The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl

I have had this movie on my list of anime shows I have wanted to see for at least seven years, certainly since I saw The Tatami Galaxy, and somehow I cannot explain why I did not watch it before. Today, Ride Your Wave by Japanese director Masaaki Yuasa came up because it was rated by one of my favorite reviewers, and so I started checking out his other work. Because of that, I stumbled across this movie which I felt could have been fate. At the very least, I came across a movie in an uncharacteristic round-about way (plus, I was planning to watch something else today, although the night is still young, so hopefully, I can manage that too). However, it does not matter because of the fun and original journey taken by the main female protagonist. Much has already been said, so I am just going to reiterate that this is a very good movie visually, and the narrative is full of great ideas. I enjoyed it as much as its special animation style. It may be very similar to the aforementioned The Tatami Galaxy. However, I saw that show a long time ago, so it did not bother me as much as it would have if I had seen this movie straight after finishing that anime series. This movie was a good trip, full of special encounters, good storylines, and a truly unique love story. There were characters and situations that I found myself in, even if everything was typically Japanese and over the top. It was often absurd in places, and my only major complaint is that I, too, have to mention that I found some bits to be unnecessarily drawn out, which spoiled the nice brisk pace a bit. However, it was still a great movie, certainly as good as The Tatami Galaxy. 8/10. (05/27/2022)