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Laid-Back Camp season 3

The third season of the Japanese animated television series Laid-Back Camp, based on the manga series of the same name by Afro, sees the Outdoor Activities Club continuing their adventures and camping in Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures following the group camping at Izu Peninsula, with Nadeshiko Kagamihara's chilhood friend Ayano Toki now joining them. It was animated by Eight Bit, with Masafumi Sugiura supervising the series composition and Shin Tosaka directing.

Yumiri Hanamori, Nao Tōyama, Sayuri Hara, Aki Toyosaki, Rie Takahashi, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Shizuka Itō, Marina Inoue, Risae Matsuda and Akio Otsuka reprise their roles from the previous seasons. Production on a third season was confirmed in October 2022. A new staff and studio working on the season were announced in July 2023, with additional staff joining in October. Maria Sashide and Kokoa Amano joined the cast in March 2024 to voice the new characters Ema Mizunami and Mei Nakatsugawa, respectively.

The third season premiered on AT-X on April 4, 2024, and will run for twelve episodes.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Yumiri Hanamori as Nadeshiko Kagamihara
Nao Tōyama as Rin Shima
Sayuri Hara as Chiaki Ōgaki
Aki Toyosaki as Aoi Inuyama
Rie Takahashi as Ena Saitō
Tomoyo Kurosawa as Ayano Toki
Shizuka Itō as Minami Toba
Marina Inoue as Sakura Kagamihara
Risae Matsuda as Akari Inuyama
Maria Sashide as Ema Mizunami
Kokoa Amano as Mei Nakatsugawa
Akio Otsuka as the narrator

Production

Development

In October 2022, the cast of Laid-Back Camp Movie revealed a third season for the Laid-Back Camp anime series during their stage greeting at the Marunouchi Piccadilly theater in Tokyo, with the franchise's official Twitter account confirming it to be already in production. In July 2023, Shin Tosaka, Masafumi Sugiura, and Hisanori Hashimoto were revealed as the director, head of series composition, and character designer, respectively, of the season produced at Eight Bit; replacing the staff who had worked on the previous seasons and the film at C-Station. This was Hashimoto's debut in character designing. As the new director for the series, Tosaka stated that he wanted to do "an honest and careful portrayal of the charm of the [manga]" in the season, and acknowledged the difference of the new character designs from the previous seasons due to incorporating the "taste of the original manga".

Additional staff working on the season were revealed in October 2023, including Miho Hasegawa as the color designer, Taketo Gonpei as the art director, and Katsuto Ogawa as the director of photography. The Japanese background art production company Creative Freaks was also revealed to be producing the background arts for the season. Tomoyo Kurosawa, who voiced Ayano Toki in the season, confirmed in November 2023 that the dubbing was finished. In April 2024, Point Pictures confirmed that they produced the opening animation.

Writing

According to Laid-Back Camp author Afro, the season would introduce his favorite "Death Road" story from the manga series, which is the fifty-ninth chapter in the eleventh volume ("Hatanagi Attack!! Death Road from Hell" (畑薙アタック！！地獄のデスロード)).

Casting

In July 2023, Yumiri Hanamori, Nao Tōyama, Sayuri Hara, Aki Toyosaki, and Rie Takahashi were set to reprise their respective roles from the previous seasons of Laid-Back Camp as Nadeshiko Kagamihara, Rin Shima, Chiaki Ōgaki, Aoi Inuyama, and Ena Saitō. In September 2023, Kurosawa and Akio Otsuka were also set to return for their recurring roles as Ayano and the narrator. Additional recurring cast were revealed in March 2024, namely Shizuka Itō as Minami Toba, Marina Inoue as Sakura Kagamihara, and Risae Matsuda as Akari Inuyama. That month, Maria Sashide and Kokoa Amano joined the cast as Ema Mizunami and Mei Nakatsugawa, respectively. The English dub cast for the season was announced in April 2024, namely Celeste Perez as Rin, Morgan Garrett as Nadeshiko, Katelyn Barr as Chiaki, Hannah Alyea as Aoi, Molly Zhang as Ena, Katie Wetch as Ayano, Larry Cassady as Hajime (Rin's grandfather) and the narrator, Leah Clark as Minami, Jalitza Delgado as Hana, and Marianne Bray as Hana's mother.

Model locations

In the first episode of the season, the Iyama Observation Deck, an observation deck at Mount Iyama in Aichi Prefecture was featured. The outdoor specialty store featured in the second episode, where Ayano visited to shop for equipment that would heat her drink, was based on the real-life Campal Shop Bentenjima store found in Kosai, Shizuoka. In the same episode, the Hamanako Flight Park 2nd Takeoff of Hamanako Paraglider School in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka was also featured.

Music

Akiyuki Tateyama was revealed to be composing the season in July 2023, after previously working on the first two seasons of Laid-Back Camp. In September 2023, the Japanese music unit Kiminone and Asaka were revealed as the performers of the opening and ending theme songs for the season, respectively. Eri Sasaki was also revealed to be producing the ending theme song. In February 2024, the title of the opening and ending theme songs were revealed as "Laid-Back Journey" (レイドバックジャーニー, Reidobakku Jānī) and "So Precious", respectively. Their singles will be released in Japan on April 24, 2024.

Marketing

The teaser visual for the third season of Laid-Back Camp was unveiled in July 2023; its other half was revealed alongside the release of a teaser trailer in September. A character visual for Nadeshiko was released in October 2023, followed by Rin and Ayano in November, Chiaki in December, Aoi in January 2024, and Ena with her pet dog Chikuwa in February. In March 2024, the main visual and a new trailer featuring the theme songs for the season were released.

Promotional partners for the season included the collectible card game Weiß Schwarz, which would release a trial deck and booster pack based on the season; the outdoor goods brand Aozoragear, which would deploy a camper designed with illustration of Nadeshiko and Rin; the shokugan (food toy) company Heart, which would sell character-themed 3D magnets; and the insecticide manufacturer Fumakilla.

Release

Broadcast

The first three episodes of the third season of Laid-Back Camp premiered at Shinjuku Piccadilly theater in Shinjuku, Tokyo on February 24, 2024. The season debuted on AT-X on April 4, 2024, and would air twelve episodes.

Home media

The third season of Laid-Back Camp was simulcast on streaming services d-anime Store and Abema in Japan, on Crunchyroll worldwide (except Asia), and Ani-One in Southeast Asia.

Three volumes of Blu-ray and DVD for the season, each containing four episodes and an original video animation (OVA), were set to be released in 2024: first volume on June 26, second volume on August 28, and third volume on October 3. The title of the OVAs in the first and second volumes were Nokuru Room (野クルのへや, Nokuru no Heya) and Ame Camp (あめキャン△, Amekyan).