Girls’ last tour
AKA Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou.
This anime takes on an apocalyptic world setting as its background which has been rather common as of late. A pair of girls, named Chito and Yuuri, ride a kettenkrad to explore what seems to be a completely destroyed Earth.
Actually, above is enough to explain the whole series in a simple manner without any spoilers. It doesn’t really have a lot to talk about if I avoid spoilers.
So, here is a spoiler version.
This series gives off a soft vibe initially as the girls embark on what seems to be basically an adventure to explore whatever is left in the world. The mood is very light and everything seems to be fine.
The environment is stunning and peaceful. The world seems … almost heaven, almost.
But, if you are perceptive enough, you will soon notice that the girls’ world isn’t right. While the girls encounter no bad guys simply because there is apparently no more left alive, it is clear that they have no future.
In that sense, it is indeed their “last tour”. They have to keep on moving so that they can scavenge food and water. They even find some booze along the way. They seem to be happy to discover new things.
At one point, I questioned myself “When will they ever settle down? They can’t keep traveling, can they?”
Well…, they cannot settle down. The day they stop traveling is the day they will be dead. I find that fairly interesting because there is no immediate threat in their vicinity. But then that is because there is nothing alive around them. Only few machines and biologically engineered creatures are present.
In other words, the world they are in is truly dead. There is no birds, no fishes, no animals, no plants, no nothing. The whole world cannot sustain two girls, and they are left to scavenge left over stuff.
None of this gloomy stuff is explicitly said out loudly but subtle hints are there. The girls clearly ignore the obvious signs, and I don’t blame them. What would be the point anyway?
In the end, Chito says to Yuuri that she is happy to have her around. She should be. There is no one else out there. When … either of them dies for some reason ….
I don’t even want to think about it.
This series took me off guard. The first few episodes suggests a blindly happy moe stuff. Even the art style suggests so. Then it progressively and passively gets dark. The last few episodes clearly hint that … the girls’ end won’t be pretty.
Man…, what a way to get really dark without actually getting dark…
