"Yuru Camp" drama: Episode two 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. 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.

 This picks right up where we left off in the previous recap, it's now a Monday and the action takes place at the Yamanashi high school(?), no name has been revealed yet. Wandering the hallways was the new student Nadeshiko and many times she barely missed bumping into her new 'friend' Rin who had no clue how close she was to seeing that 'weirdo' again but she will. Those few hours Nadeshiko spent with Rin have really changed her, she's now so gung-ho about camping and wants to learn everything she can about it. And luckily for her the school does have an Outdoor Club though it wasn't what she was expecting. Just two girls are in the club, in the second screenshot above on the left is Aoi and with her is Chiaki who is the club president but there's not much to preside over.

 With only two members the club had been banished to a small, abandoned closet which really disappointed Nadeshiko who still wanted to join. The pair were leery about such a goofball but Chiaki said with five members they can get their own regular room so they soon welcomed Nadeshiko as their third member! As far as camping gear goes the club had little but did have a tent which costs all of 980 yen, their budget is non existent. They had never set it up before but seeing how eager Nadeshiko was about camping the trio went into the school's main field and attempted to erect it. Which was a complete failure as they couldn't fit one tube into another and ended up breaking it. Observing the hilarious scene was Rin who is right above, she was a bit miffed that the 'weirdo' she met is a new student. Rin is a semi expert at camping but only wants to go solo and not have others spoil her fun. So she never did join the Outdoor Club and instead is in the library club where at least she can read all of the camping magazines and books.

 In that top screenshot is another character we didn't meet in the first show, she's a real cutie named Ena who is Rin's best friend and perhaps her only one. She's not into camping and knows very little about it but really loves animals and the two text each other quite often throughout the day. The pair were watching the horror show that the Outdoor Club was having trying to erect he tent and then breaking a key piece. Ena suggested to Rin she should go and help the trio which she firmly said no to but did give her friend a fixer rod which should enable them to finish putting the tent up. So it was Ena who had to go and bail the girls out, it was a success as they finally were able to put up their first tent. But to Rin's fury Ena told the girls she had no clue about camping, if they wanted to thank anyone it would be the girl sitting in the library so quickly Nadeshiko dashed off to the room.

 It's not the last time Ena slightly 'screwed over' her best friend Rin but the next time may be even worse. That's Nadeshiko above who was shocked to see Rin sitting in the library, she didn't even know she attended the school. The reason for her being shocked is that she figured Rin would be a part of the Outdoor Club as she's such an avid camper but Nadeshiko wasn't aware Rin only wants to camp by herself. When asked to join the club Rin kind of beat around the bush, never came out and said no but she also didn't accept the invitation. That was a short scene and the next thing we knew it was the weekend, seemingly the one time when Rin can kick back and be by her enjoyable self. Just viewed the third episode and in that one it was mid November so presuming this took place in it's first week.

 Seems like Mt. Fuji will be the location for most of Rin's trips and why not as it is such a famous landmark plus there are many different campgrounds around it, she stays at a new place every time. The site this time was the Fumotoppa grounds and every place has slightly different rules. For instance this time around Rin had to purchase her firewood and as you can see above she explains some of the general rules. It's not cheap to camp out, there's the cost for the site, wood, food plus Rin had to purchase a sturdy bike, tent and various other things. We did learn in the next show she has a part time job but where is unknown. You can also see above that Rin was quite content, she did hike around a bit but to date hasn't been much of an adventurer. She's also not much of a cook it seems, she's an expert at making fires but once again it's a dinner of instant ramen, is that all she can afford?

 An episode is only 23 minutes in length and we're down to the final three. She didn't come out and say it but had the impression Rin wanted to eat anything but instant noodles but sadly for her there was no alternative. Or was there(?) as all of a sudden there was a shadow blocking the sun, of all people to Rin's dismay it was the 'weirdo' Nadeshiko! This was the second time Ena pulled a fast one on her best friend as she had let Nadeshiko know where Rin was camping and she persuaded her sister to drive her there. In the next show Rin was a bit leery about her best friend so wouldn't tell her where her next trip would take place. But there was a silver lining with Nadeshiko's arrival as in her arms were two huge bags of food which was good and bad to Rin. Good as she wanted anything but noodles but on the bad side it meant Nadeshiko would once again be staying with her! How that turns out you'll see in the next recap and now an wondering if I should have four recaps in a row?

 Though this is half the length of a regular drama have been taking almost as many screenshots. The ones below are worth a glance as there's some info about camping and such. Decided against doing four recaps in a row as most shows do segue into the next but can't really call them cliffhangers. Also decided against it as sometimes reading four posts in a row can be too much. Am about to view the fourth episode and should have the next pair of recaps sometime during the week.