Today’s quick review: Lu Over the Wall. Kai Ashimoto (Shota Shimoda), a moody teenager who lives in a small fishing town, spends his spare time making music. His talent catches the attention of Yuho (Minako Kotobuki) and Kunio (Soma Saito), two his classmates, who invite Kai to join their band. The trio set to practicing, but much to their shock, their music attracts the attention of Lu (Kanon Tani), an exuberant mermaid who loves to dance.
Lu Over the Wall is a Japanese animated fantasy comedy with a musical twist. All his life, Kai has heard tales of the fearsome, man-eating mermaids that live in the waters around his town. But when he meets Lu, she’s friendly, playful, and innocent. With the help of Lu’s magic, Kai and his friends set out to make their band the best it can be, all while keeping Lu hidden from townsfolk who would assume the worst.
Lu Over the Wall has a loose art style that it couples with sheer enthusiasm. The backgrounds are fairly detailed, but the characters simply drawn and frequently exaggerated. Lu herself is downright rubbery, making her almost as unsettling as she is cute. The film channels its loose art style into heart-on-its-sleeve dance sequences and in-universe musical numbers, although it has an odd habit of interrupting these halfway through.
The story is similarly loose. A coming of age story, the plot focuses on Kai as he tries to cope with life in a small town, the departure of his mom, and the pressures of middle school. Lu and her music help him rediscover the joy in life in spite of all the trouble she brings. From this starting trajectory, the story swerves sharply several times. The transitions are hardly subtle, but each stage of the story has its own charm.
The fantasy side of the story is a jumble of mermaid lore that barely hangs together. The mermaids are musically inclined, sensitive to sunlight, able to transform humans into mermaids, and capable of levitating water with their magic. The movie bends over backwards to make all these traits fit together. It doesn’t quite succeed in making them make sense, but it does manage to fit each one into the plot at a critical juncture.
Likewise, Lu Over the Wall pays attention to its characters. Even the minor supporting characters undergo their own character arcs, and major supporting characters like Yuho and Kunio are almost as important to the story as Kai and Lu. No single character is all that profound, compelling, or insightful, but taken together they make the fishing town come alive. As a result, Lu Over the Wall has more substance than its freewheeling nature would suggest.
Watch Lu Over the Wall when you’re in the mood for an energetic, kid-friendly adventure. Its cartoonish art and lax approach to plot logic place it at the opposite end of the spectrum from the meticulous filmmaking of Studio Ghibli. Those looking for a subtle or careful movie should look elsewhere. But those who want something fun, colorful, and a little sloppy will love Lu Over the Wall. For a somewhat more polished take on a similar concept, try Ponyo.
6.9 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for color and energy.