Lu Over the Wall | 夜明け告げるルーのうた Animezing!
Adventure, Comedy
Presented by JICC, Embassy of Japan
From visionary anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa comes a joyously hallucinogenic but family-friendly take on the classic fairy tale about a little mermaid who comes ashore to join a middle-school rock band and propel them to fame.
Kai is talented but adrift, spending his days sulking in a small fishing village after his family moves from Tokyo. His only joy is uploading songs he writes to the internet. When his classmates invite him to play keyboard in their band, their practice sessions bring an unexpected guest: Lu, a young mermaid whose fins turn to feet when she hears the beats, and whose singing causes humans to compulsively dance – whether they want to or not.
As Kai spends more time with Lu, he finds he is able to tell her what he is really thinking, and a bond begins to form. But since ancient times, the people in the village have believed that mermaids bring disaster and soon there is trouble between Lu and the townspeople, putting the town in grave danger.
Winner of the Grand Prize at the prestigious Annecy Animation Festival and an official selection of Sundance 2018, Lu Over the Wall is a toe-tapping, feel-good demonstration of Yuasa’s genre-mixing mastery that will leave you humming long after you leave the theater.
WOMEN IN CINEMA
ABOUT THE SCREENWRITER
A prolific writer for animation, film, and manga, Reiko Yoshida made her debut in the 1990s writing for the Dragon Ball Z television series. Her first film screenplay came in 1999's DIGIMON ADVENTURE, directed by Mamoru Hosoda. In 2014 and 2017, she was awarded the Best Screenplay Award at the Tokyo Anime Awards. She has collaborated frequently with director Naoko Yamada on such films as K-On! The Movie (2011), Tamako Love Story (2014), A Silent Voice (2016), and most recently Liz and the Blue Bird (2018) which was nominated for Best Animated Film at the Sitges-Catalonian International Film Festival.
In Japanese with English subtitles | Rated PG | 2017 | 112 min | Directed by Masaaki Yuasa
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required for security purposes. Program begins at 6:30PM. Doors open 30 minutes prior. No admittance after 7:00 PM or once seating is full. Registered guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis. Please note that seating is limited and registration does not guarantee guests a seat.
To modify your registration, please email jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp. Your registration is not transferable.