Movie
Description
Patema is the main character of the anime film Patema Inverted. She is a teenage girl who lives in a small underground community established by survivors after a failed scientific experiment reversed gravity and caused many people to fall into the sky. Within her village, Patema holds a special position as the daughter of the community's chief, making her something like the settlement's princess, and the other residents regard her as someone who should set an example. Life underground is governed by strict rules, and the most important of these forbids entering the danger zones, the shafts and tunnels that surround the community. No one ever explained to Patema what was actually dangerous about these places, and her intense curiosity makes the forbidden areas her favorite destinations.
In terms of personality, Patema is plucky, open-hearted, and fearless to the point of recklessness. She regularly visits the danger zone without telling anyone and shows little caution, even though her caretaker, the village elder Jii, scolds her for it. Her adventurous streak was shaped by her close friend Lagos, who loved exploring the tunnels and who mysteriously disappeared before the story begins. It was from Lagos that she gained her desire to see new worlds. Despite her rule-breaking, she is warm and sociable, and she is well liked by the people of her village. When she first meets Eiji, the boy from the surface world of Aiga who finds her clinging to a fence, she reacts with suspicion and even anger, but once she is convinced he means her no harm, she quickly comes to trust him and becomes exceptionally attached to him.
Her primary motivation is the desire to discover what lies beyond her known world. Her explorations lead her to fall through a deep shaft and into Aiga, where gravity pulls in the opposite direction relative to her own. From her perspective, she is constantly in danger of falling upward into the sky, and she depends on Eiji to keep her safe. Because their gravities are inverted, holding on to each other makes Eiji lighter and allows the two of them to jump, fall, and move in ways neither could manage alone. This unusual trait becomes central to the story: it enables them to escape from Izamura, the authoritarian ruler of Aiga who wants to capture her, and to float up through what appears to be the sky, only to discover that the sky of Aiga is actually a mechanical ceiling built by humans. Through these events, Patema learns the truth about her world and about the fate of Lagos, whom Izamura had captured and who has since died.
In the story, Patema acts as the catalyst that connects two isolated societies. Her arrival in Aiga forces the surface community to confront the existence of the underground people, and her bond with Eiji becomes a bridge between the two worlds. After escaping captivity, she and Eiji find the flying machine built by Eiji's father and Lagos, and the two confess their love for one another. In the final part of the film, Patema and Eiji return to the underground world together, and the revelation of the true surface of the earth leads the leaders of both communities to agree that their people should work together. At the end, Patema and Eiji stand together looking out over the ruined but open surface world.
Her most important relationships are with Eiji, whose trust and affection grow into a romantic bond; with Porta, a young man from her own village and a close friend who helps Eiji in the attempt to rescue her; with the elder Jii, who acts as her caretaker and repeatedly warns her about the dangers she ignores; and with Lagos, the vanished friend who inspired her adventurous spirit and whose death she eventually comes to understand. Over the course of the film, Patema develops from a carefree rule-breaker into a determined young woman who endures captivity, loss, and persecution, and who ultimately comes to represent the possibility of unity between two divided peoples. Her defining trait throughout is her refusal to stop being curious, and it is that same curiosity that carries her from a small underground village into the wider world.
In terms of personality, Patema is plucky, open-hearted, and fearless to the point of recklessness. She regularly visits the danger zone without telling anyone and shows little caution, even though her caretaker, the village elder Jii, scolds her for it. Her adventurous streak was shaped by her close friend Lagos, who loved exploring the tunnels and who mysteriously disappeared before the story begins. It was from Lagos that she gained her desire to see new worlds. Despite her rule-breaking, she is warm and sociable, and she is well liked by the people of her village. When she first meets Eiji, the boy from the surface world of Aiga who finds her clinging to a fence, she reacts with suspicion and even anger, but once she is convinced he means her no harm, she quickly comes to trust him and becomes exceptionally attached to him.
Her primary motivation is the desire to discover what lies beyond her known world. Her explorations lead her to fall through a deep shaft and into Aiga, where gravity pulls in the opposite direction relative to her own. From her perspective, she is constantly in danger of falling upward into the sky, and she depends on Eiji to keep her safe. Because their gravities are inverted, holding on to each other makes Eiji lighter and allows the two of them to jump, fall, and move in ways neither could manage alone. This unusual trait becomes central to the story: it enables them to escape from Izamura, the authoritarian ruler of Aiga who wants to capture her, and to float up through what appears to be the sky, only to discover that the sky of Aiga is actually a mechanical ceiling built by humans. Through these events, Patema learns the truth about her world and about the fate of Lagos, whom Izamura had captured and who has since died.
In the story, Patema acts as the catalyst that connects two isolated societies. Her arrival in Aiga forces the surface community to confront the existence of the underground people, and her bond with Eiji becomes a bridge between the two worlds. After escaping captivity, she and Eiji find the flying machine built by Eiji's father and Lagos, and the two confess their love for one another. In the final part of the film, Patema and Eiji return to the underground world together, and the revelation of the true surface of the earth leads the leaders of both communities to agree that their people should work together. At the end, Patema and Eiji stand together looking out over the ruined but open surface world.
Her most important relationships are with Eiji, whose trust and affection grow into a romantic bond; with Porta, a young man from her own village and a close friend who helps Eiji in the attempt to rescue her; with the elder Jii, who acts as her caretaker and repeatedly warns her about the dangers she ignores; and with Lagos, the vanished friend who inspired her adventurous spirit and whose death she eventually comes to understand. Over the course of the film, Patema develops from a carefree rule-breaker into a determined young woman who endures captivity, loss, and persecution, and who ultimately comes to represent the possibility of unity between two divided peoples. Her defining trait throughout is her refusal to stop being curious, and it is that same curiosity that carries her from a small underground village into the wider world.