Shimeji Simulation Review: A Girl Emerges From the Ground and Goes to School and Everyone Acts Like This Is Normal
by Tsukumizu
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Quick Take
- By the creator of Girls' Last Tour — Tsukumizu's follow-up applies the same quiet, existential register to a high school setting that is surreal rather than post-apocalyptic
- The surrealism is understated — things are wrong in the world, but no one mentions it — and the comedy emerges from this gap between the abnormal and the students' treatment of it as normal
- 7 volumes complete; for readers who appreciated Girls' Last Tour's specific quality
Who Is This Manga For?
- Readers who appreciated Girls' Last Tour and want to see Tsukumizu's other register
- Anyone who enjoys surreal slice of life where the surrealism is ambient rather than plot-driven
- Fans of quiet manga with existential undertone delivered through comedy
- Readers who can engage with absurdism in a school context
Content Warnings & Age Rating
Age Rating: T (Teen) Content Warnings: Surreal and existential content; the world being wrong may be unsettling to some readers; no graphic content
The T rating is accurate.
Yu's Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Story Depth | ★★★★☆ |
| Art Style | ★★★★★ |
| Character Development | ★★★★☆ |
| Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers | ★★★★☆ |
| Reread Value | ★★★★★ |
Story Overview
Shijima has emerged from the ground. She is attending high school. Her friend Majime — who, at some point, acquired a mushroom growing on her head — is there too. The school has various other students whose existences are subtly inconsistent with normal reality. None of this is remarked upon.
The series follows Shijima and Majime's daily school life — clubs, lunch, the development of tentative friendships — against a backdrop of accumulated wrongness that Tsukumizu never explains. The comedy is deadpan. The existential undertone is genuine. The relationship between the two is the work's emotional center.
Characters
Shijima — Having emerged from the ground, she has the specific quality of someone relearning what ordinary life is. Her flatness in the face of the world's wrongness is both the comedy and the character.
Majime — Her presence — mushroom, unfazed by everything, genuinely warm toward Shijima — is the work's anchor. She doesn't explain herself and doesn't need to.
Art Style
Tsukumizu's art in Shimeji Simulation is cleaner and softer than Girls' Last Tour — the character designs are more conventionally cute — but the environmental art still carries the eerie quality that distinguished the post-apocalyptic work. The school setting is rendered with enough specificity to ground the surrealism.
Cultural Context
Shimeji Simulation belongs to a tradition of Japanese surreal comedy in the 4-koma and slice of life space — manga where the abnormal is treated as normal and the comedy emerges from that gap. The school setting is familiar enough that departures from it are legible as departures rather than just different worlds.
What I Love About It
The chapters where the accumulation of surreal wrongness reaches a point that requires even the characters to briefly acknowledge it — and then they immediately move on — are Tsukumizu's most precise comedic deployments. The acknowledgment-without-dwelling is the work's defining technique.
What English-Speaking Fans Say
Western readers who came from Girls' Last Tour describe Shimeji Simulation as a different but equally worthwhile register — the surrealism is lighter, the tone less melancholy, but the specific Tsukumizu quality is present throughout. The work is consistently described as funnier than Girls' Last Tour while retaining its existential awareness.
Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning
The chapters that most directly engage with where Shijima came from and why she was underground — the moments when the series almost explains itself — are the most valuable for readers who want the surrealism grounded rather than fully ambient.
Similar Manga
- Girls' Last Tour — Tsukumizu's other work; different register
- Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou — Quiet surreal slice of life with existential warmth
- Nichijou — School surrealism with comedy emphasis
- The Promised Neverland — Wrong world, different genre
Reading Order / Where to Start
Volume 1 — Shijima's emergence and her reintegration into school life.
Official English Translation Status
Yen Press published all 7 volumes. Complete and available.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The surrealism is handled with restraint rather than excess
- The Shijima-Majime friendship is genuinely warm
- Tsukumizu's art is exceptional
- Seven volumes; complete
Cons
- The ambient surrealism requires tolerance for the unexplained
- Readers expecting Girls' Last Tour's register will find a different work
- The comedy is deadpan and may not be to everyone's taste
Format Comparison
| Format | Notes |
|---|---|
| Individual Volumes | Yen Press; complete |
| Digital | Available |
Where to Buy
Get Shimeji Simulation Vol. 1 on Amazon →
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Written by
Yu
Manga Enthusiast from Japan
I grew up in Japan and manga literally saved me during a tough time in elementary school. My English isn't perfect, but my love for manga is real — and I want to share it with you.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.