Inflatable sleeping pads are great. If next time I went camping I were only allowed one piece of camping gear from my kit that wasn’t vital, I would definitely be taking my sleeping pad and getting nice and comfy. Yuru Camp is also great in a similar way; sure, a slice of life about cute girls doing camping things might not be “vital” in the strictest sense of the word, but its going to put a barrier between you and whatever painful thing life is coming at you with, just like a sleeping pad is going to put a barrier between you and the cold, hard and uneven ground.

The plot of Yuru Camp is rather simple and can be summed up with “high school girls go camping”. If I’m giving the plot more attention than just one sentence, however, then I’ll start from the beginning. Rin Shima is a quiet, mostly introverted, girl who enjoys overnight solo camping trips. On one of these trips she runs in Nadeshiko Kagamihara, an energetic girl her age and an overall ball of nonstop joy.

After running into Rin, Nadeshiko’s interest in camping is piqued and she joins the Outdoor Club (“Outclub”) at her high school, with Aoi Inuyama and Chiaki Oogaki filling out the rest of the club’s roster. It just so happens that Rin also attends this school, and through her friend Ena Saitou’s meddling Nadeshiko ends up at Rin’s campsite again. Basically, Yuru Camp tells the story of Rin becoming a little less introverted through her friendship with Nadeshiko, and Nadeshiko growing to absolutely love the outdoors and camping through Rin and the outclub.

Although Yuru Camp does a lot of things right, I would have to say that the greatest strength of the series lies with the characters. Rin is exactly what a teenager with a tendency towards introversion should be: she isn’t hostile towards her peers, but unless she gets a bit of a push (maybe more than a “bit”) she’ll end up reading a novel and drinking something warm by herself. And while Nadeshiko is very energetic (and somewhat of a glutton when it comes to food), she perfectly embodies the spirit of nonstop optimism. At their core, these are characters who are basically one to one analogs of people I went to high school with, and the things they do make perfect sense given their characters. Their relationship also gets the most focus out of any from the show, and really is just perfect. In so many ways these two are polar opposites, but Nadeshiko is just a bundle of unstoppable positive energy and over the course of the season you really do see their friendship grow from something initially tentative to something much more solid.

Up to this point I’ve honestly not given enough credit to the rest of the cast. While I don’t think that they get the same level of characterization that Rin and Nadeshiko do, they’re still solid characters in their own right. Nadeshiko’s comrades in the outclub, Aoi and Chiaki, are childhood friends, and it shows. On their own both Aoi and Chiaki are fine, but not really more than that. Aoi is a very laid-back girl who always has a smile on her face but is about a million times more subdued than Nadeshiko, whereas Chiaki is very excitable and dramatic. When put together, however, these two are great. Aoi’s calm demeanor plays so well off of Chiaki’s more quirky personality, and some of the most chuckle worthy moments in show are a result of these two.

Ena, Rin’s childhood friend, and her dog, Chikuwa, are also mainstays of the series. Ena is the kind of friend everyone would love to have, as she is funny in a goofy way and is always checking in on Rin, genuinely wanting what is best for her. This leads to Ena helping to push Rin and Nadeshiko together in a smooth, not overbearing manner, and even though Ena may prefer laying in bed with Chikuwa to actually going camping with the rest of the crew, I felt she brought a certain energy to the show and enjoyed every bit of screentime she got.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention two more aspects of Yuru Camp that I thought were perfect, the original soundtrack and the visuals. The opening song, “Shiny Days” by Asaka, almost perfectly captures what its like to gear up and head out to camp for a day or two. It is a song that encapsulates the feeling of setting out on a lighthearted adventure and absolutely nails the tone of the show. The ending is “Furu Biyori” by Eri Sasaki, and in the same way that Shiny Days made you feel like you were about to have a day of fun with friends, Furu Biyori makes you feel as though you are going to sleep after a great, and potentially exhausting, day with people close to you. The insert songs within the actual show are also just fantastic, all of them. In the same way that characters in other series get their own songs, the campsites of Yuru Camp have their own themes, with each being unique and helping to capture the setting and feel of that particular campsite.

The art itself is also extraordinary. First I want to give recognition to the character designs and wardrobe, because not only do the characters look great but their clothing is well-thought out as well. All the outfits are coordinated ensembles, and scarfs/fashionable hats are everywhere. However, the real appeal of the art is the backgrounds and environments. Because the setting is in an area around Mt. Fuji, the backgrounds had to nail what camping around mountains is like. The art department definitely managed to do this. They were responsible for two of my favorite moments in the show, one of which happened to be the sunrise over Mt. Fuji. It is really, really difficult to capture how it feels to wake up early in the morning, make a hot beverage with your friends, and then watch the sun rise over mountains. I’ve done it dozens of times and I struggle to put into words how it feels in a way that I’m happy with. Without using any words, the artists (with some help from the music) managed to capture that feeling perfectly. Seeing that sunrise took me right back to standing outside on a dimly light, cold, wet morning drinking hot water with dissolved juice crystals mixed in and thinking “There’s literally nothing else I’d rather be doing right now”. It is honestly just beautiful, and its more than just the backgrounds. A sunrise couldn't work without lighting, Yuru Camp does that so well. It is so gorgeous and natural, and the way the light plays off the various lakes and ponds over the course of the show is perfect.

First of all, I want to wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who enjoys slice of life shows or shows about cute girls doing cute things, as Yuru Camp really is the pinnacle of both. However I also want to say, and I think it bled through a bit in the writing, that I love the outdoors. I’ve been on multiple extended backpacking trips and I try and go camping on a monthly basis. I have an entire closet full of gear, and I suspect my ability to set up a tent without whining is one of the only reasons my friends keep me around. I touched on how this show nailed the feeling of certain aspects of camping, but it honestly bears repeating: this show captures the feeling of camping almost indescribably well. Both solo camping and camping with a large group, two very different things, are totally nailed in terms of tone and feeling by Yuru Camp. It actually captures it so well that I would go so far as to recommend this to those who love camping/the outdoors but maybe aren’t fans of slice of life or cute girls doing cute things. I think if you fall into that group you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what this show has to offer - if nothing else, the recipes are great camp food. And if you’ve seen this show and want to try camping because it looked fun, I promise you the real experience is just as fantastic.