Arashi no Yoru ni
Arashi no Yoru ni ( Japanese あ ら し の よ る に , German for "A stormy night") is the first part of a picture book series written by Yūichi Kimura and illustrated by Hiroshi Abe . There is also an anime film of the same name , an anime series, and a video game for the Nintendo DS , which was only released in Japan .
When the book was published in 1994 it surprisingly became very popular and Kimura initially had no intention of continuing the story. After getting a lot of support, he decided to write five more books that end with Fubuki no Ashita (After the Snowstorm) . This made the story even more popular and a compilation called Shiroi Yami no Hate de was released and a film was made. Then Kimura wrote a seventh book, which bears the title Mangetsu no Yoru ni and closes the story.
action
A goat named Mei ( メ イ , in the movie May ) seeks shelter in a small, old hut on a stormy night. A short time later, another person enters the hut to also get to safety from the storm. The two can neither see nor smell each other as it is very dark and both have a cold. Nevertheless, a deep friendship develops between the two and they decide to eat together the next day. In order to recognize themselves, they make up a kind of slogan, Arashi no Yoru Ni , the title of the film. The next day they meet and are surprised to find that Mei is a goat and the other is a wolf named Gabu ( ガ ブ ). Although they are actually natural enemies, the two are deeply friends and spend a lot of time together. They meet in secret until Mei's herd and Gabus' pack learn of their secret friendship and forbid their friendship. When they meet again, they jump into a nearby river to find a place where they can live free from all prejudice.
However, Ghiro ( ギ ロ , Giro ), the leader of Gabu's wolf pack, has the two persecuted because he hates all goats and considers Gabu a traitor. Gabu and Mei, who are crossing a mountain behind which a new forest is supposed to lie, stop at the top. Mei, who knows that Gabu has not eaten for days, wants to sacrifice himself for his friend and is ready to be eaten by him because he is too weak to go on. Gabu, however, does not have the heart to kill his friend. He leaves the cave where they are resting and notices Ghiro's pack, which is still after the two of them. Ready to sacrifice his life for Mei, he bravely stands up to his old pack. During the fight, an avalanche is triggered and buries the wolves.
The next morning, Mei leaves the cave and sees the forest they were looking for. Unfortunately he finds no sign of life from Gabu and sets off alone into the forest, hoping to find his friend again. After a while he finds Gabu again, who has lost his memory due to the avalanche and wants to eat him. Mei would have liked to sacrifice himself for Gabu, but says that Gabu is not the Gabu he knew. He starts to cry and angrily yells at Gabu that he would have loved to never have met him on that “stormy night” ( Arashi no Yoru ni ). When he hears these words, Gabu's memories return and they are both happy to have found each other again. At the end they watch the moon rise together.
Series of books
The picture book series was published in seven volumes by Kodansha in Japan:
- Arashi no Yoru ni (1994)
- Aru Hareta Hi ni (1996)
- Kumo no Kirema ni (1997)
- Kiri no Naka de (1999)
- Doshaburi no Hi ni (2000)
- Fubuki no Ashita (2002)
- Mangetsu no Yoru ni (2005)
Anime
Movie
The film Arashi no Yoru ni was released in Japan on December 10, 2005 and was in the top 10 for over a month, with over 1,200,000 viewers in the first month alone. The film premiered in Taiwan on January 20, 2006 and is slated for 26 other countries around the world.
The animations come from Studio Group TAC under the direction of Gisaburō Sugii , the animation director from Tsuneo Maeda and the artistic director from Yukio Abe . The character design comes from Marisuke Eguchi and the music from Musik Keisuke Shinohara . The theme song Star was sung by aiko .
The Japanese DVD was released on June 23, 2006 in both a limited edition and a standard version.
At the Japanese Academy Awards 2007 and the Tōkyō Kokusai Anime Fair 2007, the film was nominated for Best Animated Film, but the girl who jumped through time had to give up.
Television series
From April 4 to September 9, 2012, the 26-part television series Arashi no Yoru ni - Himitsu no Tomodachi ( あ ら し の よ る に 〜 ひ み つ の ち 〜 だ だ ) was broadcast on TV Hokkaidō , TV Tōkyō , TV Aichi , TV Osaka , TV Setouchi and TVQ Kyūshū .
The series was executed as 3D computer animations by the studios Sparky Entertainment and Baku Enterprise. The direction was held by Tetsurō Amino . The music is from Fumitaka Anzai. The opening title Friendship Birthday - Arashi no Yoru ni (Friendship Birthday 〜 あ ら し の よ る に 〜 ) is sung by Sea ☆ A and the closing title Dear My Friend by U-Kiss.
In contrast to the movie where Mei is portrayed as male, she is female in the series and is also spelled May .
synchronization
| role | Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) | |
|---|---|---|
| Movie | series | |
| Gabu | Shidō Nakamura | Hiroyuki Yoshino , Romi Park (as a boy) |
| Mei | Hiroki Narimiya | Rie Kugimiya |
| Ghiro (pack leader) | Riki Takeuchi | Kōichi Yamadera |
| Bari (Gabu's older brother) | Kōichi Yamadera | Kōichi Yamadera |
| Beach (companion Gabus) | Tetsuya Yanagihara | |
| Zack (companion Gabus) | Yoshiyuki Hirai | |
| Tap (Mei's older brother) | Shōzō Hayashiya | Tatsuhisa Suzuki |
| Mii (friend of Mei) | Meia Kobayashi | Yui Horie |
| Goat grandmother | Kaba-chan | |
| Goat elder | Eiji Bandō | |
| Gabu's mother | Yū Hayami | Kahoru Sasajima |
| Mei's grandmother | Etsuko Ichihara | Mizuka Arima |
Trivia
The name Mei comes from the Japanese word Mee, which represents the Giongo for the sound of goats.
Gabu also comes from a Giongo, namely from gabugabu , which represents the sound when drinking or eating.