The world has ended. Its not ending Its pretty much done for and beyond saving. In it theres still two girls driving an old Kettenkrad through an empty towering concrete jungle. They travel almost aimlessly with only the vague curiosityfueled goal of reaching the top of the city. In that context one that seems to take part after the credits of most movies/games have started rolling Tsukumizu mangaka and the team behind the adaptation try to present a tale thats different from the usual. 220https://pbs.tw.com/media/Dh69iWKWsAAs80o.jpg 220https://pbs.tw.com/media/Dh697JjWAAIxX5.jpg 220https://pbs.tw.com/media/DhByQDW0AEC6aO.jpg Girls Last Tour is one of those shows that focus most of their assets in building atmosphere and mood. With only two recurring characters theres a lot of time left for the enviroment and thats where director Takaharu Ozaki with a long history as director of photography and painter gets to shine the most. The backgrounds mostly depicting giant gray contraptions of steel and concrete feel surprisingly varied thanks to the way lighting is handled and the creativity behind some of the structures. The show jumps from oppressive factories to ethereal dreamscapes like its not a big deal and manages to keep its tone flowing without any awkward shift thanks to the sense of place the shot composition creates. The characters help as well with most of their movements being related to the environment they find themselves in at the moment. When theyre not traversing the city Chito and Yuuri are always playing around with the stuff around them. If they need to sleep and theres something emitting heat theyll sleep close to it and if theres any object new to them chances are Yuuri will be looking at it or much to Chitos grief poking it. When you combine all of that with the soothing surprisingly traditional soundtrack what you get is a series that feels grounded in its setting and tonally consistent with an atmosphere that grabs you immediately and lets the show tell you whatever it wants. 220https://pbs.tw.com/media/DhCFG9WkAA41QQ.jpg 220https://pbs.tw.com/media/Di8TgoYXoAAEVu6.jpg 220https://pbs.tw.com/media/Di8T4kwXsAAT7fZ.jpg Thats why I havent really talked about the narrative part of it all just yet: It would be impossible to pull off without the stellar presentation. Not having much of an overarching plot Girls Last Tour plays out like a collection of vignettes each with its own name and theme that would feel extremely disconnected If not for everything Ive mentioned so far giving off a feeling comparable only to Nakamuras take on Kino. Each of the stories revolves around an idea we as humans living in the current world take for granted. With Chito and Yuuri being mostly outsiders to our semiotics and ideas each one is a small exercise in abstraction in looking back on ourselves and our civilization and examining those concepts that seem so mundane to us. In a world almost devoid of people war for example is just another world for conflict lacking the weight weve come to give it and everything else gets the same treatment. God humanity and ideas like historical value and culture arent universally taught anymore so they lose most of their value. Our biggest moral dilemmas are more often than not solved in anticlimactic ways and eventually everything is proven meaningless. Kinda. 300https://pbs.tw.com/media/DhCpHVWAAAUMRI.jpg 300https://pbs.tw.com/media/DhCrFiX4AEf0Rb.jpg 300https://pbs.tw.com/media/DhCuRQXUAAmlgk.jpg 300https://pbs.tw.com/media/DhCxNbWkAADDC.jpg Girls Last Tour isnt just about a shallow form of nihilism. The show doesnt really devalue all of our thoughts and dreams it just rejects the idea that we should place all of our worth in them and invites us to reexamine them. A lifelong dream may wil probably fail symbols will change their meanings over time and a construct is just that a construct. In the most basic way being tied to them is a limitation. But its a fine limitation to choose. Lack of meaning is meaningless in and of itself and the very human characters do choose to believe and desire sometimes. In reality you can enjoy the sound of the rain or a talk with someone. You can be comfortable in others company and its good to have something you want to dedicate yourself to. Just dont reduce yourself to just that and first learn to get along with the feeling of hopelessness.