The Night is Short, Walk On Girl - Reviews

No spoilers - This review was written for those intending to watch it

I just watched this movie in the cinema and it is admittedly one of the best anime films I have seen in years, however, I do not expect everyone to think the same. What both fans and haters of this movie will say alike is that is certainly different. 

Firstly, you are unlikely to be familiar with the art style, as it definitely does not fit any conventional artist drawing style. But the animation will floor you, but it will take you the whole movie to realise how hard the animators worked to create this masterpiece. 

Secondly, the comedy in this movie, which is important to its theme, may be difficult for those who are novices in the anime community to grasp. A bit like the Haruhi Suzumiya and Oregairu series, this film is best suited to those who have already seen some anime and are somewhat familiar with Japanese culture. But if you are familiar enough with the Nihonjin's way of thinking, you will definitely roar at the movie's golden comedy aspect. 

Moreover, each character is a work of art and is unique in a way that each one of them adds some sort of special value to the film - any film fan would appreciate the individual personality written behind each character. 

Finally, there are just some miscallaneous things about this film I just love. The lavish settings, multitude of colours, music (won't write more to avoid spoilers), and just general all-round uniqueness turned what was supposed to be just a bang average cinema tonight into 90 minutes of irreplaceable entertainment. 

Although you may not come to like the daring uniqueness of this film, I would highly recommend you give it a chance! 

*spoiler-free review*

The sophist dance dance revolution

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl is a bit of a yuasa side-story, like a companion show to The Tatami Galaxy. The artstyle from this show to that one is identical, and that means it's REALLY weird. Much like everything Yuasa directs, it's an artsy project with a lot of love put into it, and despite the restrictions of being a movie, this one does manage to seem as unhinged as ever through the quick, snappy directing and fast monologues.

The Characters are direct copies of the ones in The Tatami Galaxy, but they serve their purpose and get put into different positions. They're all archetypes that express the purest points of their own character tropes straight up. Not a lot goes into characterizing these people in the short amount of time they get to be onscreen, and they cram as many characters in as possible to ensure none get enough meaningful focus.

However, the exaggerated movements of the characters adds to their personality to make up for that, and the main character has some pretty descriptive inner thoughts that do help us get to know him all the same. The characters are the show's weakest aspect unlike its TV series counterpart.

The story isn't special or even very coherent. It starts off fast and ends fast, with a lot of seemingly random events in the middle. The show doesn't feel at all like it has a goal with where the story is going, and that's fine because it doesn't feel like it ends up anywhere either. The resolution comes out of a crazy, over-the-top ending sequence that feels so delightfully trippy, but it's hard to understand and even harder to explain.

Rest of the story is inconsequential a lot of the time and events pass too quickly to leave an impact. I had a hard time commenting on anything meaningful during a group watch besides smaller more noticable details. I was paying attention but I couldn't tell you why the entire cast was eating from the world's spiciest hot pot until suddenly all the books flew away. I couldn't follow it, but Your Milage May Vary.

Sound and Animation are Yuasa quality, and that means quirky and amazing. The visuals are mesmerizingly surreal, even though that's not an aesthetic i like to see constantly, it's used as well as i think it possibly can here besides how i saw it in monogatari, and it really draws you in. The sound and music are great, emphasized in the beginning title sequence which I really wish would have been longer, because that animation and music was DOPE.

The movie is downright silly. It's completely asinine, and I like it for that. The symbolism is there but it's as dumb as it gets. To someone not paying attention it really does seem like a sequence of random, hilarious and outlandish events full of smart/dumb conversations between characters. It gets crazier as it goes on, too. That sophist dance though.

I enjoyed this movie despite its flaws and weaknesses, and would reccomend it to any yuasa fan, provided you watch The Tatami Galaxy first, which makes this movie more charming and less charming in a lot of ways than it might be on its own. A pretty satisfying animated film experience.

A gem.

A masterpiece.

But first you must watch The Tatami Galaxy to really enjoy this perfect anime movie.

Have fun! :3

NO SPOILERS 

I might have had 1000 other things to do tonight, but I decided to watch Masaaki Yuusa's newest film, Night Is Short, Walk On Girl. As an avid anime fan, I've been aware of his style for years, but never actually was compelled to watch his works until today. I must say, I'm glad I went to watch this movie in theaters. There's just something so magical about hearing full surround-sound and watching it on the big screen. 

Firstly, you'll notice the very loose, unique animation style. I will say that any anime fan will really come to appreciate how “out there” Yuusa’s style is compared to many copy-paste anime the anime industry is so used to producing. This animation style really lended itself well to more dramatic scenes (I won't spoil anything) but also was effective in more humorous moments. 

Another thing I must compliment this movie for is being super entertaining from start to finish. I almost always found myself curious as to what would happen next because this movie threw so many curveballs. Its unusuality for sure made the movie super charming and unique. 

Yuusa really utilized the show-don’t-tell mantra by demonstrating character traits with unusual events throughout the story. Whether through elaborate drama or small-scale reactions, the animation and composition of scenes really contributed to each main character.

I have to say, this is one of the few films in recent memory where I've had so much fun watching. 

No spoilers- I enjoyed this movie, it was fun and visually exciting and impactful. The movie follows a character only known as "the girl with the black hair" as she drinks and explores the city over the course of one evening. She drinks a lot, makes friends, and goes wherever her heart takes her, enjoying everything and everyone she runs into. The movie works in an episodic fashion, with all the details of the various stories the girl went through coming together in the final part of the film. The strongest aspect of this film was its visuals. Each scene's content, no matter how mundane, was portrayed in a fantastic and out of the box way. 

Overall, this film was eye catching and fun to watch.