Another weird and wonderful entry from Masaaki Yuasa. This shares characters and a visual style with the series "The Tatami Galaxy" (https://trakt.tv/shows/the-tatami-galaxy) so if you're a fan of that series you will definitely enjoy, and know what to expect with this one - although the film works just fine as a stand-alone piece if you haven't seen it (although you really shoud!).
Whilst I still think I prefer Tatami Galaxy more this is still a very fun and enjoyable romp, following the unnamed girl with the black hair through the crazy nightlife of Kyoto. Lots of drinking, trippy visuals and hilarious moments as we go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.
Interestingly unlike Tatami Galaxy which almost exclusively followed the male protagonist's POV, here we spend a lot of time with the girl (voiced perfectly by Kana Hanazawa <3) and not so much with "Senpai", which is fine by me as she is joy to be around and is definitely the focal point of the story.
If you're a fan of Masaaki Yuasa's work this is definitely worth a look. Possibly not the easiest entry point into his works but not as bad as Tatami Galaxy and its infamous rapid-fire speech right out of the gate.
It's odd, I write longer reviews for movies I don't like, but rarely for ones I love. I guess it's hard for me to express the feelings I get from watching a truly great work of art without sounding like I'm full of myself. Night is Short, Walk on Girl came out early last year, but I just caught it for the GKids fathom events in the theatre. Seeing Masaaki Yuasa's mug on screen for the after credits interview is an image I'll never forget. This Science Saru masterpiece deals with a lot of themes; the ever increasing passage of time that seems to go faster as you age, the dangers but also carefree excitement of adult life, love at first sight, etc. It's one of the craziest, but also extremely heartfelt journeys that I think a lot of us have felt in our lives at least once. Going back to American Graffiti or even Ferris Bueller, doing everything you see in sight to take advantage of the moment, because you have to leave and grow up. It's that crazy prom night you look back on with fond memories, remembering all the stuff you did, wanting to recapture that magic. Yuasa's fluid style really lends itself to this fast paced narrative, moreso than Lu Over The Wall, and the use of physical renderings to emulate emotions, like a court room scene symbolizing a conflict of emotions that's happening in a head, and flowers blooming from the stomach to capture that bubbly feeling you can get from drinking. It's hard to pick on scene I love the most, it's all so memorable, like one night, the entire journey is the best moment. The girl with black hair, mirroring her counterpart from The Tatami Galaxy, is just on a quest to become an adult, so she goes across town to different bars just drinking and meeting all these odd assortment of people. Each of them have their own strange romantic stories they're still a part in, and little does the girl know, she's in one too. The first three fourths of the movie is just a wild, crazy, silly extravaganza across the city, but the last half hour takes a more restrained tone as the girl starts to visit people who have gotten colds, laying in their beds, each of who's story has found some kind of end. Seeing the girl mature throughout the story is one of the greatest experiences I've seen on screen, and it's surprisingly funny too. If you're in the mood for just some crazy animation, but a story with all of life in it, you may want to pop it up, by chance.
Shout by Saint PaulyBlockedParent2019-06-11T21:23:32Z
Night is Short, Walk on Girl is a town found at the wrong stop of a strange train, where nothing is familiar and your bearings are as lost as you are. A place where you wander aimlessly, happy to be adrift and praying you won't be home anytime soon.
Based on an illustrated Japanese novel, Night is Short... is a collection of tales revolving around a young girl on a road trip through a long night that's not long enough as she meets characters who are characters and has the kind of time you'll recognise as that one special night that came together in ways you never could have planned and still feeds you memories in nights cold enough to leave you alone.
I'm not an expert of Japanese animation (the artwork here is gorgeous) but I am a connaisseur of sincerity and this film has enough to fill the strongest of nights to the brim.