Perhaps the only film ever to include a pub crawl, a 10 minute musical number, a natural disaster sequence, an army of cowboys fighting a crowd of politicians, a slav squad, and still somehow be pretty coherent and unironically amazing.

Y'ALL

i had the shittiest of days and watching this movie cleared my mind and probably added 10 years to my life expectancy

A movie about a woman who understands that the three most important things in life are drinking, used books, and experimental musical theatre.

Reviewed as part of my Japan Cuts coverage.

Masaaki Yuasa making a movie set in and written by the Tatami Galaxy guy.
WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS SOONER?

★ Gonzo's Top 10 Movies of 2018: #3

★ Gonzo's Top 200 Favorite Movies of All Time

Like Ghibli-fied Scott Pilgrim on crack.

Lots and lots of crack.

No one does animation quite like Yuasa. NO ONE.

I mean, the man made this (another highly recommended favorite of mine) and helped make this (also a favorite, but much shorter and readily available, so if you could spare some time...)

Yuasa's clearly in a league (and world) of his own, and I greatly admire him for that.

Hands down, one of the best movies I've seen this year, and one of the most imaginative films I've seen in quite some time.

You DO NOT want to miss this.

An unforgettable and—deep down—sweet romantic adventure, The Night is Short comes highly, HIGHLY recommended.

The Scorecard:
Direction: ★★★★½
Acting: ★★★★½
Writing: ★★★★½
Editing: ★★★★½
Visuals: ★★★★★
Sound: ★★★★½
Entertainment: ★★★★★
Overall Rating: ★★★★½

I would recommend watching The Tatami Galaxy before this. It’s not required to understand the plot, but you’ll recognize a lot of the side characters and goings-on at the university. You will also become familiar with the visual style, which is wonderfully imaginative... but a little freaky.

Go home animator, you're drunk!

Enjoyment Extracted: 10/10

Technical Execution: 10/10

Animation: 11/10

It will leave some people scratching their heads, understandably...but this is pure inventiveness and creativity.

Cada segundo de metraje es una obra de arte. Muy feliz de que exista.

The whole thing is bizarre yet it's take on adolescent romance is so painfully realistic it hits home. I like that it combines both point of views of the happy go lucky girl and the desperate lonely boy. I believe this film can't be fully appreciated without prior knowledge of the The Tatami Galaxy anime series as it scatters a lot of easter eggs which results in very interesting parallels to that show. Aside from that, there are so many other things to be unpacked with this film. Will do a proper review tomorrow, just letting out some brief thoughts for now. I am still in awe with this film, could've given it 5 stars but The Tatami Galaxy still is the better story.

Edit: Changed my mind and will postpone the proper review until I watch it again.

‪Shit, my heart. 

A beautifully animated story of adolescences with a dash of romance. This is what I call storytelling at its finest. It dares to convey in the weirdest, most bazaar, yet poetic way possible. It crammed up so many themes and commentary in just the span of 92 minutes, but it does not feel forced and overwhelming. It perfectly balances what it tries to convey and in the most artistic and playful way possible. The animation style is quite simple yet detailed. I’m not an anime expert or something, but this is one of the most heavenly designed animated movies I’ve seen. There’s so many things to unpack from this movie, so many details and subtleties that I’m pretty sure I’ve missed. Overall, I am completely floored by this film. Amazingly animated, eccentric storytelling, and just a feel good film overall.

(I need to check out The Tatami Galaxy asap)
2018 Ranked

WOW WOW WOW FAVOURITE FILM!!! FAVOURITE FILM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! absolutely wonderful. a rollercoaster ride of crazy hijinks & wackass animation. im so in love. shivers.

It's baffling and beguiling in equal measure. I didn't understand most of what was going on, but the dazzling animation and the demented romanticism of the whole endeavour are so appealing.

"It’s rare that a single evening’s shenanigans are so batshit insane that when it ends you are relieved that it’s done, but also equally disappointed that you couldn’t stay just a little longer. That is the whole experience while watching Masaaki Yuasa’s latest feature-length fever dream, adding further support to his established reputation as one of anime’s most aesthetically avant-garde directors."

Read Full Review at Film Threat