Yoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome

After I finished watching this movie I felt like I missed something. It was by no means bad but the response to it all around seemed overwhelmingly positive. I didn’t want to be unfair to the movie before reviewing it so I whipped out a notepad++ to make thorough notes for it during a re-watch to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The result of that was pretty predictable, I still don’t think this movie is fantastic but I appreciate what it did right and can definitely see why people would adore it.

At its most basic, Yoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome (from now on Mijikashi ... cause I don’t hate myself) is a bare bones story crafted for the purpose of conveying a few simple but wholesome and motivational messages. Love can’t be explained rationally, instead of trying to understand and explain it - take a leap into darkness. You won’t know until you try so don’t hesitate. Second after that is that everything in the world is connected, sometimes in a way that isn’t immediately obvious so don’t lock yourself away from others and follow the thread of fate. It’s nothing revelatory but what takes it a step above other movies is the excellent presentation.

During my re-watch I gained appreciation for just how tightly made this movie is, it’s not without flaws and I’ll bring them up later but there’s no denying that a lot of effort went into crafting it.

Yuasa is known for his mastery of visuals and Mijikashi is not exception. The overall art style takes after Tatami Galaxy with little to shading and a lot of very vibrant and contrasting imagery. However it has a flavor of its own that comes through in textures, effects and visuals metaphors. My personal favourite moment in the film is the used book sale segment. It’s happening at night so the only illuminated parts are the various stall. Outside world is cut off from the view with trees overlaid with lace patterns. It creates such a personal atmosphere for the whole segment, like it’s a special place disconnected from everywhere else. This kind of quality is consistent throughout and Mijikashi keeps varying up visuals and locations to keep things fresh throughout. It’s not a movie you’d watch for animation alone but it’s a strong aspect of it nonetheless.

The second aspect that springs to mind when talking about very meticulously crafted nature of the movie it’s how much effort went into making everything tie together. Most of what you see throughout the movie is bound to reappear later on, most characters and subplots weave in and out of each other all the time. It’s a great way to show how everything connected without hitting the viewer over the head with it (though Mijikashi still later hits you over the head with it).

To say a bit about the characters I think it’s important to note that they’re not meant to be deep or particularly fleshed out. Another deliberate aspect of this movie is that most of them don’t even have actual names. Our two main characters don’t even go by names, they represent ideas. Raven Haired Maiden being an embodiment of optimism and wonder and eagerness to try new things who acts as a counterpart to Senpai who’s held back by constant doubts, hesitation and cynicism.

However not everything is that good. I feel like the goal of the movie is confusing by the end of it. While it certainly does get the message across, it throws so much shit at you at any point that it’s easy to get lost and think that there’s supposed to be something more to it. Maybe it’s my personal hangup but I feel like at times Yuasa invites the viewer to further interpret the scenes but it ends up not being all that important in the long run. Everything that you might get from this movie thematically will be told to you directly at one point or another so it feels like everything else is just an unnecessary distraction. Did the Daruma heads in the bar scene have any significance? Is there a reason why Don Underpants’s play was so heavily focused on them beyond superficial connection between darumas and wishes? Are the Koi fish throughout the movie meant to say something more or is it there just for a pun? Why is Rihaku making his goons steal pants? Was there any significance to alcohol’s overwhelming presence? I feel like most of these would be easier to understand if I could read the 300 pages long book this 90 minutes long movie is based on.

Music is perhaps the most unremarkable aspect of this movie. It’s well made and fits every scene to a t but with how eccentric the movie otherwise it a generic soundtrack doesn’t do it justice. The only musical segments that actually stood out to me were the musicals, it’s a rare thing to see in anime and they don’t sound much like anything else in the movie while also serving as a vehicle for interesting animation and show off the versatile talent of voice actors involved.

In conclusion, Mijikashi is a good movie, not flawless but it’s a well paced ride many people will be able to relate to and enjoy. Just don’t expect it to be as complex as Tatami Galaxy or Mind Game and don’t fret over missing some details, anything you can get from this movie will be rammed into your head.

If i was drunk and asked to come up with a anime that was random and out there then this would be it. I really wanted to enjoy this but i just couldn't. It came across as trying way to hard to be random and i got completely lost. I'd want to try this again in future as i think the potential is there but perhaps i wasn't in the right mood to get sucked into this film.

It starts off well but slowly lost me along the way. I love the idea of the film and the wacky random one night out that feels ... like a lot longer but it just didn't land for me. I wouldn't say no to another viewing though. Also wasn't keen on the animation style at first but that ended up being my favorite thing of the whole film

This anime is distilled dream-stuff... if by distilled we mean it was guzzled by a fat, perverted pessimist and then pissed out under some sordid bridge of despair.

I did not care for Tatami Galaxy (despite its FANTASTIC ED), and I meh'd this piece. It did not merit hatred, rather only scoring as high as vague disappointment.

I believe there is an aquifer of common emotional imagery, a well of shared dreams. In this anime, the particular dream is one I've had myself: a bright evening, full of unknown adventure awaiting in the shadows and garish lights of the nighttime frolic. It's an evening ... ripe with possibilities and chance encounters with fascinating strangers. These are places I have seen myself during my excursions into the dream realm, and Masaaki Yuasa seems to know his way around.

However, he takes this premise and turns it into a menagerie of cynicism, missed opportunity, embarrassment and shame. It seems the female lead represents youth, innocence, and intrepid courage, while the male lead takes the role of a worm crawling through the guilty soil of humanity's regret, only able to chase after this bright young thing while simultaneously being subjected to one abject humiliation after another before her. Is he mocking young men for putting women up on pedestals? Or is he himself deluded by a feminine ideal that is both unreachable and snide? It's the unfortunate stereotype of women looking down their noses at men while at the same time accepting free drinks from them. But not everyone is the same, and I feel the creator's own disappointments should not keep people from attempting to exceed the very low bar of trying to pass off jaded cliches as wisdom.

This was the way Tatami Galaxy worked, and it's the way this movie unfolds as well.

Masaaki Yuasa somehow takes wonderful scenes (Tatami Galaxy's Neko Ramen stand was pure genius -- the midnight snack shack that could straddle worlds or the space in between different universes) and then pollutes them with the mundane regrets and pathetic tragedies. For example, in this anime, our young girl protagonist is entering the glorious adult world (her words), and to her this means drinking somehow without physical consequences while armed with her "friendship punch". I was disappointed. This is the only word I can think of to describe a mind that has seen the bright lights of the dream realm and comes away with such dross. Seriously, the first man she encounters is a dirty old man who gropes her, earning aforementioned punch and then financial support from her via a drinking contest where the alcohol disappears in her nubile tummy into flowers. (Way to teach young viewers about consequences!)

If you are the artsy type who worships originality and clever animation, you might think this is a masterpiece. I'm not saying it is without literary merit or quality of production. Quite the contrary. It is exactly the kind of art I despise the most: brilliantly executed with a solid basis in themes I can relate to, but lacking in morality and ethics. Where I see literature as a vehicle to bring hope and wonder to a beleaguered heart, this specific brand of artist (I pronounce them "ar-teests) too often gravitate towards cynicism and despair. It's almost as if they are saying, "my own pain and failure is the inevitable outcome of all effort." But do not be deceived: they are only hoping that their "art" instills similar despair in their viewers and thereby renders everyone as equally miserable as they are.

IN MY OPINION, art should be used to uplift and inspire. Despair under the pretense of education is not a worthy use of the medium. And yet that's exactly the flavor that tends to win awards. So we're going to get a million more Tatami Galaxies and Yoru wa's touted as masterpieces, all the while whittling away at the human soul. So embrace this work if you like so many others believe shock value or getting any kind of rise out of people is a worthy end in and of itself. I prefer to move on in my own night time walk towards a different neighborhood--among people with whom I might make genuine connections and from whom I might learn about wonder instead of self-loathing.

The animation and graphic quality are good. Musics are nice. Characters are simple yet endearing. And the story is... a feverish drunk dream rendition. One can totally watch this while on low-brain-capacity mode.

Nice experience overall.

Visibly that's not a long enough review for MAL...
"Here are a few ideas of what you may want to include:

Is the story unique? If it was predictable, did you enjoy it anyway because you like this genre/set-up? -> 'tis a feverish drunk dream rendition, of course that's unique ! especially with such a cute art style

Do you think the art style is fitting for the story? -> errr... maybe ? I ... guess it makes it easier to catch the "fun".

Were the characters well-rounded? Did they have flaws and strengths, or were they unusually strong/smart/stupid? -> we don't get to know them, they are defined by 1-2 details each (hobby being a crossdresser, or never changing underwear)

Did the characters react to situations and events in a realistic way? -> NO. Because : feverish drunk dream. But the plot already describes that.

Do you think others will enjoy/dislike this series, even if you didn't? Why?" -> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I watched Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke yo Otome, also known as The Night is Short, Walk on Girl. Here are my thoughts:

This movie is the spiritual sequel to The Tatami Galaxy (Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei), and I enjoyed this movie much more because it didn't have the awful whiny MC that made me dislike The Tatami Galaxy so much, although other familiar characters are present, such as Higuchi and Hanuki. The art style is also quite similar to The Tatami Galaxy – I appreciated it. The visuals are creative, unique, dynamic, and entertaining to admire; it is a nice satisfying visual feast. Overall this is a ... very 'artsy' movie that would be enjoyed by those who like avant-garde abstract experimental stuff. That said, the OST and voice acting are nothing special, in my opinion.

There isn't much of a coherent story and I never felt interested in the plot. The dialogue in some scenes is kind of neat, but the overall storyline just isn't engaging at all. Superficially, this movie basically just feels like a series of absurdist scenes mashed together. It seems like a veiled allegory for the brevity of life, or something of that nature. It's up to your interpretation, but there's definitely a deeper message lurking in here. It's not just a series of random mashed-together scenes; there's clearly artistic intent here, but it's up to you to unravel it however you wish. There are numerous scenes focused on alcohol consumption, which I enjoyed. Drinking is a prominent theme in this movie, although ironically it's well suited for being viewed under the influence of cannabis.


My overall rating: 6/10
Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke yo Otome is quite visually interesting but lacking a substantial concrete storyline. It is abstract in both artistic form and its writing. I found some parts mildly boring but in general this is an entertaining movie if you calibrate your expectations correctly.

Those who enjoyed The Tatami Galaxy would definitely like this, and even those who didn't may find this movie superior or at least redeemable. In my opinion, it lacks many of the flaws that plagued The Tatami Galaxy. Although hardly perfect, this movie occupies a niche unsatisfied by most anime; it is certainly unique.