This is no Disney mermaid, not least because the conventions of creepy in Japanese culture are very different to what would pass standards and practices in the U.S.
Lu Over the Wall(夜明け告げるルーのうた)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan · 2017
Rated PG · 1h 57m
Director Masaaki Yuasa
Starring Shota Shimoda, Soma Saito, Minako Kotobuki, Kanon Tani
Genre Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Music
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Kai is a lonely, pessimistic middle schooler living in a small fishing village. Things start looking up when some of his classmates invite him to play keyboards in their band. During one of their practice sessions by the ocean, they have an unexpected visitor: Lu, a mermaid whose singing causes humans to compulsively dance.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Paste Magazine by Andrew Crump
Does the experience improve under the influence? Possibly. Then again, Yuasa’s work is effectively intoxicating on its own merits, squiggly and colorful, animation off-kilter enough to send you on a cinematic trip so long as you let it wash over you.
Los Angeles Times by Charles Solomon
Yuasa's bold imagery and sometimes convoluted storytelling defy the conventions of traditional animated filmmaking, but he is clearly an artist with an individual vision whose work offers something genuinely new and eye-catching.
The Film Stage by Daniel Schindel
It’s an energetic, frequently hilarious, always visually riveting ride.
Throughout, director Masaaki Yuasa’s imagination runs so wild that it becomes impossible to resist.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Emily Yoshida
Lu Over the Wall...is every bit as imaginative as the rest of his body of work, but whereas previous Yuasa works would veer from ominous to outrageous to sweet to explicit to metaphysical, Lu is perfectly happy to stop at sweet. And so am I, quite frankly: Yuasa can be really good at sweet, something that’s often overshadowed by his more mile-a-minute tendencies.
The end-stretch is overlong, but the Flash animation style pops with colour, the music is fun, and off-the-scale creature cuteness abounds.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
It seemed overextended and self-conscious.
Village Voice by Sherilyn Connelly
Even by anime standards, Lu Over the Wall is best enjoyed by disconnecting your logic circuits and just enjoying the pretty colors and sounds.
The New York Times by Teo Bugbee
Lu sometimes feels more like a cynical plot device than a character. The problem is only amplified by the animation itself.
Users who liked this film also liked
Lemon Tree
(Etz Limon)
A Palestinian woman fights to preserve her olive grove in the occupied West Bank.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel, Germany, France • 2008
- Director Eran Riklis
- Cast Hiam Abbass, Tarik Kopty, Ali Suliman, Doron Tavory, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Amos Lavi
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Sword of the Stranger
(ストレンヂア -無皇刃譚-)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2007
- Director Masahiro Ando
- Cast Tomoya Nagase, Yuri Chinen, Koichi Yamadera, Akio Otsuka, Unsho Ishizuka, Mamoru Miyano
- Genre Action, Animation, History
- Available on Crunchyroll
Detective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes
(名探偵コナン 瞳の中の暗殺者)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2000
- Director Kenji Kodama
- Cast Minami Takayama, Wakana Yamazaki, Akira Kamiya, Kappei Yamaguchi, Gara Takashima, Kenichi Ogata
- Genre Animation, Crime, Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Mind Game
(マインド・ゲーム
)
After an encounter with the Japanese mafia in which he fails to save his crush, Nishi journeys to heaven and back.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2004
- Director Masaaki Yuasa
- Cast Koji Imada, Sayaka Maeda, Takashi Fujii, Seiko Takuma, Tomomitsu Yamaguchi
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Mystery
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
Detective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century
(名探偵コナン 世紀末の魔術師)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1999
- Director Kenji Kodama
- Cast Minami Takayama, Kappei Yamaguchi, Wakana Yamazaki, Akira Kamiya, Kenichi Ogata, Naoko Matsui
- Genre Animation, Thriller, Mystery
- Available on No streaming locations found.
About Elly
(درباره الی)
A woman vanishes during a vacation with friends, causing them to blame each other for the disappearance.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 2009
- Director Asghar Farhadi
- Cast Golshifteh Farahani, Tarane Alidousti, Shahab Hosseini, Merila Zarei, Mani Haghighi, Peyman Maadi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Kanopy
xxxHOLiC The Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream
(劇場版 ×××HOLiC 真夏ノ夜ノ夢)
¿Are you prepared to believe anything?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2005
- Director Tsutomu Mizushima
- Cast Sayaka Ohara, Jun Fukuyama, Kazuya Nakai, Shizuka Itoh, Kazuko Kojima, Mika Kikuchi
- Genre Animation, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Fantasy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Mai Mai Miracle
(マイマイ新子と千年の魔法)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2009
- Director Sunao Katabuchi
- Cast Mayuko Fukuda, Nako Mizusawa, Ei Morisako, Manami Honjo, Miyo Wakita, Tamaki Matsumoto
- Genre Animation, Adventure, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Who Killed Captain Alex?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Uganda • 2010
- Director Nabwana IGG
- Cast Kakule Wilson, Sserunya Ernest, G. Puffs, Kavubu Muhammed, Kasumba Isma, Faizat Muhammed
- Genre Action, Drama, Comedy
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, Fandor, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel
Dare to Be Wild
Throw a lifeline to the wilderness.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland • 2015
- Director Vivienne De Courcy
- Cast Emma Greenwell, Tom Hughes, Alex MacQueen, Christine Marzano
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Cineverse, DistroTV, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl
(夜は短し歩けよ乙女)
One fateful, adventurous night --- that feels like a dream.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2017
- Director Masaaki Yuasa
- Cast Gen Hoshino, Kana Hanazawa, Aoi Yuki, Hiroshi Kamiya, Hiroyuki Yoshino
- Genre Comedy, Romance, Animation
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Hoopla
Fireworks
(打ち上げ花火、下から見るか?横から見るか?)
If only I could return to that moment.
- ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2017
- Director Akiyuki Simbo
- Cast Suzu Hirose, Masaki Suda, Mamoru Miyano, Shintaro Asanuma, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Yuki Kaji
- Genre Animation, Drama, Fantasy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Hoopla
Liz and the Blue Bird
(リズと青い鳥)
Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki are two close friends who are part of the Kitauji High School music club. The group has decided to play Liz and the Blue Bird, and the musical piece puts both Mizore and Nozomi on the spotlight due to a solo part by Yoroizuka and forces the two girls to reexamine their friendship.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2018
- Director Naoko Yamada
- Cast Atsumi Tanezaki, Nao Touyama, Ayaka Asai, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Miyu Honda, Yuichi Nakamura
- Genre Music, Animation, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Shout! Factory TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Case Closed: Zero the Enforcer
(名探偵コナン ゼロの執行人)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2018
- Director Yuzuru Tachikawa
- Cast Minami Takayama, Kappei Yamaguchi, Wakana Yamazaki, Rikiya Koyama, Toru Furuya, Megumi Hayashibara
- Genre Animation, Crime, Mystery, Action, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Ride Your Wave
(きみと、波にのれたら)
Hinako falls in love with Minato, a handsome firefighter. But their love is short-lived when he is lost at sea.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2019
- Director Masaaki Yuasa
- Cast Ryota Katayose, Rina Kawaei, Honoka Matsumoto, Kentaro Ito, Mami Horikoshi, You Taichi
- Genre Animation, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Hoopla
Every Day a Good Day
(日日是好日)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2018
- Director Tatsushi Ōmori
- Cast Haru Kuroki, Kirin Kiki, Mikako Tabe, Mayu Tsuruta, Shingo Tsurumi, Megumi Takizawa
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
We Made a Beautiful Bouquet
(花束みたいな恋をした)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2021
- Director Nobuhiro Doi
- Cast Masaki Suda, Kasumi Arimura, Kaya Kiyohara, Kanata Hosoda, Joe Odagiri, Keiko Toda
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.