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 they’d had more time, who knows.
Story: 8/10
The story really good, with decent pacing. It started out slow and revealed more and more as the plot progressed. And that twist. I am about to start talking about the twist, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading. Okay, so apparently it was Kurumi who was the robot, not Hal. Which was really fucking great. When Hal’s friend was like “let us sell her” I was like “wtf” and then they revealed that she was the robot and my head exploded. But that got me thinking, how come Kurumi acted weird in the beginning of the movie. I distinctly remember her saying “I don’t remember asking for a robot that looked exactly like Hal”. It’s like the plot sort of forgot that she said that. Not a huge big deal, since the rest of the dialogue and events worked fine with that twist. You’d also think Hal would notice she was a robot when he heard the electronics moving? And how did they simulate the softness of her skin. I’m about 90% sure she didn’t feel like plastic or he would have noticed something. And why didn’t she sort out when she was in the water? I very clearly saw little bits of wire sticking out. Either way cool twist and interesting plot.
Characters: 7/10
The only characters that really mattered were Hal, Kurumi, and Ryuu. Although Ryuu didn’t get much development, he was a fun character and it was nice to see his easygoing attitude disappear when he was worried about his friend dying. It gave the impression that he actually cares a lot about people underneath that happy mask. Hal and Kurumi didn’t get that much development either, although we learned about their past together. Hal was the caring boyfriend, except he wasn’t in the past. They seemed to fight a lot, and we saw Kurumi’s wish that he would stop using violence. So he wasn’t always Mr. Nice Guy. Kurumi the least interesting character. She loved Hal and that was about the end of her personality. She was almost but not quite a prop. I guess you could say she was very ROBOTIC! No? Not funny? Okay.
Art: 8/10
The art was decent, but not spectacular. I actually saw a few people complaining about the artwork, which I didn’t get at all. Oh well, different tastes I suppose. Everything seemed slightly textured. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it looked really cool. I wish more anime were colored like this one.
Sound: 6/10
The only reason this isn’t getting lower is because of the crying. The voice actors did a fantastic job with the crying, especially Ryuu’s. The music was unspectacular, as is evidenced by the fact that I can’t remember any of it and I’m writing this literally right after I finished the movie.
So, should you watch Hal? I say yes. It’s a very touching movie, even if it does have its flaws. The music and voice acting wasn’t amazing, but it was made up for by the plot and the twist about 3/4 of the way through the movie. The dramatic scenes were very dramatic and had me biting my nails throughout. It might be a little bit slow for some people, but I thought it was fantastic.
