If I had to sum it up in only a few words, Girls’ Last Tour is an exercise in patience. It’s world often feels cold and barren, its characters are minimalistic in design and personality, and its story is unbearably slow in its pacing. At points, it really does feel like this slow trek through the end of the world has nothing to do or say, and to some viewers, that will be enough to turn them away. However, if you are willing to push through those aspects, you will find that most of its trappings are put there by design.
This is a narrative that is both ambitious and atmospheric, throwing away standard industry wisdom to focus exclusively on its richly developed world and grounded main characters. It is certainly not a tale for everyone, but if it is for you, apocalyptic anime doesn’t get much better than this.
As has probably become clear, Girls Last Tour is a show with many strengths and weaknesses. The story is a simple one, focusing on a pair of young girls trekking along through the ruins of their post-industrial world, searching for food, shelter, and some semblance of life after the end. The cast of characters is small; much smaller than you’d expect from a thirteen episode series. In fact, beyond the two leads, I can count the number of named characters on my fingers, but in this case, I don’t believe that’s a bad thing. Chi and Yuu are both excellent protagonists that complement each other well, with their cutesy demeanor and simple designs contrasting the landscapes nicely. Their interactions make up the bulk of the show, which runs the risk of becoming stale, but only really feels as such near the end of the adventure.
But on the flip side, focusing on two focal characters and nothing else has a number of benefits. The atmosphere present in most scenes is downright incredible, perfectly portraying the isolating and often heartbreaking nature of a world with little in it but scrap metal and war. There were times when nothing would be on screen except the girls staring off into the world around them, and I would be disheartened by the simple fact that these characters were completely alone in a land that felt truly cruel and unforgiving.
And that leads me to the other major strength of this narrative: the worldbuilding. This is what I believe to be the show’s greatest achievement, and frankly, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to finish without it. Throughout my watch, I was constantly in a state of questioning, wondering about a host of different lore pieces all at once and hoping beyond hope that a character would come along that could explain them in detail. Of course, that never happened, and the sheer uniqueness of the landscapes and smaller clues sprinkled throughout kept me hooked the entire way through. This was helped by a surprisingly cinematic feel for a serialized show, with plenty of distinctive angles and artistic flair boosting the world and atmosphere even further. However, the running theme among the strengths this show has is that they all are working against a common enemy: Boredom.
As I mentioned, the pacing here is very, very slow. It often feels like Yuu and Chi are doing nothing but aimlessly wandering the wastelands doing tasks without any importance to the plot, and aside from some vague hints of going to the “top layer” where they might find other humans, that’s 100% true. If I’m being honest, I very nearly stopped watching at multiple separate occasions, and for a show with so many obvious strengths, that’s a real shame. The narrative does deal with pressing questions about the nature of life and our place in it, but that isn’t enough to save a story that gives too much to the feel of the show and not nearly enough to the show itself.
Verdict
Overall, there’s a surprising amount of impact to Girls’ Last Tour. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I believe that every choice made by its creators was made deliberately. It sets out to accomplish an incredible world and atmosphere wrapped in the journey of two young girls lost in what some might describe as hell, and in doing that, it succeeds without question. If you ever need a show to take you away from the thrill ride that most anime provides, this will certainly do the job.
