to go away to a place and enjoy life, peace, quiet and nature.
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How to conclude this... basically with this thought here:
