First out of my birthday stack of DVDs: Patema Inverted (otherwise known as Sakasama no Patema)

My rating: ----- (That's 5/5; I'm using moons in place of stars.)

This a fantastic achievement. Straight away you're awestruck by the backdrops, full of rust, pipes and vastness; then you're captured by the attention to detail in the animation and how well they've captured their world on film.

I hadn't heard much about the director or studio prior to watching it, so I only carried minimal expectations with me. I thought it would probably be a fairly standard, ~tiresome amateur ride, waterlogged with tiresome anime tropes and slow moving in the water; but it wasn't! It wasn't either a simple animated reboot of the American film released the year before, ‘Upside Down’ (which you might know instead).

Overall, it had no trouble keeping itself afloat; the music was cleverly constructed, the story paced out by an experienced hand and the artwork to die for. The plot itself was unashamedly confusing, but made for a nice ride regardless; for those who wanted to understand how it was crafted, there was a coded letter at the end for you to unscramble in your own time.

Overall, Patema Inverted is a fantastic film that I'm proud to dock with my other films; it's as fantastic as a Studio Ghibli favourite, but as unique as Pom Poko. Look out for more from this team!