Upside Down and Underrated Anime: Patema Inverted Explained
Patema Inverted: Gravity, Gaslighting, and Plot Holes
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Patema Inverted isn’t your average sci-fi anime.
It’s the 2013 embodiment of high-concept, low-execution, occasionally gorgeous, and entirely obsessed with the idea of literally flipping you upside down to teach you a Very Important Lesson™.
And honestly? I respect the hustle, even if some of it doesn’t really make much sense if you pay too much attention to some scenes.
This is your all-access pass to the anime weirdness that is Patema Inverted: the themes, the visuals, the societal commentary, and yes, an in-depth explanation at the end for those of you brave (or inverted) enough to keep reading.
I did hide the spoiler ending though, so no worries – you won’t accidently spoil anything for yourself by continuing on. Let’s get into it.
Gravity Schmavity: The Plot
Some science experiment blew up ages ago and split humanity into two groups: regular people and what we’ll generously call “gravitationally challenged.” One group walks right-side up, the other plummets toward the sky if they’re not hanging onto something.
Image: Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | GKIDS | Kodansha
You’d think that would lead to inter-dimensional peace or at least Olympic-level acrobatics. Instead, it’s fascism, tunnels, and a metric ton of awkward teenage romance.
Patema, the underground princess with the heart of a golden retriever, ends up floating into the clutches of Age (or Eiji, depending on the subs/dub), a surface boy who hates his authoritarian school system almost as much as we do.
Their accidental meet-cute sparks a cross-gravity rebellion. Kind of.
The World(s): Tunnel Dwellers vs. Sky-Fearing Cultists
There are two main factions: the underground folk, who wear cloaks, avoid sunlight like 45 year old Reddit moderators that hide in their mothers’ basements, and live in a rusted maze of tunnels…and the surface people, governed by a bootlicking regime that literally worships/fears… gravity?
Image: Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | GKIDS | Kodansha
The underground crew treats falling as a risk but a fact of life. The surface people? They treat “inverts” like witches in Salem – burn them, stone them, and banish them into the shadow realm while you’re at it.
If that sounds unsubtle, that’s because it is.
Aiga (the surface nation) is basically 1984 with anti-sky sentiments. Their leader, Izamura, is so cartoonishly evil you’d think he was rejected from a lesser One Piece arc.
Characters: Great Potential, Mid Execution
Patema is one of those characters that starts off spunky and then gets sidelined into Damsel Mode the moment the plot needs rescuing. She’s curious, brave, and entirely too forgiving of a world that would quite literally yeet her into orbit.
Age is your classic anime boy: dead dad, angst, and a heart of gold buried under layers of “I hate this society.” He’s fine. Not great, not bad…just standardly mid.
Image: Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | GKIDS | Kodansha
And then there’s Izamura, who reads like a Twitter thread on authoritarianism turned into a human being. Zero nuance. All mad mustache twirl. His entire existence revolves around hating gravity-inverted people because…reasons.
Childhood trauma? Jealousy? An allergy to excessive depth?
Also, shoutout to Jaku, the one guy with a half-functioning brain. He changes sides halfway through, but honestly, that seems to be more about convenience than character development.
The Science: Shut Up and Float
Let’s not pretend this movie cares about real physics.
The gravity stuff is a narrative gimmick. It looks great in vertical chase scenes, creates some funderful optical illusions, and gives the animators an excuse to go full Inception with cityscapes. But don’t dig too deep, or you’ll end up like Patema: dangling in midair while the plot refuses to explain itself.
Image: Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | GKIDS | Kodansha
There’s no explanation for how gravity selectively applies, or why certain places don’t just collapse under the weight of inverted mass.
Just don’t ask questions and vibe.
Visuals: Stunning (If You Ignore the Characters)
Background art? Chef’s kiss.
Seriously, the industrial ruins, the moody shafts of light, the vertigo-inducing skyline flips…this movie looks good enough to frame on your wall. The character animation, though, is a bit…wobbly? Like someone handed the budget to the background artist and forgot the rest of the team existed.
Image: Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | GKIDS | Kodansha
Still, it nails the feeling of spatial disorientation. You feel like you’re in a world where up and down are optional and you’ll find yourself trying to mentally alter your perception to sympathize with the characters – and that’s no small feat.
Themes Beating You Over the Head with Meaning
The big idea here, in my opinion, is “understanding different perspectives,” which is noble enough until it’s force-fed like a PSA. The movie desperately wants you to grasp that discrimination bad, oppression sucks, and fascists are the worst.
It’s basically a dystopian after-school special with funderful gravity tricks.
Pros & Cons Recap of Patema Inverted
What Works
Gorgeous environmental art
Vertigo-inducing perspective shifts
A sci-fi premise with actual intrigue
Fast pacing that doesn’t overstay its welcome
Surprisingly good if you don’t think too hard
Image: Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | GKIDS | Kodansha
What Just Doesn't
Flat characters with cookie-cutter arcs
Villains with less depth than a puddle
Gravity science so hand-wavy it might as well be magic
Exposition dumps instead of natural storytelling
The entire second half being a recycled rescue mission
SPOILER WARNING: Okay, Let's Talk About That Ending
Click for Ending Discussion spoilers
Still here? Cool. Because the ending of Patema Inverted is where things get…wild.
Izamura, our super-lovable fascist lunatic, gets a taste of his own medicine and is yeeted into the sky and has a floating machine dropped on his dome, never to be seen again.
It’s karmic, it’s cathartic, and it’s hilariously abrupt.
The final twist?
Image: Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | GKIDS | Kodansha
The surface we thought was the “top” was actually built underground and it comes to light that Age’s people are the true inverts. I would say that the chain of events that lead to this conclusion is:
- Everyone lived on the surface in an advanced, technological society until a gravity experiment floated 99% of civilization into the sky.
- This epic failure of science left two groups: Age’s inverted ancestors and Patema’s magically-not-inverted-ancestors. Both of which basically have sky-induced PTSD from the gravity event.
- The both burrow to the “safety” of the underground out of fear and create the inverted world using *the power of science* – fake hot sun, fake weather, etc., but Patema’s ancestors and Age’s ancestors have a falling out, potentially due to disagreements over the use of science or maybe the fake sky was just too close to the real thing that they dread.
- They part ways and, without reliable digital record keeping and probably corrupt leadership that doesn’t want to take accountability, the truth of what happened is lost to both groups over time.
- Which just kinda leads into the beginning of the movie, where everyone thinks that their perspective is the correct one and enough time has passed where some members of each of the groups starts questioning their way of life and becomes curious about what’s beyond their world.
The real ending of the movie is simply putting together what happened in the past and takes a little bit of mental gymnastics to get there, admittedly. After finding the true surface at the end, it’s left to the audience to surmise what’s going to happen between the two groups – but really – who cares?
This was all about the journey and I am ok with that.
Final Verdict: Watch Patema Inverted
Patema Inverted is a rare kind of anime: one that swings for the fences with unique sci-fi ideas, gorgeous visuals, and a narrative that mostly sticks the landing (even if the characters don’t).
It’s not perfect. But it’s interesting, weird, and occasionally beautiful in ways that other anime are too afraid to be.
If you like your dystopias loud, your metaphors blunt, and your gravity negotiable…you should definitely watch Patema Inverted.
Just don’t think too hard. That’s how you end up inverted.
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