"Yuru Camp" drama: Episode one recap

 

 Air Dates: January 9th to March 26, 2020 on TV-Tokyo, Thursday nights at 12:25 am

Subs were mostly done by EcoTV but another team did at least the first show, you'll notice the font difference and the title roughly translates over to laid back camp.

Main Cast: We'll seldom see anyone besides these five, had only watched the first two episodes before writing the character info so may edit things as time goes on. The setting is Nanbu in Yamanashi prefecture which is a little over thirty miles away from Mt. Fuji. Like so amy dramas it's based upon a manga and anime.

 Haruka Fukuhara as Rin Shima.... Main star of the show and she's an avid camper. However she has only done it alone as she'd rather not have others spoil her fun. So instead of joining the Outdoor Club at high school Rin is in the library club but that may not last for much longer.

 Yuno Ohara as Nadeshiko Kagamihara.... New girl at high school but had met Rin a few days before her first day. Nadeshiko had no clue about camping until meeting her but quickly became such a fanatic and joined the Outdoor Club on her first day at school.

 Momoko Tanabe as Chiaki Ogaki ... President of the Outdoor Club who had just two members until Nadeshiko joined. They weren't much of a camping club until then and it's located in a very tiny room until they can get to five members.

 Yumena Yanai as Aoi Inuyama.... The other member of the Outdoor Club. To date they've never taken a camping trip but do have various equipment, they spend most of their days burning leaves and keeping the school grounds tidy.

 Sara Shida as Ena Saito.... Rin's best friend who in these first few shows doesn't show much interest in camping though does love nature and animals. She is one kawaii young woman!!!!

 Once again my new drama selection is a semi oldie but once again the subs weren't completed until well after the series finished. Someone had started the project and subbed the first show, worst ones I've ever seen. But eventually it was picked up and am so glad as Haruka is one of my top faves and try to watch all of her dramas. There aren't episode recaps out there but did read a pair of mini reviews about the drama and both highly recommend the show. In both it said there wasn't a true plot to the show and for the most part it's such a laid back and enjoyable show. That's good to hear as there haven't been too many good dramas in that vein over the last few years. For today have two recaps, unsure how many there will be but the goal is to do the entire series. One other thing is an episode is only 23 minutes in length so these will be shorter recaps and may have to stretch them out a bit.

 Want to add in all of this 'action' is real as the cast did travel to Yamanashi to shoot the drama as you can tell by the screenshots and they did actually camp overnight many times.

 And there's one of those screenshots of Yamanashi above and as you can see isn't too far away from Mt. Fuji. Observing the famed mountain/volcano is this drama's main star, Rin, who is played by Haruka. Rin is an eighteen year old high school senior though in real life Haruka was 21 when the drama aired but she could pass for a few years younger. Rin is a loner but by choice, she does have one close friend who is Sara though we don't meet her until the next episode, that also goes for two other main characters who are Aoi and Chiaki.

 The big reason Rin prefers to keep to her self is that she's an avid camper and 'adventurer'. Every weekend she'll take a trip to the mountains and it's often a long haul of ten miles or more which Rin gets to via her bike. She's never camped out with another person and she wants to keep it that way as she seems to enjoy her own company more than being around others. However, will that solo act of camping and traveling by herself last much longer? As this episode began it's a Saturday and Rin was off to the mountains, her destination was Lake Motosu which you can see above. Rin doesn't camp out in the wilderness but will grab a spot at a campground where she can pitch a tent, cook and do whatever else a camper does but during this trip Rin's life will completely change.

 As Rin was entering the campground's office she noticed a girl around her age sleeping on a bench, why would someone like her be dozing in such a secluded location? Rin's curiosity wasn't too high as she never woke the girl up and proceeded to erect her tent then get a fire lit as it was only 5 C or 41 F for us Americans. Rin always has everything planned out such is it cheaper and more efficient to buy firewood or chop it herself? For this show she chopped it and you will learn many tidbits about camping which I and perhaps you never knew. There's some of those tidbits in these screenshots at the top but most are at the bottom of the post.

 Through two shows don't know if Rin is into hiking and mountain climbing but did find out the most important reason for her getting a campground site. That's to use the bathroom and guess females aren't like bears in the woods! So after spending the day chopping wood, getting a fire going and just relaxing it was time for Rin to use the facilities and to her amazement that same girl was still sleeping on the bench outside of the office. She still didn't want to rouse the girl and after finishing her 'duty' proceeded to head back to her tent. As you can see above that girl did eventually wake up, to Rin's dismay she ended up following her and wouldn't leave as she was too scared to be alone. This girl's name is Nadeshiko and she's going to be very important to the story, perhaps not a true story but important to the drama. Her family has just moved into the area, the prefecture is Yamanashi but the town where they live and go to school is Nanbu.

 Final segment, going to enjoy writing up shortish recaps after that incredibly long "Start-Up" drama. Nadeshiko's goal for that day had been to view Mt. Fuji from across the lake, she had only seen the famous landmark by it's picture on a coin. However she wasn't used to traveling so far by bike and fell fast asleep at the camping ground office. Now that's it night what can Nadeshiko do(?), she forgot her sister's phone number who could pick her up, could a reluctant Rin bail her out? That's what happened as she invited Nadeshiko to partake in dinner, though Rin loves everything about camping seems she  doesn't enjoy cooking all that much as through two shows the only meal she's eaten is instant noodles. But those noodles were seventh heaven to Nadeshiko who was so famished, what a bubbly, likable girl she is and it's hard not to want to be her friend.

 That's if your name isn't Rin who thinks she's such a weirdo which she is to a point. Nadeshiko is new in town and what she wanted was a best friend, how about being mine she asked Rin? She really didn't respond to that and beat around the bush, are you sure you can't recall your sister's phone number she asked? Eventually Nadeshiko did and was soon picked up by her sister who I hope we see more of. As a parting gift Nadeshiko gave Rin a bag of regular food along with saying 'let's do it again!' which made Rin's eyes roll. In the final scene it was the following Monday and Rin has returned to school hoping she'll never have to meet that 'weirdo' again. Unknown to her roaming the halls was a lost Nadeshiko as it was her first day at the school and the second recap picks up from this scene.

 Good timing in viewing this series as a second season will be starting up this Spring, no official date has been announced yet. Mentioned a sister above, that was played by Yurina Yanagi who is one of the hottest gravure models of all time and does a fair amount of acting these days. Don't know if her role will be a recurring one but really hope so, next post is the recap for the second episode.