Night Is Short, Walk On Girl

Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (夜は短し歩けよ乙女, Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke yo Otome) is a 2017 Japanese animated romantic comedy film directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The film is based on the novel The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl[1] written by Tomihiko Morimi and illustrated by Yusuke Nakamura, who also served as the film's original character designer.[6] The film was released in North America as The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, with a leading article added,[7] but in other English-speaking regions without one. It has been awarded the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the Ottawa International Animation Festival[8] and the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.[9]

Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
Japanese theatrical release poster
Japanese夜は短し歩けよ乙女
HepburnYoru wa Mijikashi Aruke yo Otome
LiterallyThe night is but short, so walk on, maiden
Directed byMasaaki Yuasa
Produced byNoriko Ozaki
Jūnosuke Itō
Screenplay byMakoto Ueda
Based onThe Night Is Short, Walk On Girl[1]
by Tomihiko Morimi
Starring
Music byMichiru Ōshima[5]
Edited byAkari Saitō
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • April 7, 2017 (2017-04-07)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese[6]
Box office¥530 million (Japan)

The film is a spiritual sequel to The Tatami Galaxy, also based on a novel written by Morimi and directed by Yuasa. Though both works share a Kyoto University setting and some characters, the plotlines are largely unrelated.[10]

Plot

The film follows a night out for two university students: an unnamed woman – referred to as Kōhai (後輩, "Junior") throughout the film, and kurokami no otome (黒髪の乙女, "black-haired maiden") in the film's credits – and an unnamed man – referred to as Senpai (先輩, "Senior") in the film and its credits. The senpai plans to confess his romantic feelings for the kōhai to her that night, though circumstances keep them separated for a majority of the evening.

The kōhai meets a pervert, Tōdō, at a bar. She wins the admiration of two other patrons, Higuchi and Hanuki, after punching Tōdō when he makes an advance on her. Higuchi and Hanuki lead the kōhai in gate crashing strangers' parties, where she drinks an impressive amount of alcohol. She later participates in a drinking game with Rihaku, a supernatural being, and wins.

Meanwhile, the senpai undertakes a number of adventures to find a copy of Ratatatam, a beloved book from the kōhai's childhood. After obtaining the book, he learns that she is to play the lead in the final scene of a guerilla theatre production. He attempts to replace the male lead in the scene, but is unsuccessful. Having caught a cold, the senpai returns home.

The kōhai visits the companions she has met throughout the night, all of whom have caught the same cold as the senpai, and nurses them back to health. Her final visit is to the senpai, who gives her the copy of Ratatatam and suggests visiting a used bookstore together, to which she enthusiastically assents. The film ends with the two meeting for coffee before going to the bookstore.

Cast
Characters Voice actor [11]
Senior Hoshino Gen[2]
The Girl with Black Hair Kana Hanazawa
The School Festival Executive Head Hiroshi Kamiya
The Underpants Leader Ryuji Akiyama[3] (Robart)[4]
Seitarō Higuchi Kazuya Nakai
Hanuki-san Yuko Kaida
The God of the Old Books Market Hiroyuki Yoshino
Kiko-san Seiko Niizuma
Nise-Jōgasaki Junichi Suwabe
Princess Daruma Aoi Yuki
Johnny Nobuyuki Hiyama
Tōdō-san Kazuhiro Yamaji
Rihaku Mugihito

Production

The film was made by most of the same lead staff as The Tatami Galaxy, including original author Morimi, original character designer Nakamura, character designer and chief supervising animator Nobutaki Itō, screenwriter Makoto Ueda and director Yuasa.[6]

The band Asian Kung-Fu Generation also returned to write and perform the theme song "Kōya o Aruke" (荒野を歩け, lit. "Walk in the wild land").[12]

To promote the film's release in South Korea, in addition the Korean band Romantic Punch were employed to create an image song, "Moonwalk in Kyoto" (밤은 짧아 걸어 아가씨야) (the Korean title of the song is the same as that of the novel and film).[13][14]

Release

Night Is Short, Walk On Girl was released in Japan on April 7, 2017.[6]

Internationally, the film was released by Anime Limited in the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 4, 2017,[15] and by GKIDS in the United States on August 21, 2018 (where it is titled The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl).[7] In Australia, Half Symbolic Films released the film in cinemas on 14 February 2019.[16]

Rights to the English-language edition of the original novel have been acquired by Yen Press,[17] who published it on June 18, 2019 as The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, in hardcover and as an e-book.[1]

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 30 reviews with an average rating of 7.4/10.[18]

Awards and nominations
Award Category Nominee Result
41st Ottawa International Animation Festival Best Animated Feature Night Is Short, Walk On Girl Won
50th Sitges Film Festival Best Animated Film Nominated
41st Japan Academy Prize Animation of the Year Won
Crunchyroll Anime Awards Best Film Nominated

References
  1. "The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl". www.goodreads.com.
  2. "星野源 オフィシャルサイト". 星野源 オフィシャルサイト.
  3. "変幻自在の天才肌芸人、ロバート秋山──憑依芸は、まだまだ続く". GQ JAPAN.
  4. "ロバート : けっこう意外なお笑い芸人のコンビ名由来まとめ". NAVER まとめ.
  5. "♪♪大島ミチル オフィシャルサイト♪♪".
  6. "映画 アニメ 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 - allcinema". www.allcinema.net.
  7. "The Night is Short, Walk On Girl | GKIDS Films" – via gkidstickets.com.
  8. "Ottawa International Animation Festival Final Report 2017" (PDF). Canadian Film Institute. 2017. p. 53. Retrieved 7 June 2019. Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature: YORUWA MIJIKASHI ARUKEYO OTOME
  9. Komatsu, Mikikazu (March 3, 2018). "Masaaki Yuasa's "The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl" Wins Japan Academy Film Prize's "Animation of the Year"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  10. Bradshaw, Peter (2017-10-05). "The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl review – a hallucinogenic trip down a rabbit hole". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  11. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (January 25, 2017). "Masaaki Yuasa's Yoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome Film Adds 12 More Cast Members". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  12. ustar (March 4, 2017). "ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATIONS to release new single, "Kōya o Aruke"". Tokyohive. 6Theory Media. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  13. "로맨틱펀치 RomanticPunch". www.facebook.com.
  14. "로맨틱펀치 RomanticPunch". www.facebook.com.
  15. "UK Premiere of 'Night is Short, Walk On Girl' feat. Q&A with Masaaki Yuasa – All the Anime".
  16. "Masaaki Yuasa films coming to Australia". Half Symbolic Films. April 20, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  17. "Yen Press Licenses Happy Sugar Life, Kakegurui Twins Manga, Penguin Highway, Walk on Girl, Mirai Novels". Anime News Network.
  18. "The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
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