It's been another busy week and even though it is the weekend still I have a lot of stuff to finish. However, to destress a little, I decided to watch a movie that I found in my screenshots. I've been cleaning my phone's album lately because it seems the storage warning keeps popping more frequently now, and that's where I found this movie which coincidentally fits with the anime I needed to watch for this month's quest. The MCs were a child and a middle schooler and honestly, those two were quite an interesting pair. So before I share my review of it, let's first dive into the shallow parts of this movie: Lu Over the Wall.
About the Anime
Lu Over the Wall (Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta) is an anime movie that aired on May 19, 2017. This movie was directed by Masaaki Yuasa who also directed a lot of notable anime series and movies such as The Tatami Galaxy, Devilman Crybaby, The Night is Short, Walk On Girl, Ride Your Wave, Inu-Oh and many more. This almost couple of-hour musical anime is animated by Science SARU and its genres mainly focus on adventure and supernatural. By the way, this anime movie is an original one that garnered prestigious awards both in the year it aired and as well the years after it aired.
So this movie started with the introduction of our MC, a boy named Kai who's extremely talented in making music from beats and varied sounds. However, despite his fondness for music, still, it has been an almost restricted topic because his grandpa was a firm believer that music could attract merfolk. It is said that it is the merfolk who killed his grandpa's mother so since then, music was scarcely brought up in their house, but still, that didn't stop him from enjoying his music-making. Kai has been living a passive life since then not until two of his classmates discovered that he's the talented maker behind the boppy music samples. Those two were determined to recruit Kai into their band, but he only responded indifferently to them.
Anyway, despite his lack of interest in them, they're able to convince him to attend their practice session on Merfolk Island. Little did he know that everything would change as soon as he joined them because after their session ended sourly, a catchy voice took over the vocals. Without inhibitions, they danced to the boppy beat and as soon as the beat stopped he noticed something unusual—an odd phenomenon that's hard to comprehend. That became a mystery to him, not until later that night while composing another music sample, the creature that he attracted finally appeared to him. And it's turned out to be a mermaid—and she's Lu!
Honestly, you can't expect much with its plot or the characters. It's a movie that is friendly for all so I'm not surprised they kept the story and characterization simple. Compared to the first Masaaki Yuasa movie I watched, this one is definitely more uninteresting both story and character-wise. The MC's mood was so unpredictable—like one moment he's good then later on he's back to his emo self. It's probably the phase that they're trying to portray or they just wanted him to match whatever the mood of the scene was.
Further, what really made me disappointed is that it started promisingly—like yeah, it's the typical boy who's looking for a life purpose or whatnot again, but anyway, I'm still in for that. However, the ending falls short especially the part that involves the mermaid. Her appearance was built gradually only to abruptly disappear once she served her purpose?! I don't understand why the music just stopped and they just vanished—like where are they now? Did they come back to the ocean or did just finish like that? And will they come back in the near future? Instead of resolving the story, it added more questions to my mind than I had at the start of the movie.
Anyway, aside from those not-so-compelling aspects of this movie, its visuals are certainly the opposite! The vibrant colors and quirky animation were definitely something that I find commendable. Variations of color palette were used throughout the movie depending on the mood of the scenes, and it's good they really utilized them well. The use of those varied colors added depth to the setting of the story because for example, to add distinction between the human world and the mermaid world, they used brighter arrays of colors to signify that the mermaid world is more lively and free-spirited. This detail seemed trivial, but it's something that would be sorely missed if it was left out.
Moreover, the animation was also quite weird yet so eye-catching. It was fluid yet a little odd and funny, and unsurprisingly, those exaggerated and silly movements there really remind me of The Night is Short, Walk On Girl movie. That movie also was weird, yet its visuals were part of the reason why I didn't get bored while watching it. Its soundtrack was also as quirky as its visuals ranging from boppy and dance-worthy tunes to mellow and heartwarming songs. The VAs really did a good job of singing their parts without abandoning their characters. Its visuals and audio really delivered and I definitely can see why it won awards despite the simple premise of its plot.
Indeed it doesn't take too much grandeur and complexity to win the heart of the audience—especially the young ones and apparently, I still have the young side. This movie is a solid 8.5/10 for me because its story may not be that compelling nor the end was satisfying, but it's the experience of seeing such amazing soundtrack and visuals that enthralled me. So if you're up for a fun and heartwarming movie with eye-catching visuals and an interesting soundtrack then you need to try watching Lu Over the Wall.
Before I end this review, I'll share with you its trailer, so—
Have you watched this anime movie already? Or is this your first time seeing it? If you have something to share about it, then feel free to comment them down. That's all for now, minna-san! I hope you enjoyed reading my review.
Arigatou and tanoshinde ne~
The pictures that didn't have source were screenshots from the movie while the last picture was edited in Canva.