Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 16

ゆるキャン△ / Laid-Back Camp #16

by Afro, Amber Tamosaitis (translator), Dayeun kim (letterer)

Japan's Golden Week is coming up, so Rin's hopping on her motorcycle for a road trip and a reunion. Nadeshiko has her own plans, but her solo-camping excursion to Gunma Prefecture quickly turns into a group adventure! Now, the normally indoorsy Ena and the Outdoor Exploration Club's newest recruit, Ema, are along for the ride! While three heads are usually better than one, can Ema deal with the fact that Nadeshiko and Ena are actually the biggest sleepyheads...?

Genres: Manga, Humor, Slice Of Life, Graphic Novels, Young Adult

162 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2024

Reviews

[Niijishima]

Yuru Camp volume 16 starts directly with the continuation of the shocking reveal at the end of the previous book. Rin wants to cut her hair... It's funny that the author themselves know how iconic her bun is so their are some exaggerated jokes about that which could be straight from a room camp chapter. And still the bun is gone so it's up to Nadeshiko to carry the legacy for now at least..
In addition Rin is planning her next camping trip with Ayano which I desperately want to see, because they had an outstanding character dynamic at the bridge camp some volumes earlier.

Yet the heart of this volume is the camping trip in Gunma with Ena, Nadeshiko and the new character Ema. Here shows once more the strength of Afros writing. They can create some comfortable and funny characters dynamics and interaction. This time Nadeshikos playfulness and Enas laid-back attitude collabs with Emas calm and for her age somehow mature and reliable personality. For example in comparison to her senpais Ema is fully awake when their trip started in the morning and she helped them to get to their early destinations. In addition her big imagination, which was already shown in the previous book, leads to some funny moments with her goofball senpais.

Moreover I like how she grows interests in trying out camping. First she talked with her coworkers at her job in the camping store about her disinterests. Yet after their conversation Ema shows some curiosity to visit a lake in Gunma where she wants to draw. Thanks to Rins words in the previous book Ema is willing to try. Meanwhile Nadeshiko is actually planning a solo trip to Gunma and after a planning conversation with Ena and Ema the three of them decided to go together. In addition it's also nice to see Nadeshiko pursuing her new interests in trains more and more. That's why this trip is all about trains and I really adore this.

I'm really looking forward to the second half of this train camp in the next volume and how Ema is bonding more with her upper classmate and camping in general.

[Becky B]

It is Golden Week, while some of the OEC members have to work, others discover they have unexpected time off. Nadeshika is planning a solo trip to Gunma including visitng the rail museum and walking the ABT road, and while helping her figure out the tight time schedule Ena and new member Ema invite themselves to join her. The other OEC members have other plans, which aren’t fully depicted in this volume, but we do get to see Rin get a haircut (shocker!) and have others get a little obsessed with fake hair buns.

I appreciate the armchair tours of various areas of Japan I get with this series. It gives me ideas of where I would want to go on my next visit. I have the hardest time keeping all the characters apart, even though they really don’t all look alike. (I wish there were a character guide at the beginning like in some other manga.) But it doesn’t matter too much to enjoy each volume.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: None
Ethnic diversity: All are Japanese.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified.
Other: None

[The Book Dragon]

It's been so long I forgot most of the characters names. (This is the downside to relying on the public library for your manga; if there aren't enough people reading a series, they'll stop buying it and make you wait 6 months before you can ask a different library)

Anyway! It's Golden Week and our camping girls (mostly Nadeshiko) are planning another camping trip. But her plans, upon closer inspection, have a few problems so with the help of Ena and Ema, she reworks them from a solo camping trip into a three person trip. They're headed to Gunma where our budding train otaku can geek out at a train museum.

And this is something I'd love to do! Not necessarily the hiking, but being able to go out and see stuff. To stumble on cool places that may not be something I'd normally plan on going to but finding entertainment in it anyway. Living in the moment, you know.

[Dita]

Golden week's camp time. The gang camping separately and some stuck at part time job. Nadeshiko, Ena and Ema camping at Gunma and visit the train museum. Rin going to camp with Aya. There's also a story when Nadeshiko and Rin camping together in a hidden gem camping site, Rin with her scooter and Nadeshiko with her bike.
Another relaxing read full of laid-back outdoor activities adventures with camp grub's recipes.

[Alicia]

It's Japan's Golden Week and one of the girls unexpectedly is free since she doesn't have to work and camping is on in the many fashions it takes with the girls whether they're soloing or going as a group. Like always there are food stops to plan, routes to take, transportation to arrange, and the need for a hot bath somewhere too.

Landscape panels are always my favorite.

[Othy]

I read this after reading Mono, another manga by Afro and one that I didn't care for. This may have led me to like this volume a bit more than recent ones, which I found a little simple and boring. This series is so chill, but sometimes it takes perspective to remember how to read them.

[ribbonknight]

These are always so interesting and peaceful. Women and girls figuring out camping, looking at beautiful vistas and cultural edification by checking out the local sights and food. Their trying out new recipes one can make while camping is always cute, too. Low stakes, and just what I needed today.

[Eressea]

無止盡的日常，好像擠不出啥評語
就當旅遊書來看~

[Linda]

I continue to like this series, as it continues to show various parts of what the girls do to camp in rural/suburban Japan.

[Kathleen]

A visit to the train museum and some lesser-known mountain camps!

[Megan]

This volume reminded me of going to the Kyoto railway museum 😊

[S46354595]

They're back at the diamond Mt. Fuji place? Feels very full circle final volume stuff, except it's not.

Laid-Back Camp Review

5/5 stars

This will be a spoiler free review. Onto the review!

This is a super cozy and chill manga about camping. These high school students have a little camping club at school, and then they eventually start to grow their camping club, while also saving up to buy better gear and go on longer trips.

As with this mangaka’s other newer series, I have no clue how to tell these characters apart, because it’s not in color. The defining feature of a character will be pink hair, but aside from the cover, the manga is in black and white. At least two of them have motorcycles that are quite distinct. So that’s a plus.

If you like camping or are interested in learning what you would need to know in order to go camping, I think you would like this manga. Also, this manga will likely make you hungry. They cook a lot of really tasty looking food over the fire (or bunsen burner) while camping.

There really is no overarching plot. It’s just everyone trying to decide where to go camping and then once they get there, cooking really delicious looking food. I often made the mistake of reading this at the library when I had an evening shift and would be getting home late and I was very hungry afterwards. Don’t do that. Read this after you’ve eaten so it doesn’t make you drool over the food.

Have a nice day/night everyone!