Hal

Hal (ハル, 2013) is a feature-length Japanese anime from Ryotaro Makihara, available to watch online on iFILM. It runs barely an hour, yet packs a full story of grief into it. Kurumi has shut down since her boyfriend Hal died in a plane crash.

To coax her back, a scientist sends a robot built in Hal's image. The machine wears his face, sorts through his belongings, works a Rubik's cube whose sides hold the couple's memories, and slowly learns what being alive means — and who Kurumi truly loved. The ending quietly upends what the first minutes led you to assume.

Animated by Wit Studio, soon to make Attack on Titan, it's all soft lines, warm light and no hurry. A short, understated romance about robots and human feeling, aimed at anyone who loves the gentle melancholy of Makoto Shinkai's films. Stream Hal (2013) online on iFILM.