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, running for twelve episodes until June 20.

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

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.

Motorcycles
The motorcycles featured in the season, ridden by Rin and Ayano, were based on the Yamaha Vino by Yamaha Motor Company and Ape 100 Special by Honda, respectively.

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) and "So Precious", respectively. Their singles were 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.

In January 2024, Weiß Schwarz, a collectible card game by Bushiroad, announced a trial deck and booster pack based on the third season. The trial deck was released on June 28, 2024, while the booster pack will be released on November 8. Additional promotional partners included 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.

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. It aired twelve episodes, concluding on June 20, 2024.

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 Outdoor Activities Club Clubroom (野クルのへや) and Rain Camp (あめキャン△).

Reception
In his review of the first three episodes, Steve Jones of Anime News Network noted the noticeable change, particularly the compositing, between the third season and the previous seasons after Eight Bit took over the production from C-Station. Jones criticized how the characters "poorly... mesh" with their backgrounds and the use of lightly edited photographs layered into the background. However, he became "more acclimated to the new style" with each new episode released. Despite the new staff and studio, he lauded the season for how it still depicted the spirit of camping and laid-back style, and highlighted areas of Japan that were never heard about such as the Ōi River. He also praised the "heightened presence" of Ayano in the episodes.