Review of Hello World
print: "Hello World..." print: "I love you..." *ahem* excuse my cringe review intro... Hello world is a sci-fi romance Movie that attempts to break the mold of what many people classify as sci-fi. The heavy theme that this movie was created around makes this movie have a unique feeling. The concepts are mind blowing, and the romance is heart melting. This review was written on the 10th of April 2020. therefore there may be references to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, many people have not been able to watch this movie when it aired because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I highly recommend you buying the blue-ray release to help support thestudio who created this wonderful anime during this unfortunate timing.
anyways onto the (spoiler free) review:
Story 9/10:
The story is themed and based around our rapidly growing technological knowledge. Virtual Worlds, simulated worlds, AI... without giving much away, this movie effectively ties each and every one of these aspects together. There are so many unique concepts and ideas in this movie it's crazy. The easter eggs and deep meanings behind many of the small details allows for cool concepts and ideas to be created by the community. This is the first time where I watched a movie and felt that each and every scene had it's very own meaning and purpose for being there. However, the one drawback for trying to be so ambitious is that the viewers can't help but think that there are many untapped potentials and points in the story. The story teases at some interesting concepts and plot points, but never dive deeper into them. This is most likely because of the budget and time schedule, I really hope an OVA or a sequal comes out to cover the untapped potential in the story and setting. (Although I haven't watched the spin-off yet)
Art 9/10:
Many anime fans are skeptical about fully 3D animes, and rightfully so. Many animes have crappy CGI and bad effects. However I can tell you that Hello World has done a great job with their animation and visual effects. The studio behind Hello World has developed their own unique shaders for this movie, it allows the visuals to be somewhere between normal 2D anime style, and 3D CGI. The animation is fluid, the effects are unique and exhilarating. No problems here, I would have given it a 8/10.... So why is it a 9? It's because they had a *reason* for the art to be in 3D... Intentional or not, in the last minute of the movie where the art turns to complete 2D... sit there and think about it...
Sound 10/10:
The OST track and sound effects for this movie is outstanding, not a trace of royalty free effects nor music. Perhaps they just masked it real well, but that's definitely a positive for me. The sound is definitely comparable to that of other high quality animovies such as Tenki no Ko or Kimi no Na Wa
Character 9/10:
What do you expect from characters designed by one of Kyoani's major character designer? The girls are cute, the guys aren't overly cringy. Exactly what you want for a romance movie. (However, I still hate how they keep teasing you about this one character, but nothing ever happens... WHYWHYWHYWHYWH...)
Enjoyment 9/10:
During this unfortunate pandemic, this movie has definitely taken my mind off many things which I am grateful for. This movie was a blast to watch while I had to stay indoors. I am really thankful for a movie of this caliber to have released their blueray at this time.
Overall 9/10:
Everything about this movie was exceptional, but the 10/10 deal breaker was definitely the feeling that there were so many untapped plot points and untapped potential. However this isn't the movie's fault, it's already a 90minute long movie with full quality 3D CGI, it's already impressive that they made a movie of this caliber.
Do you recommend?
I *Highly* recommend this movie.
I would like to repeat this again here, PLEASE buy the blueray release of this movie... Many studios who unfortunately had their movies release at an unfortunate time such as Violet Evergarden and Hello World are facing immense losses in revenue due to many countries issuing a 'stay at home' order. Please please please help and support the studios that create anime that you love, because they are going through a tough time too.
Stay safe everyone