Reviewed: Episodes 1-16 (subbed)

Basic Plot:

In the future, role playing games are played by logging onto the internet and actually going inside the game. A young player named Tsukasa arouses many questions and suspicions when he discovers a creature who’s attacks can affect not only the players’ characters, but the players themselves by knocking them unconscious right at their computers. What’s worse, Tsukasa is unable to log off. The answer to all the questions seems to be the mythical Key of the Twilight, which some players doubt even exists. But some suspect that Tsukasa is linked to it, and the other players are desperate to find out who he really is.

Review:

I don’t even know if that plot summary is accurate. .hack//SIGN is a complicated series. It has many things going on, many mysteries and questions, but what few answers they give us are very vague. The character designs are beautiful (actually done by the same guy who did the Evangelion character designs). The animation is, for the most part, fluid and attractive. The voice acting is wonderful. The plot is at least interesting, even if sometimes it goes over my head. I think it would be much easier to understand this series if I were in to online role-playing. To be honest, I never role play online, so a lot of the terms and things are lost on me. Also, I sometimes feel like everyone is taking the game far too seriously. But again, since I’m not in to online RPG’s, I don’t really know how players feel about their games. One thing’s for sure, if you like online RPG’s, you’ll probably love this series.

The characters themselves are very interesting, and fairly unique in anime-verse. Not a whole lot of stereotypes here. Tsukasa is great. I actually felt some relation to him. He’s definitely not your typical main character. The best thing about this series is, by far, the music. I loved all the background music, and the opening/ending themes. Very haunting and very beautiful. I would actually re-watch certain parts just to hear the music.

Watch this series if you’re into online RPG’s. Even if you’re not, you may be drawn in by the characters and the music. I was.