Life’s Little Day
Girls’ Last Tour, volume 6
By Tsukumizu
13 Mar, 2019
Tsukumizu’s Girl’s Last Tour, volume six was first published in 2017. The Yen Press translation into English was published in 2019. It collects chapters 41 to 47 of Tsukumizu’s ongoing tale of two girls, Yuuri and Chito, wandering a desolate, doomed Earth. It is the final volume.
Chapter 041 – Blizzard
On their way towards the top of the vast structure in which they wander, the girls encounter yet another blizzard. Thanks to the altitude, this one is much colder than the ones before.
Chapter 042 – Space
The girls find a relic of humanity’s spacefaring era, which (thanks to Yuuri’s curiosity) very nearly crushes the two girls.
Chapter 043 – Book
The girls stumble over a vast library, one so comprehensive it has works even Yuuri can read. Inspired, Chito muses about the human desire to do something, anything, even though extinction is inevitable. Yuuri simply enjoys the coffee they found.
Chapter 044 – Loss
Calamity strikes when the girls’ beloved Kettenkrad breaks down. The tracked vehicle has broken down before, but this time there is no convenient new friend to help fix it, no providential trove of useful parts. It is the end for the girls’ loyal steed.
Chapter 045 – Sleep
Without their Kettenkrad, the girls are limited to the supplies they can carry. As their packs weigh more heavily on them, they are forced into a series of harsh decisions about what truly matters. Their painstakingly written journal is burnt for lifesaving heat.
Chapter 046 – Silence
As they climb a seeming endless spiral staircase, the girls’ light fails. They continue to ascend in pitch darkness, with only their fear of death and each other for companionship.
Chapter 047 — Last Stop
Success! The girls finally reach the utterly barren, desolate roof of the world, having used up all their food and most of their supplies save for a knife, some lights, rope, wire, and one last bomb. Hungry, they share a drink of melt water and contemplate their next move.
General comments
If only they had headed down instead of up. Ah, well.
From one point of view, the series is one long downer, about two girls making a heroic effort to reach a location entirely innocent of the barest essentials needed to survive. To be frank, without supplies or vehicle, it does not seem likely even their best efforts could keep them alive for much longer than it will take whichever of them eats the other [1] to starve to death. That’s assuming they don’t just set off the bomb.
From another point of view, everyone dies. At least the sisters spent their life doing something that mattered to them. Even if in the end wasn’t as climactic as it could have been, they did get to enjoy the view along the way.
The art is spare but serviceable. The story somehow adds up to something light and heartening while being composed almost entirely of the disturbing and ominous. Perhaps not ideal bedtime reading for your kids … although one cannot be sure without trying it at least once.
Girls Last Tour, Volume Six is available here (Amazon), here (Amazon.ca) and here (Chapters-Indigo).
1: Yuuri