Sightlines · reception

How Night Is Short, Walk On Girl was received

2017 · Masaaki Yuasa · Night Is Short, Walk On Girl on Sightlines

The arc

It arrived already beloved — a hit with critics and festival juries in 2017 — and its stature has only grown as Yuasa's western fanbase exploded, so it's less a reappraisal story than a steady climb from anime-fan favorite to consensus gateway drug.

What’s debated

The perennial fan debate: do you need to watch The Tatami Galaxy first, or is this the better entry point into the Morimi–Yuasa universe?

Its footprint

The black-haired girl's superhuman night of drinking — cocktails, faux Denki Bran, drinking contests — is the film's endlessly screenshotted, gif-ed image, shorthand on film Twitter and Letterboxd for chaotic-good nights out.

Where it stands

A Letterboxd darling and the standard 'start here' recommendation for Masaaki Yuasa, sitting comfortably in the modern anime-film canon just below the Ghibli tier.

Did you know? It won Animation of the Year at the 41st Japan Academy Prize — a surprise upset for such a weird, jazzy indie-flavoured film — capping a 2017 in which Yuasa released two features (the other, Lu Over the Wall, took the Cristal at Annecy).