The world's gonna end, we're all gonna die. But fret not, the moeblobs are always by your side! Though the void may scream incessant and loud, with friends, there is solace to be found.
Girl's Last Tour is a soliloquy of war, somber depression, but also, the inherent value in the simple beauty of life and other people. These cute rambunctious girls go on silly little adventures together, but its always under the shadow of the harsh reality they live in. The decimated cities. Fighter planes, tanks, and submarines long since overtaken by nature. The humans who once piloted them long forgotten. How these desecration machines
...
are so...normal, to them. Hell, they don't bat an eye at atomic bombs. The simple fact that each cutsey "adventure" is evidently a quest for survival. A survival not guaranteed, mind you, especially with their lack of education and guidance by an elder figure. They're in the thick of it. The remnant shreds of humanity's last hurrah, now a distant echo.
Yet, despite it all, they smile. Damned be it all. Damned be the end. Smile, laugh, and play, not just cause they live another day, but because they have each other. And that's the true beauty of the show. That's what makes it iyashikei. They confront the bleak impending end as we know it with a heartfelt smile and belly-filled laughter. Though they may be physically weak, their sheer indomitable love for all the curious and mundane is why they are the two unique survivors of Earth. And everyone can take away this message with them. Even when times are tough, even if you will confront an inescapable end, life always brings quiet little presents that make it worth living. Not just surviving, truly living and prospering, so long as you keep your heart full of a love for life.
The last two episodes are my favorites, because they put this juxtaposition on full display. Episode eleven in particular, has two stand-out moments. One somber, the other bombastic. There are many moments where our main girls are enamored by the sky's many phenomenon. Yet this time, the abyss stares back. Something snaps. A bloody setting sun. A bloody setting sun, looming over a desecrated city. Nothing of value is in this place. The usual crew of childlike wonder bursts into silent streaming tears. They themselves can't comprehend why on a conscious level, yet its evident as the viewer that they fully understand what's going on, truly understand the level of what's been lost. Forever. Even the extraordinarily naive Yuui, understands this much. To the point where it shakes her soul to remain immobile for a while and weep.
And then, we whiplash the tone to her playing with tactical missiles like its Galaga. Laughing uproariously and seeming a pyromaniac for some moments. Such an innocent girl, capable of such acts deep down. Its no accident either. The first fire was, but the sequential are unmistakably preemeditated. And she's capable of such horrors because, though her subconscious knows all, her waking self is purposefully dormant to the realities of war. Treating everything like a game. Makes the punches blow a little softer. Without Chito by her side to snap her back to reality, its very possible she had the capacity to level the whole continent (island? Who knows.), should she persist in her state of childlike denial. Though the interior is very aware, the exterior needs to be purposefully unaware to get through the day. These moments are all so small and subtle, yet they scream so much about the effect war can have on a young person's mind. Yet still, despite the adverse effects, and the utter grotesqueness any human has the capacity of, they push on to experience what beauty life does have.
And for episode twelve's montage. Children, students, new families, schools, performers. And the destruction in their wake. Impending. Inevitable, considering our Touring Girl's are the better part of humanity left. Yet they too, tried to live their best lives. And the girls, who know little about humanity beyond the atrocities they've committed, get to see what truly has been lost. This montage is a pinnacle of cinema. It can't have full impact through words, it needs to be watched through the context of the whole series to have its full impact.
Unfortunately, even a thought piece such as this falls victim to some of the worst aspects of moeshit/CGDCT, so it gets some points deducted for that. For example, the eating. The fucking eating, dude. The moronic baby "mmmnm, mmmn. UUGUU mmmnNNMmm" noises they make. It adds nothing to the overall narrative and overstays its welcome by a longshot. Just in general whenever they make noises like that too, but eating is easily the worst offender.
Additionally, just how ignorant Yuui is sometimes takes away from the immersion sometimes. Particularly whenever she is ignorant about a device pertaining to war. The missiles for example. Even if its one of my favorite scenes, if not for the inconsistency. She survived a war. Survived so well, that she's one of the last two of the entire human race to go. That's quite a feat, not knowing what a missile is. Especially since she's seen it every day at one point of her life.
But these issues are so minor, that the overall rating still remains high nonetheless. I'm excited to see what adventures and philosophical meanderings the mangaka comes up with next.
Feb 20, 2025
Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou
(Anime)
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The world's gonna end, we're all gonna die. But fret not, the moeblobs are always by your side! Though the void may scream incessant and loud, with friends, there is solace to be found.
Girl's Last Tour is a soliloquy of war, somber depression, but also, the inherent value in the simple beauty of life and other people. These cute rambunctious girls go on silly little adventures together, but its always under the shadow of the harsh reality they live in. The decimated cities. Fighter planes, tanks, and submarines long since overtaken by nature. The humans who once piloted them long forgotten. How these desecration machines ... 
Dec 16, 2024
Mikazuki no Karte
(Manga)
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Onee-yuri lovin' and loli thigh tuggin'! Onee-yuri lovin' and loli thigh tuggin'!
Gotta write more, so here goes. Its a fluffy romantic manga about a sickly inpatient loli allergic to the sun who becomes girlfriends with her intern doctor who's at least 15 years older than her. The loli is suicidal at the prospect of never getting to experience love due to her illness. So the milf intern promises to be both her lover and to find a cure for her illness. A quick warning for any future readers: make SURE you read PAST chapter 13! There are really 20 chapters, not just the 13. If you ... 
Aug 15, 2024
Limbo the King
(Manga)
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Disco Elysium meets Psychonauts on a geopolitical scale. Bonus points for the dynamic duo actually going inside each other for once! Er, each other's brains, that is.
Limbo The King (LTK) is an action-packed detective scifi manga about two guys fighting a disease which can only be cured by entering the comatose brains of the afflicted. The main mystery revolves around three questions: what is the true nature of the sleeping disease, how does it spread, and where does it originate from? The answer can only be solved by the small, limited population of people who are capable of diving into people's brains and fighting their ... 
Jul 26, 2024
Maria Children
(Manga)
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>tfw no qt nato tactical cyber loli gf to kiss and make out with to extend her cyber loli life so she can be my cyber loli wife
why even live Have to write more, so here goes. The plot is about girls who are sentient millitant weapons stopping an alien miasma from consuming Japan. It places emphasis on the relationship between the loli and her owner/commander. There are some yuri elements to it too. The lolis are lewded, in an especially fucked up way at the start of the manga + some eroguro throughout the plot, but it turns out progressively more wholesome as time goes ... 
May 9, 2024
Dear Anemone
(Manga)
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Junji Ito meets Animorphs. And its pretty fucking cool.
I agree with the public fanfare about Dear Anenome being both trope heavy and not that scary. But it's worth a read for the sheer thrill of the artstyle alone. Harkening back to Junji, a lot of his stories rely more on coolness factor rather than creep factor, which is exemplified through each page flip here too. Its unique monster designs and real life biology lessons are also a treat. The animal biology is based on real life biology, so this is a great manga for zoology enthusiasts as well. I'm curious to see where this manga ... 
May 7, 2024
Jagaaaaaan
(Manga)
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Jagaaaaaan is a strong premise with extremely loosely-bound ends interconnecting said premise. It starts strong, keeps that momentum rolling for a while in its infancy, ends with an absolute bang, but the entirety of its middle is held together by straws and lube.
A lot of lube, since the mangaka does an absolutely godawful job at disguising his thiny veiled fetishes all throughout the work. Robahata, Moroha, and Yadori are all prime examples of this. All three are guilty of turning an otherwise philisophically interesting battle series into dubcon and noncon pornography. Not for the sake of cultrally taboo discussion, or exploration of desire as ... |
