Arashi no Yoru ni facts for kids

Arashi no Yoru ni
Gabu and Mei of the A Stormy Night (Arashi no Yoru Ni) movie
Quick facts for kids あらしのよるに (Stormy Night)
Genre	Drama, Adventure
Novel
Written by	Yūichi Kimura [ja]
Illustrated by	Hiroshi Abe [ja]
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Children
Published	1994
Anime film
Directed by	Gisaburō Sugii
Produced by	Toshiaki Nakazawa Daisuke Ōoka Yasushi Umemura Atsumi Tashiro
Written by	Yūichi Kimura Gisaburō Sugii
Music by	Keisuke Shinohara
Studio	Group TAC
Released	December 10, 2005
Runtime	107 minutes
Anime television series
Arashi no Yoru ni: Himitsu no Tomodachi
Directed by	Tetsurō Amino
Produced by	Takuo Kumagai Jun Takei Shin Furukawa Shinsaku Hatta
Music by	Fumitaka Anzai
Studio	Sparky Animation Baku Enterprise Daume (Cooperation)
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	April 4, 2012 – September 26, 2012
Episodes	26

Arashi no Yoru ni (あらしのよるに, lit. One Stormy Night) is a popular series of children's books. It was written by Yūichi Kimura and illustrated by Hiroshi Abe. The first book came out in 1994. It quickly won two important awards in 1995. These were the Kōdansha Literature Culture Award and the Sankei Children's Literature Culture Award.

The author, Yūichi Kimura, did not plan to write more books at first. But the story became very popular. People loved it so much that he wrote five more books. The series finished with the book Fubuki no Ashita (After the Snowstorm) in 2002. Later, a special collection of the stories was released in 2004. An animated movie was also made. After the movie, Kimura wrote the seventh and final book, Mangetsu no Yoru ni (One Full Moon Night).

Arashi no Yoru ni was even used in Japanese school textbooks. In 2005, Gisaburō Sugii directed an animated film. This movie covered all seven books in the series. A TV show was also created. It was a computer-animated series called Arashi no Yoru ni: Himitsu no Tomodachi (One Stormy Night: Secret Friends). It aired in Japan from April to September 2012.

The Story of Friendship

This section tells you about the main story from Arashi no Yoru ni. It's about two very different friends.

A Stormy Meeting

One stormy night, a goat named Mei looked for shelter. He found an old barn. Inside, he met another animal also hiding from the storm. It was very dark, so they could not see each other. They also could not smell each other. But they talked and became friends. They decided to meet again the next day. Their secret password would be "one stormy night."

Unexpected Friends

The next day, Mei found out his new friend was a wolf named Gabu! This was a big surprise. Goats and wolves are usually enemies. But Mei and Gabu had a special connection. They decided to keep meeting in secret. They became very close friends.

Keeping Secrets

However, it was hard to keep their friendship a secret. Mei's goat family and Gabu's wolf pack soon found out. Both groups were angry and told them they could not be friends. The wolf pack even tried to use Gabu to get information about the goats. Mei's family also tried to use Mei against the wolves.

Searching for a New Home

Mei and Gabu did not want to be controlled by their groups. They wanted to save their friendship. So, they decided to run away together. They crossed a river during another storm. They hoped to find a special "emerald forest." This forest would be a place where they could be friends without anyone bothering them.

Facing Danger

Giro, the leader of Gabu's wolf pack, was very angry. He saw Gabu as a traitor. Giro and his pack started hunting Mei and Gabu. The two friends reached the top of a snowy mountain. They were very tired from running through a snowstorm. Mei knew Gabu had not eaten in days. He bravely offered to let Gabu eat him. Gabu almost agreed, but he realized he could not eat his friend.

A New Beginning

Gabu heard his pack coming closer. He left Mei to face them, ready to protect his goat friend. Suddenly, a huge avalanche swept them all away. The next morning, Mei dug out of the snow. He saw the "emerald forest" they had dreamed of! Gabu was missing, but Mei found him in another cave. Sadly, Gabu had lost his memory because of the avalanche. He did not remember their friendship.

Mei was very sad. Gabu even joked about eating him. Mei told Gabu he wasn't the friend he knew. He said it would have been better if they had never met "one stormy night." When Gabu heard these words, his memory slowly came back. He remembered everything! Gabu called Mei's name, and they were overjoyed to be reunited. They decided not to talk about Gabu's memory loss. They watched the moon rise, happy that their friendship would last forever. Giro and his wolf pack also survived the avalanche and ran back home.

The Book Series

The Arashi no Yoru ni picture book series was published by Kodansha. There are seven books in total.

• Arashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) (1994)
• Aru Hareta Hi ni (One Sunny Day) (1996)
• Kumo no Kirema ni (One Cloudy Day) (1997)
• Kiri no Naka de (One Foggy Afternoon) (1999)
• Doshaburi no Hi ni (One Rainy Day) (2000)
• Fubuki no Ashita (After the Snowstorm) (2002)
• Mangetsu no Yoru ni (One Full Moon Night) (2005)

Main Characters

Here are some of the important characters in the Arashi no Yoru ni stories:

• Gabu (ガブ): A wolf from the Bakubaku Valley. He becomes Mei's secret friend.
• Mei (メイ): A goat from the Sawasawa Mountains. Mei is Gabu's best friend. In the movie, Mei is a boy goat, but in the TV series, Mei is a girl goat.
• Giro (ギロ): The strong leader of the Bakubaku Valley wolves. He knew Gabu's father.
• Barry (バリー): A wolf with red fur. He is Giro's helper.
• Beach (ビッチ) and Zack (ザク): Two twin wolves who often work together.
• Tap (タプ): A larger goat who acts like an older brother to Mei.
• Mii (ミイ): A pink goat and one of Mei's friends. She only appears in the TV series.
• Elder Goat (長老): The wise leader of the goats in the Sawasawa Mountains.
• Mei's Mother (メイの母): She tried to save Mei from wolves when he was young. She bit off Giro's ear. She is mentioned but does not appear in the books.
• Mei's Grandmother (メイの祖母): She raised Mei after his mother was gone. She is surprised when Mei becomes friends with Gabu. She does not appear in the books.

Media Adaptations

The popular story of Mei and Gabu has been made into different types of media.

The Animated Film

A movie called "Arashi no Yoru Ni" was released in Japan on December 10, 2005. Gisaburō Sugii directed it, and Group TAC animated it. The film was very popular. It stayed in the top 10 movies in Japan for over a month. More than 1.2 million people watched it in the first month. The movie also earned a lot of money, over ¥1.8 billion. In 2007, it was nominated for a special award for animated films in Japan.

A group of voice actors later made an English version of the movie for YouTube. They replaced the Japanese voices with English ones. They could not use the original theme song, "Star," by Aiko. So, they used a new song called "Watch the Moon Rise" for the ending.

Film Voice Cast

Audio Drama CD

An audio drama called Sound Theater: Arashi no Yoru ni was released on December 22, 2006. In this, actors perform the story using only their voices and sound effects.

Drama CD Cast

The Anime TV Series

A computer-animated TV series, Arashi no Yoru Ni: Himitsu no Tomodachi (あらしのよるに ひみつのともだち, One Stormy Night: Secret Friends), started airing in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 4, 2012. This show was made by Sparky Animation along with other companies. It had both Japanese and English audio. The opening song was "Friendship Birthday" by Sea☆A, and the ending song was "Dear My Friend" by U-KISS.

This animation was a team effort between Japan and Singapore. The story was first created in Japan. Then, it was rewritten for English with voices recorded. After that, it was dubbed into Japanese. In the TV series, Mei is shown as a female goat, which is different from the movie where Mei was male.

TV Series Episode List

TV Series Voice Cast

See also

In Spanish: Una noche tormentosa para niños