2001, 136 minutes, Japanese

Ever since the death of his mistress Xian, Palme - a robot made of a mystic wood that is said to absorb the very memories of the civilisations it roots in - has lain dormant, with no reason to live. One day, he awakens to the presence of a wounded female warrior named Koram, whom he mistakes for Xian. Koram is forced to entrust her mission to him to bring the Egg of Touto, a mysterious artifact, to Tamas, the world below. On his journey, Palme meets Popo, a girl with whom he eventually falls in love. Determined at last with a purpose in life, and learning of the importance of the artefact he carries, Palme resolves to complete his mission and exchange the artefact to the Tree of Life for his humanity. But, the Tree and others have darker purposes for the artefact - and, certain that the completion of Palme's mission would destroy the world, the people of Tamas would do anything to stop him.

It has been ten years in the planning, and five years for Mr. Nakamura to make this film since his directorial debut in the wonderfully imaginative Totsuzen! Neko no kuni Banipal Witt ("Catnapped!", 1995). Born in Yamaguchi prefecture in 1955, Mr. Nakamura debuted as an animation director with Gold Lightan the Gold Warrior in 1981. He animated OTOMO Katsuhiro's design in Armageddon: The Great Battle with Genma (Rintaro, 1983). As an animator, his work in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (MIYAZAKI Hayao, 1984) led to his landing the role as chief animation director and doing astounding work in the critically-acclaimed "Akira" (OTOMO Katsuhiro, 1988). In his first animated feature film Catnapped! , Mr. Nakamura was responsible for five principle production roles: story conception, original screenplay, character design, animation director, and director. This is his second animated feature film.