Folks, I’d say it’s well past time we settle down for another episode of Girls’ Last Tour. This production has been a charming and profoundly atmospheric show from episode one, with the sound design, use of color and space, and general pacing consistently elevating the show’s world from a narrative conceit to an immediate, tangible reality. From the start, the show has embraced the unique emotional appeal of the apocalyptic travelogue, contrasting a global situation that seems completely hopeless against a friendship that at least provides a light in the dark.

Last episode, the thematic subtext which tends to always underline this subgenre rose up into the actual text. The introduction of Kanazawa, an actual human in the wasteland, led the show to frame its thoughts on purpose and hope in the starkest of terms. While Chi and Yuu at least have each other, Kanazawa’s source of meaning was the map he was creating – in a world gone to ruin, he found hope through his dream of cataloging the fading city. But when his map blew away in the wind, Kanazawa was forced to ask himself why he really keeps moving, and what purpose he can actually serve in this world. Ultimately, Kanazawa was consoled by the unexpectedly profound words of Yuu: “you don’t need a reason. Good things happen sometimes.”

Yuu might not understand the gravity of those words, but “you don’t need a reason. Good things happen sometimes” is one of my favorite thematic arguments. Life is messy and unsatisfying, and we often won’t get the clean endings or earned payoffs we feel we deserve. Life is like people in that way, and just as I love shows about messy people, I love shows about messy lives, stories where our heroes just have each other, and ultimately discover that maybe that’s enough. In the realm of apocalyptic travelogue, “good things will happen sometimes” stands alongside “at least we have each other” as the defiant counterpoint to society’s wholesale collapse.

In shows like Sound of the Sky or Planetarian or even Kemono Friends, the world as we knew it isn’t coming back – the time for gallant heroes who set things right has passed, and all such heroes are dead and gone. But people live on past society’s end, and though we don’t need society, we do need hope. Yuu helped Kanazawa rediscover that hope, demonstrating the grounding kindness and common-sense, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other attitude that has likely kept Chi standing as well. It was a terrific episode, and though I suspect we’ll probably be heading back to more scattered vignettes this time, I’m eager to see what wonders this city still holds. Let’s dive into another episode of Girls’ Last Tour!

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Folks, I’d say it’s about time we watch some more Girls’ Last Tour. This post-apocalyptic slice of life adventure’s first two episodes were an altogether lovely time; the show hasn’t really been making any grand philosophical statements or anything, but it’s done an excellent job of conveying the felt, sensory experience of Chi and Yuu’s journey. I’ve been particularly impressed by how well the lighting and sound design convey the sensation of traveling through heavy snowfall, from the muffled crunch of footsteps through snow, to the way snow can either steal your voice away or filter it through an alienating echo, as if there’s always someone just out of sight, shadowing your path and your voice.

Atmosphere-centric strengths like that have given Girls’ Last Tour an alternating sense of solemnity and quiet menace, which in turn serves to counterbalance the girls’ seemingly carefree adventures. Whether this show will continue to excel as a muted, contemplative tone piece or embrace more narrative structure remains to be seen, but I was happy to see the quest for high ground give us at least a general goal last episode. I mean, you kinda need something to hope for in a world like this, right? Regardless, wherever their journeys take them, I’m happy to spend some more time traveling with these blobby companions. On to episode three!

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Folks, I am very happy to be returning to Girls’ Last Tour! The show’s first episode was equal parts charming slice of life, and, er, I guess more contemplative slice of life? It was essentially a post-apocalyptic travelogue, a subgenre that actually boasts a whole bunch of top-tier anime. Kemono Friends and Kemurikusa both fall in a similar space, while both Haibane Renmei and Sound of the Sky, though they don’t have a specific focus on journeying, capture a similar combination of warm slice of life contrasted against a majestic yet fading larger world.

Slice of life and post-apocalyptic despair might not seem like a natural combination, but the pairing actually makes a lot of sense to me. There are no longer any battles to fight in these worlds – whatever some action hero might have been able to accomplish, their deeds are no longer relevant, as the world has already arrived at its end. Instead, those who survive must focus on what they still have – and in any world, the one thing a broken civilization can’t take from us is each other. In a world gone to ruin, the comfort we can provide each other becomes all that much more crucial, and a natural symbol of how human kindness is ultimately undefeatable. Even in a world in decay, two people can still care about each other, and find comfort in each other’s presence.

Resonant premise aside, Girls’ Last Tour is also just a lovely aesthetic object in its own right, full of evocative backgrounds and tied together with incredibly precise sound design. Let’s see what adventures these girls get up to in episode two!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be embarking on an entirely new adventure, as we make our way through the first episode of Girls’ Last Tour.

I remember enjoying Girls’ Last Tour well enough while it was airing, though I didn’t actually follow it to the end. That’s not necessarily the show’s fault, though  – it’s quite frankly just tough to find time for non-Crunchyroll shows in my schedule, as the demands of a weekly column mean I pretty much always have to be looking for new subject matter. The show was a lovely little production in its own right though, and struck firmly in that “quiet, intimate joy in the face of existential despair” niche occupied by shows like Sound of the Sky or Planetarian. I tend to love that particular tonal combination – “the world is a profoundly harsh and unforgiving place, but we still have hope and each other” might well be my general philosophy on life, and so I’m always up for narratives that temper an unflinching approach to illustrating life’s traumas with clear, emphatic sympathy for their central characters. When you couple that with the show’s beautiful environments and consistently evocative tone, you end up with an anime that I’m very happy to return to. Let’s see what there is to discover in the first episode of Girls’ Last Tour!

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