Sigh.

I had relatively high hopes for Futari Solo Camp. I say “relatively” – it was in the Modestly Interested category, but at the top of it. And a deep sleeper too. I noticed the covers in the bookshops years ago and thought they looked quite interesting in terms of character design. And I’ve enjoyed camping for most of my life, most of it solo. It’s not a subject that animanga has explored much apart from the odd CGDCT, especially the solo part. As such, relatively high hopes (with the accent on “hope”).

I haven’t totally given up on those hopes, but they took a hit with this premiere. It started out well enough, with the news that the series is running two cours (thanks no doubt to all those camping gear product placements). And the reflections of the protagonist, Kinokura Gen, on the pleasures of solo camping. All of which resonated with me, as someone who’s done a lot of it. When Gen said “Here no one will chastise me for enjoying the pleasures of being alone”, he may as well have been speaking for introverts worldwide.

Unfortunately, that was the high water mark. And that’s largely (well, almost entirely) thanks to Kusano Shizuku. She shows up at Gen’s campsite – he’s the only one in the campground – and helps herself to his fire while he’s in the john. Then has the nerve to slap him for seeing her with her pants off (after he saves her from falling into the fire, mind you). Shizuku is, in a word, annoying. Or in three words, annoying as fuck. Or very, very annoying. This situation is totally her fault, people like her who go into the wilderness ignorant and unprepared and expect the world to cater to them are the scourge of outdoor recreation, and she never shuts the hell up. Apart from that, she’s great.

So her being annoying may or may not be a deal-breaker – that depends on how she evolves. But beyond that is the question of how Futari Solo Camp plans to treat her. She’s totally in the wrong in every way here, right up to insisting that Gen tutor her in camping against his will. If that’s not the show’s perspective well, that’s bad in all kinds of ways. Then there’s introvert/extrovert factor, which I may sound obsessed with but believe me, it’s justified. Extroverts run the world and too much fiction lands on “introverts are broken and it’s our job to fix them”. It’s not, and screw you. Gen is perfectly within his rights to enjoy solitude in the wild, and he’s not wrong to want nothing to do with being this wittering banshee’s babysitter.

I’ve done plenty of pair and group camping too. It has its own pleasures, which are not to be underestimated. But’s not the “right” way to camp, it’s a different way. To an extent this is rehashing the issues as Zatsu Tabi, though that was more a matter of the show simply being much better when it was a solo travel chronicle. Because reflection makes more interesting television than moe pandering. It’s more complicated here, because Futari Solo Camp implies in the premiere that it’s making a value judgment in this respect. Maybe it’s not – time will tell. But it sure felt that way to me. And either way, unless Shizuku gets a lot more shizuka I don’t think it’ll even matter – I’ll be out.