They say that there can be a cultural barrier that sometimes prevents people from one culture from fully understanding or appreciating the qualities of a film created in and by another culture. Personally, I've always tried my best to overcome this problem, seeking out the social and cultural basis for why a film from another part of the world is the way it is, and extrapolating from that to try and find value. More often than not, I'm successful in that endeavor, and I'm able to enjoy or appreciate the film. I believe anyone is capable of doing the same, with proper context and a determination to understand that which is foreign to them.
It's for that reason that I hesitate to chalk up my complaints with Lu Over the Wall to such a cultural barrier. It is a Japanese animated film directed by Masaaki Yuasa, and certainly, I am willing to admit that maybe some elements of the film failed to resonate with me due to my acclimation toward Western filmmaking and storytelling, but I feel confident saying that I do not think Lu is a particularly strong film, regardless of what cultural hurdles someone like myself might have to jump to understand the movie.
The premise revolves around a trio of young students in a fishing village in Japan, particularly focusing on the quiet, thoughtful Kai (Shôta Shimoda). Kai’s two energetic friends, Yuho and Kunio, played by Minato Kotobuki and Sôma Saitô, respectively, have ambitions to start a band, and they continually prod Kai to join them. Kai is hesitant on account of his no-nonsense grandfather and academia-focused father, that is, until he meets an adorable and musically inclined mermaid named Lu (Christine Marie Cabanos). As Kai tries to convince his friends to let Lu join the band, the group is forced to operate in secrecy as they navigate their village, which has a long-standing fear and hatred of merfolk.
It's an interesting enough starting point, if a bit overdone, but the film never makes any attempt to deviate from the beats that one might expect the movie to follow. Beyond the first 30 minutes, I can't recall being surprised or refreshed by any decision made along the film's almost 2-hour runtime. (It would have worked better as a short.)
Additionally, a lack of substantial character development in either the leads or supporting characters created a feeling of apathy as I watched people I didn't know or care about try to solve their own problems. There is some archetypal distinction from one character to the next (Yuho is the overzealous, bubbly extrovert; Kunio is the not-dumb-but-not-exactly-the-brightest-of-the-bunch comic relief), but these still land as rather “cookie cutter” and hard to relate to. Lu herself is hardly a character, and instead more the object of Kai’s infatuation and hope for a brighter future for himself.
The film is, at times, cute, but not much more than your average stuffed animal, and certainly never heartwarming. Perhaps to a young child, the bright, candy-coated merfolk visuals would be enough to hold attention, but for a more invested viewer, there isn't much to grab on to.
In the end, Lu Over the Wall might best serve you as something to turn on as a way to pacify a young toddler or baby who wouldn't understand it even if it was I'm English. If your child is older than that, however, they may become bored when the action on-screen isn't interesting enough to hold their attention over the language barrier and subtitles.