Review of Hello World

TLDR Version: Definitely solid at the very least, some stylistic choices may sway certain viewers, however. 8/10 for me. Let me set this up with the mindset I had going into this movie: It was one of the few movies that were to be screened in my country so I had my eye on news surrounding it. Nulbarich performed OST for the movie so I was stoked about that, visuals seemed pretty good, theme was something I like. As the movie began screening in other countries, I saw more and more very bad reviews and since the main arguments were imaginable my expectations dropped significantly. Nowthat any biases are declared, let's get into the review:

Story: 7/10
The story might be complex and fantastic to some, but I found that it generally holds water given some artistic licensing. It wasn't too mind-blowing or amazingly original and creative to me, but it was a good, simple, realistic story. (realistic as in the motivations, development, etc.) The structure and pacing was solid, but I would prefer mixing up presentation technique (e.g. types of montages used) a bit more.

Art: 8/10
Something that stands out from the first few frames is the use of CGI. This doesn't detract from the movie by itself, however, as the movie uses the advantages of CGI very well. The movie also embraced the CGI as part of its aesthetic and complements the tech, sci-fi theme. Creative use of VFX and speed ramping made for some interesting compositions and sequences that you wouldn't see in traditionally drawn anime. However, the reason why I didn't give this section a higher score is due to some minor... mistakes(?) where some actions looked unnatural due to poor key-framing, I would guess, especially in minor character running loops and then some.

Sound: 10/10
Now, I might be biased, but Nulbarich is simply awesome and so was the OST. Sounds great on its own, suitable usage in the movie, really good. But the reason I gave this a 10 was also thanks to the thoughtful sound design throughout the movie - very consistent and high quality.

Character: 8/10
Half-way into the film, although there was obviously plot progressions, I didn't really think that there was significant character progression. I felt that some hinted developments didn't really happen, and I couldn't see the obvious thematic messages original anime movies would often scream out. After getting past the first part of the story structure, however, I realized that I had been focusing on the wrong things and was treating it as a conventional linear romcom/action movie. I recalibrated my mindset and focused on the things the anime focused on, and was satisfied with the realistic/logical motivations and development.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I wonder if I'm rating this too highly since it was above my expectations... Nevertheless, beautiful aesthetics both visually and audio-wise, world-building very solid, cohesion was there, and it kept me thinking and enjoying throughout.

Overall: 8/10
Overall, I'm giving this a high 7 / low 8. Some of the marks given in the sections above might be a bit lower but lesser than 0.5 points.

The strongest part of this anime is the sound design and it plays a huge role in the immersion factor. The weakest link by far is the story, but if you don't think too much about it, the more enjoyable it'll be, perhaps.

I feel that if you cannot wrap your mind around the world, disagree with the stylistic choices, or fixate on the things that the movie isn't primarily trying to narrate, it would be closer to a 6 or a 7. Conversely, if this is your first sci-fi anime, you might get blown away and get absorbed in a very rich and fun experience.