Drama ensues when Airi seemingly shuts down for unknown reasons that last… five whole seconds. Then the girls travel again, trailing behind Youko and seeing Japan’s sights as only they can.
Well, so much for that sudden pivot to the dramatic. Airi ends up needing a patch that our duo get in a chapter and other than a minor hiccup turns out to be not a whole lot of anything. It stays true to its travelogue designs, to its detriment at times.
This remains a sedate version of Zom 100, possibly a little too sedate, as both series involve roaming around Japan after an apocalyptic event. The nature of what happened in this series is very nebulous since there appears to be only one human left alive.
If Youko actually is human. I think the little tidbits we get that hint at something going on beneath the surface here are what keep me intrigued over the general informational traversal of Japan (if you want two young girls touring a dead land to teach you about Japan’s towns and cities you’ll be in heaven, mind).
So, between the odd turns to the supernatural, like the rather melancholic (and indulgent) chunk of time spent at the race track, which goes real weird at the end, and the fact that we have yet to actually see Onee-chan’s face (nor have we gotten any indication she’s even alive)….? Something appears to be up, that much is clear.
Otherwise, business as usual. The art’s fine, but there is a very lackadaisical urgency to all this. Really it’s just showing off the country, which I certainly do not hate, but with no drive behind it it sure feels like it just wants to travel and nothing else, especially this volume.
Of course, touring is right in the title, so that’s to be expected. I don’t hate it, far from it, but it’s a lazy read that lacks a more compelling narrative. The mangaka absolutely loves motorcycles, however, and you can tell when they hit the race track as the art jumps up a full notch.
I won’t say the racing section isn’t fun - the girls have a great time and the ending is a little overwrought, but I appreciate the sentiment behind it and for all my dings about serialized storytelling here it actually pays off on something that was said earlier. I just wish it had more balance.
3 stars - something finally happened, then turned out to be nothing, then they went racing. It’s a light bit of fluff that has some good moments, but could stand to have a little more linking those moments together.