Last night, I was aimlessly scrolling through my social media feed when I came across a certain interesting anime clip. It was really funny and quirky, and after watching it, I was determined to find the whole movie. Its artstyle was unusual—simple yet eye-catching. I thought it's from a series, but it turns out that it's just from a movie. Is this encounter just by chance—or is this the string of fate pulling me to discover this movie? Kidding! I'm just copying what the raven-haired maiden usually say. So now join me as we walk with her in her short yet eventful night stroll in The Night is Short, Walk on Girl!
About the Anime
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke yo Otome) is a romcom anime movie that aired on April 7, 2017. It is an hour and thirty-two minute-long movie that was directed by Masaaki Yuasa. It was animated by Science SARU, and its theme mostly focused on adult casts. This movie is an adaptation of the four-chaptered novel written by Tomihiko Morimi.
Yearning to plunge into the alluring world of adulthood by herself, the raven-haired maiden embarks on a solitary walk—but her walk turned out to be far from being solitary. That night, her upperclassman secretly followed her. He'd been in love with her since the first time he saw her when she joined his club. Since then, he'd been following a strategy to make her fall for him as well. However, a year has passed, and their relationship was still like before. Not a progress has been made with those calculated encounters.
But that night, his usual calculated encounters were disrupted. That disruption began the progress of not only their relationship but as well for the people that the raven-haired maiden met that night. Despite being plagued with a lot of misfortunes, her upperclassman was still determined to do everything to make his true feelings known that night. Can he get the ultimate encounter that would finally connect their hearts? Or will he be lost among the misfortunes and internal battles he's bound to experience?
I really enjoyed watching the whole movie because I didn't expect the plot to be like that—it's full of surprises and unexpected twists and turns. I was really entertained with how the story progressed, and I was also satisfied with how it ended. The storyline progressed swiftly, leaving me no time to feel bored. I still couldn't believe that the whole story happened in just one night. So many things happened that night, and it's really like the opposite of a short night.
However, the goal of the movie was quite vague at first. There are a lot of characters presented, and each one of them has a little backstory, which confused me at some point. The time they have was limited, so I thought the movie would focus on the improvement of the main character's relationship. But as the story progressed, I doubted if their relationship's progress would get the spotlight because at some parts the male lead vanished or didn't appear in the scene, thus leading me to doubt if he's really the male interest of the raven-haired maiden. I expected it to be romantic, but I didn't feel much romance at all (perhaps I felt some in the ending part?); it's more like a slice of life with an ample amount of comedy to brighten up your mood.
On the other hand, I was really impressed at how well they're able to portray the characters emotions, even though the art style they used was simple. The movie was brimming with colors, and I loved how they used them to enhance the intensity of some scenes. The colors that they used were all eye-catching and vivid, and it's one of the reasons why I didn't really get bored while watching it. The art style was really bizarre because it's like abstraction with a hint of surrealism. The shot compositions and angles were also well utilized to create visually gripping scenes.
As for its soundtrack, like the characters in the movie, it too has its quirkiness. The musical parts were really good, and the VA sure did a good job in voicing those parts. I really felt their emotions, and also the background music did enhance the emotions that a certain scene wanted to portray. For me, the soundtrack was really interesting, especially the ending song, which is Kouya wo Aruke, that was sung by the Asian Kung-Fu Generation. It contrasted with the orchestral or musical-like soundtrack of the movie, and I think the laid-back vibes that this song gives off match well with the ending credits—and I really liked it!
Overall, the whole movie was like a breath of fresh air to me. Even though some of the dialogues were frenetic, they were really thought-provoking. There are a lot of philosophical ideas that were included in the movie. They even made a quirky version of Dazai's despondent quote. I really learned something from the movie—especially from the raven-haired maiden. She really has a simple way of viewing life—which is to follow where fate leads her. This got me thinking because most of the time we tend to complicate things, and that often leads us to feel negative emotions we shouldn't have felt in the first place.
We often dwell on the bad things that happened to us, and 'of course if we're too focused on them, we tend to forget the good things that we have. That whole-night experience of the male lead was really riddled with a lot of misfortunes, but like him, sometimes we should trust the process because we never knew where it would lead us. But wherever it will be—it will be a new experience—may it be bad or good, everything happens for a reason. Even the misfortunes can be the stepping stones for you to achieve something greater. So keep on walking because you're never alone in your journey; there are also many others who're experiencing different difficulties. Life is short, so let's walk on and try our best to make the most out of it!
Ohhh... Shimatta... I kinda rambled a lot hehe. To end this up, I personally rate this movie 9/10. The plot and the characters were well made, so if you're looking for a brilliant movie that's both eccentric and entertaining, then this is definitely your sign to watch The Night is Short, Walk on Girl.
Before I end this review, I gladly share with you its trailer, so—
Have you watched this anime movie before? Or is this your first time seeing it? If you already had watched it, then be with me as we dance together the sophist samba! That's all for today, minna-san. I hoped you enjoyed reading my review!
Arigatou and tanoshinde ne~
The pictures that didn't have source were screenshots from the movie while the last picture was edited in Canva.