Palme no Ki

This is one of the most underrated anime movies in all history.
One of unique kind. If you are expecting some nice story with happy ending just stop reading this.
It's one genre that stands out of all of the rest, it's Dystopian Sci-Fi anime. If you've watched Now and Then, Here and There or Gin'iro no Kami no Agito or Green Legend Ran or even Ergo Proxy and liked them, then you will definitely like this one, it's just plain brilliant, unique and unforgattable. I won't start explaining the story that mostly is so unique that you can't fully understand it without throughout thinking about it. ... It touches many aspects of human psychology like despair, fear, wanting to be acknowledged by people you love. It's brilliant story of puppet wanting become human. It's one of the greatest works of Takashi Nakamura, the genius who created Fantastic Children, one of the most greatest anime ever created. This movie is his another brilliant work that most people haven't seen or even heard of. The ending is so touching that you won't forget it for the rest of your life, and the ending music "Sora no Aosa" by Akino Arai just finishes the most brilliant artistic touch. Just watch it you won't regret it!

Story is not easy but it is deep and good.
Animations are lovely.
Sound is ok.

Not everyone will understand this movie and will say " i dont like it"

I really like this film very much.

At first I thought this movie was going to be a very happy and fantasy version of the classic 'becoming human' plot, but boy was I wrong about that assumption. A Tree of Palme is definitely a much darker and deeper version with a small fantasy twist.

This movie definitely isn't for everyone. I was only able to watch it with sparks of interest because of the deepness and strange visuals and symbols of the movie. The animation and music were the highlight of the movie, for some reason the music always had me in tears even when it wasn't a part where I was supposed ... to cry!

The visuals, animation, and music definitely make up for what was the problem of the movie. The story and characters. I managed to try my best and kept up with most of the story, there were some loose ends left here and there and some parts were scattered about. It's like putting a puzzle together but quite a handful of pieces are missing.

With some characters, they were quite adorable that's true. But these were most of the side characters. The main character, Palme, was changing his character almost every second and it always threw me off on what his objectives were. It also felt like some characters were being developed too quickly because they weren't in the beginning of the movie.

The ending wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. I would say more but that would be spoiling.

Overall, I was able to the understand the movie and thus I enjoyed it. Plus, I'm such a sucker for interesting, weird, visuals! ♥

Palme no Ki is a film that first aired in 2002. It was the début work of Palm Studio. Which I only know as the studio behind Genshiken. The film was written and directed by Nakamura Takashi. Who also did animation work on Nausicaa. How does this film hold up? Let's take a look and see.

Story:

We open with a woman battling through a group of dudes. We then quickly cut to a large tree where a humanoid robot, Palme, is hanging. He activates and begins moving. A little dragon sees this and fetches an elderly man, Palme's creator. The old man worries about what ... kind of tree Palme might become, since he's apparently constructed in such a way that he'll become a tree at some point. A tree shaped by its memories. It turns out that he was built to look after the woman who used to live in that area but he stopped moving after she died. Things shift when the woman from the opening scene shows up. Palme mistakes her for his former mistress and agrees to look after the mechanical looking egg she's carrying. Thus begins Palme's journey.

The biggest story issue is that the character conflicts can be pretty contrived. There's a point where Palme and his young friend Popo are yelling about how the other one seems different but we've only seen them interact for, maybe, ten minutes and the whole impetus behind their fight is kind of weak. So, it comes across as a fight based on them barely knowing each other rather than on anything substantial. Palme also freaks out at a different friend because he asks to see the egg Palme's carrying even though Palme hasn't shown that much protectiveness towards it before and he has no special reason to be paranoid. It's not like Frodo lashing out at Samwise when there's a clear story reason behind it it's just Palme randomly deciding he can't trust this guy based on... the dude saving his life multiple times. And you know you've gotta be wary of that type.

That aspect aside, there are a lot of elements to admire in the story. I like that it builds suspense on the basis of this tree transformation. A lot of the tension does come from this ominous idea of just what kind of tree he might become and we see him do quite a few things that make that a cause for concern. Honestly, it also makes for kind of a refreshing change since his personal journey is, ultimately, of greater import than the physical journey. The film is also really good at taking a lot of seemingly disparate elements and tying them together by the end and at providing foreshadowing for how they're going to do it. Which makes for a tale that's very well woven. The pacing is well done. The climax is compelling and well executed.

Characters:

The main cast is pretty nicely done. One issue is that the film might go a bit too far in setting up the possibility of Palme going badly. To the point where it's pretty hard to have sympathy for him after a while. Instead, you find yourself concerned for Popo, Shatta and the other major characters and what Palme going bad would do to them. I do like that none of the antagonistic characters are portrayed as being all bad. The one that comes the closest is Popo's mum, but even with her her faults are very human and she's not entirely unsympathetic.

Art:

The biggest flaw with the art is that the facial expressions can be off at times. Characters will go cross-eyed or they'll be having an intense moment and have an expression of slight annoyance. However, the world design is really well done. With amazing backgrounds, creature designs and various technologies. The action moves very well and the designs are interesting. So, in general it is a nice looking film. It just has the occasional awkward moment.

Sound:

There are some really good actors cast in this. The best performances come, no question, from Toyoguchi Megumi & Sakaguchi Daisuke. There are no weak links in the cast, though. They all do nice work. The music is also well done. It works well for the atmosphere and action.

Ho-yay:

There isn't any to be found.

Final Thoughts:

Ultimately, Palme no Ki is a really good film. It has some issues that hold it back, but it has a good level of complexity, interesting characters, a strong narrative, a great cast and lovely artwork. My final rating is going to stand at a solid 8/10. Next week I'll look at Idol Project.

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.

It is sad how much this film had the potential to be a masterpiece, but the constant change in tone after the first half possibly killed it.

The vast cast could be narrowed to give more depth to the main characters, especially Palm, as his actions towards the end did not seem credible. He now starts to talk more and have a specific desire (to be a human), so the first initial problem (Taking the Egg of Touto to Laala) becomes less important, and you need to care about his new personality and desire. The same applies to the Sol Lady, and although I personally liked ... and even cried for her past, it did feel kinda of rushed.
Everything was there to make a good story, and the writes did know that and tried to show as much as they could, but doing this they created a movie with a deep lore, but poorly placed.

Even saying all this, I still liked it, the audacity of the writers in putting some scenes in the film impressed me, some characters really stood out during the plot. Overral 7/10