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A pretty short review for a short anime film. I'm sure I will be receiving a lot of hate for this review but let me just write honestly what i have in mind. I won't be adding poetic story summaries and shit so I'll just get to the point immediately.

I have read A LOT OF SHOUJO MANGA(s) so i could tell that Hal's plot is actually pretty common and plain. The typical save someone's miserable soul kind of film. I know i'm starting off with a bit negative choice of words but don't get me wrong, i don't hate it one bit. You see with ... the frequent use of dead-lover/family/friend as one of the main factor for tear-jerker films and series', viewers tend to get sick of reoccurring storylines. So if you want your story to appeal to your audience more, you have to make sure that your story and character development is well paced to make it stand out. This is where Hal comes in. Even with an ordinary shoujo-ish plot the film managed to quirk my interest because of it's development and massive plot twist, which is wicked sick by the way. I was honestly getting bored of the progress of the story when i realized i've already watched 3/4 of the film but still confused as hell on where the story was going. But then came Haru's battered scene and his lost memories. With eyes wide open, all those puzzle pieces floating on my head came to fit the whole image perfectly. I was shocked and speechless. The way the film presented the actual truth is amazing. One of the best twist i've seen on an anime romance film so far and without a doubt that twist is literally the redeeming factor of Hal. Well i mean, gorgeous visuals aside. Yep. Without that twist it would have been your stereotype raburabu shoujo.

STORY - 7
Actually i was about to give it a 5 for a so-so plot but the final revelation was superb so i'll give it a +2 for that unexpected twist. And well for the fact that it made me cry at the end.

ART - 9
Beautiful. I was actually anticipating this film because of it's visuals. So after watching it i'm all satisfied and happy with Production I.G's great work.

SOUND - 6
There's a BGM? Really? Well the theme song was indeed fitting for the story and i like it but I can't remember if there was actually a bgm. I guess it didn't caught my attention enough to make me remember.

CHARACTER - 6
It's ok. Everyone was lovable, well except for Ryuu which i find really gay maybe because of the seiyuu but well nothing to hate nor love. It's so short that i can't get myself to sympathize with character's feels not until the twist. Even about their past scars and sufferings, it didn't pain me one bit. The only thing that made me cry was the revelation, i felt sorry for him and the way he coped with his loss.

ENJOYMENT - 8
Well of course i could recommend this for people who love romance and beautiful art. Despite my previous remarks, i actually enjoyed this quite well. Don't be disheartened because of this review, i just stated what i thought but this is a really well liked film. If you like heart warming drama with romance then this is definitely for you.