English Dub Review: Aharen-san wa Hakarenai “We’re Camping, Huh?”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Ishikawa invites Raido, Aharen, Oshiro, and Sato to go camping in the mountains. Spurred on by the beauty of their surroundings, Aharen decides to be honest about her feelings…

Our Take:
With summer finally arriving, it makes perfect sense for the show to provide an episode that involves one of the season’s best activities: camping. But of course, even the great outdoors can’t escape from the embarrassments that lie ahead for Raido and his friends. But that hardly matters as long as these scenarios are as funny as the previous ones.
The storyline is basically what the episode title suggests: Raido and the others camping in the woods. There are definitely some comical situations during their little camping trip, but the story didn’t go out of its way to provide some unnecessary filler. Instead of focusing on the comedy like the previous episodes, the episode focuses on its character development, including Oshiro warming up to Raido after seeing him with Aharen more often. That moment proves how much Oshiro has grown since her debut in the show’s second episode. While she’s still an anxious worrywart, Oshiro managed to be more friendly and supportive than usual, even going out of the way to comfort Aharen in her time of need.
However, the most significant piece of development in this episode comes from Raido and Aharen. Aharen has been attempting to confess to Raido about her feelings during the camping trip, but she gets scared of what’ll happen between them if she does. Eventually, Aharen told Raido how she felt towards him and kissed him before running back to the tent. We’ve spent many episodes wondering if this moment would happen, and the camping episode happens to give us that answer. Although, it does appear that things are still the same between Raido and Aharen afterwards, according to Ishikawa and Sato.
Overall, “We’re Camping, Huh” is a fun camping trip that consists of the great outdoors and a sweet development in Raido and Aharen’s friendship. However, it isn’t without a few comedic moments, like Raido failing to catch a fish with a spear and Ms. Tobaru encountering Raido and Aharen together. While the humor is less focused here than in the other episodes, it still balances well with its charm. We can now assume that Raido’s relationship with Aharen would feel a little different in the season’s final two episodes. The question is, how long will it last?