So for those of you not in the know, Yuru Camp was my anime of the season for Winter 2018 and as it currently stands (not for long though get hyped for Vento Aureo) it’s my favourite anime this year. Part of that obviously comes down to just how cute and relaxing it is, but the main reason I love it so much is because of Shimarin.

See, the appeal of Shimarin is very simple. She’s not too much different than your average lone wolf/introverted cute girl in any given anime. She’s obviously got all her quirks like “I will turn you to rust on my blade” and just generally being dorky and cute, but she’s not a character you haven’t seen.

Except - and here’s where it gets good - the show respects the fact that Shimarin likes to be by herself. Whereas other cute girl anime have the introverted girl be almost looked down upon unless she’s hanging out with the rest of the group, Yuru Camp tells us that Shimarin’s solo camping activities are just as good as group camping activities. When Shimarin goes group camping in the end, she has fun with it, but she goes back to solo camping afterwards. Neither is better, Shimarin just likes one of them a bit more.

And that means a lot to me. I enjoy the company of other people and stuff, but I like doing my own thing by myself just as much. For Yuru Camp to give me Shimarin and tell me she’s just as worthy of having her interests respected, it felt nice, especially in a climate where the introverted girls in cute girl anime are forced to become a people person from pretty much the moment we meet them.

And that’s why I love Shimarin.

Happy birthday, Shimarin!

P.S. It’s also Christina from New Game’s birthday