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, with its chapters 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 covered the manga's first four volumes.
The manga series began as a short story that would later become a chapter of its first volume, with Tsukumizu creating Chito and Yuuri's characters from the idea of expressing personal questions. The anime adaptation involved Takaharu Ozaki, its director, focusing on the story's narrative structure as well as Chito and Yuuri's emotional portrayals.
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. Both the manga and anime series have been well received for their premise, visual elements, and themes, with the plot garnering more balanced reactions.
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 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
One of the two main protagonists, nicknamed "Chi-chan". She has a wide knowledge of machines and drives the Kettenkrad. She is literate and an avid reader. Though generally calm and composed, she can be riled by Yuuri on occasion. She often dwells on the past and worries about the future.
The second main protagonist, nicknamed "Yuu" by Chito. She is more easy-going than Chito, and cannot read, but is proficient with rifles and an accurate shooter who takes on a role of protector. She rides in the back of the Kettenkrad. Yuuri has little fear of the unknown and is quite adventurous, often acting on instinct and emotion.
A traveler that Chito and Yuuri meet while trying to find a path to the upper levels of the city. He is a cartographer who wants to map the entire city. He gifts his camera to Yuuri and Chito when he leaves them to continue his mapping project.
A scientist who lives in an abandoned airbase, building an airplane based on old records. She wants to fly to a city that is on the opposite shore. She helps fix Chito and Yuuri's Kettenkrad and enlists their help to finish the airplane. She gives Yuuri and Chito potatoes and tells them where to find more.
Named Ket in the English manga translation. A mysterious, cat-like creature that is long and white, which Chito and Yuuri pick up on their journey. It communicates with the girls via radio signals. Nuko can shape-shift to activate mechanisms and likes eating bullets. It is later discovered to be part of a species which consumes weapons and power sources to stabilize them. After being reunited its own kind on the submarine, it leaves with them.
Minor characters
The adult form of Nuko's species. They consume high-energy weapons, machinery, and substances in order to stabilize them. They use radio waves as its language and travels between cities by expanding its umbrella-like top.
The robot in charge of section management at the aquarium. It is equipped with "empathy capability" to communicate with humans.
The robot responsible for maintenance in the area around the aquarium. It was responsible for maintaining infrastructure but began dismantling the aquarium due to a bug.
Three female high school students. They give a research report on a small machine they operated in one of the videos on Kanazawa's camera when it is synced to the submarine's computer.
An old man who raised Chito and Yuuri. He sent the two girls with the Kettenkrad to ascend to the city's upper levels. He owned many of the books that Chito has.
An unnamed woman who appears in a photo with Kanazawa. She previously traveled with him, but her whereabouts are unknown.
Production
Manga Girls' Last Tour was Tsukumizu's first original work. The manga Blame! influenced their worldview, while Girls' Last Tour's message was inspired by the works of Haruki Murakami and Kaori Ekuni, especially Haruki's "Norwegian Wood" and "Dance Dance Dance" along with Kaori's "Twinkle Twinkle Hikaru". The series initially began as a short story, which would later become Chapter 3 of Volume 1. The story was written by Tsukumizu in college; they initially studied art with the goal of becoming an art teacher but began drawing manga "on a whim."Tsukumizu was interested in war movies while creating Girls' Last Tour. They saw a in Saving Private Ryan and decided to incorporate it into the story as an ideal vehicle for Chito and Yuuri to travel in. The helmets the girls wear are modeled after ones from real lifeChito's after the British Brodie helmet from World War I, and Yuuri's after the German from the same war. Yuuri also carries a Japanese Type 38 rifle.
Tsukumizu's process for creating scenes began with coming up with a story, a punchline, and something to raise awareness of a value. Afterwards, they would sketch the background and create a story that fit the setting and theme. They drew scenes with a pencil, then imported them 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. According to Tsukumizu, Kanazawa and Ishii live with a goal in mind while Chito and Yuuri travel aimlessly; Tsukumizu said that the characters were born from questions like "[h]ow do we live our lives to find true happiness, and what is the right thing to do?"
Anime
At about two-thirds of the way through production of the manga, an anime 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. He felt that in terms of emotional portrayals, Chito and Yuuri had to feel that being by one another's side was the most important thing. The anime added various sound effects to highlight the feeling of silence; for example, the sound of water was emphasized, since 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 plot details that would be used only for the anime. Among the details added were Chito's memory of her and Yuuri leaving their grandfather. Kazuyuki also changed aspects 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, which 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's designs should be kept simple. Their eyebrows were drawn as a thin line, which made it challenging to express their emotions. The anime also added reflections to their eyes, a detail not present in the manga. The ruins that make up the background were given a special aesthetic effect to avoid depicting it as a messy and dirty place, while the art director Masakazu Miyake incorporated color into the background to not have it appear 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 and consisted 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 decided to show the two girls playing and teasing each other.
The average number of shots in each episode ranges from 250 to 270. There are also about one hundred 3D scenes per episode, which includes the Kettenkrad and various robots.
Sound effects