Patema Inverted

Sometimes, I think it is just a damn shame the GF doesn`t like watching cartoons, anime or other more `geeky` orientated things.

Patema Inverted, of which I got the deluxe edition through last year`s Kickstarter program, co-organised by the NEO magazine, is without a doubt one of the most beautifully made and intense stories I saw in anime the last years.

From Wikipedia:

Patema is from a civilization that lives in a system of tunnels and caverns deep underground. She likes to go exploring the world outside her village, despite being frequently warned of a mysterious danger that supposedly exists out there. While looking around in the "danger zone", Patema is confronted by a figure standing on the ceiling, upside-down. She falls into a deep pit, and finds herself on the surface world, above ground, where she meets a boy named Age ("Eiji" in the original Japanese version). They discover that the effect of gravity is reversed for Patema's people; to Age, Patema is upside-down, while from Patema's perspective, Age and his entire world are upside-down, which puts her in great danger of falling up into the sky. The two form a strong bond of friendship, but to the leadership of Age's society, the "inverted" are an abomination. Together the pair begin to uncover the secret mutual past of their two worlds and the truth of how they came to be separated.

It is a story of trust and faith, of friendship and exploring.  This isn`t a die hard action film or a monster flick, it isn`t a mecha, no, it is the story of two young souls finding each other in a world where their relative civilisations are diametrically opposed to each other.

If you get the chance to watch this, do this, but expect to have a lump in your throat at the end and reflect on the current day world situation...