Yuru Camp returns, but with less richness

When we talk about slice-of-life franchises that have stood out the most in recent years, "Yuru Camp (Laid-Back Camp)" is definitely a name that immediately pops up. Based on a manga written and illustrated by Afro, it tells the story of Rin Shima, Nadeshiko Kagamihara and their friends as they travel through different camping spots across the country.

The anime adaptation began in Winter-2018 (January-March) by C-Station Studios, followed by a second season in Winter-2021, an animated film in July-2022, and a short anime titled "Room Camp" in Winter-2020. Now the franchise has returned with a third season, but with a new production team within 8-Bit Studios.

One of the most relevant changes includes the departure of Mutsumi Sasaki from character design, a position he had held throughout the franchise, so that Naofumi Hashimoto will take his place in this new season. The change in character designer was hinted at recently with a post on Twitter showing off Aoi Inuyama's new design.

As we can see in the comparison, on the left we can see the old design and on the right the new one in Yuru Camp. It's impossible not to notice that the size of her breasts was reduced, but she also removed the zettai ryouiki or absolute zone, i.e. the bare area between her socks and her skirt, which is no longer featured in her new design.

Yuru Camp returns, but with less richness

And of course, there was no shortage of comments:

"I don't understand, why?"
"Is this the result of the passage of time?"
"Feminazis will have a reason to celebrate with this."
"I think it's just because of the position he's in. Although it's a shame about the absolute area, it looked pretty good with its design."
"I think fan-art has polluted their minds, as Aoi-chan was never as erotic as I remembered her."
"Maybe it's the production committee's desire to bring the franchise to all ages."
"I don't have a problem with the breasts, but it's a shame that the thighs have become thinner."
"The most unfortunate thing is that they changed the production team, although with the disaster of having used Google Earth imagery you understand."
"Why did you make a change to the character designer? I don't understand why they didn't hire him to hold the line."