The Night Is Short, Start Walking Young Maiden -

Tomihiko Morimi

Kadokawa Corporation

2006

301 páginas

10h 2m

ISBN-13: 9784048737449

A novel of young love between a college junior (male) and freshman (female) at Kyoto University, neither of whom are given a name. He, the narrator, experiences love at first sight when, near the end of May, he notices the diminutive figure with short black hair among the new members of his activity club. He begins following her around, contriving a series of accidental meetings, but lacks the courage to ask her out. Inexperienced with the opposite sex, she innocently repeats "What a coincidence!" each time, and their relationship never seems to get off the ground.
Both are living alone, away from home, and the free and easy culture of student life in Kyoto forms a backdrop filled with local color. In Chapter One, she goes drinking in the entertainment district famous for its geishas?it turns out that she can hold her liquor, while he's a lightweight?and her pursuer manages to lose his pants to some thugs. In Chapter Two, she goes to the annual summer book fair on the grounds of Shimogamo Shrine, and he helps her find a copy of one of her favorite picture books from childhood. In Chapter Three, she plays the heroine in a guerrilla theater performance at the university's fall festival, and he steps in to play the king who pursues her. In Chapter Four, the final chapter, a nasty bug going around in December puts him under the weather, and she decides to pay him a visit, but then . . .
A boy whose fantasies run wild, yet who can't make the move, is head-over-heels for a cute girl who's just being her natural self. Fairy-tale events and supporting characters conspire to serve them up a miracle.