Palme no Ki

A Tree of Palme definitely a strange anime, and one that is clearly not perfect, but also a fascinating piece of art. At first glance it may seem like a movie for children, and some elements of it almost feel like one, but it definitely isn't. It's very bleak, at times melancholic and at others very violent, both phisically and psychologically, it's dense and can be hard to follow, and has very mature themes.

It's an anime that everybody will experience differently, because while some of it has the potentiel to resonate with you very deeply, some other elements are just not very good.

One ... one hand, the plot can be confusing at times, there are too much elements in the movie and not enough time to develop all of them as much as they need to. A few characters (Mu and Pu) are unnecessary and would have greatly improved the movie by not being in it, leaving room for other more important things and making the tone a bit more consistent. Overall, the writing feels a bit inexperienced and rushed in places, like something that they should have taken time to refine more.

On the other hand, the anime is gorgeous in every way possible. The backgrounds, the animation, the artstyle, the world depicted, and the music too... there really isn't anything quite like it. The world of A Tree of Palme is incredibly unique, rich, creative, and constantly feels much bigger than what is shown. Every location, almost every scene is filled with things that feel both truly alien and breathtakingly beautiful. The music supports extremely well that otherworldly quality, with it's mix of strange synthetic sounds and orchestal music. The animation is on point, extremely smooth, precise and expressive.
I think watching the characters wander through that world is what I enjoyed the most about this movie. If this visual style speaks to you, then that in itself is a good reason to watch it.

The story, while it might be flawed, has some great elements. While it does try to be about too many things at once, and in my opinion fails to develop every aspect of it's themes, a lot of it is still very good. The characters all tie into the different themes in interesting ways, and their psychologies and relationships are very developped in a mature and complex way, which to me has the potential to resonate very deeply with you if you identify with one or several of the characters.

I general, I would say that A Tree of Palme is a movie that is more than just it's flaws and qualities. It's a complex work that feels very genuine and passionate, it's clear that Nakamura wanted to express a lot of things with it and he did so in a way that is, while at times clumsy and inexperienced, very beautiful.
I think it's a movie that more people should see, because of how unique and special it is, and because of how touching it can be.

The artwork for a Tree of Palme is absolutely stunning. The characters are adorable (except for Palme, he sucks, but I can't tell you why without a major spoiler). The virtues of this show were not enough to offset it's one flaw though. They sacrificed the story upon the altar of symbolism.

A Tree of Palme is a complicated anime that should really be viewed as "Part One" and "Part Two". With that in mind, I will be reviewing the movie not as a whole, but as two separate parts.

"Part One" of the film starts off slow, and really spends time on the atmosphere. The film feels like a trippy 70's poster, with creative backgrounds and creatures. Palme starts off the story as a silent puppet, constantly breaking. He's thrown into a confusing setting, with lots of energetic characters and action. I found it enjoyable how out-of-place hes character is and his inability to understand others.

There's ... some action, and a lot of running away from some guys who are after Palme's oil, which all seems simple and enjoyable. Unfortunately, that all goes away after Palme has a existential crisis.

"Part Two" of the film is very different. It's fast, has inconsistent characters and a really overly complicated plot is slapped on. Palme get more character development and unfortunately it's terrible. It's lazy, half developed and he changes at the blink of an eye to keep the plot moving. The film hits a really slow pace about 3/4 into the film, which made me even question finishing the film.

The first part of this film is quite enjoyable to watch. It gave me a similar feeling to "Angel's Egg" but the film finished feeling like a poor scifi action film. I would recommend watching it only for the beautiful background and designs.