Hello World is a movie that surprised everyone in the anime scene. The movie has a standalone plot directed by Tomohoko Ito (aka the creator of Sword Art Online) and animated by Graphinica–a really good maker of CGI anime. The timing of Hello World was a bit unusual, releasing just a few months after the world renowned Weathering With You. Still, the movie still gave a good charm amidst the “obstacles” they were facing.
I first heard of Hello World a couple of months ago, from one of the famous voice actress I follow—aka. Hamabe Minami (one of the VAs of Hello World). That was also the time the hype for Weathering With You was still huge. Nonetheless, I took Hello World in mind, since the trailers they shown were quite interesting.
When the movie finally showed up two months later, I can say the movie’s worth the wait. Hello World was a good mix of comedy, romance, and a generous helping of Sci-Fi. It was an explosion of visual treat that made watching in theaters more worth it.
Hello Reality?
I’ll keep it straight. At first glance, I thought Hello World’s plot was a little too cliche: A boy named Katagaki met a man from the future who warned him of the demise of a girl named Ruri. Upon hearing what’s going to happen, he’s determined to do his best to alter the future and save her.
Kinda cliche right? BUT, there’s the fact that it’s Sci-Fi and the concept of alternate reality. That itself changes the game completely. Imagine like a simple noodle soup, but with that simple dish there’s tons of opportunities to make it more special, like adding savory meat, refreshing herbs, or even hot spices. Hello World is like that. Since the plot is a bit too simple, the nature of the movie opens to a whole lot of possibilities that can turn the film to something awesome.
Hello Strange?
I’m not sure if it is just me, or I’m just a huge science fiction fan to notice the references, but for me, Hello World took a good scoop of Sci-Fi material to spice up their plot, especially since the story of the film revolves around time travel, alternate realities, and pure tech.
The thing about sci-fi genre is the fact that it’s SCI-FI, one can completely go crazy not just in the plot context, but the visual context itself. Marvel’s Dr. Strange for example–the shifting of realities alters not just how you think it works, but how you see it as well. The buildings turning like a kaleidoscope, the recreation of known matter using unknown matter, and all of that nonsense just rattle anyones mind. And yet, we have no choice but to accept the reality they serve just to enable us to understand what was really happening and still keep us wanting more on what to happen.
And that’s the thing Hello World has—unlimited surprises that kept me wanting more, more visuals, more theories, more possible realities.
So, what can we learn from the movie? Here’s some quotes from Hello World…
“I just wanted to see her smile again.”
“Even if the world is destroyed, I want to see you one more time.”
That my friends is how love is shown.
Hello World was something. It’s a visual treat. It’s a movie with a plot so simple, every unexpected event will make you stunned. Watch it in theaters, it will make the movie experience much more amazing. Rate 8/10
photo/gif credits: ungeek, crunchyroll, Amiichannel
The Animated Scholar 