To quote Wiki's summary, Hal movie's story takes place in a technologically advanced society in which robots can be programmed to behave like a complete human. A robot is asked to replace "Hal", who died in an accident, to help Kurumi, Hal's girlfriend move on in life. "Hal" struggles to understand the real Hal's past, Kurumi's affections towards Hal as well as the meaning of being alive.

To me, this is one of the more memorable sci-fi movies of 2013. The film does not appear to be particularly emotional and easy to watch. But it has its touching moments. What I like about this movie is it paints a very realistic approach on robot rehab (even though it is not a commercially viable technology at this time).

Much of my rating is skewed towards the greatest magic which lies in its very successful twist. Because that twist made this movie stood out amongst many other movies touching on rehab topics out there. Still, considering the subject matter, the movie is far from perfect, at least in my opinion knowing that the director had been involved in many other high profile anime works in the past (like Place promised in our early days, Attack on Titans etc)

I found out about HAL by just checking animeultima.TV randomly. I watched the first few minutes, saw the cool art style, saw robots, and figured it should be worth reviewing. Now, after watching the OVA, I feel drained in a way in which I wish I could cry.

Characters & Story

The story is set in a small town which just saw a tragedy. For reasons left unexplained, a plane explodes killing one half of the local young lovers. A grandfather and his robot watch this, and the robot does what it can to help the young lover left behind. So, the robot becomes the lost lover to help the living member cope, by giving them the opportunity to say the things which were left unsaid, and do some of the things the lost lover would have did with the living one if they were still alive. By the end of the film, it seems the person comes to terms with their lover's death, realizing that a part of them never left.

Praise

I wanna take note of the follow thing: First and foremost this is an anime with a beautiful art style; secondly, it is an hour long; and third, if this doesn't make you cry it will make you feel a deep sense of sorrow. Somehow, despite being just an hour, this film quickly takes you from seeing a bunch of random faces to knowing their names, feeling like you know a good piece of their story, and though you know your ultimate wish of the whole situation being a dream is unlikely, it does exist within you. I mean, most movies can't hardly get a romance like this right in 90+ minutes, and yet this OVA gets you engrossed in 60. Proving sometimes animation is better than reality.

Criticism

When it comes to criticism, I really can't think of one. I mean, they could have possibly made it longer and shown more of Kurumi's back-story outside of her being the local sweetheart, maybe even showed a bit more of how she fell in love with Hal, but sometimes less is more. And really, as it stands I think adding that little tidbit would have been just some extra fat that may have gave a bit more flavor, but overall wouldn't have been that necessary.

Overall: Must See

It's an hour, easily accessible online, and legal, to view so there is really no reason to not see this unless you are vehemently against reading subtitles. For, though short, it perhaps has one of the most beautiful, and sad, love stories and what is better than watching something which makes you feel? Hence why I say it is a must see, whether you are an anime fan or not.

Sidenote: I had a weird dream this morning so I woke up at 4:30 could not go to sleep and decided to watch this movie.

Plot

A humanoid robot is asked to replace Hal, who was killed in a terrible accident, in order help Hal's girlfriend move on in life, but struggles to understand the real Hal's past and the meaning of being alive.

The plot was pretty good. The dub by Funimation was excellent pretty good no complaints there. Chris Burnett, Bryn Appril, Todd Haberkorn and Bill Flynn did a good job voicing in this movie.

In my opinion though, the ending could have been a bit better but that is really it.