Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 14

ゆるキャン△ / Laid-Back Camp #14

by Afro, Winster (Letterer), Amber Tamosaitis (Translator)

The cherry blossom trip has ended, and it’s time to ring in the new school year. Nadeshiko and friends are hard at work trying to recruit members for the Outdoor Exploration Club. Are there any students who’ve got the camping spirit in them?!

Genres: Manga, Slice Of Life, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

178 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2022

Reviews

[Jerome · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un volume qui s’ouvre avec la fin de la saison des cerisiers en fleurs et qui se poursuit avec le début d’une nouvelle année scolaire (la rentrée a lieu en avril au Japon). À cette occasion le cercle des activités de plein air cherche à recruter de nouveaux membres. Malheureusement, la concurrence avec les autres clubs du lycée est rude et les filles vont avoir fort à faire pour tirer leur épingle du jeu.
Un bonbon cette série ! Tout y est clame, léger, apaisant. Pas de drame, rien d’anxiogène, on est entre filles, amicales et bienveillantes. Le décor est somptueux, on découvre un Japon loin des grandes attractions touristiques, un Japon authentique où la vie est simple et où la nature occupe une place fondamentale. L’arrivée d’une élève supplémentaire dans le club de camping est l’élément nouveau de ce tome, une élève dont la passion pour le vélo va apporter un vent de fraîcheur au groupe d’amies en place depuis longtemps. Afro déroule son intrigue à son rythme, prenant son temps sans pour autant donner l’impression de tirer en longueur inutilement. Et comme toujours la nourriture occupe une place importante dans le quotidien des filles. Bref, les ingrédients restent les mêmes et c’est tant mieux

[Niijishima · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first half is focusing on the cherry blossom trip from the last volume where we get a wonderful scene with Rin, Nadeshiko and Sakura. Rin is sharing an important place of her childhood with the Kagamihara sisters which shows how much their friendship grew over time and Rin as a person.
The second half starts with the new school year and with a greater focus on the new characters Mei and Ema. While the outdoor club struggles to find new club members, Mei found herself a new hobby thanks to Aoi. Later she actually joins the outdoor club so she can pursue her new hobby and I'm really excited for Mei's first camping/ biker trip next volume. She seems like a very cheerful but inexperienced person like Nadeshiko was at the beginning. It's also nice to see that the story is doing more with Aoi by letting her in the mainrole as Mei's senpai because of their shared interest in biking.

On the other side there is Ema who seeks a quite place to draw in the library where she meets Ena again and for the first time Rin. Ema seems to have a similar personality like Rin but not that excited in camping. But thanks to Rin she gets a part time job in a camping shop so it will be interesting to see how her new job affects her opinion over time about the overpriced hobby called camping

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Members of the OEC wrap up their cherry blossom viewing trip, and then everyone is focused on recruiting new members for the new school year.

I found this one harder to follow than many of the more recent volumes. There are some new characters introduced as the OEC recruits new students, some of the girls were job hunting, someone was trying to pick a road bike, and some were shopping for new camping equipment. I found it really hard to keep everyone straight for some reason. I wish there were a character guide in these. I think it will get better in the next volume as we get back to focusing on trips again (most likely).

Notes on content:
Language: Just one or two minor swears.
Sexual content: None
Violence: The first story has them seeing symbols lit up on the hills and they share the history of why those symbols are lit. It relates to some battles, and those are somewhat depicted.
Ethnic diversity: All Japanese students but from different regions (you can tell by their accents and regional foods they mention throughout the series)
LGBTQ+ content: None
Other: The back has a short story on reading fortunes for each other as a past time.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool local festivals really make a travel series pop, you know. It's just a tiny pitstop until the personality comes through. Anyway, Rin, Nadeshiko, and Nadeshiko's sister enjoy some of the local flair while Aki experiences her first solo camping night. (Yeah, I'd be scared of bears, too. That's why I don't think I could solo camp.) Then we get the whole gang together for a cherry blossom viewing campout complete with exotic(?) meats.

Then it's back to school and the OEC's perpetual struggle to get new members. (And my perpetual struggle not to start new hobbies I find in manga)

[Dita · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got new members, Ema and Mei and cute dog Hanpen. Even though I kinda miss Rin and Nadeshiko and the whole gang together, the new members story is pretty exciting, so happy finally the club get new member Ema and can't wait for her first time camping and laid-back cycling with Inuko.
Overall another fun laid-back relaxing volume.

[Eressea · Rating 4 out of 5]

跟上一本隔太久，劇情在說啥都忘光了
不過JK真香~其他不重要XD

[S46354595 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot tell the characters apart. I wish this was in color. That would make it so much easier.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cherry blossoms, Aki's first solo camping trip and a new club member!