Sakasama no Patema

Patema is a plucky young girl from an underground civilization boasting an incredible network of tunnels. Inspired by a friend that mysteriously went missing, she is often reprimanded due to her constant excursions of these tunnels due to her royal status. After she enters what is known as the "forbidden zone," she accidentally falls into a giant bottomless pit after being startled by a strange creature.

Finding herself on the surface, a world literally turned upside down, she begins falling towards the sky only to be saved by Age, a discontented student of the totalitarian nation known as Aiga. The people of Aiga are taught to believe that "Inverts," like Patema, are sinners that will be "swallowed by the sky," but Age has resisted this propaganda and decides to protect his new friend. A chance meeting between two curious teenagers leads to an exploration of two unique worlds as they begin working together to unveil the secrets of their origins in Sakasama no Patema, a heart-warming film about overcoming differences in order to coexist.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Patema Main

Fujii, Yukiyo Japanese

Age Main

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Porta Supporting

Oohata, Shintarou Japanese

Jaku Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Izamura Supporting

Hashi, Takaya Japanese

Lagos Supporting

Katou, Masayuki Japanese

Kaho Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Elder Supporting

Fukumatsu, Shinya Japanese

Inagaki, Ryousuke Producer

Yoshiura, Yasuhiro Director, Script, Original Creator, Layout, Director of Photography

Yamaoka, Akira Sound Director

Arias, Michael Script

Reviews

May 17, 2014

TheArchangel

Recommended

"Sakasama no Patema" is a gripping WWII drama set in 1944 Nazi Germany, detailing the struggles of a young German boy, Age (Eiji), hiding his Jewish friend, Patema, after the government declares that all people of Jewish descent must be "taken care of." Together, they traverse war-torn Germany to bring Patema home and along the way discover the truth of the government's persecution.

...

No, not really. That plot synopsis is pretty close though.

After falling into a pit that her village declared a danger zone, young Patema is plunged into a bizarre new world where everything is inverted. Suddenly, literally falling into the endless sky ... becomes a very real possibility. She meets an inhabitant of the land, Age, and they quickly connect with each other. Patema clings to Age very closely, as he is the only thing that stands between her and being "eaten" by the sky. Despite her fear of the sky, Patema discovers the amazing new world that she had been told stories of as a child, living her dreams of seeing the world for what it really is.

The world that Age lives in is classically isolated and under absolute rule, complete with a 1-dimensional dictator that crosses his hands in a way that screams "excellent work, my minions." Looking into the sky is forbidden, and Age has already suffered for his curiosity. With Patema, however, he learns that there is more to the world than what he has been taught, and seeks to live his own dreams of flying in the sky as well.

The characters are connected in this visually stunning film, literally to stop them from falling but also to emphasize the message that people of different backgrounds can coexist and live peacefully. It's a time tested story that we are no doubt familiar with, but the way the film uses the inverted gravity to bring the main characters together and to build the legends and myths surrounding the world is remarkable.

The fact that everything in the film is reversed depending on your perspective is a unique aspect that plays with what is real and not. For example, you could turn your screen upside down and still watch essentially the same film, because the film itself frequently turns itself around so that we can see the same thing from either Patema or Age's perspective. What is normal ground to Age is a ceiling to Patema, with nothing but the vast sky beneath her feet, and vice versa.

The story is thought provoking and with so many inversions of the screen, we begin to feel just like one of the characters, confused at the sudden shift of gravity and afraid of what is beneath us. Through this adventure, Patema and Age encounter new worlds themselves, thinking to themselves "This is what was really out here?" They see beautiful things, like the stars in a swirling galaxy, and they see the abandoned, like the wasteland their ancestors forgot about. Even when everything comes together, there are still mysteries left unanswered. Why not try figuring them out?

The artwork and animation for the film are top notch. Particular detail is made to the sky, because for all the characters, it is such a mysterious place. Clouds swirl in streaks of white and gray, the stars peek out from the night sky, and the sun illuminates in soft streaks of orange and yellow. There is a scene in the middle of the film that is particularly stunning, where Patema and Age finally found out what links their world and the truth of the past. The color palette between Patema and Age's world is very distinct, and its use of color is no doubt excellent.

Along with the visually pleasant film is a soundtrack that captures the mood perfectly. Sometimes it is like "space" music, and at other times it is a sweeping orchestral piece to go along with the sense of adventure in the film. The ending song is "Patema Inverse" by Estelle Michaeu, which is a nice listen that emphasizes the connection between two different worlds.

It's been a long time of waiting for this film, but it was well worth it. It was an enjoyable, romantic adventure that took the familiar story of acceptance between 2 different worlds and spun it literally around with gravity inversion, a result of a failed experiment from a long, long time ago. At the heart of the film is a realization that people need each other to survive, and to discover our common features is truly a wonderful thing.

Don't be afraid to look up at the sky! Likewise, don't always look down at the ground! There is a much bigger, more fantastical world out there than what school and books tell you. All it takes is a little push.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Aug 14, 2014

AzuraTheCat

Mixed Feelings

Before you read this movies 8 star rating and get excited, understand that this is a concept-driven anime. Meaning that the world this movie is set in is very interesting and is the obvious center point of this anime. Everything else just kind of falls short. Because of this you will probably end up looking at your watch a couple times before the movie ends. Fortunately, there are some twists that will get your focus back to the screen again. Music is really nice. Animation and art style are decent. The characters are a little flat, but as I said this movie is more about ... the world than the people living in it. Overall, it's not a bad movie, just don't go in expecting too much. Watch it on a rainy day, or just to see an interesting universe that you've probably seen before.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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May 17, 2014

mdz

Not Recommended

It's a concept show. It has pretty animation, complemented with an appealing art style. It attempts to develop a vivid world, all the while presenting, and accentuating themes of acceptance. It tries to do all that, but it succeeds at none of that.

Aside from the concept itself, there's absolutely nothing novel about this. It has a vapid antagonist, inclusive to a totalitarian, more technologically-advanced society. Antithetic to that, is a more 'human', less-technologically advanced society. Both view the other are being the inverse of the other -- both literally in the show's rendition of physics, and figuratively in the values which they hold dear. ... The show's primary theme is acceptance, but because it hosts such a generic cast of characters, and an unconvincingly forced, brusque romance, it does little to make its argument convincing.

The show ultimately raises more questions than it answers. It's labeled as science-fiction, but it does nothing to actually explain what's scientific about it. If science is the process to which facts are discovered through trial and process, then the show's display of science is akin to didactic dogma. If it was the show's intention to be this 'meta' [by juxtaposing the lack of plot with the lack of justification practiced by one of the sides], then by all means, this show ought to be lauded as being revolutionary. In the more likely occasion in which the show was simply sloppily written, it'd ought to be scrutinized.

Nonetheless, despite all that, the show did have a concept with potential. The difference between Eve no Jikan and Sakasama no Patema is that the former show actually had focus, it was actually worth watching outside of its aesthetics. Sakasama no Patema didn't adapt, or write a well-thought out plot as much as it did a spur-of-the-moment draft inspired by a late-night session of methamphetamines tacked on with LSD. The movie presented an ultimate end-game midway through its completion, but it never bothered to end it. If this were an essay, and the prompt was "How to unite all humans", then it'd be akin to having ended it with the line "And that's why I like walruses the best."

In the end of it, the show was nothing more than a pretty display of artistic colors. It's artsy in its display of science, and it's artsy in its plot. It has a generic cast of characters, most of which are somewhat endearing. The development of romance between a certain two individuals seemed tacky, rushed, and undeveloped; it was done for the sake of symbolism. When a work defers verisimilar human sentiments to objective symbolism, then the work becomes nothing more than a brute, showcase of philosophy. While this work was not so egregious in doing so, it certainly didn't help out its characters. Nonetheless, even had the main cast been properly developed outside the cursory glance, the monochromatic antagonist would have invariably ruined an otherwise, varicolored world.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	can someone explain the end to me (spoilers) Scootboi - May 22, 2014	30 replies	by Scootboi »» Nov 13, 4:50 PM
	Poll: Sakasama no Patema Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Takanakaiyo - Oct 12, 2013	247 replies	by YahiyaX777L »» Jul 11, 3:05 AM
	So what exactly is good about this movie? Nyron - Dec 28, 2014	35 replies	by YahiyaX777L »» Jul 11, 2:58 AM
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