Shuumatsu Touring
Short Synopsis: Cute girls doing cute things in a post-apocalyptic world.
Amun: Let’s start out with the disclaimer that Girls Last Tour (which will draw tons of comparisons to Shuumatsu Touring) is one of my top anime all time. Given that immense starting bias, Shuumatsu Touring’s been on my radar since the preseason. How did the first episode shape up? Like Mario says, it’s way greener and more vibrant. It isn’t as much finding joy in the dreary as it is finding joy in the uncluttered. Also, this episode was set in Hakone, which I absolutely love (I’ve been blessed to have hiked the mountains around the big lake in this episode…although there wasn’t the Loch Ness monster when I was there). All in all, I like the vibes, I like our leads, I don’t mind electric motor bikes, and I’m curious what happened to Mt. Fuji (I think I’ve gotten the right mountain there).
Potential: 70%
Mario: I’m sure the obvious point of comparison for this show is Girls’ Last Tour, considering how they are similar in both premise and tone, but so far Shuumatsu Touring does just about enough to differentiate itself from that show. First, instead of the gray industrial wasteland in Girls’ Last Tour, we have much more green in the palette this time. We have yet to see any humans aside from the main girls (one of whom is revealed to be an android), but wild animals are thriving in this world! In addition to that, I really appreciate how the episode slowly reveals many important details by showing instead of spoon-feeding the information. As mentioned earlier, the reveal that one of the girls is an android is nicely done, and the main girl’s constant flashbacks to Earth before the apocalypse marks a nice contrast to how it looks at the moment. I’m sure that we will learn more about this world and what caused its ruin further down the line, but for now the girls are the focal point, and so far I’m up for their own little adventure.
Potential: 60%
Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle
Short Synopsis: A popular teenage boy flirts with his classmates and attempts to lure a shut-in nerd back to school.
Wooper: When I wrote this show’s entry for our season preview a couple weeks ago, I guessed that the chances of its title character escaping Literally Me status were slim. Now that I’ve seen Chitose’s 30+ minute premiere, I can confirm that he fits the mold, but there’s something that sets him apart – he’s way better at talking to girls than the other LN dudes who typically get slapped with that label. Sure, “better” is a relative term (some of the women who watch this episode are bound to find him douchey), but if we’re talking about the ability to keep a conversation going with a member of the opposite sex, this guy is at the top of his class. For fans of LN harem adaptations with larger-than-harem pretensions, that may prove to be a selling point, but personally, I found the writing to be annoying. The snippets of flowery narration scattered throughout the episode, Chitose’s internal assessments of his classmates in the order they appear on screen, the aggressive flirting from half the female students… I’d say I were too old for this kind of show, but the truth is I never liked them, even as a teenager myself. The only whiff of promise here comes from the unspoken skeleton in the protagonist’s closet, which his teacher uses to subtly blackmail him midway through the episode, but I’m not sticking around to find out what it is.
Potential: 10%
A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace
Short Synopsis: The everyday life of a rookie mangaka and her yuri affection for her editor.
Mario: It’s always a treat to see the inner workings of a mangaka’s life (and those of people in the anime industry, to an extent). It’s something that is totally unique to Japanese culture that I would love to know more about. This show uses that setting for a more cozy approach, and dives more into the mangaka-assistant and mangaka-editor relationships. So far though, I’m not sure if I can tolerate our main girl Futami for the rest of the season. She has a wild imagination (befitting her occupation), but tends to overthink and overact, which can be too much at times. Thankfully, the people around her serve as the voice of reason to bring her back to reality. I like the atmosphere but the show has to branch out more in order to grab the audience’s attention.
Potential: 40%
The post Fall 2025 Impressions: Shuumatsu Touring, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace appeared first on Star Crossed Anime.
