The highly anachronistic military hardware in this far future setting told me right away that this world wasn’t meant to be taken literally but figuratively. This story is all about the journey because there is no destination. Not even an ending or conclusion.
The charming character duo can be interpreted as the Id and the Ego. Yuuri is impulsive. She is concerned with food and cares not for vagaries such as timekeeping or writing. Chito is fascinated by books and knowledge. She tries to make sense of the world and is sentimental about the past.
Their only goal is to ascend the strata of the megacity. With each tier they increase their understanding of life and the world. In this place devoid of people they can only examine society by what it has left behind. What does mankind’s legacy tell us about it? In fact, their world is almost devoid of life as we know it. What does it even mean to be “alive?” Is life defined by death?
Their innocence and discovery on their journey is an allegory of the mortal experience. As it is when a child comes to an awareness of the larger world outside of their immediate perception. A classic meditation on the meaning of life and a reaffirmation of the importance of having others close to us.
Without these deeper meanings it is just a story about two girls in a kettenkrad wandering aimlessly in a post-apocalyptic cityscape.
