(www.plasticpals.com) Hinokio: Inter Galactic Love (2005) is a tale of a sixth grader who was paralyzed and lost his mother in a car accident. Too depressed to leave his room, he's given a telepresence robot through which he attends classes (incidentally, this has started happening in the real world). His classmates decide to nickname the robot (and therefore Satoru) Hinokio, because the robot reminds them of Pinocchio and it's partly made from the wood of the hinoki cypress.Visually, Hinokio's design is one of the best I've seen on film (created primarily by Igarashi Design), and the special effects are pretty well done. It's mostly computer-generated animation mixed with a practical model for close-ups. Ultimately the film isn't about Satoru's robot, but his relationship with his distant father and the friends he makes at school.There are fairly realistic scenes of what daily life would be like with the robot, and what kind of trouble it might get into, but it does take liberties for the sake of the plot. For example, at the end of the day, rather than just disconnecting and leaving the robot safely at school, Satoshi actually walks home as Hinokio. And rather than speaking through the robot, he types messages through a speech synthesizer.However the attention to detail is still pretty remarkable; the robot's control center is a large hemispherical display similar to the one created by fuRo called HULL that controls the Halluc-II, mixed with a BMI. And while the robot can do a few things which are physically improbable, at least it's not magically given super-human artificial intelligence. At times the film switches to a first-person view to show us what Satoru sees through the robot's cameras, or into his computer games. He plays a secret massively-multiplayer online game called Purgatory, where he looks for his mother.It's cute, and is definitely meant for a younger audience, but the plot isn't too patronizing. It deals with real life issues faced by kids, like first crushes and single parents. It takes the time necessary to develop the friendship between Satoru and his schoolmate. His father, who works overtime at the robotics company that built Hinokio, struggles with how to connect with his son. It even touches on addiction to online computer games, and the use of robots like Hinokio in the military.However, at an hour and fifty minutes, Hinokio could benefit from a few more cuts. It is a bit let down at the end, with some cheesy spiritual stuff which is drawn out for far too long (and ends rather predictably), but overall it's not a bad flick.

I've just watched this movie. It's very touching and great story. they's no any technical features. indeed they don't make some real effect in movie. its only background. on first there are feelings of real people. and it's shown very great and subtly. you know, you just can't ignore feelings of this young boy and his new friends with their own problems. it is the movie about real life and real problems. i nearly started to cry when the basic character (boy) said to his father that he will never forget him. it's really strong moment of the film and then when he says about meeting with his mother. its really touching! i think you'll get a lot of pleasure when you'll be watching this kind story of little boy and very strong people around him.

It's a good movie, worth too look. The cinematography is well. The visual effect are erection yet soft. The storyline is dramatic.The characters are really Japanese stereotype, but some things are too Western. The Purgatory theme are based on the west (Christian) belief. Instead using the Samsara belief, the movie-maker try to make this film goes international by adding some west "charms", such as the purgatory (linear life), English languished theme songs, and Pinokio fable (the Blue Fairy is Eriko in the game or maybe God Himself). Somehow, it's remind me to Artificial Intelegence (Spielberg's), but the idea of taking control the robot is Japanese typical (so many films in Japan that the heroes controlling some mecha to beat the bad guy). The act of the players are good, the director choose the correct players to depict the characters (jun is so tomboy but sweet, Eriko is so pretty, the mother is so beautiful). For me, it's a fine teenage love story. Adults can take some lesson from it. Moreover, it's a story about family, how to develop good relations inside the family. Well, some things are irrational (the technology, the magic), but it's really a heartwarming movie.

I saw this at the Japanese Film Festival in Sydney and I thought it was fantastic. The whole story is clichéd as a whole, however with all the plot twists changing directions you have to just let it take you where it wants to go.The story involves a young boy who lost his mother and was confined to a wheel-chair from a car accident. He spends his time locked in is room, using a robot that he can communicate from his computer as his eyes to the outside world.Some moments in the film could be considered to many audiences as quite corny, however, the darker elements manage to balance the film as a whole quite nicely. At times the film feels it gets a bit long too, however this is only because there are so many ideas crammed into it that sometimes you really have no idea where it is going and are wanting to find a resolution all too soon. The ending, however, is far more than satisfying enough.Use of cg is really great too, although it is usually saved for the right moments so that it is most effective. The use of first person perspectives and computer game footage was masterfully utilized to make interesting comparisons between reality and virtual-reality. Much more interesting than it was in say, Doom.I think the most important thing about this film though, is that the characters are presented in ways that you can only feel compassion for them. You get the sense that the makers also felt the same way.Verdict: You'll laugh, you'll cry.