Review: Camp Camp “Foreign Exchange Campers”

They’re a long, long way from home.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

It’s another blazing day at Camp Campbell as David, Gwen, and the main three kids wait for foreign exchange campers, Vira (Sarah Natochenny) from Russia, Dang (Alex Mai) from Thailand, and Hwan (Stephen Fu) from North Korea. And also Brian (SungWon “ProZD Cho). The first three are eager to meet Cameron Campbell, and we soon learn why, as they are actually agents from countries Campbell he has swindled and plan to strip the camp of any remaining assets in his absence. The three shows adept skill in many camp activities, as well as making their way onto Space Kid’s shit list, but they really perk up when a scavenger hunt is announced. Everyone else is less than enthused…until they learn the prize will be (recently expired) ice cream. Max throws Neil and Nikki under the bus to join the foreign kids but soon gets caught up in their mission at knifepoint, much to his friends’ seething jealousy. This soon leads to Campbell’s secret room above the mess hall and a secret safe containing everything the foreign kids want…only for it to be pulled out from under them by Brian, in reality, an agent of the state of Kentucky that wishes to secede. Not wishing to face failure, the foreign kids decide to stay and eat ice cream while Neil and Nikki reflect on domestic threats.

OUR TAKE

To kick off RT’s 2018 Summer of Animation (actually starting close to summer this time!) we now we swing the quality metronome the OTHER way! I figured new campers may have been incoming at some point, but I didn’t expect this fast OR this many! Based on the description of the episode, my first guess was that they were all Campbell’s illegitimate offspring come to kill him, but agents from places he’s swindled (said swindling we’ve seen some of in previous episodes) work just as well, if not better. Although, while the whole “foreign cultural stereotype” joke is a bit of an iffy territory to approach, certain…recent international matters have afforded comedy writers more “acceptable target” countries to mock. North Korea and Russia I definitely get, but a cursory Wikipedia search tells me that Thailand’s recent military coup and dictatorship is probably what landed them here.

The lesson of the episode is also interestingly (and kinda sadly) a very topical one. I already figured Brian would be more important by the end considering how unremarkable he presents himself, but this was certainly not what I expected. Brian’s twist as a Kentuck..ian agent was moderately funny on its own AND even if the message was kind of on the nose by the end, being aware of inside threats and not simply looking at ones coming from outside is a lesson Americans have steadily had to start relearning recently, and I consider it worth rewarding presenting nuanced and topical ideas in a clever and comedic way.

Plus, now we have another Team Rocket-ish group to cause trouble, except unisex unlike the Wood Scouts and Flower Scouts. Stephen Fu, the voice of Hwan, has been making some notable headway in the anime voice acting business with Funimation, while Alex Mai, who plays Dang, is known more for independent works. Though it’s unclear if we’ll see him again, Brian’s voice actor, SungWon Cho, actually has a considerable following for his Youtube channel ProZD, and has even been acting for Rooster Teeth already in the role of Atlas Arcadium Rex in this season of Red vs. Blue. Lastly, Vera’s actor, Sarah Natochenny, may be more recognizable by another role of hers she’s had for over 12 years now: Ash Ketchum (although most early fans know Veronica Taylor better, so this may be less obvious). I’m actually really excited to see more of these new additions to the cast, especially Vera, who’s just…the best. Excellent cute design, adorable accent, already stirring the pot in the upcoming shipping wars, etc. I would be incredibly surprised if she didn’t become an instant fan favorite, and I’d personally love to see more episodes about her in this season if there’s time.

Though now that we’ve been able to bring on a Youtuber in a guest role, wouldn’t it be nice if we could get one in the writer’s chair, even if just for an episode? Well, hold onto that thought until next Friday.