Imagine a cave where people have been imprisoned from childhood.
These prisoners are chained so that their legs and necks are fixed, forcing them to gaze at the wall in front of them and not look around at the cave, each other, or themselves.
Behind them is a large bonfire, and between the two there's a walkway where things that get placed on it appear as shadows on the wall in front of the prisoners.
These shadows are cast from people, animals, objects, many things that constitute our reality in their wide variety of colors and details. However, for the prisoners who can only see their shadows, those generic dark figures are "reality" because they have never seen anything else; they do not realize that what they see are shadows of objects in front of a fire, much less that these objects are inspired by real living things outside the cave.
Suppose one prisoner is able to escape. Suppose he's dragged out from the cave by someone.
At first he will feel the pain of the sunlight hurting his eyes, he won't be able to see anything, he will hate this outside world and hate the one who dragged him out.
Slowly, his eyes adjust to the light of the sun. First he can only see shadows. Gradually he can see the reflections of people and things in water and then later see the people and things themselves. Eventually he would realize this is the real world, these are the real things. With that notion in mind, he would try to return to the cave and share his findings with the others prisoners.
However, the returning prisoner, whose eyes have become acclimated to the light of the sun, would be blind when he re-enters the cave, just as he was when he was first exposed to the sun. The prisoners would infer from the returning man's blindness that the journey out of the cave had harmed him and that they should not undertake a similar journey, reacting with violence towards anyone who tried to drag them out of the cave.
Popularly known as the Allegory of the Cave, the short story above is a condensed version of one from the many dialogues Plato wrote in his work The Republic. It studies the effects of education in a society and how the human mind is conditioned to fear the unknown and often reject it. Today, it stands as one of the basis of modern philosophy and every graduation student will likely work with it. However, as many complex interpretations it may create, its message still can be read and understood by anyone.
That's one of the strongest points of Plato's work and that is the connection I wish to make with this anime.
If one sees many science fiction works (classic or modern, futuristic or contemporaneous) through philosophical lens, it becomes clear that they are basically allegories. Allegories of our society, our way of life and our thoughts projected into interstellar beings and steampunk technology. They start from a simple, yet strong, moral as foundation for the story-line and surround it with epic (in the true meaning of the word) Sci-Fi plot elements, immersing the audience into a distant world that yet seems so similar to ours. Finally when it's over, there's this lingering feeling that it taught you something but it's hard telling how and when did it happen.
That's Patema Inverted.
Patema's story is yet another revisit of Plato's cave, embellished by the cutest female protagonist it could possibly have, fun with physics and set in a dystopian future which sometimes seems to have advanced technology and sometimes doesn't.
Plato's allegory has a couple of main elements to it. The prisoners, the people outside the cave, those who create the shadows and the cave itself. All of these exist in this movie, it's now up to you finding who is who and which is which.
Overall, it's a great script. Minor flaws, no loose ends and a clear progression that makes for a comfy afternoon watch but nothing memorable to be reminiscent in years to come. Its strongest point is the development of the relationship between Patema and Age, two brave younglings who overcome each their own society's prejudice to help its fellow man (or girl, in this case) with the typical naive bravery of the martyr hero, making it hard not to fall for them.
This great development, however, is butchered by the most one-dimensional cardboard antagonist one could imagine. It simply feels as if the writing team just worked so hard on the setting and progression for the MC that they forgot how it integrated with their surrounding, resulting into a villain with no bigger goals or any excuse for its attitudes aside from being "a bad guy".
Was there even a need for a villain in this story? They could've worked it in some many ways without the need for a Judas, but unfortunately didn't.
On the upside though, it's very interesting how writers managed to use the now-repetitive "secluded society" theme in a refreshing setting. It deviates from the usual underground setting common on many titles such as TTGL and City of Ember and introduces a world where there's literally inverted people. Think gravity, no spoilers.
This was surprisingly well executed in the physics department with only a few acceleration flaws to be accounted for.
Story and its merits aside, the artwork is neat with some very detailed background and gorgeous sky/horizon shots. The way they worked with perspective is very curious to say the least, and there are some scenes that will definitely drive those with vertigo insane.
Utter respect for the crew responsible for particles animation as that must've been a nightmare.
This simple yet careful drawing tied with a very emotional OST does make of Patema a noteworthy experience. Michiru Oshima (same woman who did the music for Sora no Woto) delivers again with a great selection of instrumental pieces and a strong ending theme.
Reason I bring up Sora no Woto is that, those who watched it will recall that the final ending theme was somewhat peculiar. "Servante de feu", by musician Matthieu Ladouce was in french, nothing more fitting for a series that mixes up a bunch of international elements than an international song.
The same happens this time, as "Patema Inverse" by Estelle Micheau is in no other language than Esperanto. An international constructed auxiliary language, created with the objective to make easier the communication between people no matter the nationality. Perfect for a movie which teaches about solidarity and cooperation.
Likely the biggest hit by Yasuhiro Yoshiura this far, as Eve no Jikan and Pale Cocoon continue to be somewhat of underspoken series, Sakasama no Patema is definitely a solid watch be it for its philosophical undertones, creative camera perspective or simply the "love knows no borders" romance.
A bit cliché? Sure, but as fantasy mimics reality, life also can be cliché at times.
