Hal

Kurumi is a beautiful young woman whose beloved boyfriend, Hal, died in a sudden airplane accident. Left heartbroken and gloomy, she isolates herself in a small house. But this soon comes to change when her grandfather requests the help of a humanoid robot named Q01.

Taking on the appearance of Hal, Q01 is sent to Kurumi's house in order to save her from her state of despair. As Hal returns day after day and increases his efforts, Kurumi, despite her initial reluctance, slowly begins to open up to him and break free from her depression. But there is more to Hal than meets the eye, and these two will soon learn an unexpected truth about this relationship between a human and an android.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hal Main

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Kurumi Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Ryuu Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Sadao Supporting

Tsukiko Supporting

Mayama, Ako Japanese

Aranami Supporting

Tsuji, Shinpachi Japanese

Tokio Supporting

Ooki, Tamio Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Wada, Jouji Producer

Nakatake, Tetsuya Producer

Kinoshita, Tetsuya Producer

Reviews

Dec 25, 2013

TheArchangel

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 2, 2016

jprspereira

Mixed Feelings

(1:30mins QUICK AND SPOILER FREE REVIEW! - Because your time matters to me)


I really enjoyed the synopsis when I read it for the first time: a girl called Kurumi loses her boyfriend on a plane crash but thanks to incredible robotic technology, she gets a robot identical to her boyfriend. The goal here is to Kurumi to find the confort and love that she once felt.

Knowing this, the question that you're probably thinking is: How can both Kurumi and the robot (Hal) grow their relationship? How can they find love when one is a robot and the other had gone through such a tragic ... experience as losing her boyfriend in a terrible accident? Now that's what makes you want to watch this movie.

Only that it wasn't something like that. I consider myself a romantic guy but I didn't "aww" even once in this movie. Almost no time was given between Hal and Kurumi to develop feelings for one another. The movie was mainly Hal doing random stuff with people from the village. Such a disaster. Oh, what a great word to describe this movie: a disaster.

I didn't give a lower score because the Sound was good enough and the Art was on point, kinda like a better version of Ao haru Ride's art for those that know that anime. That's what saved this movie. There was a good twist at the nearly end of the movie that really got my attention. Here again, I saw some potential. And then it faded away. They did nothing significant with this twist.

If you tolerate lackness of story and just wish to watch something quick (1h), go for it. But if you're expecting something good from this movie, don't be. I find it very difficult to agree with other reviewers on this. This is just lost potential at it's best.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 9, 2017

kokuborou

Not Recommended

HAL review

This movie was a total disappointment in both characters and story aspects .The concept and idea was good but the execution and rushed pace made it worse.

The story is about losing a person who is dear to you and the movie portrays the human drama behind that loss. The only problem is the execution of the plot and character interaction.
The rushed pace that the movie uses , instead of making the viewer accommodate with the story and characters , all of the emotions and drama is lost on the way leaving no impact or message.

The characters are poorly written , we ... can’t get to know them and understand their sufferings because the movie doesn’t tell us nothing about them. They are thrown into our faces and used as plot devices for the progression of the story. For example the relation between HAL and Kurumi who is the main focus in the movie , the execution and the way it’s delivered as a human drama aspect for the viewer, fails it’s expectations and potential.This happens because the movie doesn’t explore the characters background story enough, we are shown only pieces of the puzzle but those pieces are not entirely connected to the story or serve a purpose for the human drama theme.

The transition between different aspects of the human drama is rushed and all of the emotions is lost . For example when HAL tries to help Kurumi and cheers her up , the anime doesn’t take a natural pace to form a bond between those two instead all happens in a instant and we are left with a lot of questions and a sour taste of disappointment.

In conclusion I was disappointed in the execution of the story and plot because of the rushed pace, the poorly written characters who I couldn’t get to know them well both on story and emotional state , a lot of unexplained plot holes and finally the focus on the human drama aspect that lacked a strong impact and message to me as a viewer.

Overall 4/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Aug 1, 2016 9:00 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (14 comments)

	Poll: Hal Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Dec 21, 2013	205 replies	by waalex11 »» Sep 13, 2023 2:28 PM
	Worth watching? adityasingh2705 - Jul 14, 2021	7 replies	by wiiztec »» Apr 25, 2023 3:52 AM
	Plot twist [Spoler] Allen_014 - Aug 12, 2021	3 replies	by SlammyHammy »» May 19, 2022 9:10 PM
	I think I didn't understand the final, explain me please b1GZZ - Dec 31, 2013	14 replies	by aydentheweeb »» Mar 7, 2021 1:07 PM
	Hal - Subbed or Dubbed? tayssi - Mar 3, 2016	5 replies	by JNSky »» Dec 13, 2018 5:51 AM