A rampant flood of vibrancy that overwhelms the senses and threatens to spill past the confines of a four-by-four screen, “Night is Short, Walk On Girl” distracts from a relatively bare-bones plot with its sheer force of will. An Odyssian trek through a single night of mischief, mayhem and love filled with challenging demons, pants-less heroes and a young woman gallantly drinking her way into new experiences, it’s a gluttonous tale of empty excess that no doubt will sear more than a few lasting images into your memory. Imperfect as it may be, director Masaaki Yuasa‘s latest film following this year’s companion “Lu Over the Wall” (equally vivacious) is an exercise in depicting fleeting pleasures that leave a deep impression.
Our titular hero in question, known only as The Girl with Black Hair, is first met at the wedding of a friend already leaning deep into the lush warmth of dark wine poured at her table. From there she continues forward into the night in search of celebration, liberation, and adventure, leading her to like-minded cohorts while breezing through opportunist men and drinking rugby players under the table. On her trail through secret, underground university organizations, hellish eating competitions, and a wickedly deceptive book market is her potential love interest, Senpai, who has orchestrated many an “accidental/coincidental” meeting with the intent to casually catch her eye. His night flounders more often than not, running into significantly more challenges and less adventure than the girl he is besotted with. She, on the other hand, continues to find excitement in spectacles like the aforementioned book fairs and renegade theater troupes.
The story is admittedly lean as we’re asked to be engaged with characters whose substance lay as shallow as The Girl with Black Hair’s martini glass. We rely on her pluck, his perseverance and the sheer visual absurdity that is Yuasa’s work, which takes on a narrative elasticity in the Bill Plympton vein of visual freeform (with a clear, shinier aesthetic.) Yuasa isn’t so much trying to attain anything resembling reality in the way the characters bodies contort or how the laws of nature refuse to play by any set rules but instead is trying to visualize the experiences the characters are going through with dramatic physical expressions. When The Girl with Black Hair takes a sip of a something particularly delicious her whole body floats and when she’s enjoying a triumphant moment she shakes the floor around her. Yuasa has displayed time and time again with this, “Lu Over the Wall” and “Mind Game” that he holds little interest in anything resembling animated conformity. If there’s any genre that should encourage to be a little strange and push boundaries of reality it’s animation, an idea Yuasa clearly embraces.
For all of his ambivalence towards animated structure, Yuasa does have an eye for vibrant imagery, allowing every color of this cotton-candy-flavored fever dream to have its moment to burn bright. Less concerned with what happens at the tale’s conclusion and more with the mayhem taking place between point A and point B, the visual spectacle needs to be immediately engaging.
With a stronger backbone of a story, perhaps the film would’ve been gifted a greater sense of stability, and shaving ten minutes from the already slight runtime may have spared some of the stagnant endgame moments that all but sprint to the finale. Similarly, not all of the artistry matches up to Yuasa’s keen and kinetic eye, with the score by Michiru Ōshima failing to inspire much emotion or enthusiasm, a shame following the musical vivacity of “Lu Over the Wall.” In contrast, Ōshima’s work is vacant and untethered, failing to go as bold and daring as the rest of the story.
Regardless, in an era where we’re still awaiting a Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata to rise above the typical studio fare that while often of commendable quality is also remarkably familiar, Yuasa’s unadulterated wacky and colorful worlds are a breath of fresh air for animation fans looking to experience something alive and pulsing with innovation and imagination. “Night Is Short, Walk On Girl” is far from being everybody’s cup of tea, but at the very least it’s presented with vigor and confidence in a manner which keeps our eyes peeled for more from the talented filmmaker. [B]