Your future self is here to help you survive the days of your youth!
In Kyoto during the year 2027, high school student Naomi Katagaki gets a surprise visit from a strange individual who claims to be his future older self. Katagaki’s older self reveals that Katagaki actually lives in a data archive simulation world, meaning he and everything around him are actual data copies of the real world.
 |
| Katagaki meeting his older self |
Katagaki’s older self has entered the simulation for the sole purpose of… helping Katagaki get a girlfriend. Specifically, a quiet and reserved girl in his class named Ruri Ichigyo. Older Katagaki reveals that Ichigyo will soon be struck by an accident in the current timeline just as it had happened in the real world and that only Katagaki can prevent this.
Armed with the knowledge from the future, his older self as his sensei and a data manipulating tool giving him godlike powers in the simulation world, Katagaki sets out to win the heart of his (supposedly) future girlfriend and save her from this unfortunate fate.
Characters:
 |
| Katagaki and Ichigyo |
Katagaki's indecisiveness causes him to be anti-social and unable to interact well with those around him. His older self plays the mentor in his life teaching him how to use his powers while guiding him on his romantic conquest to win Ichigyo's heart.
Much like Katagaki, Ichigyo shares a love for books. She has an anti-social streak of her own due to her impersonal nature and as Katagaki’s attempts to get closer to her, his plans often backfire. Eventually, his determination and compassion allow her to trust and grow closer to him. It was the moment when she views Katagaki as a hero that saves her from inner depression that she finally falls for him.
At the end of the day, they're a sweet couple you can't help but root for.
Animation and Music:
 |
| Katagaki and his older self |
What stood out from the animation the most was that the characters were animated with 3D-CG models while everything else was drawn in traditional 2D art. Unfortunately, the blending effect was really noticeable and jarring. The opening scenes were visually taxing in the first 30 minutes of the film in order for our brains to forget about the character's CG animation and adjust them with the 2D background.
The soundtrack for the movie was surprisingly upbeat. Not too memorable for us to get addicted on but the songs matched the mood of each scene well enough to leave a lasting impression on every musical part of the movie where even after leaving the cinema, we can still recall each scene's soundtrack rather smoothly. There were also moments in the film that made us feel like watching a music video rather than a movie.
Final Thoughts:
 |
| Being trained |
A time-traveling plot of having your future-self revealed and told that you have a love mission to accomplish is a storyline that could have easily gone wrong. Yet, in spite of being told the eventual outcome of his love life, the protagonist still has to live through the timeline and figure things out on his own. He had to work for his relationship with Ichigyo and even then he doesn’t instantly fall for her but develops his feelings as he grows closer to her.
His relationship with Ichigyo forms naturally and even deviates a little from the ‘intended’ path at certain checkpoints in the timeline, making the relationship seemed more organic rather than purely destined. Having future romance plotlines are often jarring, but this film's plot was handled well by its scriptwriters.
Hello World is the type of movie best enjoyed when you turn your brain off to the many, many gaping flaws in logic as the story follows any ‘time travel’ or ‘inception’ plots such as this.
Although some of the battle scenes were corny for a good laugh, they were dramatic enough to have the characters face heavy consequences from each enemy encounter along the way. You will feel it when the characters are in danger but sometimes watching a highschooler smacking enemies with a book is just the right amount of impactful comedy needed to make this film enjoyable.
Overall, Hello World was a nice little timey-wimey lovey-dovey with multiple layers of inception and the determination from the main character having to go through such madness for love, we give this mind-blowing animated theatrics a score of 3.5 out of 5. A fun film to turn off your mind with popcorn and enjoy it with your friends over the weekend.
At this time of writing, the film is set to release exclusively in five selected GSCinemas in Malaysia on 6th FEBRUARY 2020!
You can get your tickets at:
- GSC Mid Valley Megamall
- GSC 1 Utama
- GSC Pavilion, KL
- GSC Gurney Plaza, Penang
- GSC Paradigm Mall, JB
Written by KittyBoss
0 comments:
Post a Comment