Review of Hello World

I was excited to watch Hello World – it has some of my favorite themes for any story, through any medium. I mean, what could be better than a love story – overlaid with sci-fi themes and time travel. This story had so much potential. I could have overlooked the inconsistencies, the lack of character development, if there was one element that stood out. One element that would draw the reader in. In some movies, it’s the love story, and we can forgive the story other inconsistencies or less developed areas. In some stories it is the world building that captures you. In others still itis the science behind the world – the exposition of deep philosophical intent. But unfortunately in Hello World, we fall short in every area, with not a single eminent to drive our interest and love we desperately want to give.

I felt the writer (Mado Nozaki) didn’t completely buy the story himself. Its like he had some ideas, but something kept him from realizing the narrative’s true potential. He tried to blend stories such as the matrix, inception and closer to the current medium, Stein’s Gate – to bring us something wonderous and thought provoking. Except it fell flat. It felt the ideas were not completely developed and were able to stand a simple reality check.

It’s almost as if the story and themes got too big, the science too difficult to explain. The viewer gets lost in trying to find something to connect with and care about. There is so much happening, the focus is lost on what drives the story – the three main characters (if we separate old/young Naomi into two people).

I felt the love story was too rushed. I didn’t think the characters had proper, well characterization and motivation. Firstly for young Naomi to grow enough to begin a relationship with Naomi, but secondly – after very little interaction, Naomi devotes ten years of his life and tortures himself just to try and bring Ruri back. I simply wasn’t invested enough in the relationship. And the way Naomi blandly accepts he’s a simulation felt unrealistic and added to the pointlessness of his ‘life’ and my lack of care as to what happened to him.

My second main gripe is that Ruri Ichigyou was just a plot device. Her character didn’t develop. She was just there to have things happen to her so Naomi could react. She is cute, and I felt the writer was trying to develop her character, but fell significantly short. She started off cold and aloof, and interesting, but we never got to explore that – or understand why she wanted to change and how or why she was changing. We get no sense of her motivations. Ruri is the a-typical damsel in distress, an object, rather than a person. For this I cannot forgive the writer, no matter how cute the artwork.

The science was the aspect of the story that put me off the most. It was like the writer couldn’t bring the concepts together to create a coherent whole. He tried, there was a bit of an explanation, but nothing I was satisfied with. If the science is a motivation, then you need to explain it so I can buy it. It doesn’t have to be a deep and complex explanation, something that sets the rules of the world and gives the characters motivation and a reason for the viewer to care about what is happening. I didn’t buy the science here – in fact the explanation only served to make me care less about the characters, not care more. I didn’t feel like there was enough at stake.

Ultimately I believe the elements for a good story were here – but it was let down by some sloppy writing. There was a deep psychological link that could have been explored to give the characters motivation – but sadly, the writers skill or lack of care meant this was not realised.

So would I recommend you watch this? Well if you like cute characters and don’t care too much about the story then yeah. If you are looking for anything deeper here – you won’t find it.