.hack//Sign

As a former hard core gamer, I had high expectations of this series which has been languishing in my list of stuff to someday get to watching. So I started viewing this intending to finish all the .hack series.

Story/Character

The premise is exciting - one player in "The World" is suddenly unable to log out - why? The mystery gets deeper and deeper as we are pulled into his life and the life of the other characters (in game and in the real world) who either want to help him, want to solve the mystery or have some other hidden agendas of their own.

The set up ... (first 8 episodes) was very well done. Just as I started to get fascinated the series went on a philosophical bent and the plot stagnated. By the time it tried to recover I was frankly pretty bored and was just going through the motions of finishing the series.

The characters are a mish mash. Some you remember and some could actually have been left out of the anime without making any impact at all. It was hard to even like any of them except 1-2 (you'll know what I mean).

Art/Animation and sound

The animation was great for that time. Very cute and I can see where "World of Warcraft" may have copied some of the stuff. Songs were pretty decent but not as good as the art. It's a very pretty anime and as a gamer I was satisfied with both.

Enjoyment

The series starts well, gets slow in the middle and tries to end with a bang but somewhat fails to pull it together. The end is ambiguous which detracts from overall enjoyment, hence the low score.

Overall

This is one of those polarizing anime. You either love it or you hate it. There are a lot of similarities to "Serial Experiments Lain" (which I hated) but I scored this a lot higher due to the effort it took to make the gaming world realistic, which I really appreciated. Overall I gave this a 5 -- there was much more that this series could have done that they didn't do, and the slow pace really made this less enjoyable than I would have liked.

This is a review compiled by the many members of the VIA (Value In Anime) Graveyard Division. All members who have worked on this review are mentioned at the bottom. In addition, this review will also contain a “Value in the Anime” section detailing life lessons and values that make this anime worth watching.
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.hack//sign isn't exactly new. Known for it's slow pace, it has a reputation as a poorly paced, often boring show. While this is true, to an extent, there is still value in this anime--life lessons that make it worth the time you're willing to invest in it.

Story: .hack//sign is a slow ... anime with an episodic format and plot to match. Often, you may feel that you might have to go back and re-watch an episode or two because might have missed something in the last scene.

The pacing was bad and would have been much, much better as a one cour (12-13 episodes) series. The impact of the plot was lessened by the postponement of the primary conflict, which was not introduced until about halfway through. The ending ultimately lost impact because of the story telling, which was more or less average.

Understandably, there are also some parts, especially prevalent in the OVAs, where you had to have prior knowledge for full understanding. The OVAs themselves added little to the story, mostly giving a sense of "all's-well-that-ends-well." It does try to be realistic in it's approach, though it doesn't always succeed.

Art: The animation style is decent, but outdated, and doesn't quite manage to hold up to today's standards--though this is to be expected. The character designs were varied and distinct while the backgrounds, though predominately dark, were aesthetically pleasing. For the most part, the animation was smooth and the jerking and stills were kept to an acceptable minimum--problems consistent with many other older anime.

Sound:. hack//sign's music and sound fit well. The OST complimented the mood while the OP and ED were catchy, though otherwise unmemorable. At times, the background music was a tad overbearing-- a fault that often resulted in a ruined atmosphere. Standing alone, the music can be drab at times, but proves to be sufficient overall.

Characters: This is .hack//sign's focal point. Character development is initially slow, but speeds up later on in the anime. The characters are interesting, and almost all of them contribute to the plot at some point--one of them receiving extra development during the first OVA. No characters appears similar to another, and they are easy to relate to, though they can be dull at times. The villain is good, but suffers from a lack of impact as the episodes draw on.

Enjoyment: In essence, this is a slow anime with poor pacing that often left us wanting more. It's worth a try if this appeals to you, but it will not keep everyone who watches awake. Because of how slow it is, it would probably be best if you watched this anime over a long period of time. Try watching as a substitute for pills or lullabies.

The soundtrack is nice to listen to, but gets a little tiring after a while and the art is worth a look, even if it isn’t the best. The characters deserve more than a passing glance, being the primary draw of the show.

Values in the Anime: There is value in this anime that makes it worth watching--certain life lessons that we can all learn through anime.

Accepting Reality: This anime shows us how dangerous it is to get absorbed in entertainment. This is an issue especially present in today's society, where everyone is on their phone or computer at almost all times. It’s good to have fun and get absorbed, but also important to stay grounded in reality as well. Recognizing that line between entertainment and reality is paramount.

Games are a way to express yourself; they are a way to act as someone you’re not. No matter what though, remember that these things should stay in the game; they are exclusive to the laws of the game for a reason. Accept reality for what it is, and know the difference while maintaining a balance.

Respecting Others: Respecting others is important in real life, but can be equally so in a game or online. The main character is initially rude and unlikeable, but finds the value in those basic concepts throughout the development of the story and improves themselves as a person. Connecting to other people, and observing how it affects you is of the upmost importance, and is a message strongly conveyed in .hack//sign.

Story: 5/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Art: 6/10
Sound: 8/10
Characters: 8/10

Overall: 6/10 (-not an average-)

VIA (Value in Anime) – Graveyard Division

To find the true gem’s in anime!

Vigilate et discite!

Officer “Kami_no_Kage”
Agent “Haysti”
Agent “Hitsuzen24”

First impressions of "Hack Sign"... stunningly good animation and excellent music.

Unfortunately there's not much more to it. This is an anime with a weak story line that contain more holes than Swiss cheese, and tries to make up for it by pretending to be deep. What they don't seem to realise is that there's more to being deep than having the characters do little more than stand around looking thoughtful and utter the occasional grunt whilst elegant music drifts past in the background. You need GOOD dialogue and storyline to be deep, and as hard as this anime tries, it doesn't have either. "Hack Sign" ... is a prime example of how to make a dialogue heavy anime that is dull (for an example of a good dialogue heavy anime, look no further than "Crest of the Stars").

One of the main problems is that nothing ever happens in "Hack Sign". They would have had difficulty making this into a decent 13 episode anime, let alone a 26 episode one. What kept me watching was mainly the aesthetic pleasure that's derived from the gorgeous animation and music. Also, at the end of several episodes along the way, it does show flashes of brilliance with some chilling scenes that promised much... but ultimately delivered very little, if at all.

Characters aren't much to be remembered by. I found myself spending a lot of time wondering why they were all so serious... they're playing a game ffs. People like to joke and play about in games. These guys on the other hand, prefer to stand around talking about their real life issues... in total, they must have spent a whole five minutes or so on playing the actual game! No wonder most of them seem really low level! And what's the big deal about about player killing? Having played these kind of games myself, I know it's an integral part of the gameplay, but this anime makes it out to be some sort of bad practice, and kicks up a huge fuss over it, even though people can just respawn afterwards. The accumulative result of all of this is that it didn't feel at any point that they were playing an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online RPG).

Throughout the anime, especially in the beginning, I often found it hard to understand the motivation behind a lot of the character's actions, which made the story and characters of "Hack Sign" feel very artificially driven. For example, if something serious happened like a player could not log out and is stuck in the game, wouldn't that make the game potentially very dangerous? You would think that it would get shut down at this point, but apparently no one cares about such a trivial matter, and players carry on playing the game as usual, as though it's no big deal. At least not all the characters are devoid of charm though, and after a while (a long while, admittedly), I did start to warm up to a couple of them like Crim (who is quite cool, and actually seem to be interested in playing the game).

The ending... what the hell was all that about? They dragged the anime through 20+ episode just to reach THAT kind of conclusion? It was almost getting exciting towards the end, but the extremely anti-climatic "climax" just brought my ratings for this anime crashing back down again. I think that must have been the worst conclusion ever. After spending the majority of the series hyping up the "mystery", it barely explained anything. Throughout the anime I kept waiting for things to become clearer, and they never did. And also, "Evidence" must be the sh*ttest recap episode I've ever seen. All it did was sum up all the the parts you don't understand and make you realise that there were even more of them than you remembered. It pretty much encapsulates contents of this anime - a royal mess.

.hack//SIGN, the MMORPG anime that dares to break the mold and challenge our preconceived notions of the genre. Prepare yourself for a journey of dialogue-heavy, action-light storytelling that will either intrigue you or bore you to tears. Forget about the generic shounen anime tropes of annoying kids and unrealistic teenagers taking games way too seriously. This anime has bigger ambitions.

Now, don't get too excited, while the premise features players being stuck in a video game, this is not like Sword Art Online or other average VRMMORPG anime, so don't be fooled by the setting. If you're seeking fast-paced action and epic battles, you've come to ... the wrong place.

Some may find .hack//SIGN slow and boring, but that's merely a testament to its dedication to story progression and character development through dialogue, emotions, and background information. Instead of mindless battles and defeating antagonists, .hack//SIGN sets its sights on solving mysteries and delving into the psyche of its characters. It's a role-playing game where growth occurs both inside and outside the virtual world. Who needs action and excitement when you can have long, yet meaningful, philosophical conversations and emotional introspection?

'Don't take it too seriously; it's just a game'.

.hack//SIGN is generally gloomy, but not completely devoid of lighthearted moments. We have Mimiru, the young and slightly childish character who provides some much-needed balance to the show's serious and depressing atmosphere. And then there's Tsukasa, the cynical loner with trust issues. Together, they embark on a journey of character development and slowly but surely, Tsukasa learns to trust and open up. It's heartwarming, really.

'Do you know the story of the Little Mermaid? The princess who reveived beautiful legs...but lost her voice so she could see the prince. But the prince married someone else...and the mermaid disappeared in bubbles of light.. She shouldn't have wished to leave the sea. Don't you think so?' — A short tale from the anime that perfectly captures the essence of the protagonist's inner struggles. It's deep. It's meaningful. It's... well, you get the idea.

The animation, despite its age, holds up fairly well. The character design and use of colour are commendable. Sure, there are some moments when the animation feels a bit fast and funny due to a lack of in-between frames, but hey, the occasional shortcomings in animation are compensated by the beautiful background art. I suppose that's a fair trade-off.

Combined with the intricate background art, the lovely background music deserves a moment of appreciation for the work of the great composer Yuki Kajiura. The beautiful and fitting music adds depth and atmosphere to the series and is one of the highlights that truly elevates .hack//SIGN above the generic MMORPG anime crowd. This comes as no surprise, given Bee Train's exceptional sound directing.

In the end, .hack//SIGN is not a successful anime for the masses. It's an anime that appeals to a niche audience or gets mistaken for another run-of-the-mill isekai anime. It challenges conventions and delivers a unique experience that may not be everyone's cup of tea. So, if you're looking for a typical MMORPG anime, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you're open to something different, something that dives deep into character psychology and offers a thought-provoking narrative, then .hack//SIGN might just be worth a try.

Story - 6/10
The story goes about a MMORPG: 'The World'.
One of the characters, Tsukasa, can't log out anymore. The strange thing is that he isn't even in front of his computer.
How can he go back to the reality?

It's a simple, but original story.
There could be some more humor in it though.

Art - 7/10
Colorful characters and backgrounds. It looks good.
...
Sound - 4/10
The sound in this anime are decent.
Bad intro and outro, totally not my style.
The music in the anime itself is allright, as long if they don't sing. The same tune is repeated a lot too, and there is too much music. It looks like they put in music to make you less bored.
If you watched some episodes, you'll get enough of it.

Character - 6/10
Some of the characters are interesting, and they're all looking good.
Colorful characters, as I said in 'Art'.

Enjoyment - 3/10
The tempo in this anime is too slow, only in the last 4 episodes they speed it up.
Before people say that I don't like the anime because I don't like MMORPGs, that's not true. I do like MMORPGs. ;)

Overall - 6/10
I don't recommend this anime, except if you're really bored.
Some people will like it, some people won't. (Like with every anime.)

Okay, I generally cannot watch anything Studio Beetrain produces, Most of the stuff they put out generally is uninteresting or boring, I watched both Noir and Madlax completely through, Noir was boring, but Madlax was fantastic. The .hack series is a major major letdown, I personally feel that a series like this has way too many complicated terms and sometimes stops people from trying to follow the story, Maybe the story was just ahead of it's time but I feel that it needed to be stronger and unfortunately it is very easy to get lost, but I wish the story was put into a language ... everyone can understand.

Sign was one of the first in the .hack // series that I watched, and I can say that I am completely disappointed. I already knew the problems of this anime and really thought I could ignore it, it used that proposal of the MC stuck in the online game, which makes me already excited, even because I like the style. Yes, let's go to the review!

1 - Story [6/10] - As I said earlier, I like Sign's proposal, but I don't think it was done well. The worst point of this anime is the fact that the development is extremely slow, the dense dialogue ... does not hold you at any time, while watching the anime I felt that the dialogues did not change much and were not interesting, the plot and much dragged and undeveloped. Believe me, I am not the type who likes to put action on everything like SAO, but this anime had an embarrassment in action fights to make it more fun to watch. Despite all this, the anime has a good ending and as I said, a good story proposal, the problem was actually the execution of the idea.

2 - Art [6/10] - I could be content with the very lively art scenes of Sign (There are very few) and give a 7 or 8 note for the art, however, the thousands of scenes without animation, scenes of painting static made me take a step back and give a grade 6, which could simplify as: Something interesting to watch.

3 - [8/10] - Yes! Sign deserves an 8 at BGM, honestly, the soundtrack is somehow very good! I can't say it was very well used, but it is still good. The opening was not a big deal when it comes to art, but the opening song is really fun.

4 - Character [6/10] - In this category I can say that I am very rigorous, the protagonist is the center of all animes, no matter which one, the characters that integrate are what will give life to the work. The feeling that frustrated me with Sign was the fact that the protagonist is a pain in the ass! All the first 10 episodes of Sign boil down to how to be friendly with the protagonist, that really bothered me. He is too slow to make decisions and has dragged himself through the work like a poor guy who can't solve anything. Unfortunately, I didn't get to like him ... Besides, all the other characters are in fact "acceptable", by the standard of characters, nothing too flashy.

5 - Enjoyment [1/10] - Simply boring! As I said earlier, I don't mind not putting action in this type of anime, however, not the salvation for this anime. He was not amused at all. It failed to generate impact, failed to make it exciting, failed to make it interesting. Nothing! Only dialogue and dragged development. What a disappointment!

Overall - The anime had a lot of problems, which made it boring. And I already say that it is impossible to ignore, unless you just want to put it on the list. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS WORK!

Before I start off with this review I'd like to point out that I haven't played any of the .hack video games, so this view is directly from a person that has no background information from the video games.

This .hack is definitely different but similar in it's own accord compared to the other .hack series. The story is very plain and boring when read on paper, but really think about it, if you try to imagine the events happening in the real world it would be pretty messed up and interesting, the one thing I really liked about this ... series is the fact that they put more emphasis on the players themselves rather than the characters inside the video game, the main character Tsukasa is "stuck" in the game, he can't seem to log out (although in the real world tsukasa is actually a female playing a male character in the video game).

The story gets more complicated as the number of episodes escalates but it mostly still revolves around the main character tsukasa, weird events start happening and the item called "Key of the twilight" is mentioned, which is I'm guessing the same item that they were looking for in .hack//roots, with that being said these events happened before roots, since in this one he obtained the key of the twilight while in roots it's considered to be a myth. Now the amount of episodes that Sign has is quite understandable, 26 isn't too much and too little either. Overall the story could use some more excitement considering there's almost no action in the whole series, the most you'll ever see is them wielding out their weapons and threatening each other to fight, but other than that it's usually just pure talking.

The art of the anime is pretty straightforward, nothing too fancy or too unique about it, this was made in 2002 so don't expect much about they way they look, for those that are really picky with the art and animation, all I can say is that for you guys, it's bearable to watch and I'm sure that's convincing enough for you guys to check the anime out.

Now the final thing I want to talk about are the characters, tsukasa's design is very very plain, and I'm completely comparing him/her to Haseo on this one because the way Tsukasa looks makes you want to go to sleep, I understand that his character in the video game isn't really for close combat or anything flashy like that but come on now... he's the main character can't you make him a bit cooler looking? The character that really intrigued me the most is Mimiru, the heavy blade character that befriends Tsukasa and Bear and is helping him/her trying to figure as to why Tsukasa can't log out of the game. What makes her so interesting is that she's the lead female character of the anime and yet she takes on the role as to what the male is supposed to be, which is the buffed up warrior role, and I think she plays her character quite well to a point where you know she has the ability to protect tsukasa and at the same time have that soft female side from her, (and plus I think I can relate to her because I've always liked warrior classes from mmorpgs)

Overall .hack//SIGN isn't such a bad anime, I've seen way worse ones out there and it's clearly safe to say that you really need to play the video games if you want to experience the true feeling of getting into this anime because clearly from my perspective as a person who hasn't played the video games you can really see from the scores I've given this.

cheers.

I really wanted to like the .hack series and had high expectations for this, though it's not what you may be expecting.

The story sets up a great mystery - why is Tsukasa trapped inside a virtual world, and what's the deal with these strange monsters and characters? The premise is there, but it's all very slow-paced which can really try your patience if you do not enjoy works solely for character interaction and want a steady plot. That being said, the characters are varied and there is development of personality and relationships over the series. The major downside though, and what made ... me score this series poorly, is that so much is left unresolved. I persisted until the end because of how well the mystery was developed and I wanted to know the answers, and was left unsatisfied.

The opening theme is very nice, and the artwork itself is nothing special compared with recent anime, but environments within the World are nicely done. Brief glimpses into the 'real world' in silent black and white do add something to the messages about escapism.

Overall, it's something that shows certain themes through character interaction. If like myself, you came looking for an action-filled mystery, try looking elsewhere.

While I love the Dot Hack series and honestly loved this series, this review will be for people who may not have played the games. Dot Hack Sign is the first(that I know of) to do trapped in a MMORPG. The characters consist of Tsukasa who is unable to log out, and is the only character to experience this problem. Mimiru, a heavy blade who is someone who tries to help Tsukasa but becomes frustrated easily. Bear, a sword user who is the logical/calm one of the cast. Finally there is Subaru, a heavy axe wielder, and also a guild leader ... and another who tries to help Tsukasa. For the most part this anime consists of drama as the characters bicker in a way that is reminiscent to high school. As they continue to get angry at each other, you're left wondering why they don't go their separate ways and be done. Even at the end of the anime when you think they have bonded, you are thrown a curve ball gain. The characters while fleshed out a bit, aren't given the development they fully deserve, instead leaving it up to you to piece it together. The soundtrack is written by kajiura yuki, who is known for her work on the SAO soundtrack and her contributions to works by Ufotable. If you are looking to experience the full entirety of Dot Hack I recommend saving this for last. This serves as a prequel and only expands more on the games.

The story is about Tsukasa named character who is unable to log out of the game. Though it seems interesting there are many concepts such as crimson knights, system administrator etc which were not utilized properly. How did Tsukasa comes to resolution of problems is not shown properly. His real life is not shown to clear the story doubts.

Characters: There are many characters in the anime series which are introduced till the end of the series. Tsukasa's character is too dull that i could not associate him to be the protagonist of the story. Though there was scope for characters like mimuru and Crim ... they were utterly neglected. Characters like sora, BT are shown to play dual role ( sometimes villaneous and sometimes helping).

Music : It's the only good point of the series, especially the background music at times of serious events.

Enjoyment:

At the beginning of the series you feel intrigued to see what happens next in the series but you will not understand the story provided you have read the story somewhere. It is confusing. None of the mysteries were explained properly. End seemed at the whim of the anime creator.

I can't say this is a terrible anime. It really did have some interest for me despite my general avoidance of MMORPG themed shows. I wanted to watch it because .hack is such a huge franchise. After testing .hack//Legend of the Twilight, I wanted something a little more mature and decided to watch the first anime of the franchise.
The premise is really interesting. I liked that the "trapped in the game" theme was reserved for just one mysterious player. The story really does handle the premise well overall, but I do not like the WAY it was told. Most people will tell you this ... is anime has trouble with pace and they are very correct, but it is more than just slow. I find that much of the dialogue was just talking in circles and no one really used intelligent deductive reasoning. That is a huge problem in a story that is meant to be an intellectual mystery. It felt like every character wanted to know the answers, but didn't want to process the clues on their own so they would just go to someone else to do the thinking for them. After a character would meet with several people, there wasn't any new information. That was a real drag, especially in the beginning.
I felt pretty frustrated with how hard the main character, Tsukasa, was to crack. His aversion to people while understandable, was just hard to watch. I didn't understand why someone who was so confused about their own situation would be so determined not to gather information.
The character development was alright. With the extent of the dialogue, I would have liked to have seen more fleshing out from these characters. This all falls back to the issue where everyone just likes to talk about nothing. several scenes were short conversations where they did little more than greet each other and then share a snide remark before the next scene abruptly transitions.

The middle of the anime was the strongest story telling, as the plot finally gets rolling. There were some very emotional scenes and circumstances that made me feel more attached to the players and we start to see the personalities develop. Unfortunately, by the very end they wasted all of the careful buildup on an utter disaster!

**possible spoiler**
They set up a final boss battle and then never explain how they resolved the problem. They had all this time in 26 episodes to make a great ending and they just didn't have a climax or resolution. The OVAs do help explain that everyone makes it out, but that feels like a cheap shot.
**end spoiler**

The art is beautiful. The character designs are pretty detailed and compelling to watch. The background work is solid and feels like a true 3-D space. But damn this studio had trouble staying consistent. Throughout the series, Subaru's mark changes shape dozens of times, the proportions changed on the costume embellishments, and it is clear that different people worked on different episodes.
"The Eve" was actually comical because of the blatant animation shortcuts. We see shadowed faces from a far perspective during quite a few conversations. They pretty much gave up on shading the faces when you did see them and they were largely expressionless. They used very few frames and people simply appeared in their paces rather than smoothly approaching.
The shortcuts indicate that they were losing budget, but the remaining episodes look really good. The budget hunch does make sense however given the way the story ended.

I liked the sound for the most part. The music is very pretty even though the lyrics don't really grab me. A lot of the vocals are in English and the pronunciation isn't terribly distracting like a lot of Japanese attempts at English. I feel that the balance was off and the music was too loud for the dialog though. The dubbing in English and Japanese is pretty average to fairly good depending on the character.

Despite the problems, I did enjoy the anime. While lost in the execution, I still wanted to see more, because I really wanted to know what was going on. I felt connected enough to the characters to invest my time in watching another episode of fruitless chitchat.

Overall I feel pretty neutral about the production. This is one of the few that I think would benefit from an updated remake with a stronger, more experienced team.

Well, I think it has about time that I get into checking this series out, considering when at the time I was watching Sword Art Online, people were making such references to this series and I having no idea about this show or this franchise, as a matter of fact and while this has the digital world aspect, it also had a RPG (Role-Playing Game) element in it and considering my disinterest in the latter (not hatred, just not that into it) but more into the former, this might be a hard feat to accomplish and wonder how will I enjoy the series.

Amidst a popular ... online role playing game in the near future, characters try to play out the goals they set for entertainment and passing of time. The World as the RPG is called is one with a setting of monsters, player characters and dungeons. Tsukasa is a detached and introverted character that has a number of mysteries about his player character. Many weird happenings seem to surround Tsukasa and his involvement in a rare item called 'The Key Of The Twilight' sparks Tsukasa's meeting with different online characters and the befriending of their real life counterparts; All without ever meeting face to face in reality. What is strange about Tsukasa is that he can't seem to log out of The World. Subaru and Silver Knight of The Crimson Knights continue to look for proof of why Tsukasa cannot log out or the existence of The Key of the Twilight. Meanwhile Bear, Mimiru, and BT as Tsukasa's friends try to help him understand who he really is and how he can return to the real world.

Here’s the one thing in this show that might tune out a lot of people out: At the first beginning of the series, it felt very slow-paced and the plot is mostly hard to follow at a few times or even sometimes if you went to take a bathroom break, you won’t miss any important detail considering it’s very scatter-brained. Also, the plotline where the character Tsukasa can’t log out in the game and the whole “you die in the game, you die for real” aspect, which I still call bullshit considering people would check that before any game’s initial release and yes, it may be just an anime but it doesn’t mean any type of logic should back thrown in the backseat. There’s also that this is a dialogue-heavy show, which is fine for an anime although the dialogue can be dull a few times, possibly enough to put you into sleep.

Characters in here are actually……decent although slightly askew with more character than meets the eye. Tsukasa, the lead character, is kind of a jerkass in the game, but in the real world has been through a lot of depressing things in his life. Mimiru, one of the first characters we met in the show is the tomboyish energetic player who, like any other player, plays there for fun and when it comes to helping Tsukasa, she seems more like the lead rather than him. If it would’ve been focused on her from the beginning, I would have liked it more. Bear is the older yet kind of wiser player; Subaru (which I did joked about her name because I didn’t know at first, ‘Subaru’ is also the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster.) is the one of the heads-in-charge of the Crimson Knights, who wants to keep things civil in “The World” (BTW, most generic name for a MMORPG game) and Crim is the one who helped mentored Subaru for when she first enter “The World”. BT is the insider of all things “The World” and……she hates lettuce? Wait, what was important about that? Oh, and Sora is the douchebaggish character who apparently assaults women when playing the game.

The animation supplied by Bee Train is not really that stellar but offers nothing in the first half. Bee Train is being responsible for the infamous girls-with-guns trilogy (Noir, Madlax, El Cazador de la Bruja), which only two of them are my favorite (Noir, ECDLB) and most of it is just talking and talking and for a game that is RPG, I expected to be at least more balanced with the action and dialogue but it was a major drag. Character and art design are nothing risqué and mostly very safe territory and the closest thing to some fan service is the outfits that Mimiru and Subaru got on in the game.

One thing I can say about the music is that it’s the best thing going for the show as I found every piece of music, including the opening “Obsession” , the ending “Gentle Dawn” and the background music, made by Yuki Kajiura, to be the more interesting part of the show. Hell, I hear on the DVD you can select an option to only hear the music and there’s the Bandai/PCB Productions dub, which is decent as best but has some stilted acting from the cast as they are really no standouts, although this is the first time I hear noticed Brianne Siddall, who usually play young boy roles in anime, and hearing more of Amanda Winn-Lee since she went from Texas voice-acting from being in L.A.

FINAL VERDICT: This has a good premise going for it but met with lackluster execution but manages to go somewhere in the final part of the series. I can honestly see why most people love it, which associates it with the RPG element, which I will recommended to those who loved it but if you’re like me and you enjoyed the soundtrack more, just get that and don’t look back.

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. At first glance it's about an mmo full of combat and exploration and.....it has none of that. At all. You see 4 monsters in the show total. Apparently one of the most popular mmo's of all time in universe with millions of players. You'll see about 57 people in the background over the entire show. But the main characters will bump into each other constantly as if guided by some other-wordly force (not even getting into the fact of the entire main cast living in the exact same city, what a HUGE coincidence). And with a ... soundtrack that is odd at some times, very good at others but usually ill-fitting of what's usually going on

And yet, despite all that, it had me hooked. I wanted to know more about the breadcrumbs of plot it would give us, about the characters, their motives, their personality, both in and out of the game. Hack will spend most of it's time having the cast meet up in pairs of 2 and slowly (and I mean really slowly) get to know each other. Sometimes they'll be deep discussions, sometimes they'll talk about current topics, but most of the time it will be about nothing at all. Just like how we would in real life. It doesn't make for the most interesting viewing experience but it does build up these characters, love them or hate them you'll get to know them pretty well. But not as well as you'd like, because just as this show finally picks up it's pace and decides it's time to finally actually have a plot and reveal it's hand about "The World" and what's really going on?

The show ends

One of the most abrupt ends ever to end a show as the entire cast is lazily force logged out of the game right at the final battle and.....that's it . I felt like I was just sucker punched in the gut. All the build-up of getting to know this cast, finally seeing them put their differences aside for a greater cause, and it's all for nothing. You'll get a brief 20 second shot of Tsukasas's fate which is actually very sweet, but I feel as if we were robbed of a lot more. All of these characters we had grew to love or hate are cruelly ripped away from us via an abrupt fade to black. Did Subaru finally come to terms with the real world and the difficulties it brings? Did Silver Knight find his purpose without Subaru and the Crimson Knights? Did BT find that connection she was deeply missing in her heart? Who the hell were Helba and Balmung? AND WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING WITH SORA AT THE LAST 2 MINUTES? And many more questions

Unfortunately it seems that 70% of the questions you have won't be answered, because we won't see 2/3 of this cast ever again, outside of a few cameo's in the Hack IMOQ videogames and the short 20 minute OVA which is a final farewell send-off not just for the characters of Hack sign, but for everyone in this series. That includes the characters of 2 short novels, 4 videogames and 2 anime shows. So I've got a ways to go before I can comment on if that ones a worthy send-off or not, but as of right now I just feel let down

For a story that tries to tell a message of how important it is not to lose yourself in videogames and escape the real world but to instead embrace it, we never get to see anyone outside of it, except for a few brief flickering shots, it will merely tell us how certain characters have met in real life, but it will never expand upon it or show us. And I really wanted more of that. Their motivations and desires in real life were what drove them in the game. Silver Knight and his desire for justice, Bt and her desire to be loved, Bear and his desire to protect others, Mimiru and her desire for friendship and so much more. And that really breaks my heart, because despite all of it's shortcomings and weak budget this show had that something special that pulled so many people back when it first aired that wasn't just a fluke, as it's pulled me in even now all these years later.

My brain says 6/10
My heart says 8/10
I'll settle on a final score of 7/10

A fantasy based anime series which focused on the interactions between different people participating in an online game. These people live vicariously through this game which presents a mystery from the moment the series begins. One of the characters, known as Tsubasa, is unable to log out of the game, a phenomenon which is strange because that has never happened in ‘The World’ before, the setting for the online game.


STORY 6/10

In the real world, a character collapses apparently from being the victim of an attack and this appears to be the reason why Tsubasa cannot log out of ‘The World’. The series focuses on ... trying to figure out who Tsubasa is in the real world so as to be able to save the person as well as the effects of Tsubasa’s continued existence in ‘The World’; the way in which he has an impact on all of the characters he encounters and wonders if his existence was foretold, since he is supposed to set forth in motion events that would bring stability in ‘The World’.


ART 6/10

Due the fact that the series was about an online game, the characters were drawn as such to reflect that feel as well as the setting, which gave it the added touch of game play graphics. The artwork with regard to the characters, reflected the mood that each of them possessed throughout the anime.


SOUND 6/10

Since the general mood of this anime was melancholy it was reflected in the music. Both the opening song and ending song channelled that sadness thereby making it an extension of the universal atmosphere of the anime.


CHARACTER 6/10

Each of the characters possessed a unique quality and ability. Tsubasa’s character stood out since the series was focused on him and also because this character was mostly sad all of the time since they could not figure out the reason that he was unable to logout of the game. His presence influenced the general atmosphere of the anime as well as the mood of the other characters.


ENJOYMENT 6/10

The anime started off as a mystery which was a plus for me since I like figuring out what will happen next but there were a bit of plot twists and turns which left me wondering exactly what direction it was taking. A few things were not clearly explained so that had me a bit perplexed at times. The final arc of the anime was rushed and I was not satisfied about the way in which it ended.


OVERALL 6/10

In summation, this series was slow and the story presented a few discrepancies which were not cleared up at all. It appeared that as they hit the halfway mark, many concepts kept changing. It could have been better had they a more cohesive story and not have tried to be too mysterious about certain elements.

I think this is my first review. But for some reason, I felt the unique need to express my views on this series unlike any of the others I have seen.

Art Style:

While the art style is a bit old given when it was aired it is mostly a clean viewing experience. There is the odd frame where the animation quality is noticeably lower but fortunately my attention was captivated enough for the odd error to be easily ignored.

Sound:

There is a few points to be covered here. Overall the sound was pleasant to listen to, no errors, nothing 'too' out of pace. But. I found myself ... asking why on earth some sections played specific music. A few separate scenes with a 'murderous' character had the suspense killed by a jaunty tune that you would expect from a comical scene. Not one with high tension and at key story points, this irritated me as a more serious tone would have been far more gripping. However, the use of no sound or edited sound during specific scenes allowed a clear sense of separation between reality, The World and the characters memories.

Story:

I will be honest. I had no grasp of what was supposed to be happening story wise for a good portion of the start of this anime. Asides from a lot of conjecture and a few ideas nothing solid is presented until a ways into the series which I feel may cause a lot of people to give up on this anime early. Once the story dropped a few plot points and explained a couple of things (sometimes too conveniently) having an understanding allowed me to enjoy the anime more rather than questioning everything with no bite.

Character Progression:

Having finished the anime I am happy with how the main characters were in terms of story. There was a lack of character development all around with some training montages that seem to yield no results except to build the characters confidence. Given that the intro is supposed to show the main characters you would expect them to 'feel' like main characters once being introduced. But some of the characters took a ridiculous amount of time to be included in the main story and become involved with the other characters.

A major character flaw that was painfully in my face was that if a group of people in a video game knew someone was in there for real, they would act in a completely different manner. I'm not talking about "oh god lets get you out of here" but using their intelligence as real people to help someone. There is talk of the real world and logging off so the fact reality isn't used to their advantage confuses me. If breaking character, meeting in the real world and logging off is common talk why not go the distance and log off at ideal times such as before death etc. Not to mention a character knowingly making things difficult for the person stuck inside the video game with the knowledge they can come to harm goes against the morals of the normal person playing the character.

Subbed Version:

Now... I understand not all subbed versions will be the same, but the two versions I viewed had, at times, horrible translation. Hearing common phrases that were translated so wrong in responses to characters made me feel like I was missing a lot of context and some conversations made little sense apart from just agreeing with each other. The intro... I understand some things don't translate well into English but an introduction about "A headache" and other nonsensical lines made no sense to any part of the series. While the intro didn't look too shabby, the dialogue looses appeal.

Personal Views:

I'm not quite sure why I decided to write this review, possibly just to share my odd experience of this anime or to express my thoughts to come to some understanding. I only rated this anime a 6 due to the slow pace, late story and odd music choices. Now I understand people might expect a lower score from all the negatives I have listed but for some reason I quite liked it overall. I guess I enjoyed how different the anime was. A lot of Animes focus on epic battles, fan service or some kind of niche but there is more to this anime than the surface shows. Hack.Sign is not for everyone, I was unsure if it was for me until part way through. It was a nice change from the norm.

I decided to write this review as many of my friends actually got surprised of my harsh rating of 5, and I suppose I was a bit cruel, however, for me, this anime could have brought a lot more at some points.

As a first point, I will have to admit that the sounds are amazing, also it's the reason why I was so harsh at rating... because the music is so good and it gives me an amazing feel whenever I hear it, but the story itself can't make it up to the epicness of the sounds.

For a second point art, it is ... a really fair art with some decent characters, who make the story going on. There are few characters which I loved, but there are some which I can't put it anywhere really... they got some important role as it is told but they act like they weren't there basically.

As for conclusion I can say that it worth a watch even though I gave it such a low overall rating, firstly as it was the first MMO based anime as I know, also I think it really deserves a chance, if not for else than to tell me that I am awfully cruel and this anime worth a lot more than my 5.

My ratings are like:

Story 3/10
Art 6/10
Sound 9/10
Character 4/10
Enjoyment 5/10

Overall 5/10

As an ending, I will say that I might not have found it the perfect anime at all, but it can be an all time favorite for others. :) So don't hesitate to watch and don't get disheartened because you see a low overall on an anime. :)

This series has one of the best soundtracks of any anime series. If you do nothing else, listen to the soundtrack. It's long but it is entirely worth it. It's Kajiura Yuki so that's hardly surprising, but still.

Overall, the story is boring. Imagine all the really dull aspects of the average video game, like farming for special loot or ingredients or fishing. Except now that's a show you're watching.

Since I played WoW for several years and still play "Diablo 3", I thought it would be interesting to watch, and I could connect better with characters who commented on RL problems and logging out and ... stuff. And it was an interesting way to have "normal" people exist in a fantasy setting, especially without the problems of taking away narration time featuring sleeping, cooking or eating.

But it's like this series is highlighting every problem playing MMORPGs has. You get on, and you don't actually accomplish anything. Why fight? To get better gear and level up. Why get better gear and level up? So you can fight better. It features trolls, gankers, nubs, and the more ridiculous aspects of online gaming. To accurately feature an MMORPG, these things must be involved, so I understand their purpose. And with the rise in the number of games in use (especially when this was made), this is an important aspect of our world for people to see. I suppose if it's just a commentary on how stupid these things are... I don't know. Personally, I wouldn't record the average day for me on D3 or WoW because I know it's boring. This seems to just be a confirmation of that. That's not interesting. It's kind of bleak and uncomfortable. And not in a way that says much about video games, like how OCD can get involved or how many games pull in people with gambling issues.

The characters are eh. There are some cutesy bits, but that's about it. Growth takes place off-screen and the story just ends up being a bunch of people who have nothing to do with a problem getting themselves involved in it because there is LITERALLY nothing. else. to. do. anywhere. I suppose it fits with a number of other anime that involve characters doing things for no specific reason but at least in most other stories, people were focusing on the goal for some other purpose other than there's literally nothing. else. to. do.

There are some strong messages pushed through if you focus on the outside story (not the inside), which is given in snippets. Those are nice, even if they don't feel like the focus the majority of the time.

Overall it's pretty boring and slow and the characters aren't very likeable. Unfortunately if you want to watch something about video games, your best option at the moment is basically "Wreck-It-Ralph" (not to throw shade at the film; I just can't think of a decent anime/manga alternative). If you want a good fantasy series that's warm-hearted but with stakes and an emphasis on slice-of-life, watch "Natsume Yuujinchou" or "Cardcaptor Sakura" or read "Fruits Basket". Skip this. Listen to the soundtrack.

Ever since the trapped in videogame type of isekai sub-genre became a fad, you could read some people saying that this one show, the first of them all by a long margin, is actually the best, and since those comments come from people who hate that genre, I always wanted to check it out. I was initially planning to review the franchise as a whole once I finished it, but who knows if that will even happen.

Obviously, this anime is quite outdated when it comes to visuals, for a 2002 anime the artwork is solid and the backgrounds are great, while everything else is just ... fine, the character designs were once iconic, but now come off as simple and kind of generic, plus the character models can be inconsistent at times. Since the series is dialogue-heavy, the characters remain mostly standing or sitting while talking, which means the actual animation is mostly static, even though there are a few fights in it, which in turn are decently animated for the time but the motions are still nothing very impressive. Coming from that era, most of the special effects are quite good, but there is also prominent CGI that by now is crude and weak looking, not so much as there was in other shows from that time, thankfully, but it’s still there and affects the overall.

The sound department was and is still praised, the sound effects were very good for its time, although a bit outdated by now, the voice acting a bit atypical and very mature for its type of series, with Mitsuki Saiga being the best possible choice for the protagonist, and the soundtrack is easily among the best and most atmospheric in the whole medium, especially the opening. The composer is the well-known Yuki Kajiura, who would go on to make very similar soundtracks in later works, mixing a little bit of different influences depending on the aesthetics of each title. The problem here is the directing, which is weird at times, using the themes in ways and moments that feel misplaced, which is why I have to take a point from the overall sound department.

The plot has to do with people playing a VRMMORPG, but one of them, the protagonist, can’t logout, so it becomes a problem because of the effects that that can have on her body, and for everyone else, who considers her a cheater that’s breaking the game and is responsible for certain things that are happening in it.

The series is not an action adventure like every other that would follow it in its genre, it’s a mix of slice of life, as it shows the role playing of everyone and what and how they do in the game, as well as real life issues of each one becoming important regarding character dynamics, and mystery, as the objective is to find the true identity of the main character, aspects of the videogame they play, and by extension the setting itself, from its very core and beginning, as well as finding a McGuffin that can lead to that, and also, well, prevent the world from that game to crash, of course, that was obviously needed to happen.

The anime shows how some of the characters take the game more seriously than others, some just want to have a good time, some just want to chill out, and others take their in-game roles very seriously, more than they should, which is actually a bit of a weak point from the anime. Well, at least every perspective is explained through the exploration of the characters both in game and also outside of it, though to a much lesser extent, with the exception of the main character, of course.

Some, mainly the protagonist, are there for escapism purposes, others to build bonds that they lost in real life, or to do something for someone else, and it’s interesting to see how everyone is confronted about what they want to do in-game and their way to achieve that, with obviously the anti-escapism of the main character being the main theme, character arc, and message in the show.

And that’s its main difference with the other series in its sub-genre, which would ditch every attempt at a serious exploration of a meaningful message nor care for characterization, and mutate into power fantasies where bland overpowered otaku and/or gamer protagonists with no personality whatsoever defeat one dimensional villains and get all the girls in the world.

.hack//Sign is not like that in the least, Tsukasa is initially distant and aggressive towards others, a loner, cynical even, and although that makes up for a good character arc as she warms up to others and face her reality, it’s true that you don’t want to follow a main character like that all that much. Well, at least her reactions are justified when you take in count that a lot of players attack her out of the blue with no explanation nor much solid justification. That is a nice detail not only because it shows that she is not very liked by others, but also because it establishes her character better than just having her being an antisocial just because and to fit with the emo fashion of the era. I said that but that aspect of her personality is also explored through her in real life persona and drama, which is quite heavy and serious and treated tastefully, and obviously won’t be covered here.

She is also not powerful in the least, if I remember correctly she is a middle level spell caster in the game, and although with very high potential, it also means that could be beat by anyone in a 1v1 in the game, if not for the broken items she acquires at some point, which actually turn on herself after a point for plot reasons.

Another good aspect of the show is showing how the existence of Tsukasa is seen by the rest of the players, as a some sort of threat for the stability of the game and world they interact in and with, leading some to go for aggression, while others try to communicate, reason, understand and bond with her, to get to the bottom of the mysteries of the show together. Eventually this is resolved and abandoned because of the stakes that the show goes for near the end, when everyone unites to face the biggest threat and matter at hand. That is something that I also found to be a positive, compared with other anime from the genre that have high stakes from the beginning, but also characters that don’t care much about them, or give more importance to whatever the protagonists do in ways that don’t feel plausible in the least, and that make them look like idiots.

Another thing I never liked on later titles is how similar the avatars of the players were to their real life designs, .hack//Sign not only has them looking completely different in game, some even change their gender, something that also happens in our real world and life.

Now for the negatives for which I don’t rate .hack//Sign higher despite my praises.

First, although the protagonist is eventually fleshed out and developed and gets a catharsis, as I said she wasn’t very likeable in the beginning, it’s understandable for the reasons I mentioned, but not many would have the patience to follow a main character so apathetic that also has amnesia, thus being both unlikeable and mysterious in a bad way, since she doesn’t remember who she is, and thus can’t be fleshed out until late in the series.

Then, as well done as it is, this is still a series where people take playing a videogame more seriously than they should, they are not even professional gamers, why do they care so much? It’s kinda cringy to watch.

Then, as much as the series tries to introduce high stakes near the end, at the end of the day, it’s still just the world within a videogame, besides the protagonist, everyone can just logout and unlike later anime, death is irrelevant for everybody besides the protagonist here, so the stakes are not as high as the show tries to make it seem like they are.

Speaking of which, Tsukasa goes through several life threatening situations, which in theory should raise the stakes since she can’t logout, and thus starts feeling the effects of the game on her own body, but something happens to either save her in the last moment, or even after apparently being badly hurt, the only thing that get affected are her memories and stuff, which she regains at the end anyways.

Also, it doesn’t make much sense for the antagonist to let her roam free throughout the series while she needed her, that’s what ends up being her downfall in the end.

Then there is the end of the series, which at the last moment throws a cliffhanger hinting at more stuff to come, which you’ll never get to see unless you read other manga, or light novels, or play the videogame series, or listen to drama cds. The series is just a middle point, and its ending the entrance, to a much much bigger and longer franchise, which tarnish what was otherwise a very solid ending up until that point.

Two ovas were released afterwards, and they are not worth watching in the least. One is mostly and unrelated and irrelevant side story of a character that doesn’t appear in the main series, until it shows a bit of the past of a main character, which not only comes out very late, but it also contradicts part of what was shown about her in the series, while the other is just fanservice for longtime fans of the franchise, since it reunites the cast of the anime with ones from the games, some of which have very similar character designs and thus ruins the uniqueness of the ones from the original, because it takes place after the all the plot points from the initial games are over, thus, if you are an anime only, like myself, you won’t even have an idea who all those people are and where did they come from, and even then, that ova can barely count as an outcome, as it is just a festival for the characters to celebrate, while not bringing closure to the anime in the least.

Its legacy was apparently quite tarnished, since the genre moved on to something completely different than it, and later entries wouldn’t follow its ending, and would mutate to a more comical and lewd approach, thus departing from what gave it its uniqueness in the first place.

Personally, I enjoyed .hack//Sign a bit, for basically being the opposite of what I came to hate about modern anime in later years, but it’s still understandable why it’s not liked very much. It’s visually outdated, it takes a while for the protagonist to become likeable, there aren’t many nor very high stakes, the series is incomplete, and people usually want to watch videogame anime for their takes on the core mechanics and the adventures in the world the makers come out with in their series, not a very static and dialogue heavy anti-escapism series about the introspection of antisocial people or straight up losers. And even I had a bit of a tough time to appreciate the anime, despite loving some heavy dialogue series and movies, because those are usually about existential or psychological topics, while this one is about people taking seriously playing a videogame. It’s worth watching for its themes, messages, character immersion and atmosphere, but the plot is certainly not very engaging and slower than it needs to, and the ending is somewhat lacking, so it’s more of an acquired taste type of show for veteran viewers, the exact opposite of what you’d expect from its premise, and what its genre would become.

It's a decent show - like the older version of Sword Art Online, kind of? I think for a show to come out that time with this plot is pretty impressive and creative (although I keep finding more plots and stories with similar backgrounds). The soundtrack is Yuki Kajiura so you KNOW it's great, but the downside are the characters. The main character is annoying and I feel like it was hard for me to keep up with plot because I couldn't understand what he was thinking / doing. Everyone else was kind of okay; Bear and Mimiru I didn't feel much about but they ... did grow on me.