Overview
“The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl” is a 2017 Japanese anime film based on the bestselling novel of the same name written by Tomihiko Morimi (published in 2006).
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa. Screenplay by Makoto Ueda. The character designer and chief animation director is Nobutake Ito. Animation produced by Science SARU. 93 minutes.
Commentary
The original novel is an eccentric teen romantic fantasy set in Kyoto.
The anime film version is an adaptation that compressed the original story over the four seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter) to a series of events in one night.
The film was produced by the main staff of the TV anime series “The Tatami Galaxy” (2010), which had been based on Tomihiko Morimi’s another novel.
It is a comical and dreamy fantasy film featuring a heartwarming story with the theme of people’s relationship by fortune or fate.
The scene of the story is a world like a parallel universe that is linked to the world of “The Tatami Galaxy”.
The story is about strange people in Kyoto, including “a black-haired girl”, an inquisitive female university student, and “Senpai (Senior)”, a university student who has a secret crush on her. They cause a variety of commotions, such as a drinking competition, a competition to get used books, and a guerrilla theater (musical).
The film is characterized by its unique and artistic visual expression with a pop drawing style, colorful tones, and cartoonish animations, just like “The Tatami Galaxy”.
This film won the grand prize (best feature) in the 2017 Ottawa International Animation Festival.
