Girls' Last Tour
Girls' Last Tour is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukumizu. It follows the adventures of two girls, Chito and Yuuri, traveling through a world that has fallen into a post-apocalyptic winter.
The manga was serialized monthly on Shinchosha's Kurage Bunch manga website from February 2014 to January 2018 and its chapters were collected in six volumes. An English release of the manga is licensed in North America by Yen Press. A 12-episode anime television adaptation, produced by White Fox, aired in Japan from October to December 2017. It mainly covered the manga's first four volumes. The anime won the "Best Slice of Life" category at the 2nd Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2018, and the manga won the 50th Seiun Award in the Best Comic category in 2019.
Plot
The series follows two girls, Chito and Yuuri, as they navigate the ruins of civilization after a major conflict leaves the world in a desolate post-apocalyptic winter. They travel in their Kettenkrad halftrack motorcycle and seek food and supplies while surviving day-to-day. They conduct a variety of simple activities such as washing clothes and bathing. Chito regularly writes in a journal, collects books, and drives the Kettenkrad. Yuuri takes on a protection role and wields a rifle.During their journey, they encounter a man named Kanazawa, who is mapping out one of the levels of a large city. He gives the girls his camera in return for the girls giving him food, before he leaves after having helped them reach the next level of the city. They next encounter a woman named Ishii after their Kettenkrad breaks down. The girls help Ishii complete the plane that she was building, and she helps them fix the Kettenkrad in return. Ishii subsequently attempts to leave in the plane, heading to the city across the water, though the plane breaks down shortly after its liftoff.
Ishii leaves them information on a facility that grows potatoes and creates rations before they leave, and the two girls capitalize on this opportunity. They pass by a series of black slabs filled with drawers, which Chito deduces are graves, before ascending to the next level of the city. They destroy a construction robot in an aquarium to save a fish after having a discussion with the caretaker robot.
The two girls find a cat-like creature they name Nuko after exploring a drinking hole; Nuko can communicate with the girls via radio signals. They decide to follow such signals which eventually leads them to a submarine. The camera's images are synchronized to a computer that displays pictures and videos of various past events. Yuuri is eaten by a larger version of Nuko; she is released shortly after and the adult Nuko informs the girls that Nuko is part of a species that consumes and stabilizes unstable energy. Before the creatures ascend into the sky with Nuko, they inform Chito and Yuuri that they are the only two humans left on this level.
Chito and Yuuri continue on despite this. They encounter an art museum as well as a research facility, discovering rockets that people attempted to leave in during the war. Their Kettenkrad finally breaks down and cannot be repaired. Chito is forced to burn her books in order to have warm water. They finally reach the top of the city and discover it to be desolate. There, they go to sleep, resting against the wall of the stairwell.
Characters
;Chito;Yuuri
;Kanazawa
;Ishii
;Nuko
Minor characters
;Eringi;Autonomous Machine
;Construction Machine
;Female students
;Old Man
;Woman in the photo
Production
Manga
GirlsTsukumizu's process for creating scenes began with coming up with a story, a punchline, and something to raise awareness of a value. Then, they sketched out the location and created a story that fits the setting and theme. They initially drew scenes with a pencil, then imported it onto a computer to ink and tone using Clip Studio Paint. Tsukumizu said that Chito and Yuuri were "born from expressing the questions" that they had, and that the two characters speak for Tsukumizu in those questions. Kanazawa and Ishii, according to Tsukumizu in a 2015 interview, live with a goal in mind while Chito and Yuuri travel aimlessly; Tsukumizu said that the characters were born from questions like "ow do we live our lives to find true happiness, and what is the right thing to do?"
Anime
About two-thirds of the way through production of the manga, a television adaptation was proposed. Its director,, discussed its ending with Tsukumizu and asked them to come up with an ending to the manga. After reading the manga, Takaharu said that he wanted a spiral-shaped scene; Tsukumizu took this as an opportunity to arrange a large spiral staircase at the end of the manga for Chito and Yuuri to climb. White Fox, the animation studio behind the anime adaptation, initially had doubts that the manga's style was suitable for thirty-minute long episodes and thought that a length of fifteen minutes would be more appropriate for each episode. The studio's president,, cited an example of a movie with only two characters and almost no dialogue while arguing in favor of thirty-minute episodes; the studio subsequently agreed.Direction
Takaharu said that the whole work should feel like a spiral; where one thing ends, another begins. In terms of emotional portrayal, that Chito and Yuuri had to feel that being by one another's side is the most important thing. The anime added various sound effects to highlight the feeling of silence. The sound of water was emphasized. This was because water served as a symbol of life in a mechanical environment with almost no living things.The anime's script coordinator, Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, asked Tsukumizu about background details that would subsequently appear in the plot; these were not present in the original manga. Among the details added were Chito's memory of her and Yuuri leaving their grandfather. Kazuyuki also changed details that he believed would show the depth of the relationship between the two girls. The first chapter of the manga had Chito covering herself and then Yuuri with a blanket before going to sleep; this was changed in the anime adaptation to Chito placing the blanket over Yuuri before covering herself.
Art and animation
The character design was done by Mai Toda, who decided that Chito and Yuuri should be kept simple. Their eyebrows were drawn as a thin line, which served as a challenge when expressing the character's emotions. The anime also added reflections to the character's eyes, a detail not present in the manga. The ruins that make up the background were given a special aesthetic effect as not to depict it as a messy and dirty place. The art director Masakazu Miyake incorporated color into the background to avoid the world appearing monotonous and grey.The storyboards for the opening theme were done by Takaharu. The storyboards included directions for camera techniques and how the overall composition of scenes should look. Additionally, the ending theme's animation was done by Tsukumizu, consisting of about 400 pencil drawings. They had initially envisioned a peaceful scene of Chito and Yuuri lighting a fire, but changed their mind after hearing the music and instead showed the two girls play and tease one another.
The average number of shots in each episode ranges from 250 to 270. There are also about 100 3D scenes per episode, which includes the Kettenkrad and various robots.
Sound effects
Though the original manga was set in a silent post-apocalyptic world, various sound effects were used to highlight the feeling of silence. Natural phenomena such as wind and water still survive through an apocalypse, and the sound director believed they could be gradually added beginning in the first episode of the anime. Among the highlighted sounds included those of the ruined city and the Kettenkrad. Mechanical sound effects, such as the sounds of signals coming from the robots taking care of the fish in the aquarium, were created by Yuji after processing Morse code. The KettenkradMusic
The composer for the anime's soundtrack, Kenichiro Suehiro, read the manga and initially considered using music in the style of Brian Eno, which largely consisted of ambient music. However, Takaharu requested that the music be performed partly in a singing style with unplugged instruments. Three pieces were completed by Suehiro, who then used them as a basis for the remainder of the soundtrack. He used a harp to emphasize the atmosphere between Chito and Yuuri, and also incorporated Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin. To assist with vocals, he invited the singer ; she subsequently inserted new words into the vocals. Kenichiro said that he did not want the songs to be too long, but also felt that the work required longer songs. He had taken a similar approach when composing music for the anime Re:Zero in 2014.The anime's opening theme, titled "Ugoku Ugoku" was composed by Mao Kai. He wanted to emphasize the characters' perspective rather than the work's worldview, so he created the song with the inspiration of Chito and Yuuri constantly talking back and forth. The ending theme, titled "One More Night", was arranged by and composed by. The Japanese pronunciation of "not yet finished" in the song sounds similar to its title. The insert song "The Sound of Raindrops" was created by. It was based on the sound of water droplets falling onto empty pots and cans, with the sounds then combined into a rhythm. It also served as the ending theme of the final episode at the suggestion of sound director Jin Aketagawa.
Voice acting
Chito was voiced by Inori Minase, and Yuuri was voiced by Yurika Kubo. During the voice acting process, they were permitted to speak freely and were unrestricted; this was appreciated by Tsukumizu, who believed it expressed some of the work's ambiguous parts. Inori and Yurika performed the opening and ending themes, "Ugoku Ugoku" and "More One Night".The English dub cast of Girls' Last Tour was announced on November 16, 2018, at that year's Anime NYC.
Media
Manga
Girls' Last Tour was written and illustrated by Tsukumizu. It was serialized in Shinchosha's Kurage Bunch online magazine between February 21, 2014, and January 12, 2018, and collected in six volumes. Yen Press released the series in North America, Chingwin Publishing Group released the series in Taiwan, released the series in China, Tsuruyama Culture Publishing House released the series in South Korea, and AST released the series in European Russia.A limited edition of volume 1 was released by Shosen Grande and Shosen Book Tower in 2014. It included an explanatory page about the workings of the Kettenkrad by Takaaki Suzuki, who had previously done research and worked on the scripts for the animes Girls und Panzer and Strike Witches. A limited edition released by Melon Books included a booklet by Tsukumizu titled "Girls' Weekend Trip". Comic Toranoana and Sanyodo distributed illustration cards and Kikuya Bookstore and Bunch Comics distributed papers as purchase bonuses.
Two manga anthologies illustrated by various artists such as,, and were released in 2017.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation by White Fox was announced by Kadokawa at Anime Expo 2017 alongside the release of a teaser visual, with Takaharu Ozaki directing, Kazuyuki Fudeyasu in charge of series composition, and Mai Toda adapting the character designs for animation. The series aired in Japan between October 6 and December 22, 2017, on AT-X and other stations. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series and simulcast streamed it on Anime Strike. MVM Films licensed the series in the United Kingdom and Muse Communication licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia.Episodes
Each episode consists of two to three short, interconnecting stories.''Girls' Last Class''
A twelve-episode series titled Girls' Last Class was released as a short spinoff OVA. The work features Chito and Yuuri as schoolgirls, with characters and objects from Girls' Last Tour appearing as teachers. It ran starting on October 6, 2017, with episodes being released each Friday and the series running parallel to the main anime. It was uploaded on the Kadokawa Youtube channel and broadcast on the AT-X television network; Girls' Last Class was also temporarily released as a bonus for those who had purchased the anime. Each episode was a minute and a half long.Subsequent appearances
Two unnamed characters with identical appearance and behavior to Chito and Yuuri appear as guest characters in Tsukumizu's second manga, Shimeji Simulation. The first volume was released in 2020, and the last volume was released in 2024.Reception
Accolades
Manga
In 2019, Girls' Last Tour won the 50th Seiun Award in the Best Comic category. The English release of the first two volumes were included on the American Library Association's list of 2018 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.Anime
The series won the "Best Slice of Life" category at the 2nd Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2018. IGN listed Girls' Last Tour as one of the best anime of the 2010s, describing it as a "morose anime" which is "made brighter through perspective on a barren world". It was named the best anime of Fall 2017 by Anime News Network.Critical reception
Manga
The manga's post-apocalyptic premise was generally well-received. Horn of The Fandom Post called the manga's premise "absolutely fantastic" and opined that it explored an undercovered genre. Similarly, Beatrix Urkowitz of The Comics Journal considered it to be the best long-form narrative comic of the 2010s, writing that it "shows an apocalypse which has opportunities for joy".The manga's atmosphere was widely discussed. Urkowitz described it as "incredibly sensitive while being utterly unsentimental", while Amy McNulty of Anime News Network observed a "quiet stillness like the blankets of snow that fall throughout" the story, finding it "slow-paced and full of subtle moments". Sean Gaffney of Manga Bookshelf stated that it was relaxing and compared it to the "last slice-of-life moe manga you’d read before the end times cast the universe into heat death."
The overall plot was more divisive. Urkowitz argued that the main characters' seeming lack of direction is an essential part of the story's purpose, and that its portrayal of living in the present was intended for "those who don't have the privilege to plan for the future". In contrast, Nik Freeman of Anime News Network was struck by how "pointless" it felt and found it less optimistic than described by others.
Regarding the art, McNulty praised Tsukumizu's illustrations, calling them "stunning" and intentionally "sketch-like". She considered Chito and Yuuri's character designs "cute", though possibly to an intentionally overdone degree. Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network characterized the art style as "surreal", particularly through the use of different levels of detail for the background and characters.
The story was described by several critics as having themes of hope. Urkowitz felt that the narrative's "most remarkable quality" was that "it does not despair"—despite the dystopian setting, Chito and Yuuri continue to enjoy life. She argued that it "poses a utopian question: If moments of happiness are possible even at the end of the world, what might be possible now?" Similarly, McNulty analyzed a specific scene where the girls help give a photographer a reason to keep living, calling it a "touching theme" for showing "there's always more to hope for" and concluding that the story offers "gentle optimism in an isolated existence".
Anime
The anime received positive reviews from several critics. Gabriella Ekens of Anime News Network considered the series a "minor masterpiece", concluding that it was "one of those special shows that makes you feel less alone in the world." Michael Goldstein of Otaku USA called it "poetry in motion" through its focus on the main characters' journey, rather than their difficult situation, while Dee of Anime Feminist named it as "one of the finest atmospheric stories of the year".Regarding the series' more serious themes, Onosume of Anime UK News opined that beyond the "slow pace and slice-of-life style", it carried an "engaging deeper narrative" with its characters and message. Dee felt it was "neither optimistic nor despairing" and showed how people find meaning, ultimately resulting in a "heartbreakingly bleak and warmly peaceful" tone.
Several reviewers found the anime emotionally impactful. Steve Jones of Anime News Network considered it "one of the most emotionally affecting shows of the year" with a "great balance of lighthearted and heavier moments". Nicole Maclean of THEM Anime Reviews deemed the show's emotional range as one of its "strongest" points, calling the story "often funny, sometimes cute, ultimately profoundly sad" as well as "beautifully made".
The anime's production value received warm comments, with Onosume of Anime UK News commending the "depth and complexity" of the backgrounds, such as its use of lighting to set the mood. Furthermore, they regarded the show's "greatest achievement" to be its "incredible" sound design and effects, which they felt enhanced the story's realism. Ekens called the production "gorgeous" with its "aesthetic and atmospheric excellence", with particular praise for its imagery and character designs.
Analyzing the story's overall themes, Onosume argued that the "core message" was ultimately one of being anti-war, which was conveyed through imagery of weaponry in the post-apocalyptic landscape. Similarly, Jones contended that it was "frank about mankind's destructive tendencies", but also opined that it was "warm and life-affirming". Dee opined that the story used its setting and characters to "ask questions about life, death, and what it means to be human" with "elegance that was rare to find".