It was the colors and big eyes that initially drew me to watch a trailer for this film on Youtube, but it was the story that made me pay $3.99 on Amazon to watch it. At first, I thought I should just watch it subbed for free on Youtube in 480p, but I'm glad I rejected that idea and paid money to watch it English dubbed in HD because it really made the experience for me. Reading subtitles is an extra step in perceiving visual imagery and it's helpful when you can bypass that with a dub that's in your language. For this film, I appreciated it all the more because I was able to focus heavily on the setting, atmosphere, and characters.
In terms of character, I really like Hal a lot because he lives like the world is new to him. There seem to be many things he doesn't understand and he ventures through each day as a child would; making little mistakes along the way. His bright and expressive blue eyes retained my attention right away and lead me deeper into his character when I could read his reactions.
I did not care much for Kurumi because she was hiding in a closet most of the time, but I was intrigued by the peculiar things she did inside the closet. For a long time, she would not come out so this allowed for some touching interactions to occur between her and Hal.
Overall, the art was very pretty, but it was the characters that drove the story home and made this movie enjoyable for me. I only wish it was an hour and a half longer. :)
