#<- starting a new tag for this SDKJFHSFJ

[luguangs]

Gaby my love pspsps drop the Girls Last Tour propaganda pls 🤲

maz beloved thank you for allowing me to rant about girls last tour ily okay let's go!!!

girls last tour, as the name implies, follows two girls on a tour journey through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic world. they scavenge for food and fuel, encounter remnants from long-forgotten cultures, and day after hopeless day they choose to carry on forward.

while this may sound bleak and depressing, it's actually an iyashikei (slice of life). and let me preface this by saying i usually do not enjoy iyashikei stories, but i wholeheartedly think girls last tour is nothing short of a masterful work of art.

the reason i think it stands out from all others in its genre is because it doesn't shy away from despair, but despite it (or perhaps even because of it) still has this undercurrent of hope and a profound appreciation for life.

this juxtaposition of a world ravaged by war and death against two girls trying to make the most of their life day after day is beautifully poignant and poetic. we see the best and the worst of humanity—and it's surprisingly wholesome in its melancholy.

borrowing from the official synopsis:

But as long as the two are together, even an existence as bleak as theirs has a ray or two of sunshine in it (...) For two girls in a world full of nothing, the experiences and feelings the two share give them something to live for…

so yes, it's a slice of life, but if you're willing to look deeper, it has some incredibly profound themes. it gets very philosophical but it doesn't intend to give you all the answers; rather, it simply allows for contemplation on humanity and life as a whole, and it brings it all back to the here and now.

it's about choosing to keep going—to keep living another day even as the world is falling apart around you. it's about finding joy in the small things you stumble upon along your way. it's about watching these two girls rediscover humanity through what we leave behind and learning to see your own life through different eyes.

it's about choosing not to succumb into despair. yes, maybe you could've made better choices along the way—but you still shouldn't bring yourself to regret the life you've lived.

it's about realizing life is about making the most of it that you're able to amid your circumstances and living it to the fullest. it's about how the people you meet, the experiences you've lived, the things you've learned... you carry them with you always.

it's about how humanity is interconnected through our inherent curiosity and passion and love and perhaps our beautifully pointless endeavors, and how all of these give us meaning even if it will all come to an end someday.

plain and simple, it's about how beautiful it is to live. how even despite all the horrors, you can still find joy in living.

i don't think it's an exaggeration to call girls last tour life-changing, and if any of these themes resonate with you i'm sure you'll end up loving this story too.

some people say this story gave them depression. but tbh i think they're missing the point: this story will cure your depression <3 (yes i'm being hyperbolic but ykwim)

anyway if you'd like to get into it i'd recommend watching the anime first!! (i think the manga's visual contrast and use of negative space work better for the tone, but the anime genuinely did such a wonderful job with the music and some sequences in particular, and imo even elevated them. so for your first experience i'd say 100% anime)

however, the anime didn't adapt the full story and while you are able to get the overall themes from the anime, imo some of the best chapters can actually be found towards the end of the manga.

it's a very faithful adaptation otherwise, so you can pick it up from chapter 30 if you don't want to read from the beginning (and it's only 47 chapters so it's super short!)

also if you watch/read pleaseeee let me know what you think i literally don't know anyone else who's into it and i've been kind of going insane about it 😭

TLDR: if you like stories that are philosophical and contemplative, that don't shy away from despair but also choose to find the beauty in life, then this story is for you <3