The story follows an episodic narrative as our two protagonists, Chito and Yuuri make their way through the ruins of the world. Each and every single one of the episodes brings something different and unique to the table. Some of them focus on the duo doing something relatively mundane, like attempting to make rations. These episodes are made good by the well written comedic dialogue and good slapstick, as well as the very enjoyable personalities and believable chemistry of the two leads. Chito is down to Earth and non-nonsense, while Yuuri is goofy, weird and slightly sociopathic. They play off of each other very well, in addition to having a very natural feeling bond. For as much as Yuuri annoys Chito, it is clear that they care about each other deeply (even if they themselves may not entirely realise that). It’s an endearing relationship that is a joy to watch over the course of the show.
Another things that definitely adds to the less serious episodes is the setting itself. It provides a very unique spin on the cute-girls-doing-cute-things aspect of the series. Even in the less serious episodes, there is this slight sense of sadness, as all the hijinks play out against the backdrop of a devastated world, focusing on the characters, who are just trying to survive and live in it. It’s not enough to make the episodes any less fun, but it does provide an interesting take on the slice of life genre. Because these two’s everyday lives are very different from those of, say, the K-On! girls.
Then there are the more serious episodes. Those hit all of the emotions that they are meant to hit, as well as touching upon some fascinating and surprisingly deep concepts that one wouldn’t normally expect a slice of life show to touch upon. Questioning the worth of religious faith and asking what it truly means to be alive are only some of this show’s fascinating subject matters.
It is through these themes that Chito and Yuuri grow, as they learn and think about all these new things and concepts that they are being exposed to. Sometimes they react differently based on their personalities and worldviews, which just makes it all the more interesting. The last episode brings their shared character arc to a touching and highly satisfying conclusion, but again, you’ll have to watch the show to know the specifics because seriously, I am not giving it away here.
There are a few supporting characters and they are all very memorable and with a good level of depth, in addition to bringing more interesting concepts to the show.
On the technical side, Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou is an absolutely gorgeous series. One would think that with a colour palette largely consisting of black, grey and white, it would get boring to look at fairly quickly. But the series uses it to its advantage as it only helps to create this overwhelming and wonderfully bleak atmosphere. Especially with the brilliant use of wide shots that go on for just long enough to allow the viewer to become truly immersed in the environments.
Another thing that keeps the series from looking dull is the moe aesthetic of the characters. It provides a good contrast to the backgrounds without looking out of place. They do still look like they are a part of the world, due to the very well-done character designs as well as the fact that the environments themselves don’t actually look overly realistic. It’s all-around great art direction.
But of course, it’s not all black/white/grey. The show does occasionally have scenes featuring a dark blue-ish night sky, a red sunset, bright yellow sunshine etc. And whenever such scenes do happen, the only word to describe them with that comes to mind is “stunning”.
The sound is just as good. It represents the show itself perfectly, featuring tracks that do a great job adding to the fun goofiness and ones that bring tears to the viewer’s eyes. Nowhere is this any more noticeable than in the OP and ED. Both are simply impossible to skip due to how catchy and fun to listen to they are, but once one starts paying attention to the lyrics, they are actually quite bittersweet (especially once you listen to them after having seen the entire series and having all the context).
The show is also great at using silence. When it wants to just let the atmosphere speak for itself, it can do that with only the visuals and a few small background noises.
As for the voice acting, Inori Minase perfectly portrays Chito’s reserved, yet irritable nature perfectly, bringing a somewhat similar energy here that she did to her performance as Chino Kafuu (Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?). And Yurika Kubo as Yuuri is just incredibly entertaining, delivering an energetic performance that’s just a joy to listen to. The supporting cast are also all very good in their roles, nailing their characters’ personalities and doing a great job bringing them to life.
Any problems that I have with this show are nit-picks so outweighed by the positives that they are barely even worth bringing up. Like how the show occasionally uses CG and it does not look all that great. But it does not use it often enough for me to really care.
There is also that one moment in Episode 3 that had me questioning a certain character’s logic. I’d have to go into spoilers in order to properly explain it, so I’ll keep it vague and if you’ve seen the show, you’ll probably know what I mean (if you don’t want to read even a very vague implication at a spoiler, skip this next sentence). In that moment I just kind of thought to myself “couldn’t he have just taken photos of those maps?” But again, it doesn’t really matter. The moment still hit.
At the time of writing this review, Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou is my favourite slice of life series. It is a wonderfully weird idea, with a stunning execution that I whole-heartedly recommend to everyone, regardless of their general stance on moe.
