jeannette catsoulis of "the new york times" called the film "delightful" while praising musical score and animation. she also compared "patema inverted" with a 2012 feature film "upside down" (which was using similar plot and main theme) but pointed out that "this 'can we get along?' movie literalizes a physical attraction that acts as a counterargument to the divided worlds' insistence on separation". ("patema inverted" was released as a web animé before "upside down", and they did not influence each other.)