is a Japanese

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series based on the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Afro. Produced by

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Rin Shima encountering

Nadeshiko Kagamihara , also known in Japan as ''Yuru Camp'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Afro. Set in and around Yamanashi, Japan, the series chronicles the adventures of Rin Shima, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and their friends as they t ...

for the first time while camping at

Lake Motosu is the westernmost of the Fuji Five Lakes and located on the border of the towns of Fujikawaguchiko and Minobu in southern Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji, Japan. Lake Motosu is the third-largest of the Fuji Five Lakes in terms of surface ...

. The series stars

Haruka Fukuhara is a Japanese actress, singer and model from Saitama Prefecture. From 2009 to 2012, she starred in ''Cooking Idol! I! My! Main'' as Main Hiiragi, portraying the character in both animated and live-action segments. Following the series' end, she h ...

, Yūno Ōhara, Momoko Tanabe,

Yumena Yanai , is a Japanese actress and model. She is signed under the talent agency Irving. Biography Yanai was born on June 21, 2000, in Kōriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. She is the eldest of four siblings, with two younger brothers and one younger si ...

, Sara Shida, Yurina Yanagi, and Kaho Tsuchimura as Rin Shima,

Chiaki Ōgaki , also known in Japan as ''Yuru Camp'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Afro. Set in and around Yamanashi, Japan, the series chronicles the adventures of Rin Shima, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and their friends as they t ...

, Aoi Inuyama,

Ena Saitō , also known in Japan as ''Yuru Camp'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Afro. Set in and around Yamanashi, Japan, the series chronicles the adventures of Rin Shima, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and their friends as they t ...

, Sakura Kagamihara, and

Minami Toba , also known in Japan as ''Yuru Camp'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Afro. Set in and around Yamanashi, Japan, the series chronicles the adventures of Rin Shima, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and their friends as they t ...

, respectively. A

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

adaptation of the manga series for television was announced in November 2019 and was given a second season renewal in November 2020. The series premiered in Japan on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.TV Osaka JOBH-DTV (channel 7), branded as , is a Japanese television station serving as the affiliate of the TX Network for the Osaka prefecture. Owned-and-operated by , the station's headquarters and studios are in the Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku ward of ...

, and

TV Aichi Aichi Television Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (TVA; ), also referred to as , with the callsigns JOCI-DTV (channel 10) is a Japanese television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity ...

on January 10, 2020, and concluded on June 18, 2021, with 24 episodes broadcast over two seasons. Ahead of the premiere of the second season is a special program for the series, which was aired on March 29, 2021.

Episodes

Season 1 (2020)

''Laid-Back Camp Special'' (2021)

Season 2 (2021)

Cast and characters

Main

as Rin Shima:
A teenage girl who has a passion for camping after being inspired by her grandfather in middle school. * Yūno Ōhara as

:
A teenage girl who falls asleep after riding her bicycle to

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

. Nadeshiko encounters Rin by that time and is inspired by her to try camping. She later joins the Outdoor Activities Club. * Momoko Tanabe as

:
The president of the Outdoor Activities Club who is acquainted with Rin yet is wary of her. *

as Aoi Inuyama:
A teenage girl who speaks with a

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as su ...

and is the founding member of the Outdoor Activities Club along with Chiaki. * Sara Shida as

:
A teenage girl who is friends with Rin and supports her solo camping by sending her private messages while at home. * Yurina Yanagi as Sakura Kagamihara:
The older sister of Nadeshiko who loves driving. * Kaho Tsuchimura as

:
A teacher at Motosu High School and the advisor of the Outdoor Activities Club.

Recurring

* Ayumi Mikata as Saki Shima: Rin's mother. * Yusuke Noguchi as Shūichirō Kagamihara: Nadeshiko's father. * Eiko Yamamoto as Shizuka Kagamihara: Nadeshiko's mother. * Yuki Tayama as Nadeshiko's supervisor at her part-time job in Yutakaya

Guest

* Honoka Kitahara as Ryōko Toba: Minami's younger sister. * Yuka Kouri as Kikukawa Subaru: A mountain climber whom Rin encounters at Yashajin Pass and later at a tea shop where she works. * Aina Nishizawa as Akari Inuyama: Aoi's younger sister. * Anna Ishii as Ayano Toki:
A childhood friend of Nadeshiko who rides a motorcycle. She meets Rin when the latter visits the house of Nadeshiko's grandmother. * Jun Hashimoto as Jun Saitō: Ena's father. * Miki Kanai as Mr. Iida's daughter who has a pet

corgi The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small Dog type, type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is thought to be derived from the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

* Manabu Hosoi as Mr. Iida: An owner of a wine shop at Izu who is camping with her daughter at

Lake Yamanaka is located in the village of Yamanakako in Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji, Japan. Lake Yamanaka is the largest of the Fuji Five Lakes in surface area and the highest in elevation. It is the third highest lake in Japan, with a mean sur ...

. * Sento Takemori as Shinichi Ichinomiya: A father of two who is camping nearby at the same campsite as Nadeshiko during her first solo camping. * Kokoro Hirasawa as Haruka Ichinomiya: Shinichi's daughter. * Yuki Takasugi as Hiroto Ichinomiya: Shinichi's son.

Production

Development and casting

In November 2019,

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

television adaptation of ''

Laid-Back Camp , also known in Japan as ''Yuru Camp'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Afro. Set in and around Yamanashi, Japan, the series chronicles the adventures of Rin Shima, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and their friends as they t ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series by Afro. Shinya Fujino at TV Tokyo, Kiichi Kumagai at Headquarters, and Tatsuya Iwakura at SDP would be producing the series. That month,

, Yūno Ōhara, Momoko Tanabe,

, and Sara Shida were revealed to be starring as Rin Shima,

, Aoi Inuyama, and

, respectively. In December 2019, Yurina Yanagi and Kaho Tsuchimura were announced to be joining the cast as Sakura Kagamihara and

, respectively, with the talent dog Yamaguchi Choco portraying the live-action version of Chikuwa. In February 2020, comedian

Hiroshi is a common masculine Japanese given name. It can also be transliterated as Hirosi. Written forms Hiroshi can be written using different kanji characters. Here are some examples: *浩, "wide expanse, abundance, vigorous" *弘, "vast, broad, w ...

was announced to be making an appearance as "Solo Camper Hiroshi" in the eighth and eleventh episode following his voice-only role in the third episode as a radio personality. In November 2020, the series was renewed for a second season, with Kitagawa returning to write the script and Ninomiya, Koshino, and Tamazawa returning to direct. Tomohiro Goda at TV Tokyo (replacing Fujino), Kumagai at Headquarters, and Iwakura at SDP would be producing the season, with Goda's colleague Noboru Morita serving as the chief producer. That month, Fukuhara, Ōhara, Tanabe, Yanai, Shida, Yanagi, and Tsuchimura were set to be reprising their roles from the first season. In February 2021, a special program for the series, , was announced for a March 29 release before the second season premiere. In March 2021, a live-action adaptation of ''

Room Camp , also known as ''Heya Camp'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Afro as a spin-off of ''Laid-Back Camp''. It has been serialized by Houbunsha on Kirara Base since April 9, 2016, and on their manga service Comic Fuz since M ...

'' was announced to be aired along with the season. That month, Anna Ishii and Jun Hashimoto were revealed to be joining the cast as Ayano Toki and Jun Saitō, Ena's father, respectively. In April 2021,

Akio Otsuka is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator from the Tokyo Metropolitan area. He is attached to Mausu Promotion. The astringent and calm quality of his deep voice has landed him many roles in films, dubbing, animation, and video games. He i ...

, who voiced Rin's grandfather in the anime series of the same name, reprised his role in the second episode, and comedian Mizuki Nishimura was revealed to be making an appearance in the sixth episode as the campsite manager at

Filming

Filming began in seven campsites that were used as inspiration for the settings in the manga series after obtaining a permit from the Home of Mt. Fuji Yamanashi Film Commission. The former Shimobe Elementary and Middle School in

Minobu, Yamanashi is a town located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 11,674 in 5447 households, and a population density of 39 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Minobu is in south-central Yamanash ...

was used as the filming location for Motosu High School, the fictional school where the characters of the series attend.

Music

In December 2019, it was announced that the opening and ending

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the first season would be by H△G and "Replay" by Longman, respectively. The ending theme music was released digitally by Sony Music Labels on January 24, 2020, and is included in the album ''Just a Boy'' by Longman, which was released in Japan on February 5. The opening theme music is included in the

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

album of the same name, which was released in Japan by Feel Mee on March 25. In February 2021, it was announced that the opening theme music for the series' special episode and second season would be "Hello Youth" by Longman. In March 2021, Sarasa Kadowaki was revealed to be performing the ending theme music . The opening theme music was released digitally by Sony Music Labels on March 31, 2021, and is included in the mini-album ''This Is Youth'' by Longman, which was released in Japan on May 19. The ending theme music was released digitally on April 7, 2021.

Release

Broadcast

The first season of ''Laid-Back Camp'' premiered in Japan on

, and

on January 10, 2020, and concluded on March 27, consisting of 12 episodes. The special program ''Laid-Back Camp Special'' aired on TV Tokyo on March 29, 2021. The second season premiered on TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, and TV Aichi on April 2, 2021, and concluded on June 18, consisting of 12 episodes.

Home media

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

serves as the

streaming service Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

for ''Laid-Back Camp'' in Japan. The

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

for the first season was released in Japan on October 9, 2020. The Blu-ray and DVD for the second season was released in Japan on October 6, 2021, which includes the special program and the script for ''Room Camp''.

Reception

''Laid-Back Camp'' was ranked sixth among the top ten dramas of 2020 by writer and drama critic Reiichi Narima.

References

External links

''Laid-Back Camp'' season 1
at

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.''Laid-Back Camp'' season 2
at TV Tokyo * {{Laid-Back Camp 2020 Japanese television series debuts 2021 Japanese television series endings Japanese high school television series Japanese television dramas based on manga Laid-Back Camp Television shows set in Yamanashi Prefecture TV Tokyo original programming