What makes a good post-apocalyptic story?
The atmosphere. A dense and foreboding feeling that life was at one time much greater than it is today, but now all that's left is a hollow shell of a former civilization that you'll never be a part of. What makes the story of Girls' Last Tour (AKA Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou) great is not just the slice of lifestyle plot. It's the storytelling that makes it extraordinary.
As Chito and Yuri explore the desolate city, they learn more about the setting, giving the audience helpful information to piece together the lore. The world they live in is implied to be Earth in the distant future after a war has wreaked havoc and left the world barren. Chi and Yuu spend each episode exploring, looking for supplies, and finding new aspects of their world that they had never known before. The show implies that they were born after the war because of the director's impressive ability to tell us about the characters in subtle ways. Whether it be how they react to finding something that would seem normal to people like us. For example, They find a fish at one point and can only identify it based on distant memories. From that simple interaction, we have enough information to infer that they have never seen live fish and most likely a body of water.
Little details like this are all over the show. You'll constantly be learning about the world of Girl's Last Tour without a single line of exposition. I was impressed from beginning to end because of the well-executed story. Girl's Last Tour understands that simplicity is beautiful, and it shows us its understanding at any chance.
The overarching plot is relatively simple and could be categorized as a slice of life by some standards. In every episode, the girls go somewhere new. They're constantly driving, after all. They make pit stops at a place each episode to refuel or investigate a new location. We gain insight into what Chi and Yuu know and comprehend about the world through their various pit stops. The show's foundation is the two main characters, Chi and Yu. If you don't like their chibi designs or childish personalities, chances are you won't enjoy Girl's Last Tour. For me, their childish look and goofy banter made the show incredibly pleasant despite taking place in a desolate post-apocalyptic world. Throughout their journey, they meet several enigmatic inhabitants of the city, all of which have interesting information to provide to the girls and the audience.
Frequently CGI is used for the car that they drive, but the world has an undeniably arresting aesthetic. It's a bleak world with a color palette of primarily black, white, brown, and grey, but there is beauty in the lighting and great use of shadows. While the visuals may not inspire as much imagination as a show like Made in Abyss, they still tell a story. One of the best ways the director tells a story through visuals is his obsession with stairs. And I mean that in the best way possible. Every time the characters are shot climbing up in their little car, the scene has a double meaning. The further they rise, the more they learn about their world. In the show's very first scene, the lead characters are introduced to a dark cavern driving along as they always do. By simply shooting the characters in a visually compelling factory, the artists do a fantastic job of establishing that the story is about these childish characters and their journey to becoming adults.
To complement the sprawling world and the mystical atmosphere is a mellow soundtrack. I do love the music, but it's really underused. Many scenes have no music at all, only very effective use of ambient sounds. A myriad of background noises adds to the atmosphere and believability of the show's world. While you're watching it, you feel like you're there. The whirr of the car engine, the clinking of metal, and the well-performed voices of Chi and Yuu make up much of the show's ambient sounds. Thanks to the great voice actresses of the lead characters, their personalities come across really well without the show ever needing to tell us explicitly about who the characters are. The show is effortlessly enjoyable, thanks to the voices. Slight inflections in their voices are enough to figure out what they're thinking without requiring unnecessary dialogue to explain things.
I can't complain too much that the soundtrack was underused because the best songs were saved for the best scenes. During these critical moments, the melancholy soundtrack rises in volume until it becomes the only thing you can hear. It does a great job of hammering home the impact of some crucial scenes.
The show lives and breathes the phrase, "The journey is more important than the destination." Even though it is a slice-of-life show, you're constantly being given details about the setting through Chito and Yuu as they learn more about the world on their journey. Some of the shenanigans they get into are funny. However, don't expect a comedy because it's mostly just a cute and uplifting tone that keeps it enjoyable. There are very few jokes. This is fine because it would probably drain all the tension from the moody atmosphere.
An exciting setting and fantastic visual storytelling immediately make Girl's Last tour worth watching. Whether or not you will be immersed in the Girl's Last Tour world depends on how interested you are in the world and the journey the lead characters undergo. It's so content with simply being happy and heartwarming that I didn't feel like it was missing much. I like my slice-of-life shows with meaningful subtext, and Girl's Last Tour has that. The atmosphere is dense, the visuals are breathtaking, the audio engages you, and the mysterious setting offers something more substantial for you to chew on.
