REVIEW: ‘Solo Camping For Two’ Is A Tonal Misadventure

Solo Camping For Two (also known as Futari Solo Camp) technically has a decent recipe for a calm, slice-of-life vibe centered around camping. You have two strangers, one a grumpy cat type and the other a golden retriever type, meet up and soon bond over the subtle power and beauty of nature. In the process, the show (and likely the manga it’s adapting from) provides tidbits of information to help out in both camping and cooking. However, despite all this, it doesn’t quite land in a live-action format.

Solo Camping For Two focuses on two characters. There’s 34-year-old Gen Kinokura (Win Morisaki), who enjoys the quiet solitude that camping brings. He uses his trips to these camping sites to reset from the city life, and anyone who interrupts this calm quiet will easily become his enemy. Unfortunately, the hyperactive exuberance of youth is unexpected for this grumpy man, who meets his match when 20-year-old Shizuku Kusano (Miyu Honda) crosses his path.

After Kusano accidentally falls into the river, Kinokura helps her out but realizes how woefully unprepared she is for camping. She literally has no equipment, and his exasperation knows no bounds upon realizing this. Frankly, as someone raised by hikers, I had to pour one out for Kinokura as he tried to figure out how to save this girl from her rookie mistakes. It makes for a relatable moment of exasperation, but it shows a lot about Kinokura’s character that he at least tries to help.

Even still, Kinokura doesn’t want her there and is prepared to kick her out of the campsite until coming upon her finishing up cooking a meal. These moments with Kusano and her cooking become a staple of each episode of Solo Camping For Two, offering mini breaks away from what little action there is to offer cheap and easy-to-make meals for future campers out there. When the two inevitably try out whatever Kusano has concocted, it results in amusingly comical reactions from mostly Kinokura, with Win Morisaki’s facial expressions capturing the moment of a man on the verge of happy tears.

Solo Camping For Two always seems offbeat, never quite finding its rhythm.

However, these particular sidebar moments, as informative as they are, are jarring in execution, likely due to how it is edited into episodes. It creates a displacement in the pacing that never quite recovers. Without having read the manga, I can only assume that if this moment is pulled directly from that source, it likely might have been an extra in the back of the book, or perhaps there was more flexibility when the manga transitioned into these moments. Either way, it never quite fits well into the Solo Camping for Two live-action.

Shot similarly to an infomercial or like a quick YouTube-style clip, Kusano takes on the role of instructor before diving into this learning segment. It’s not all bad. The food looks absolutely delicious and would make any viewer’s mouth water. The instructions are simple and easy to follow. From an educational standpoint, it does what it needs to do. Similarly, Kinokura’s voiceover regailing the audience on the basics of camping presents many teaching moments that are applicable to the real world, making this series more educational than entertaining at points.

Halfway through the series, the relationship between Kinokura and Kusano is slowgoing in its development, but there’s at least some movement. However, it can’t be ignored that, much like it was in the manga, Kusano blackmails Kinokura with a sexual assault allegation to get what she wants from him. It’s never addressed again, which is incredibly awkward at best and tone-deaf in its severity at worst. Despite the fact that Kinokura warms up to her, that truth is hard to get past.

Tonally, Solo Camping For Two covers a fair amount. It’s part educational experience, part cooking show, and part slice-of-life, with the relationship between these two strangers being the draw. However, with the relationship starting off on rocky ground and an inconsistency in its tone and focus, this series may be best left to fans of the manga. Unless you really want to take away some basic camping knowledge.

Solo Camping For Two Episodes 1-4 are now streaming on Viki, with new episodes releasing weekly.