The Outdoor Exploration Club wraps up their trip to Izu with more interesting sights, good food, and a semi-surprise birthday celebration for Nadeshiko and Inuko. Once back at school, the girls are already thinking ahead about what kinds of trips they want to plan next and Rin gets an out of the blue text from Nadeshiko’s old friend, Ayano, asking hey, do you want to go on a camping road trip?
With volume 9 wrapping up the club camping trip, volume 10 is filled with a lot of downtime amongst the OEC members. But that doesn’t mean it’s boring, just that the girls are getting up to different, and no less silly, antics. While camping their laid-back adventures focus on cooking, getting lost, meeting new people, and seeing the sites (I maintain that this is possibly the most effective “tourism” manga out there); being back in the club room means that they’re doing other things like making alcohol lamps and giving each other haircuts in the great outdoors.
Erm, it makes sense in context.
I do slightly prefer the camping parts of Laid-Back Camp over these at-home interstitials but Afro does a good job at balancing the two out, and Rin, Nadeshiko, and now Ayano are back in the great outdoors before the end of volume 10 anyway! I was surprised to see Ayano making a return. Previously we’ve only met her once when Rin stayed with Nadeshiko and her relatives after her New Year’s trip was unexpectedly extended, but new characters and new personalities do help liven up the story. Ayano seems to be a bit calmer, and more deadpan, than the rest of the OEC so I can certainly see some future good comedy bits there, plus like Rin she also rides a scooter which mixes things up a bit!
Speaking of scooters, there’s a bonus chapter at the end of volume 10 where Rin’s scooter is in the shop and she has a “replacement” three-wheeler to drive around instead. Amusingly enough, this chapter was published in Yamaha’s magazine to promote their Tricity vehicle line and, aside from a few panels where Rin is admiring the scooter’s capabilities, it really does feel like a normal chapter in the story. The only part that confused me was that Rin’s hair appears to be much shorter, she visits a sauna and there are panels where you can see her from behind without a coat or scarf to obscure her hair, so I’m wondering if she gets a haircut in the near future.
Ena was giving some of the other girls haircuts in volume 10 so who knows, maybe Rin takes her up on that offer sometime on a future camping trip as well!