Ponyo is a Studio Ghibli film released in 2008 and Lu over the Wall is a Science Saru film that came out in 2017. Both movies take place in a Japanese coastal town with young male protagonists befriending young girls who are sea creatures. Their friendship throws their respective little towns into chaos as the sea consumes the land. It is only when the protagonist comes to terms with their feelings and desires that the sea and land return to normal.
There are a lot of little elements that make these movies similar as well, such as Ponyo and Lu having protective and paranormal fathers and both girls having curious and trusting personalities that bring them to the land and its people. However, there are some differences in the movies as well such as their message and the age range of the characters. The animation styles are also quite different.
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Lu over the Wall did not copyPonyo, but they were inspired by the same content. They echo both Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid as well Japanese folktales. One particular old folktale, which has influenced a lot of anime and Japanese video games, is one about Otohime, an immortal undersea princess that a fisherman meets after saving a sea turtle from harm. What is most telling about these films, though, is the folklore of Japanese Ningyo.
Both Ponyo and Lu are also based on the same Japanese mythological creature called Ningyo, which are basically Japanese mermaids. However, there are parts of their mythology that are not mermaid-like. Fishermen who brought Ningyo to their homes were believed to bring misfortune in the form of storms to the land. The storms would only end if the Ningyo was returned to the sea. Finding a
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