Arashi no Yoru ni

A goat named Mei wanders into a barn one night, seeking shelter from a storm. In the barn, the goat meets another refugee. The two can neither see nor smell each other, but nevertheless they huddle together, fending off the cold, and begin to talk. Eventually, they establish a friendship. The two decide to meet later and will recognize each other by using the password "one stormy night". The next day, when they meet, Mei learns that his companion from the night before was a wolf named Gabu. Despite their natural predisposition as enemies, they share a common bond and begin meeting regularly. However, Mei's flock and Gabu's pack eventually find out about their relationship and forbid the friendship. In a truly underhanded tactic, the pack and flock attempt to force Mei and Gabu to use each other to get information on their enemies. Mei and Gabu, no longer wanting to be bound by their respective clan's unjust regulations and hoping to preserve their friendship, cross a river during a storm. They hope to find an "emerald forest" free from persecution.

However, Giro, the leader of Gabu's pack, holds a grudge against goats and views Gabu as a traitor to all wolves. Giro and his pack begin to hunt down the two companions. Gabu and Mei reach the summit of a mountain where they stop and rest, exhausted from fighting their way through a snowstorm. Mei, knowing that Gabu has not eaten in days, offers to sacrifice himself as sustenance. Gabu reluctantly agrees initially, but soon realizes that no matter how hungry he is, he cannot eat his friend. Gabu hears his pack approaching and leaves Mei to face them, ready to defend his goat friend to the death. As Gabu is about to go face the wolf pack, there is an avalanche which sweeps them all away. The next morning, Mei digs through the snow blocking the cave and sees the "emerald forest" they had been searching for in the distance. Gabu is missing, but Mei finds him in another cave. Mei finds that Gabu has lost his memory of their friendship and all the events that preceded the avalanche due to the trauma of surviving that disaster, and Mei knows not how to undo the damage. While waiting for the moon to come out, Gabu taunts Mei that he plans on eating him. Mei, saying that he wouldn't have minded being eaten by Gabu before, accuses the wolf of not being the Gabu he previously knew and deems him pathetic for not even attempting to remember his past. Disappointed and disillusioned, Mei shouts that had he known things would take this turn it would have been better if they had never met each other on "one stormy night". On hearing these words, Gabu's memory slowly returns in flashes before in a rapid burst. After regaining himself, Gabu turns to Mei and speaks his name as well as wondering why they are in the cave; having no recollection of his time while amnesiac. A stunned and overjoyed Mei, deciding it would not matter to tell Gabu about his amnesia, claims to have been waiting for Gabu this whole time and they happily reunite. In the end, Mei and Gabu both enjoy watching the moon as it rises, marveling at its beauty and swearing that their friendship will last forever no matter what. Giro and the wolf pack are shown to have survived the avalanche and are seen running away back to their home gorge.

The picture book series, published by Kodansha, Ltd., has been released in Japanese in seven volumes.

1. Arashi no Yoru ni (あらしのよるに, One Stormy Night) (1994) ISBN 4-06-252852-5
2. Aru Hareta Hi ni (あるはれたひに, One Sunny Day) (1996) ISBN 4-06-252870-3
3. Kumo no Kirema ni (くものきれまに, One Cloudy Day) (1997) ISBN 4-06-252874-6
4. Kiri no Naka de (きりのなかで, One Foggy Afternoon) (1999) ISBN 4-06-252875-4
5. Doshaburi no Hi ni (どしゃぶりのひに, One Rainy Day) (2000) ISBN 4-06-252876-2
6. Fubuki no Ashita (ふぶきのあした, After the Snowstorm) (2002) ISBN 4-06-252877-0
7. Mangetsu no Yoru ni (まんげつのよるに, One Full Moon Night) (2005) ISBN 4-06-252878-9

• Gabu (ガブ, Gabu), a wolf from the Bakubaku Valley.
• Mei (メイ, Mei), a goat from the Sawasawa Mountains. While the gender is unmentioned in the original books, Mei is depicted as a male goat in the film and a female goat in the TV series.
• Giro (ギロ, Giro), the boss of the Bakubaku Valley wolves and a friend of Gabu's father.
• Barry (バリー, Barī), a red-haired wolf and Giro's right-hand man.
• Beach (ビッチ, Bicchi) and Zack (ザク, Zaku), a pair of twin wolves.
• Tap (タプ, Tapu), an overweight goat who acts as an elder brother figure to Mei.
• Mii (ミイ), a pink-colored goat and a friend of Mei. She does not appear in the book series.
• Elder Goat (長老, Chouro), the leader of the goats of the Sawasawa Mountains.
• Mei's Mother (メイの母, Mei no Haha), who attempted to save Mei from a group of wolves when he was a child, managing to bite off Giro's ear before being eaten. Though she is mentioned, she does not physically appear in the book series.
• Mei's Grandmother (メイの祖母, Mei no Soba), who raised Mei after his mother was killed, and is later shocked when Mei befriends Gabu. She does not appear in the book series.

Since 1997, Engekishūdan En has annually performed the story on the "En Kodomo Stage." Performers have included Yoshie Minami, Akio Kaneda, Rintarō Nishi, and Rieko Takahashi among others.

In 2004, Aoni Production sponsored the Voice Fair 2004's dramatization of Arashi no Yoru ni and Aru Hareta Hi ni, which starred Katsue Miwa as Mei and Minori Matsushima as Gabu.

In 2007, Yoshikazu Yokoyama directed the Engekishūdan Studio Life musical version, in which Sayaka Yoshino portrayed Mei.

Most of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Japanese-language Wikipedia article.

• Arashi no Yoru ni at IMDb
• "Arashi no Yoru Ni" movie official website (in Japanese)
• Anime series official website (in Japanese)
• Yūichi Kimura's home page (in Japanese)
• TBS's "Stormy Night" website in English
• Arashi no Yoru ni (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Arashi no Yoru Ni: Himitsu no Tomodachi (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia