Hack//Sign

Director
Kazumi KawashiroKazumi Kawashiro, Keith AremKazumi Kawashiro, Keith Arem, Koichi MashimoKazumi Kawashiro, Keith Arem, Koichi Mashimo, Satoshi OhsawaKazumi Kawashiro, Keith Arem, Koichi Mashimo, Satoshi Ohsawa, Tatsuya OkaKazumi Kawashiro, Keith Arem, Koichi Mashimo, Satoshi Ohsawa, Tatsuya Oka, Yoshiaka Tsuhata
Production
Bandai, Bee Train, Yomiuri Advertising
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2002

.Hack//Sign

By Mark McPherson
9th May 04

Online gaming has become one of the biggest things since the internet came along. It was only a matter of time before someone actually made a TV series about it. What better format than Japanese animation to exploit the online gaming world.

The show revolves around a character named Tsukasa who cannot log out of the online game known as The World. At first I thought he logged on and then couldn't get out, but it seems he can't remember logging in either. Now, a group of characters from barabarians to clan leaders (in the game of course) seek out who exactly Tsukasa is and why some strange effects are occuring in the game.

The bulk of this show revolves around character interaction since there is a lot of them. There is Mimiru (a ditzy Japanese teenager), Bear (40 year old investigator), BT (a stubborn office lady), Sora (ignorant kiddy cheater), Subaru (leader of the Crimson Knights), Silver Knight (Subaru's right hand man) and Crim (ex-Crimson Knight). While these characters rarely talk about themselves, they are interesting when they choose to be. However, there are some characters that are just introduced and you never really see them or know who they are. For instance, A-20 shows up for only one episode and Helba is a character whos name is constantly thrown around, but never actually seen.

The episodes can range from deep revelations, to one-episodes adventures to just plain wasting time. Probably my least favorite episode from the series is episode 15 which is basically the same as episode 14, with the addition of some out-of-place flashbacks. Don't get me wrong, some of the episodes are fun to just get lost in, but after awhile, it becomes a bit repetitive.

The music is, without question, the best orchestrated track ever made for a television series. The animation is also a big plus with extremely lush backrounds and graphics. My favorite part about the animation is that there is some computer graphics in there, but the show only uses it for warp gates and when people log-out. The fights don't really become exciting until the final battle in the last few episodes, but the show doesn't really show much fighting and doesn't rely on it to carry the show.

The shows biggest strength is it's interesting mysteries and plot twists within the dialogue and small actions. However, that also happens to be it's weakness, as the plot moves at an almost intollerable slow speed. Some episodes will simply just analyze whats happened so far and drawing conclusions from those actions. Basically, the characters interact and converse the way most people in online games do. Some of the people I go to school with have said they really like this series and think there is no other anime that is greater than this. I think the reasoning behind their judgement of this series is that they play online games and automatically take a liking to this series since the show mentions many key terms they are familiar with like BBS and E-mail.

Overall, this series has started a new genre, but it does have some rough spots that could use some fillings. However, .hack has started a new wave of shows, games and manga, so maybe this is just the beginning of something great. As it stands now, .hack still appears to me as a diamond in the rough, still waiting to milk it's full potnetial. Hopefully in a few years, a better show in this vein will be concieved.

6/10

-- Mark McPherson 9th May 04

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