.Hack//Sign


Genre:Fantasy
Creator:Kouichi Mashimo
Manga/Anime/BothAnime
Manga
Game Series
Seasons:1 season, 26 episodes
.Hack//Liminality OVA

Adoogen's Rating
3
out of 5
Trigun Kitties

Summary:

Ok, first off you have to understand the .Hack story is told through anime (.Hack//Sign), manga (don't know yet), and a game series (.Hack//Infection,.Hack//Mutation). The anime revolves around the dealings of Tsukasa and his friends inside "The World". Here's a semi-brief explanation of the "The World".

"The World" is a popular massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) set in a fantastic universe of strange lands, monsters, treasure, and adventure. Players access the game by donning virtual reality headsets and connecting through the internet, assuming new identities as player characters (PCs) in "The World". Players have a choice of different "classes," or types of characters, each with their own abilities that determine how they appear to others and what items they can use in the game. Once inside this virtual universe, players are free to pursue their own goals, either adventuring by themselves or joining with others in parties. The most common place to visit is the dungeon, a set of subterranean caverns containing portals that reveal fierce creatures to be fought and treasures to be collected. As a player defeats these monsters, he/she gains experience and collects items in an effort to become more powerful, explore more dangerous areas and experience more of the game world. The system administrators also arrange periodic 'events' where players can participate in adventures not available in the regular game. Players can contact each other through email to arrange group excursions or simply chat and interact within "The World" in real time.

With that out of the way, .Hack//Sign story is revolving around characters in a virtual online world who are swept up in the mystery of Tsukasa, a player with unusual abilities who can do things no one else can (and quickly finds out he can't control them, heh). As the mystery deepens the players discover connections to the outside and realize there is much more to "The World" than they had realized.


Explanation for Rating:

Adoogen:
The beginning caught my interest. The plot sounded good. Then I watched it. A lot of the beginning episodes are just a bunch of talking, which is ok normally but this is a series about playing a game, yet, they never really "play" it, or at least not often. I think the series does get good at episode 14 then 15 a recap, then the rest of the series is good. But those other eps, man... no thanks.

Other animes with similarties (we think)