In the backdrop of a very slightly future world of helper robots and robot therapy a violent, fiery plane crash effectively ends the budding romantic lives of Hal and Kurumi. Left alone and without their significant other, Hal wakes up dazed and confused, programmed with a new mindset of a robot sent to comfort "his" former lover. Through their initially reluctant meetings and attempts to make Kurumi happy again, Hal finds something much more beautiful, and much more sad than what his initial purpose had programmed him for.
Using various things left behind in that small button shop Kurumi lives in as clues, Hal does
...
his best to simulate the former Hal as best as he can. Photo albums and short messages written on Rubik's cubes are his main ways of connecting to the now reclusive Kurumi. With each short exchange, they start to open up to one another, sharing in their pains of loss and memories of a once happy life. With each side of the Rubik's cube solved, each bearing a different message and a different color, everything culminates in a beautiful ending of growing closer to one another, no matter what the source.
"Hal" is a short film that packs into it a myriad of emotions of love and loss that gives viewers glimpses of the lives of Hal and Kurumi before and after the plane crash. After shutting herself in her room, Kurumi seems to spend much of her time trying to fix a broken red video camera that taped moments of her and Hal's lives, some memories flattering and others painful. Seeing the past shows us that things were not rose colored and perfect, but sometimes troubled. Overcoming these obstacles and growing closer is the heart of this film.
The story is like a puzzle, leaving us as confused as Hal at first. Through those disjointed recordings of the past, and as Kurumi fixes the video camera, these scenes become more complete and raise certain questions. Loose points and fuzzy details rise that do not seem to make much sense, but every little detail comes together brilliantly in a dazzling conclusion that reveals much about the story behind the story. It is like how the characters love solving Rubik's cubes, how with each completed face of the puzzle the overall picture becomes clearer, another message is revealed, and another beloved memory is remembered once more. It is a game of puzzles that leaves viewers playing the game with Hal all the way until the very end.
However, not everything is fleshed out and not everything is made clear. There is a much darker side to "Hal's" world that the film hints at but never really goes into depth with. The only clue is Hal's hated memories of being poor and his experiences as a child. Given more time, the film could have created another aspect of the future world the characters live in to bring up more points about the conflict that robots bring. In fact, the robot aspect plays such a minor part that much of the film would be unchanged if they were suddenly taken out. Even so, this is a way for the story to bring in the interesting aspect of questioning what would happen if a loved one was suddenly replaced by a robot that looks exactly like them.
The film is a visually pleasing swirl of colors and reflections, light and dark, old and new. The setting is gorgeous, with the sun shining and entering the lonely button shop that Kurumi lives in. Even though this story takes place in the near future, there are still traditional buildings, customs, and a festival parading through the modern town. The water illuminates, the trees shade the light, and everything seems to flow. The film looks very crisp and colorful. The most stunning scene, where everything ties together, is a wonderful display of fantastical light and reflecting waters.
Accompanying the film is a pleasant soundtrack that accents the mood the film creates, that of hope and comfort, of regaining the past. The voice cast is excellent, with some of my favorites playing the characters. The ending song is Owaranai Uta by Yoko Hikasa, who plays Kurumi. It is a wonderfully bittersweet song that adds a sense of completeness to the film. All the way until the last note, viewers are still playing the game with Hal.
"Hal" is an enjoyable, romantic story of finding the past and growing closer to one another. Accepting our flaws and less savory parts is another step towards love and understanding. It can end abruptly, it can end violently, it can end unfairly, but learning to move on afterwards and taking comfort in fond memories is our way to cope with the ever painful reality of loss.
Just like solving a puzzle, solving each part and filling in the blanks, this story completes a picture of memories, both good and bad, of the precious time that we spend with our loved ones.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Haru
Japanese: ハル
More titlesInformation
Type:
Movie
Episodes:
1
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jun 8, 2013
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
Wit Studio
Source:
Original
Duration:
1 hr.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#24952
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#1683
Members:
149,178
Favorites:
379
Available AtResourcesStreaming PlatformsMay be unavailable in your region. | Reviews
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Your Feelings Categories Dec 25, 2013
In the backdrop of a very slightly future world of helper robots and robot therapy a violent, fiery plane crash effectively ends the budding romantic lives of Hal and Kurumi. Left alone and without their significant other, Hal wakes up dazed and confused, programmed with a new mindset of a robot sent to comfort "his" former lover. Through their initially reluctant meetings and attempts to make Kurumi happy again, Hal finds something much more beautiful, and much more sad than what his initial purpose had programmed him for.
Using various things left behind in that small button shop Kurumi lives in as clues, Hal does ... Dec 22, 2013
What constitutes true love? The answer is simple. Working towards understanding one another and growing closer to each other through the process. Hal is not your typical romance show, but instead, strays from the norm by bringing touching on the post-romance theme, which seems to be taboo in anime nowadays.
[POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW: I have refrained from spoilers as much as possible. Read at your own risk.] Story & Setting The setting of the story is slightly into the future, where robots and other more advanced electronics are common place. In a mere hour, HAL demonstrates the cycle of what was a regular relationship turned bad through the ... Apr 4, 2015
Hal is a love story between a robot and a human. Kurumi had lost her lover, Hal, in a plane explosion. Since then, she had shut herself in due to depression. A doctor (and friend of Kurumi's), along with Hal's grandfather, get a robot to help Kurumi. The robot takes Hal's place, in appearance and name, and goes to reach out to Kurumi and hope to reforge a relationship between Hal and Kurumi.
The art, done at Wit Studio (known now for Attack on Titan) is phenomenal in this movie (as you can see in the image). The scenery, the character design, and pretty much everything ... Dec 22, 2013
I have read the manga for HAL and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I had high expectations when I watched the movie and I must say they were met.
Story:9 Although categorised as a romance I wouldn't say that it's your average romance story. It's got a few moments in the film that have you going "aw" but I wouldn't say romance is the number one aspect of the film. I'd say it has more of a psychological feel to it that is a nice contrast against the slight shoujo side to the film. Art:10 I love the art. Sakisaka Io helped with the character design and ... Apr 4, 2014
Yo, just finished watching "Hal" and wanted to give you some thoughts about it.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not doing this review spoilerfree so if you do not want to get spoiled skip the parts that I mark as *SPOILER* ^^ Story: The story starts off without much explanation. You see a robot/android lay in the water trying to catch some fish, so naturally, you think it's set somewhere in the future. Robot gets called out by some old guy who after the android arrived gets mail and a plane explodes above them and the old guy looks like he's having a heartattack or sth. Then the movie cuts ... Jun 18, 2016
For all those who never heard of Hal before,it's a sci-fiction romance film released in 2013 overshadowed by another excellent work Garden of Words which was released in the same year.
About the plot- The story takes place in a technologically advanced society in which robots can be programmed to behave like a complete human. After a tragic plane accident, a robot, also known as Q01, is sent to a small Japanese town to help a person who just lost a loved one. While trying to heal the melancholic heart, the past of the couple is unearthed. The story is quite ordinary and easy to watch but ... Sep 12, 2014
The best way to describe Hal is that the movie starts off great, then it has to add something that nearly wrecks the quality of the film. The movie is focused around a robot who is able to take on the human form of a man named Hal, the lover of a young woman named Kurumi who is still emotionally recovering from the loss of the human Hal who was killed in a plane accident. She is distrustful of the robot Hal at first for taking on the form of her dead lover, until she slowly starts trusting him and the robot wishes to learn
...
May 25, 2014
What would you do if your beloved one dies? Probably go into isolation or try to cope with life, in this case its the former.
Story: 8 - When Kurumi's beloved passes away in a accident she isolates herself from the world. And that's when a scientist creates a android who looks exactly like her loved one so that she can crawl out of her room and open her heart again but there's still an unsaid truth. It's nothing original except that you add a android which gives this story a different point of view from romance. That makes this story like a lightly blowing breeze ... Feb 15, 2015
Story: I like the idea, even though it's a really common one but in terms of execution and presentation it's well done. The beauty of the movie is that it flows in a slow-paced manner, with small little details and symbols portrayed as a key to sort out the misunderstandings and problems between the two main characters and lastly the climactic plot twist adds up to the flavour, altogether it is enjoyable and heart-touching. So 7/10.
Art: The character design the animation, the clarity and the quality all are superb so a solid 9/10. Sound: The music was fine, could've been better. So 6/10. Character: All the characters ... Dec 22, 2013
Ok to start off, This is my first time writing a review and i will try to keep it spoiler free as much as possible.
Enjoyment I Enjoyed Hal thoroughly, It was an hour well spent watching this movie, Though even after finishing it, It didn't leave a bitter taste. Story Hal starts off kinda slow but in the 1 hour of time you get to watch, It starts to move very quickly, The Story wasn't you average A to B Romance that you would regularly see, I would say more about the story but you will have to watch it for yourselves to understand. Characters The Characters had a decent ... Dec 16, 2014
From the studio behind Attack on Titan, comes their first ever anime film Hal. A film that at first may seem like your typical romance story, but once going into it, you'll find that it's a much bigger story than you can imagine. But how big can a film that's only a single hour long can be?
Story: Set in near future where robots and other technology are part of everyday life, we center around a robot named Hal, who's assigned to perform "Robot Therapy" on a girl named Kurumi, who recently lost her boyfriend in a fatal plane accident. Taking the form of her old ... Mar 14, 2014
A pretty short review for a short anime film. I'm sure I will be receiving a lot of hate for this review but let me just write honestly what i have in mind. I won't be adding poetic story summaries and shit so I'll just get to the point immediately.
I have read A LOT OF SHOUJO MANGA(s) so i could tell that Hal's plot is actually pretty common and plain. The typical save someone's miserable soul kind of film. I know i'm starting off with a bit negative choice of words but don't get me wrong, i don't hate it one bit. You see with ... Apr 3, 2016
A beautiful movie about love, loss, and life.
I watched this movie because I saw an amv using it, and was curious. I wish I'd known about it sooner. This movie explores love and the painful truths about life without dwelling so deep in the pain you feel you can't go on, and the ending is worth the price you pay to get there. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say this. The movie is set in a 'futuristic' Kyoto. To those who've been to Kyoto you'll recognize the streets, the beautiful mountains, and the lovely people. Just add robots and slightly ... Aug 16, 2014
Hal is both unique and dry at the same time.
If you're looking for a dry movie that'll pick up with a very unique & surprising twist that will make you think about your life then this is your movie. - Now why am I calling this movie unique AND dry? Well let's go into WHY IT'S DRY 1st. I found it VERY hard to watch this movie straight without pausing. In fact, it took me an entire day to watch this because I just got so bored with the story line. If I didn't know the twist already, I would've stopped watching maybe about...10-15 minutes in??? I LOVE romance Animes. ... Feb 17, 2014
I just watched this anime after reading the manga since i found out that there is actually a movie.
This movie is probably the best movie i've ever watched. The story line is absolutely unexpected(basically sobbing and weeping ugh). I am quite sad with Haru's past though. I enjoyed it very much although i'm not really a fan of robotsxhumans. It is a masterpiece and i was sobbing till the last end (yupyup.) It is very touching, and painful. This anime/manga shows that love cant be broken as long as you have faithfulness in each other. Overall; 10+++/10 Oct 5, 2014
The show starts out rather strange with a plane suddenly exploding over a quiet little town. Then they suddenly talk about a boy named Hal who had passed away and a girl who seemed to be his girlfriend is taking it pretty hard. To me, this beginning just feels like it was a promo for the show instead of the actual show because we don’t really get any information at all. We can speculate what’s going on, but that’s all. We don’t get a full picture of what is actually happening. And then we have a robot that becomes human in order to help the
...
Jun 24, 2015
This will be a short review because it is impossible for me to write a long one without including any spoilers.
After watching this movie once through, you will be compelled to watch the movie a second time through a different lens. The story is really unique and although I can usually predict what happens in most stories, I didn't see that curveball coming. Enjoyment: A very well-crafted (and imo, coherent) story, an ending that may not sit well with some, interesting characters, pulls at your heartstrings. Dec 23, 2013
After watching this anime I was stunned by the the plot twist of this anime
It is one of the best of its genre. Story: 9/10 The story for me was your basic forbidden love between human and robots and it was not new to me but after watching. It really separates its self from the other romance, sci-fi anime from the beginning to the end it was amazing. ... Feb 25, 2019
The story has been extremely unique I have never seen any anime or movie with such a premise to it, and the ending was such a surprise it honestly blew my mind I wasn't expecting it at all which I really liked about it.
The art style was nice and smooth and not over the top, it allowed you see how the characters would see the world they live in and see the people around them. The sound was extraordinary, when outside hearing people on the road, and when inside only hearing noise from inside the house never had noticed it before either. The characters their backstory ... Mar 26, 2016
Warning: spoilers ahead
So I just finished watching Hal and it was pretty great. However, as I was watching I couldn’t help but wonder a few things. It wasn’t quite enough to break my suspension of disbelief, but I do wish they had addressed them. For example, if they’re a robot, how are they feeling emotions? Considering emotions are simply the result of chemicals in our brains… You could argue that they transplanted the brain into the robot, but then how did they connect it? As I said, not enough to break my suspension of disbelief, but things I do wish they had addressed. Maybe if ... |


