Night is Short, Walk On Girl Review

3 stars of eccentric and surreal animated romantic comedy.

Night is Short, Walk On Girl is based on the novel of the same name written by Tomihiko Morimi and directed by Masaaki Yuasa (The Tatami Galaxy, Space Dandy).

“While embarrassing, at this time I wanted to plunge into the adult world by myself. In other words, I wanted to drink my own way…without regard for my senpai.”

It tells us the story of the Young Girl with Black Hair, the otome, who is heading out into the adult world for the first time. She heads into the city for an epic night of drinking and adventures with new found friends.

Along the way she meets an extraordinary collection of people, including Todo, a pervert, collector of erotic prints and member of the Bedroom Investigation Committee and Rihaku, a debt collector and all round bad guy with whom she has a drinking contest.

She visits bars, night clubs and even a used book fair to search for Ratatatam, a book about a train which she loved as a child, where she meets the God of old-book markets. She is also treated to a live performance of The Codger of Monte Cristo. and the School Festival.

Throughout all of this she is pursued by Senpai, a senior student who is obsessed with her and will do anything to get her attention, basically a stalker. His efforts are constantly thwarted by the increasingly surreal nature of her night out.

Fueled by alcohol and sexual innuendo, Night is Short, Walk On Girl is a very strange watching experience. It is very surreal and disjointed, featuring many different animation styles depending on mood and situation and the story jumps around all over the place.

Nevertheless, it is clever and the way the characters are interlinked is very interesting. It certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you enjoyed The Tatami Galaxy then this is definitely one to add to your list.

“Actually, I love rum so much that I wish the Pacific Ocean was made of it.”