‘Lu Over the Wall’ Film Review: Wild Mermaid Anime Defies Categorization

This vividly realized animated fantasy keeps changing tone and mood faster than many audiences will be able to follow

Lu Over the Wall
GKIDS

Somewhere in the psychoactive realm between “The Little Mermaid,” “Ponyo,” that mermaid subplot from “Beach Blanket Bingo” and the time you accidentally ate a moldy tangerine and saw never-before-seen colors for hours on end, lies a movie called “Lu Over the Wall.” It’s gorgeous, it’s distinctive, it’s quirky, it’s definitely about mermaids, and it might just make you question your sanity.

“Lu Over the Wall” is a new anime feature from Masaaki Yuasa, who is perhaps best known in America as the director of the ultraviolent, ultra-harrowing television series “Devilman: Crybaby.” Although the two projects are vastly different in tone, they share an extemporaneous quality that is both intoxicating and overwhelming.

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