Night Is Short, Walk On Girl 2017

Two university students embark on a single, fateful night, one that begins with a hopeful confession and soon winds through a series of chance encounters, misadventures, and quiet revelations. The story centers on the kōhai, an unnamed woman, and the senpai, the unnamed man who longs to tell her how he feels. In the opening moments, the senpai Gen Hoshino sets out to disclose his love, while the kōhai Kana Hanazawa navigates the night with a mix of curiosity and reluctance. What starts as a straightforward romantic gesture gradually unfurls into a tapestry of intimate moments, social scrapes, and tiny miracles that keep them apart and somehow drawing closer at the same time.

Their paths cross with a bolder, sharper energy when the kōhai encounters a troublesome figure at a bar. A crude advance from the man named Tōdō is met with a decisive punch, and the aftermath earns the admiration of two memorable companions: Higuchi, played by Kazuya Nakai, and Hanuki, brought to life by Yuhko Kaida. Higuchi and Hanuki become impromptu guides, dragging the kōhai into a string of late-night parties where inhibitions loosen and laughter comes easily. Under their wing, she drinks with a fearless gusto that contrasts with the senpai’s more cautious approach, and the trio’s camaraderie carries the night forward in unexpected directions.

A moment of almost-magical tension arrives when the kōhai and her new friends drift into a surreal drinking game with Ri Haku, a supernatural being voiced by Mugihito. The challenge is dizzying, and the kōhai emerges triumphant, her name and bravado echoing through the dim lights of the night. This encounter threads a thread of fantasy into the evening, hinting that the boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary are thinner than they might appear.

The evening’s next stop is a used-book festival, a place where old stories still breathe and where a picture book from the kōhai’s childhood sits among a curated treasure trove. Here, Ri Haku hosts a spicy foods contest that pits devoted book collectors against each other in a playful, competitive atmosphere. The senpai spots his target—a book that holds sentimental value for the kōhai—and he competes to win it. Though his victory seems straightforward, the contest is interrupted by the God of Used Book Festivals, a resonant force who reclaims fairness and reintroduces the entire collection to the festival at fair prices. The intervention softens the sting of competition and nudges the night toward a gentler, communal mood. The God of Used Book Festivals is voiced by Hiroyuki Yoshino, lending a guiding, almost mythic presence to the proceedings.

With the book secured, the senpai and kōhai move toward a school festival where the romance they hoped for might finally be realized. The senpai learns that the kōhai is scheduled to star in the final scene of a guerilla theatre production. He makes a last-ditch effort to step in as the male lead, but his plan falters, and the moment remains out of reach. A bad cold settles in, and he heads home, the ache of what could have been lingering with him as he closes the door.

Meanwhile, the kōhai campuses a circle of the night’s companions, checking in on each of them as they battle the same stubborn cold that has affected the senpai. She tends to their wounds, both literal and emotional, nursing them back toward health with quiet, compassionate care. Her final visit is to the senpai, a small but meaningful acknowledgment that the night’s threads still connect them. In a simple, hopeful gesture, he hands her a copy of Ratatatam and suggests they visit a used bookstore together. She responds with genuine enthusiasm, and the two agree to pursue the idea.

The film closes on a soft, domestic note: the two meet for coffee before stepping out together toward a bookstore, a promise of continued conversation and discovery. What began as a bedroom-bound confession becomes a night-long odyssey that reveals how chance encounters, bold choices, and shared moments of vulnerability can redraw the map of a possible romance. Throughout, the story remains grounded in the textures of everyday life—bars, festivals, and bookstores—while allowing a whisper of the magical to remind us that some connections are written in the margins of the ordinary.

• Senpai: Gen Hoshino

• kōhai: Kana Hanazawa

• Higuchi: Kazuya Nakai

• Hanuki: Yuhko Kaida

• Ri Haku: Mugihito

• God of Used Book Festivals: Hiroyuki Yoshino