The best of Japanese animation captures hearts all over the world for its imaginative daring, breathtaking visual invention and for the access it gives to childlike wonder and adolescent yearning. But at a lesser level it can look contrived, derivative and twee, and that is how this movie from Masaaki Yuasa appeared to me, despite my best efforts. It is about a lonely and troubled teenage boy, living with his grandfather in a seaside town after his parents’ divorce. He mopes around, hangs out with friends, uploads his musical compositions to the net … and then discovers a mermaid called Lu who unlocks his emotional life. It is perhaps inspired by Miyazaki’s Ponyo, but this doesn’t have the same charm or lightness. It seemed overextended and self-conscious.
