Girls' Last Tour, Vol. 2

少女終末旅行 / Girls' Last Tour #2

by Tsukumizu, Amanda Haley (Translator)

Distant lights illuminating the darkness pique Chito's and Yuuri's curiosity, so the two hop aboard their beloved Kettenkrad and head for the horizon. What they find may not be what they were looking for, but the surviving fragments of civilization are enough to keep them going. There's no telling what other strange surprises lie in store as their journey continues...

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Fiction, Slice Of Life, Comics, Graphic Novels, Post Apocalyptic

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 2015

About the author

Tsukumizu (つくみず, a pseudonym, real name unknown) is a Japanese cartoonist.
They are best known for the manga series Girls' Last Tour (2014-2018), a slice-of-life in a post-apocalyptic setting, and Shimeji Simulation (2019-2024), a 'yonkoma' (four panel strip) surrealist comedy.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wait, all the travel has been taking place inside one giant city? Including the river scene? I did not realize this.

[Wen-yi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this series makes me feel the same way that Station Eleven did. It's a quiet, human take on post-apocalyptia; there's survival but it's not harrowing; it feels reflective and introspective, more concerned with sort of the abstract surreal wonder of being alive in a dying world, and being alive in this vast emptiness that once held millions of lives and eras of histories, and finding spots of loveliness and memory within that. I just... yeah.

[Michael Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review for the manga as a whole and not this individual volume, so it will probably be somewhat spoilerish.

The anime for this manga had been on my radar for some time. I knew very little about it, other than it was usually compared to Kino's Journey which I enjoyed. I think I watched the entire anime within a forty-eight-hour period of starting it, and I immediately knew I had to read the manga to find out more.

So, I had already read the manga a couple times in unofficial translations by this point, so this isn't exactly my first read. I've had plenty of time to process my feelings towards this story, and there was really an extraordinary amount to process.

The first thing most people I know who have either seen the anime or read the manga say is it's very depressing. I'll be honest, just looking at the basic plot makes it seem like a horrifically sad and hopeless tale. Yet, I never was hit by any pity for these two girls in this hopeless situation. If anything, I envied them.

They were born into a dying and nearly dead world, in a collapsed society built in the ruins of an older collapsed society. They seem to have been separately taken in by an older man after something conceivably happened to their separate sets of parents. That was the only family/parental figure they can remember. They lose him at a very young age and are forced into the world to fend for themselves.

They are almost entirely ignorant of humanity, history, morality, and basically anything that we humans take for granted from our social constructs. So, they experience the remnants of this long dead world from an entirely fresh perspective, and it's so well executed to make it breathtaking. I was in constant awe of how effortlessly thought provoking it was. Heavy concepts were given fresh perspective from the eyes of these two unbiased observers. War, death, life, the afterlife, art, music, literature, and that's only the first ones to come to mind.

They have one simple purpose, and that's to find their way to the highest level of the multilayered ruins, hoping there's something up there. Yet, the journey comes to mean more to them than the destination. All the experiences they share together on their trek make their lives worthwhile, as unfair as their lives seem. Despite having only each other for almost the entirety of the story, they always had each other. Both of them had one ever faithful and unshakable companion to help them navigate through life.

I guess that's why I'm envious of them. The simplicity of their existence, coupled with having a person they loved deeply to get through it with, sounds nice. I suppose that's odd to say about two young girls forced to scrounge for every bit of food and water they can find, but the author herself mentioned feeling envious of them in the afterword. I guess I'm not alone, and that's one of the feelings these manga volumes gave me. I felt that as long as this story existed, and there was an author out there who could invoke these kinds of emotions in me, I'd never be alone.

There are so many powerfully emotional scenes that it's hard to even begin going into the finer details of the plot, so I'm not going to do that. I just want to say that I'm not sure if a work of fiction has ever moved me like this. Even the artwork, which I don't have much of an eye for, constantly made me want to sit and appreciate it. Every time I read this, I'm filled with a sense that everything will be okay, in the end, and that life, for all its hardships, is very much worth living.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume of this manga didn't do much for me, but coming back later and reading it back-to-back with this one, I'm much more involved with these two young women and their "cozy post-apocalyptic" story.

Chi and Yu are subsisting on rations they scavenge as they go, the only animal we've seen is an already-dead fish, we haven't seen any plants that I recall, and there's no evidence of there being any farms or anything to farm, or even to gather aside from stockpiles of manufactured food. And we've only seen two people besides the girls, so this world's prospects, and their prospects, are maybe not that great....

At six volumes, this series is very short by manga standards, so that's another incentive to continue with it.

[Aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Another good volume, I’m vibing with postapocalyptic slice of life, the art is lovely, the girls are blobs of cuteness.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaahhh I’m falling in love with these girls and their relationship. I also just love being with them on this aimless adventure. It’s such a chill vibe. Yuuri is so funny. I don’t know if she’s the best or worse person to be with in a survival situation but I love her.
There were a lot of quotes in this one that really struck and amazed me.

“”Remember what you said in the dark? That maybe the afterlife is pitch-black too? Maybe people build statues and turn on lights… because they don’t want to think that. For peace of mind.”
“Peace of mind huh…? But I got more peace of mind when I found you… in the dark.””

WAHHH I LOVE THEM 😭😭
I am loving this series so far. The vibes and aesthetics are perfect for me.

“‘Ahh… living just for the sake of living… How great would that be?’ I think as I pet my outdoor dog.”

[Freya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I caved and ordered the other 4 parts too because I just love following these girls while they just live for the sake of living and enjoy the little things along the way, like a warm bath, which is pretty rare in a post-apocalyptic world xd, playing games with rocks and again meeting a person! A woman who has almost completed building an airplane. I could have never guessed what happened next tho, it made me LOL. They also find this almost magical building, I won’t say more ;) and have fun with an incredibly thoughtful gift they got from the person in volume 1, for sharing their food with him. And one of the girls has the strangest dream. I’m looking forward to continuing my reading streak of these strangely relaxing manga!

[Janik · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's silly, it's calm and also it's pretty. Yay!

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite it being a whole set of things I don't typically enjoy, I am liking this series a lot. Interesting questions are being asked, and fascinating ones are being left whispered. Art style is perfect for the absurdist philosophy being pecked at.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps not what it could have been, but a compelling journey all the same.

Series thoughts: https://derailmentsofthought.com/2019...

[Fetch · Rating 3 out of 5]

come il primo.

saranno tutti e sei così?

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just so incredible

[Radwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

these two tug at my heart strings when they imagine having all of the things we take for granted, like having a bed and a roof over your head.

i just know that they'll break my heart.

[Maude · Rating 4 out of 5]

this manga is both "cozy" and "quiet" while also portraying hopelessness and devastation. very interesting take on a post-apocalyptic story, looking forward to reading more.

[Feliza Casano · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Girls' Last Tour isn't precisely the sort of manga I expected it to be, Girls' Last Tour, Vol. 1was an unexpectedly touching story that affected me, um, a bit strongly. Set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event, Chito and Yuuri are simply living the best life they can, despite what's going on around them: the land they explore is for the most part environmentally devastated.

Read the full review at Girls in Capes.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The environment has changed but the struggle remains the same: Chiito and Yuuri must comb through an expanse the abandoned in search of food and shelter, surviving from day to day, with one another as company. The path of GIRLS LAST TOUR #2 rekindles one's flair for dead-civilization survivor stories . . . if only glimpsed through the experiences of two women's penchant for discerning humor, philosophy, and hope on their unending journey.

In truth, the unanswered questions plaguing this manga keep piling up, and yet, the narrative is never quite burdened by the added complexity. What happened to all of the people? What was the city's main enterprise? How did Chiito and Yuuri come to be in this city? And for that matter, how did Chiito and Yuuri meet? GIRLS LAST TOUR #2 is not in any particular rush to answer these questions. And while this deprives the story of any real structure or goal-setting, it nevertheless permits the lead characters to keep a firm grip on the fair-minded whimsy and free-spiritedness that lends the manga much of its charm.

Once again, the characters find themselves tickling the nose of domesticity despite their itinerancy. Would settling down and building a home of their own bring true happiness? Well, it seems too good to be true when Chiito and Yuuri stumble upon an abandoned dormitory (Chiito: "It's kind of a dream of mine, you know? Living in a place like this."). Or how about when the girls get snared in a downpour, and seek shelter beneath the rusted carcass of a dilapidated tank? As the storm surges, noises of the natural world abound. And once it's all over, Yuuri ponders the damning truth: "Was the world always so [quiet]?"

The story again broaches talk of god, of the afterlife, and generally speaking, individual purpose. The travelers again encounter a stranger with a narrow focus (whose achievements, again, slip through their fingers). But in the end, it seems Chii-chan and Yuu-chan are delightfully resigned to their calm camaraderie. Because if one is to face the end of the world, it may well be impossible to do so alone.

GIRLS LAST TOUR #2 keeps strong to the platonic relationship between the two main characters. Yuuri does confess that being with Chiito brings her comfort in times of despair ("I got more peace of mind when I found you . . . in the dark."), but alas, Yuuri's one-track mind quickly strays from sentimentality to goofiness in the ensuing panels. Not to say there isn't innuendo in this book . . . there definitely is. But it is perhaps best to not weigh down impending thoughts of futility and death in lieu by also adding the encumbrance of loneliness.

Tsukimizu's style remains loose and undemanding. The patterning of word balloons is vastly imperfect, however, and there are times when it is difficult to know who is speaking. Altogether, GIRLS LAST TOUR #2 is a good continuation of a good manga.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar in structure to the first volume, we follow Yuu and Chito as they trudge along by themselves through the post-apocalyptic ruins of a megacity, until they run into a new person for the last three chapters - with the new person going her separate way at the end, snapping the manga back to its primary dynamic.

A major highlight is the "Temple" chapter, with the tall, skinny statues of weird gods. Other elements in the manga suggest a big war that led to the downfall of the city, but the temple has a purity to it, sustained throughout time, that it's hard to imagine just how terrible the war might have been for this temple to remain so well-preserved.

A bit of a dip in quality (arguably) with the "Rain Song" chapter. The main idea is that the two girls are taking shelter from the rain, beneath an abandoned spider-tank or something, and Yuu notices the sound made by rain dropping onto her helmet. They then gather a bunch of cans and things to make a little symphony of rain-on-metal sounds. Cute stuff. Only, you know, this is manga, so there's no sound, so we're expected to make the music in our head based on the SFX printed on the pages(?). I'm sure the idea is better-executed in the anime. At the very least, I cannot say this chapter is a dud because it still looks nice, and the giant SFX create their own meta-visual atmosphere to make up for the silence of the physical book.

[MIL · Rating 5 out of 5]

20231211 2nd read
--
20180810 1st read
跟絕望做好朋友
好深刻的道理...
第二集開頭是神殿
但跟動畫比起來氣勢少了不少
動畫的主神像搭配音樂，真的有種天何言哉的悲涼感
漫畫反而還好

第三集總算快出了...
但等到圖書館買進來我又得重頭看了吧

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world has been destroyed by a nuclear holocaust. Chito and Yuuri are two of the only people left alive. They’re both just little girls with no understanding of how the world was built and very little knowledge about history or humanity as a whole. They wander through one barren and lifeless wasteland after another in search of food and shelter, studying the sights they see in an attempt to learn more about the dystopian world they live in and draw connections to the lost civilizations of the past.

Though there’s an obvious melancholy atmosphere which is hard to avoid since 99.9% of life on the planet has been completely eradicated, the actual tone of the story is actually quite relaxing and innocent. That’s because it’s an apocalypse story written from the perspective of two girls that are too young to have had any attachment to the old world to begin with. There’s no sense of great loss or despair. This is simply just the life they’ve always known and they have no trouble adapting to their surroundings or enjoying themselves.

It’s interesting to have an apocalypse story filled with a ghibli-esque sense of childlike wonder and innocence. I enjoyed reading it just for the peacefully melancholy atmosphere. That being said, I don’t think the characters were as well developed as they could’ve been and sometimes the deeper themes and commentary of the story fell short. It’s not as great as it had the potential to be, but it’s still an interesting and unique take on the dystopian apocalypse genre.

My rating: 3.3/5

[lauras_garden_of_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

In „Girls last Tour“ begleiten wir Yuuri und Chito, die in einer dystopisch apokalyptischen Welt mit ihrem Kettenkrad umherreisen.
Das Worldbulding ist recht spannend, denn es handelt sich um eine Stadt, die aus mehreren Ebenen aufgebaut ist und wir bereisen mit den beiden Mädchen die unterschiedlichen Orte dieser Stadt, wechseln dabei die Ebenen und entdecken stets Neues. Was genau die Apokalypse hervorgerufen hat, wieviele Menschen es überhaupt noch gibt und wie die beiden zusammengefunden haben, wissen wir nicht.
Eine richtige Handlung gibt es eigentlich nicht; Wir begleiten die beiden episodenhaft bei ihrem Alltag, was sie erleben, wie sie sich kabbeln, ihre Gespräche miteinander, wie sie sich die Welt erträumen und das Erstaunlichste in den kleinsten Dingen sehen. Dies hat etwas Entschleunigendes und Entspannendes.
Wir treffen in diesem Band durchaus auf den ein oder anderen Menschen; es sind Begegnungen, die etwas Bleibendes hinterlassen, aber die Wege werden sich auch wieder trennen.
Die Zeichnungen sind recht grob und skizzenhaft gehalten, was das apokalyptische Setting in meinen Augen aber absolut stimmungsvoll widerspiegelt und damit perfekt passt.
Für mich ist dieser Manga etwas ganze Besonderes; er gibt mir viel beim Lesen und ich freue mich, die beiden hoffentlich noch lange auf ihrer Reise zu begleiten!

Für Fans von „Touring After the Apocalypse“ 😁✌️

[Joe Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

So somber, yet so engrossing.

This is very different from my usual fare of supernatural & harem rom-coms. Such a morose subject here. It's a wonder the girls aren't filled with utter despair. Such a strange adventure, & such a strange life. I hope we get some backstory on the girls. It would be nice to see where they originated, how they met, etc. I have a feeling though, that we might not get that. Art, very rough, feels much more "rough sketch" than "finished art". But, as much as I didn't like this style at 1st, I now am beginning to appreciate it, as it really fits well with the story. Dialogue, a bit boring at times. You'd think the girls would be more engaged with each other, as they have no one else. It seems a lot is left unsaid between the 2.

[John Blacksad · Rating 3 out of 5]

İkinci sayı daha pesimist ilerliyor ama bir çırpıda okunuyor. İşleyiş anlamında bir yenilik yok, merağımızı dindirecek bir sis aydınlanması yok. Yol ve süreç devam ediyor. Dünyada dolu dizgin yaşamın olduğu döneme dair olgular, kavramlar, şeylere dair bilgileri yalnızca okuduklarından ibaret gibi. Oradan bir orijinallik yakalamaya çalışılmış ama sadece okunanın tahayyülü ile dünyayı bilmek temasının başyapıtı kesinlikle Yapayalnız ile Chaboute (İletişim Yayınları) üstattır. Bu sayıdaki fallik obje kılıklı heykellerden (tapınak nesnesi?) hoşlanmadım. Yine belli belirsiz, tuhaf arka planlar ve sembolik aforizma kıvamlı replikleriyle (yaşamak, karanlık, tanrı, müzik…) bu ciltten bir tiyatro oyunu kotarırlar hissi oluştu. Seriye devam ederim gibi duruyor.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chito and Yuuri head toward a distant lighted building and find - something.

This is an intriguing little series. It's very much a low key slice of life story. The girls enjoy the sound of rain, imagine staying in one place for a while, and meet another stranger. But at the end, they are again alone. They make a good pair and it's obvious in this volume that they appreciate having someone along in this post-apocalyptic world. I love the fact that they're not trying to figure out what happened, or why it happened - they're just trying to live. I'll be reading the next book in the series.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

You want to write a post-apocalyptic story -- Fine.
You want to spend 1/3rd of your series going nowhere -- Fine.
You want a 3-star rating -- Fine.

Look, it isn't bad -- it just hasn't GONE anywhere. If it is just about the journey, I can tell you now I'm not going to like it. IF Chito and Yuuri discovers something about the former world and what happened I'll be a lot more interested. I don't need massive explosions and action scenes, but I do need more than just wandering around a post-apoc city.

Here's to hoping volume 3 steps up the story a bit.

[Mandy R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich mag die beiden Mädels total gern. So unterschiedlich wie sie sind, aber sie ergänzen sich super. Ich dachte zwar die ganze Zeit es wären Kinder, weil sie so niedlich gezeichnet sind und auch die Charaktere sehr kindlich sind, aber ich musste feststellen, dass sie mind. Teenager, wenn nicht sogar junge Erwachsene sind.

Die Story ist wieder recht ruhig, sie fahren durch die zerstörte und verlassene Stadt und treffen diesmal auf eine Frau.

[Wendi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this manga, which takes place in an unnamed post-apocalyptic city. Chito and Yuuri roam around, trying to figure out how people used to live when everything around is foreign to them, daydreaming about sleeping in actual beds. It's a terrific blend of innocent wonder and the stark realization that these girls are just barely surviving.

[Raven]

"We should learn to cope better with hopelessness."

"Chii: Remember what you said in the dark? That maybe the afterlife is pitch-black too? Maybe people build statues and turn on lights because they don't want to think that. For peace of mind./Yuu: Piece of mind, huh...? But I got more peace of mind when I found you in the dark."

"Now that I've failed, I feel so relaxed."

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Apocalypse

A future with few people but lots of layers of civilization that must be thousands of years old. Dwindling resources must have doomed civilization along with constant warfare and over-population. Dark manga!

[RyReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would not recommend. Friend whom I read first and second volume with also agrees—- just not much to look forward to. Art/world is really pleasing to look at it but story line is slow and lacking in any type of action.

Will not be continuing!

[Pip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume really pulled me into GLT. It sets up the volume structure of what we can expect. Each chapter explores some aspect of humanity, usually opening with something that becomes the insightful punchline by the end. The finale is another encounter with an interesting soul.