Review of Hello World

“Hello World” is what happens when You decide that mixing the “Inception” and “Paprika” is a good idea… without the skill to write a logical plot. I’ll start with this: the plot doesn't make any logical sense and the deeper we go the more convoluted and nonsensical it becomes. That said, I don't think that the plot is the main appeal of this movie. That honour is reserved for the interactions between the main 2… well… I guess technically it’s 3, (I’ll get to that) main characters. We follow 16 year old Naomi Katagaki. One day he happens to meet himself from the future. Abit on the enigmatic side but the older Katagaki declares that he came to help himself get a girlfriend. Not just any girlfriend. The girlfriend he had and lost due to an accident. The older Katagaki wants to be called “Sensei” so I’ll oblige, it will make it easier. Sensei tells Katagaki, to his shock, that the world he inhabits isn’t the real world. It’s just a record of the past saved in the memory of a super computer called Alltale. Katagaki takes it pretty well and agrees to help. Now Sensei has 3 months to teach Katagaki how to use a special tool to manipulate reality around him and how to get closer to Ruri Ichigyou and how to save her. But not everything is what it seems for both Sensei and Katagaki.

Yeah… I told You it gets needlessly complicated. Let’s meet the cast.

Naomi Katagaki - a 16 year old with passion for books and social skills close to zero. He reads self help book and tries to apply the knowledge in life but he fails everytime.

Ruri Ichigyou - Katagaki’s classmate with a passion for books equal to his own. She’s assertive, reserved and doesn’t let people get too close easily.

Sensei - Naomi Katagaki from 10 years in the future. He’s kind of a dick but the kind You can’t really hate. Despite him having a very specific goal he helps Katagaki out even when it could interfere with it. After losing his Ruri he became obsessed with seeing her again.

To be fair there isn’t much to say about the cast without going into some spoiler heavy ground so I’ll stop with this.

Like I said before the plot is a real train wreck when it comes to logic. Sensei would have achieved his goal even without, or just minimal, interactions with his younger self. But we wouldn't have a movie then so let’s roll with it for now. Sensei’s and Katagaki’s interactions are pretty solid. Sensei starts out as this know it all, holier-than-thou prick prick who guides Katagaki to his perfect girlfriend and doesn’t warn him when he’ll get slapped, only to turn into someone who could actually care for his protégé. He even allows Naomi to make a rather significant change to the past by helping him with his book problem.
Now if You see the problem with the last statement than don’t worry, I’ll get to it.

Katagaki’s and Ichigyou’s interactions are pretty solid as well. They start out as strangers and we actually see how they grow on each other with time. To the point that Katagaki actually wants to save her for himself and not only because he made a deal with Sensei. Yes, it is a bit rushed (It’s only a 97 min movie after all) but at least we get something to justify their affection. Now… across some scenes it’s made obvious that Sensei is a man with a plan, and that plan culminates with a big F-U for Katagaki just second before hi and Ichigyou kiss.

So let’s get down to it… the plot.
It sucks. It makes little to no logical sense and even I had problems with suspending my disbelief. Let’s start with the obvious. Katagaki's world is described as a record, as in a recording. As in something that shouldn't be able to change, let alone interact with and respond to the viewer. It’s not described as an AI simulation or anything that could pretend to make sense. It’s described as a record. And still Sensei couldn't get the info he needed sooner, he just had to take Katagaki for a ride.
That said, the ride in question is the problem in itself. It’s a record, Katagaki and Ichigyou would still get together. Ichigyou doesn’t need to be saved from the accident for Sensei to get what he wants so why even bother?

The second problem is the fact that the movie is divided into two separate arcs with totally different tones. The first one when Sensei guides Katagaki is a pretty solid slice of life with a little bit of drama and comedy. I liked it. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking but the interactions between characters elevated the whole thing. The second is… yeah… it’s a ripoff of the last part of “Paprika '', only worse in every possible way. Basically we go from a dramatic moment that ended the first arc to an action flick that culminates with a battle with a damn kaiju. The reasons for that are so bland and nonsensical that I want to believe that someone lost this part of the script and they had to improvise.

The way the story is resolved is also bad. But it would be a spoiler so I’m gonna just say that my reaction to it was “Seriously? That’s all?” and leave it at that.

The show tries to put a spin on the time travel formula but it fails spectacularly. The plot is easily the worst part of this movie. That said, it's not total garbage. The first arc that focuses on interactions between our main trio is solid. You just need to forget about the needlessly overcomplicated “This is just a record” part of the story. If You can do that, You can actually enjoy a nice heart warming story about two people who realise that they like each other.

The movie isn’t bad, it just wanted to do too much with too little thought put into its plot. That’s why I can’t recommend this with a clear conscience but if You don’t mind the logic and are willing to accept the shitshow that is the second part You can have an enjoyable time with this.