Girls' Last Tour and Touring After The Apocalypse: Conceptually Similar, Thematically Opposed
"Cozy vibes in the post-apocalypse" is such a strange concept on a fundamental level, yet there are a surprising number of anime/manga with this premise. My favorite in the subgenre is **Girls' Last Tour**, a series about two girls travelling together through a post-apocalyptic world and finding moments of happiness despite their circumstances. Last season, **Touring After the Apocalypse** aired, a series about two girls travelling together through a post-apocalyptic world and finding moments of happiness despite their circumstances. Fundamentally, these shows have very similar plots, so you might think that they would be very similar thematically as well, but that couldn't be further from the case. Girls' Last Tour is a melancholy show, understanding the gravity of the situation the girls find themselves in, while Touring After the Apocalypse doesn't seem to care at all that most of humanity is dead, and if not for the ruined architecture, you could be convinced this was a bog-standard slice of life. Yet, in my opinion, both shows succeed with what they are aiming to do, and Touring After the Apocalypse may even be the more unsettling of the two.
Girls' Last Tour is, at its heart, a nihilistic series. Things often don't work out for our main characters, and the situation becomes increasingly dire as the series progresses. The characters continue to journey, but what awaits at the destination is unknown, and you get the feeling that whatever it is at the end has to be pretty crazy to have any chance of fixing, well, anything. But that's not the point. The main characters recognize that their journey will likely be pointless. They know what likely awaits at the end. They know that it's hopeless. But, midway through the anime, Yuuri (the more airheaded of the two) makes a declaration: "Let's get along with the feeling of hopelessness". Even if their is no hope in their lives, even if everything around them is bleak and dying, that doesn't mean that the two of them have to be miserable. Even if the world is terrible, life is still a gift, and the two of them choose to find whatever small joys they can while they still have time. It's a series with plenty of unsettling moments, but its overall outlook is a positive one. Life doesn't have to have some grander purpose, so long as you're happy living.
In sharp contrast, Touring After the Apocalypse intentionally looks away from the uncomfortable truths of its world. Our two main characters seem to be having the time of their lives as they venture through the ruins of Japan on their solar-powered dirt bike, taking selfies, laughing, and singing (frequently) as they pass by empty cities, crumbling buildings, and abandoned cars. But that doesn't mean that nothing goes wrong for our characters, or that there's no sense of impending dread. But any time there is, the show and its characters quickly brush it off and move on to the next thing. There's plenty of mystery to this show, plenty of hints of there being more than the eye can see, but the characters don't care to investigate. At multiple points, Yoko (the older looking of the two and the main character) sees something disturbing, but instead of acknowledging it, walks away and makes sure Airi (the younger looking one, also an android) doesn't see. The supernatural is shrugged off and blantantly ignored, leaving the viewer saying "Wait, no, go back! What was that?" And that's what I think is so fascinating about it. The story the viewer sees and the story the characters choose to experience are radically different. I don't know if the manga has any intention of ever answering any of those questions, but assuming that the anime isn't getting a second season, then anime-only viewers are left to form their own conclusions.
Girls' Last Tour is a series about facing the end of the world with a smile, while Touring After the Apocalypse is about appreciating the beauty of a world that has ended while brushing aside the ugly parts you don't want to look at. The world of Girls' Last Tour is broken beyond repair, but the viewer and the characters find comfort in the small things. The world of Touring After the Apocalypse looks far more familiar to us, far more beautiful. But it's the unanswered questions, the who, what, when, where, why, and how of it all, that leave the viewer feeling unnerved, even as the characters travel without a care in the world. Girls' Last Tour finds realistic optimism while maintaining a nihilistic worldview, while Touring After the Apocalypse forces optimism by intentionally ignoring anything that may question that worldview. And that's what makes it so much more unsettling in my opinion.
As anime, I still prefer Girls' Last Tour. The characters are more fun, and the artstyle is more interesting, and its message has stuck with me through the years and has changed the way I view the world and my own place in it. Touring After the Apocalypse wasn't even my favorite comfy post-apocalyptic show of 2025 (that'd be Apocalypse Hotel). But Touring After the Apocalypse is going to be a show I think about for a long time. It's a series that makes its viewers uncomfortable and worried for the characters, only to gaslight them by saying they were overreacting and shouldn't have been concerned. And until the manga gives us answers (or ends and doesn't), it will continue to be a series where you're just always waiting for the other shoe to drop. And that's what I love about it.
Girls' Last Tour is, at its heart, a nihilistic series. Things often don't work out for our main characters, and the situation becomes increasingly dire as the series progresses. The characters continue to journey, but what awaits at the destination is unknown, and you get the feeling that whatever it is at the end has to be pretty crazy to have any chance of fixing, well, anything. But that's not the point. The main characters recognize that their journey will likely be pointless. They know what likely awaits at the end. They know that it's hopeless. But, midway through the anime, Yuuri (the more airheaded of the two) makes a declaration: "Let's get along with the feeling of hopelessness". Even if their is no hope in their lives, even if everything around them is bleak and dying, that doesn't mean that the two of them have to be miserable. Even if the world is terrible, life is still a gift, and the two of them choose to find whatever small joys they can while they still have time. It's a series with plenty of unsettling moments, but its overall outlook is a positive one. Life doesn't have to have some grander purpose, so long as you're happy living.
In sharp contrast, Touring After the Apocalypse intentionally looks away from the uncomfortable truths of its world. Our two main characters seem to be having the time of their lives as they venture through the ruins of Japan on their solar-powered dirt bike, taking selfies, laughing, and singing (frequently) as they pass by empty cities, crumbling buildings, and abandoned cars. But that doesn't mean that nothing goes wrong for our characters, or that there's no sense of impending dread. But any time there is, the show and its characters quickly brush it off and move on to the next thing. There's plenty of mystery to this show, plenty of hints of there being more than the eye can see, but the characters don't care to investigate. At multiple points, Yoko (the older looking of the two and the main character) sees something disturbing, but instead of acknowledging it, walks away and makes sure Airi (the younger looking one, also an android) doesn't see. The supernatural is shrugged off and blantantly ignored, leaving the viewer saying "Wait, no, go back! What was that?" And that's what I think is so fascinating about it. The story the viewer sees and the story the characters choose to experience are radically different. I don't know if the manga has any intention of ever answering any of those questions, but assuming that the anime isn't getting a second season, then anime-only viewers are left to form their own conclusions.
Girls' Last Tour is a series about facing the end of the world with a smile, while Touring After the Apocalypse is about appreciating the beauty of a world that has ended while brushing aside the ugly parts you don't want to look at. The world of Girls' Last Tour is broken beyond repair, but the viewer and the characters find comfort in the small things. The world of Touring After the Apocalypse looks far more familiar to us, far more beautiful. But it's the unanswered questions, the who, what, when, where, why, and how of it all, that leave the viewer feeling unnerved, even as the characters travel without a care in the world. Girls' Last Tour finds realistic optimism while maintaining a nihilistic worldview, while Touring After the Apocalypse forces optimism by intentionally ignoring anything that may question that worldview. And that's what makes it so much more unsettling in my opinion.
As anime, I still prefer Girls' Last Tour. The characters are more fun, and the artstyle is more interesting, and its message has stuck with me through the years and has changed the way I view the world and my own place in it. Touring After the Apocalypse wasn't even my favorite comfy post-apocalyptic show of 2025 (that'd be Apocalypse Hotel). But Touring After the Apocalypse is going to be a show I think about for a long time. It's a series that makes its viewers uncomfortable and worried for the characters, only to gaslight them by saying they were overreacting and shouldn't have been concerned. And until the manga gives us answers (or ends and doesn't), it will continue to be a series where you're just always waiting for the other shoe to drop. And that's what I love about it.
Commentaires
I liked the idea of a mystery apocalyptic world, but that also is not suitable after some specific episodes with out of this world experiences.
IMO a really bad anime.
Girls last tour however has consistent characters and an even more consistent idea behind its story. Really worth a watch.
I changed the word I used, I think the rest should be ok, @mods
- Please maintain a certain level of civility when interacting with the community.
- Use another word to describe that character.
---
^(Questions? Reply to this message, )[**^(send a modmail)**](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fanime)^(, or leave a comment in the )[**^(meta thread)**](https://reddit.com/r/anime/search?q=subreddit%3Aanime+author%3AAnimeMod+title%3A%22Meta+Thread%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=year)^(. Don't know the rules? Read them )[**^(here)**](/r/anime/wiki/rules)^.
It was pretty weird and kind of funny to see the owners of the parking area are apparently happy to have the location destroyed even if in a fictional work — but then again, Japan has a long tradition of Godzilla blowing up real world buildings and locations, so I guess this is nothing new!
Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou/GLT for me was an 8/10 and it's in my extended top favorites (Top 50) whereas I slapped a 6/10 on Shuumatsu Touring, though this may to some sound worse than it is as rating systems are highly variable individually and 6 - 7 is the average of what I rate most seasonals I watch (even some on my extended favorites only have a 7/10).
Superficially just in terms of the surface level details these two series are the closest to one another and closer than many other pairs, but do feel quite different in actual practice and execution. I can't discount the inherent prejudicial factor of seeing Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou years before (watched it in early 2020), but trying to detach from the bias of familiarity and get out of that mentality, it still feels more of its own unique beast to me even compared to everything else in this growing subgenre. Whereas Shuumatsu Touring feels a bit like a marriage mashup between Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou and Zatsu Tabi: That's Journey from last spring season.
I'm actually not too keen on this recent trend of travelogue-oriented series or series ostensibly devoted to another major premise and topic but hybridized with a travelogue, in part because I feel like it's less interesting than what a series can otherwise be spending its time and space on, like the delicious conversational exchanges in Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou.
And at some point I'd rather just be watching a live action documentary or reading a Frommer's guidebook or any other dedicated entry in other mediums for that which can inevitably go into more elaboration, variance, and specifics anyway.
Also, as someone who took the time and effort to compose this thoughtful little comparative analysis and presumably has watched or is at least aware of some other series in this niche but surprisingly burgeoning subgenre of post-apocalyptic Slice of Life, what do you believe is the true impetus behind this trend? It seems like an off the wall idea that would escape notice if it were one or two isolated cases, but now we've even had several this (well, last, now) year.
It's a question I find fascinating and haunting, as it makes me question what within me is so drawn to these types of series as well. They seem to represent freedom and possibility, despite all bleakness and hardship, like people starting new lives in the ashes of the old world and old society. A bit like isekai without leaving the Earth. Almost an escapist fantasy. Which sounds provocative to say about an apocalypse and possible humanity mass extinction event and/or planetary downturn.
Incidentslly, I found it interesting that many people were very negative about aspects of Towa no Yugure (in addition to marriage related issues) that were tolerated just fine in ST. (Things like haphazard story construction, and real gaps in the completeness and consistency of world-building). Still I disliked neither.
But regarding Towa no Yuugure specifically, as someone who started watching both that series and Shuumatsu Touring, the latter was far from my favorite series of the season but maybe at the bottom of the top five whereas the former I dropped after three episodes into it.
And I can only say for my part that the difference comes down to expectations. I'll watch a series of any genre, art style, from any studio, etc., but I still like to know that preliminary information going into it. From before it began, I knew Shuumatsu Touring as a Slice of Life series, probably principally that above all else, and the comparisons to Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou, another SoL, were obvious and automatic. So I always expected a certain aimless meandering to it, for it to even revel in that, and for me to welcome and enjoy that aspect of it.
But Towa no Yuugure, from the synopsis and genres I saw listed, in addition to how the first episode came off, seemed really to initially be going for a more focused Sci-Fi romantic drama and the first episode (episode 0) in some ways really sold that aspect and exceeded expectations, only for the writing shortly thereafter seeming to really take a dip and not have the chops to carry though the scope of its ambition.
I think that if Towa no Yuugure seemed either more like a SoL or a show that wasn't really taking itself seriously from the description and outset, plenty would still dislike it, but you would have a different range of expectations and opinions.
Also did anyone else think that Yoko's VA sounded a bit similar to Chisato from Lycoris Recoil?
Can one feel some sadness watching this process? Sure, but sadness is not really the typical perspective of the characters -- and we watchers are hopefully supposed to learn to at least consider the characters' perspective (even if we choose not to adopt it). So I find the story a very positive one (through the unadopted end of the manga).
Mind you I am speaking from a lay Buddhist perspective - but I was interested in Buddhism for many decades - and shows like GLT and Haibane Renmei played a role in the growth of my interest (an hopefully - understanding).
There are plenty of video essays that explain this far better than I can, I’m fond of [merlinmeek’s](https://youtu.be/2SDgdFcyMoU?si=JT401r1qQHHvGq7T) personally.
Please visit [the rules page](https://reddit.com/r/anime/wiki/rules) for more information.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/anime) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Please visit [the rules page](https://reddit.com/r/anime/wiki/rules) for more information.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/anime) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Girls Last Tour is a fundamentally theological story, grounded in German 20th century philosophy (Heidegger & phenomenology), about Chi and Yuu discovering some type of metaphyscial meaning to a wholly meaningless world. It's not for nothing that they seek to find the highest place in the city and that their encounter with faith/spirituality comes in the second floor, which they arrive at in a sea of lights.
In that floor they also enter the temple and reflect if God/the Divine isn't just another presence in one's experience of the world, and a way to be less alone. The Divine and meaning in existence comes in the presence of others who you can share the world with.
So while I agree that it's a story about shedding attachments it's categorical that the single most important attachment that must never be abandoned is the human connection and relationship. All the attachments that they reject (technology, past/future, learning, science) are rejected *because* it comes between Chi and Yuu's immediate relationship.
The story ends with them at the top of the world without any forces/attachments coming between what so ever, and are able to find pure human joy at that moment.
In the printed version of Vol 1 the very first image we see is Chi sitting on Yuu's shoulders and reaching for the stars, with their helmets prominently put on the ground. In the very end of the story they have put the helmets down as well. It's also reflected in the contrast between the cover art for Vol 1 and Vol 6.
But because I also want the calm and relaxing, the mysteries and worldbuilding are secondary to me. My attitude is just like Yoko in that way, cos I just want them to explore and look around. If there’s something strange, I wouldn’t go too out of my way to find out about it. So I’m not really too bothered by the lingering ambiguity tbh.
I put Girl’s Last Tour more in the same vein as Mushishi. Both have this ominous vibe to them. But there’s also a calm to it. For Shuumatsu Touring, I’d put it next to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou though the latter is far superior
I love Girls Last Tour for its mix of melancholy and optimism. The world is taken as is by both the characters and the viewers. How and why the world ended up this large industrial mess isn't really explored and isn't really important. The audience explores this foreign world same as the girls do, especially since it doesn't bare a ton of resemblance to the world most of us experience.
Touring After the Apocalypse is different in the sense that we are shown something familiar and shown what we have lost. Even if you aren't familiar with the sites they visit, the Touringram framing lets you know this was once a place that was populated and lively and now has been reduced to nothing. Combined with Yoko's wonder at discovering the sites, the show heightens the feelings of melancholy and optimism.
Just because Yoko can turn away from some of the ugliness doesn't mean the audience does. While we are discovering a new world with the Girls Last Tour girls while understanding the fatalist nature of their journey, Touring After the Apocalypse forces us to reflect on the finality of the end of humanity. We are suppose to relate with the Girls Last Tour girls, but we are more observers of the Touring After the Apocalypse girls. Airi is first seen as a highly capable robot and we are dripped information to make us wonder what Yoko is, like if she's a robot, clone, or something else.
One thing I like about Touring After the Apocalypse and why I actually prefer it to Girls Last Tour, is how it focuses on emotions outliving humanity. We see it most noticeably with the remains of the last ComiKet, Akiba Jirou, and the Honda ghosts. We are faced with the finality of humanity with the cyborg in the early episode, finding (unseen) bodies along the way, and the lights shutting off in the shelter as the girls set out. And with the aliens we are told that there were beings that were there before and after the rise and fall of humanity.
The show makes the view confront the end and what could come after, even if the characters do not face it directly. While I agree Girls Last Tour is about finding optimism in nihilism, I think Touring After the Apocalypse leads the viewer to thinking much more about what the end of humanity means.
I agree that the key problem is that Touring After the Apocalypse just isn't doing enough with it's post apocalypse. The dial of cute versus melancholy got cranked too far towards cute. You did a side by side write up comparing to Girls Last Tour, but most of the scenes felt more similar to Zatsu Tabi or similar CGDCT fare.
But that's fair. The cute girls people thought they were getting one with Turkey and instead I got an absurd and excellent drama. It's only fair that a show I thought was going to hit with the drama turn out to be cute girl hijinks. Call the score even for 2025.
On a more meta level though I am faced with a peculiar dynamic when it comes to that "something more" mystery that seems to permeate the show. On one hand there's a lot of potential for it to lead into an interesting direction, but it can also fail and fall flat, so in a roundabout way I find myself wishing for the status quo to remain the same, at least we retain this general dynamic that originally drew my in to the show, rather than going into some wild direction one way or another.
To put some theories forth, I don't think the sister is "real", probably an AI protocol or something. It can still interact in a limited fashion with the emails, but also update the phone apps, I'm not well versed in satellites so not sure what would be the upkeep required for GPS and internet but those are probably handled by it in some way or another. The initial shelter was also clearly designed with a more specific survival education in mind teaching things like hunting, skinning, butchering, navigation, etc, but there are probably many others with different functionalities. We're not really sure about their tech level but it's clearly very advanced.
The touring and more fun aspects to the journey leads me to believe this is more like a last hurrah rather than a proper plan of restoring humanity or meeting other survivors but who knows where things may lead. Thematically I prefer the former rather than the latter.
On another note, Apocalypse Hotel was also one of my favorite shows of the year, it really managed to hit on a lot of different notes for the genre. I probably vibed out with ep 11 the most though, pretty much no words spoken and yet it still managed to convey so much.
[thanks!](#heartbot)
It's actually the exact feeling I had when in the first episode of [Girls' Last Tour] >!Yuuko pulled a gun on Chito and stole her food!<. It's quickly brushed off as a joke but it's very easy to imagine the situation where this would be anything but joke considering the scarcity of resources.