OVA review: Yuru Camp Specials: Survival Camp, Tall-Tale Camp

Isn’t that a mouthful of a title, and especially for another set of Yuru Camp spinoff episodes that total about 18 minutes this time. But they’re also both worth a look, and since I’ve already covered that Yamaha-sponsored OVA Sanrin Bike, then why not these, especially if you still haven’t had enough Yuru Camp to last until next month when the third season starts its run.

Starting with the longer 12-minute episode:

Survival Camp

All the main girls (Rin, Nadeshiko, Chiaki, Aoi, Ena) head off on a grand camping trip to Australia on a private jet they somehow managed to scam their way into. But we don’t get to see Australia in this half-length episode: instead, the plane has some temporary engine trouble, and the gang all excitedly bail out with parachutes onto a tropical island before the pilot can get across to them that everything’s fine (doesn’t help that he only speaks English, though it’s a second language for the VA, which always makes it better.)

He does say “oh, shit!” in English, which is probably the most fluent part of his few lines of dialogue.

After landing on the island, the girls freak out for a few minutes before getting their wits together and coming up with a survival plan that doesn’t go so well on the first day. Day 2, however, sees better results, with Chiaki somehow finding a massive cache of bananas and Rin catching a big ass fish.

What kind of fish is this anyway? Pretty sure I’ve seen it somewhere before.

After a day full of feasting and playing in the ocean and pretty much turning their predicament into a camping trip, the group realizes that they’re still stranded and may have to spend the rest of their lives on this island, and so we return to the very first scene with the girls panicking and yelling for help. This time, however, the camera pulls out to reveal that they’re just off the coast of Japan. Somehow, this tropical desert island (not an oxymoron!) exists within the territorial waters of one of the most densely populated countries on Earth.

And while I’m nitpicking, do bananas like this grow in the wild? From what I’ve heard, wild bananas look and taste very different from the Chiquita product you find in the store. But I’ll stop thinking about bananas before I get into the crimes of United Fruit.

But enough “well actually” bullshit from me. This OVA clearly isn’t meant to be taken seriously anyway — it’s just one of those fun departures from the main story, which is still very much grounded aside from the occasional dream and hallucination. It all reminds me a little of the only other “girls crash-land on a desert island and have to survive” anime I’ve seen, Are You Lost?, only this is a better and more effective take on the subject despite being far shorter. Maybe I’m not being fair because I already liked all these characters — put them in just about any situation and I think I’d enjoy the result as long as the comedy continues to be as tight as usual for Yuru Camp. But then writing likeable characters is a skill, and manga author Afro and whoever else might have contributed to the story earned my goodwill with that skill, so it’s not unfair at all.

Tall-Tale Camp

If the writing weren’t so tight, this second OVA might not work as well as it does. Officially titled Tall-Tale Camp (“Hora Camp” in Japanese, which I think comes from hora or something like “hey, look”?) this one is better titled Bullshit Camp in English, featuring prime bullshitter Aoi and her sister Akari, both established as liars throughout the main series. Only this is a light comedy, and Aoi and Akari’s lies are all harmless, just meant to fuck with their friends in the Outclub. Not with Rin, who’s still not in the Outclub and is too sharp to buy any of Aoi’s bullshit, but that’s not the case for her opposite, the overly trusting Nadeshiko. Not much to say about Bullshit Camp other than if you like the rest of Yuru Camp, you’ll like this — it’s basically a short few segments that would have otherwise fit into most any regular episode.

Lots of internal Japanese prefectural infighting here too. I didn’t know Japan had the kinds of rivalries we do in the US between a lot of neighboring states, but it figures that things wouldn’t be so different over there. Even if the prefectures don’t have anywhere close to the kind of autonomy our states do that let them get into long drawn-out legal disputes over water and resource extraction rights.

Sorry, work seeping into my review here. I can’t get into specifics, but shared natural resources don’t make for good neighbors, and especially not when said neighbors didn’t like each other much to begin with. If you want a break from work, try out these two OVAs, though again, I have no idea where you’re supposed to find them unless you’re willing to resort to the option we all know about. Perfectly fine in my opinion if whatever it is you’re seeking out is otherwise unavailable.

And on a related note, fuck Nintendo for taking down Citra. You assholes weren’t even supporting the 3DS anymore, and we all know you’re only too happy to let games be lost forever. Does an IP owner have the right to make its works completely unavailable to the audience after it’s been put out there? That might need its own very long post. Until then or whenever else I manage to post something, all the best from me here in my work cave.

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