A family fun anime film.
Lu over the Wall starts with a sad boy named Kai, on his way to school. He runs into his new friends he’s made at his new school and they ask him to join their band. Kai is into making music and beats but wasn’t interested in joining the band. His friends convinced him to just come and hang out while they practiced near the water. In the first part of the movie, it is made clear that the people in the village near the water because the creatures it holds. When Kai and his friends started playing their music they have an unexpected guest, Lu, a young mermaid. Her fins turn to feet when she hears the music and when she sings it causes humans to dance uncontrollably. The movie starts off strong with an intriguing opening and explanations for the characters and history of the village so you understand what is going on.
The middle of the movie seemed to drag out a little. I was confused with the storyline at this point because more characters were introduced and not explained very well. During this time Lu and Kai become best friends and might have even fallen in love. Kai takes Lu on adventures throughout the city but learns Lu can’t be in the sunlight or it will hurt her. Then Lu decided she wanted to take Kai on an adventure throughout the water and showed him what was in the ocean. These scenes were important to the film but small details were left out leaving the middle of the movie almost boring and confusing.
Things start to pick up once the village becomes endangered by an ancient prophecy, the water starts to rise throughout the village and people have to evacuate. Kai and his friends decide they must save the day by finding Lu so she can help people get to safety. Lu and her friends under the sea save the village people and Lu fall in love with Kai at the end. While the ending was happy it was almost predictable and not as exciting as I think it could’ve been. If you are into anime films you might like the adventure/love story. If anime movies aren’t your thing then I would pass.
Video:
The video was filmed in 1080p High Definition widescreen. When purchasing the movie you get a DVD video and also a Blu-Ray video. The quality of both was great and was really clear.
Audio:
The movie had good quality audio, DTS-HD 5.1. You can choose to watch the movie in multiple different languages and subtitles will appear throughout the movie when needed.
Bonus Features:
These added features were a nice touch if you wanted to see what went in behind the making of the film and hear the Director’s thoughts on making the film.
Audio Commentary with the Filmmakers
Interview with Director Masaaki Yuasa
Trailers and TV Spots
