Anime Review : .hack//sign (English dubbed version)

.hack//sign is a strange anime series that takes place almost entirely on the Internet. In 2005, a computer virus called "Pluto Kiss" all but destroyed cyberspace. In the rebuilding process a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online game) called "The World" came around, quickly gaining popularity.

Players join The World through their computers and through the wonders of technology they can create fantasy-like characters and explore their virtual surroundings. Soon The World is the most popular online game in history, boasting well over 27 million users.

It is in The World we discover a character named Tsukasa, a player who discovers he cannot log out of the game. In addition, he can smell and touch the virtual objects within The World, as well as feel pain. He can't remember his life before logging into the world, making his existence a mystery among the other players. There are also tales of other users falling into a coma while playing the game, adding a sense of alarm to the game's population.

Tsukasa's unique situation and tendency to keep to himself makes him easy prey for an unseen, malicious presence within the game. This invisible force gives Tsukasa a powerful tool called The Guardian to protect him from other characters in the game, but when this highly destructive weapon begins having real-life consequences he rapidly attracts the attention of the game's administrators as well as players who want to help him finally log out. This quest leads the small group to a little-known artifact called the Key of the Twilight, which may not even exist.

The series has a slow but steady progression throughout the entire plot and unfolds in a linear progression, but is executed masterfully by the producers. Its bizarre quality comes from the fact we rarely if ever see what the characters really look like-that is, we see the visual personas they have created within The World, but barely catch glimpses of what they look like in reality. We know little of their lives beyond the computer screen, though we are treated to in-depth explorations as to why they each have chosen the game as a means of escape.

One simply wants a place in which to socialize, while another wants to forget about the limitations of their physical body. The World is a type of equalizer, allowing everyone to play on a level field as it were rather than forcing people to get past the real-life fronts we all put up.

Rather than focusing on battles between the players, .hack//sign chooses instead to develop each of the characters individually and emphasize the relationship between them. The trials they face in the game bring them closer together, fulfilling their need for companionship in different ways. By the end of the series you're left on the edge of your seat, wanting to find out what happens next, although the final episode is necessarily left open to accommodate the following quartet of Playstation 2 games.

The animation is of the highest quality, with highly detailed characters and an equally rich background. This may have been done because the creators are hoping you'll buy the games that followed it, but whatever their reasoning, the energetic color palette is truly a feast for the eyes. The music is just as stunning, with an appropriate soundtrack for every scene that is worthy of purchasing separately.

.hack//sign is good for almost every age, though younger children may have a difficult time understanding it. This series may help you better understand why MMORPGs are so popular in today's age, as well as serving its purpose of simply being a good story.