.hack//Roots

.hack//Roots is a fine sequel that's kind of bashed because of the plug-in-nature relationship to the .hack//G.U. And it's sad it's kind of bashed, because Roots was a really good installment in the .hack// Series. My favorite has and probably will always be SIGN but I found roots to be very enjoyable at the least.

In terms of the story it struck a fine balance of keeping in the nature of .hack in general with out going over the SAME OLD STORY. While it re-introduced the story of the mystic "Key of the Twilight" as explored in .hack//SIGN and it's ... sequel quartet. Bringing in all new characters, giving the classic 'The World' a make over with all new classes was the change needed. Of course the story of the .hackers was great and so was the story and drama of Tsukasa in .hack//SIGN and that was good for those, but it was time for a change.

.hack//Roots goes back to the darker more somber story line after it's campy epilogue-like predecessor .hack//Legend of the Twilight (aka .hack//DUSK) which was refreshing change. I can't say I liked Legend straying so far from it's roots (heh no pun intended) of it's predecessor of SIGN, though it's certainly understandable why. But again I felt it was far better to keep on the darker side of the story line, which is why SIGN captivated me in the first place.

The story dwells much more into the dark human psyche of our personal demons, and can show every character has a purpose for playing "The World" that to me is the darker end of why people like to play games for hours on end. (namely me). Like with SIGN I felt captivated and relatable to every character. I was able to care about them on such personal levels. It's amazing to see the changes all the characters go through, as the series progresses, which made them much more dynamic foil characters. I recall in SIGN the only one who really changed was Tsukasa. So it was a new direction that worked.

You'll notice a big difference between Haseo and Tsukasa, which is something I found worked well. Again if you are going to do a sequel you have to make it original, otherwise you just get Pokemon all over again. I thought the idea of Haseo's power-binge to avenge the the PKing of Shino was a brilliant concept, and added to sympathy for his character or otherwise maybe more antagonizing concepts. Haseo's journey into the black abyss of PKKing actually really contributes to the GU storyline.

The overall storytelling didn't stay as strong as SIGN. It started off pretty typically, with the set up and the world-of-the-play but soon dissolved into a pretty weak middle, and picked up slightly at the end. The middle episodes that don't involve Haseo feel much like cheap fillers that simply aren't that needed. It could have stood to be a little shorter in length even though it stands at 26 episodes. That's not to say the entire middle is weak, there are some great episodes in the middle such as "The Forest of Pain" arc, and Haseo's ever growing into the "Terror of Death." Other than that, episodes that show attempts by Tabby and others to form a Medic Union or any episode that features Tabby alone, pretty much fall right away.

As I mentioned earlier Roots is a plug-in story to .hack//G.U. for the PS2, so in the end you will want to play the games to continue the story line. (or you can read the novels). Again it's kind of sad Roots takes a lot of flak for that, because I think it's a clever and very unique way to extend a story line. SIGN in some ways was like that as it all lead into .hack//Infection.

Music, was fair. I mean no disrespect to Ali Project I am coming to like their work quite a bit, but it was a strange direction and style compared to Kajiura's score for SIGN. I was taken aback by it, but it has grown on me enough that I find it okay but still not good as I've come to expect when Mashimo is the director. It's almost deceptive at first because one of the first after-theme piece you hear is very well composed and orchestrated, but after that it's pretty dull, inattentive, and flat. You will also hear a few pieces that sound eerily similar to works by Danny Elfman which doesn't help the case of the music get any better. It's also at times poorly place and orchestrated. Ali Project has provided a good original score, this I know with Avenger, but Roots is considerably dull in comparison to SIGN's musical score. On the otherhand Kajiura's opening theme with FictionJunction YUUKA is a really unique theme, much different than Obsession almost more like a melancholy and "searching for" or "yearning for" theme.

In the end ROOTS is good but not great. The introduction of more action and more tension helped the story but still I think SIGN will have the stronger storyline. I can't speak for all fans because some might hate it, others might love it, or some will find it in-between. Absolutely there are aspects about it that could have been better. Not likely Roots will go down as the greatest chapter of .hack especially with it's relationship to GU which by the way is a rather fun game for the story experience.

.hack//Roots is a 26-episode anime created by. It is based on the worldwide hit game, .hack. That said, though, the anime falls flat on its face, because of far too many factors that should been taken care of.

The storyline is so weak, the viewer often feels as if he's watching a documentary of something. There's no connectivity in the episodes, and the fractal appearance of the whole series will put everyone (except the most devoted .hack otaku) off. The story doesn't have heads or tails; it just plods on, like an excrutiating torture session.

The character design's very weak as well. Though the lead ... character, Haseo, is created well, flaws in his conceptualization leave him with a schizophrenic character set. Shino and O-van, the other two lead characters, are far better in their conception. O-van, particularly, is a great character, sort of like Hatake Kakashi in Naruto or like Urahara Kisuke in Bleach. Besides these two exceptions, everyone else is useless as characters. Tabby is too smarmy, Sakisaka too vacillatory, Ender too non-violent, and Filo too plodding.

The one high point of the show is the music, produced by Ali Project. The OP (Silly-go-Round by FictionJunction YUUKA) and ED (Boukoku Kakusei Catharsis by Ali Project) are awesome, to say the least, and the INs never fail to enthrall either. IMO, do look out for God Diva; it's a superlative track. Silly-Go-Round, thanks to its catchy tune structure and fine alterations between the violin and modern instruments such as the guitar or drums, makes for a great listen.

Sadly, the music is the only thing we reviewer otaku can rave about. The idea behind the characters is good, and as in the case of Tryedge, almost exquisite. But there is no clarity, no Ichigo-esque madness, no Naruto-style idealism in this story. One misses the clear objective reality of Bleach or Ghost in the Shell (or maybe even the earlier .hack iterations?). There is virtually no action, no drama, no flesh and blood; in short, there's no juice to this baby.

Who do I recommend it to? No one. This anime (as much as it pains me to say it) is simply unwatchable. Don't watch it at all, except maybe the first episode and towards the end. The rest will simply bore you, and make you regret the time you spent downloading the episode. .hack//Roots is a total failure for me.

This anime's about as messy as a landslide.

Alright, so I sat through each and every one of the 26 episodes of .Hack//Roots so I could conjure up a review. I forced myself to finish the series after the fourteenth episode only because I was already so far in and I'm someone who likes to get things done and when I criticize something I want a full understanding of what I'm going to bash.

The story wasn't "so" bad because it's got the base and foundation of the .Hack//Series. Which you all know by now because of the previous anime's and the synopsis above. What I had ... a problem with is the way they had told it.

The main issue is that all of the characters behave unrealistically. And there's no character in this entire series who I could relate to. Which is VERY important to any show because you want someone to root for (pun intended) and build a relationship with.

Haseo didn't give two shits about anything or anyone and didn't even care much for the Twilight Brigade or anyone in it until Ovan ordered him to take good care of Shino, and abruptly they began a "relationship" after his sudden disappearance after the gathering of all the Virus Cores. Which is hard to identify because it happened so quickly. They get hitched supposedly, but it wasn't amplified properly since they only showed one scene that gave you the hint. I mean, yeah, they obviously felt something for each other but it seemed almost as platonic as her relationship with Ovan.

She kicks the bucket immediately after these shortly lived events and Haseo reacts strongly. Which is odd, because it didn't even seem like such a big deal when I sat and watched but Haseo's expression made me think otherwise. It just seemed so quick to actually feel anything for either of them. I just didn't care, which means there's something seriously wrong with this series.

There also isn't one central character. Sure, in the start they focus upon Haseo, but when shit hits the fan they switch to numerous different people. Tabby, Phyllo, and the supposed villains Pi and Yata who were Ender and Naobi previously but had their characters permanently disabled in the earlier episodes. Tawalaya who soon became Tohta. The two cat people and a bunch of others I didn't care much about.

When there's so many characters it's hard to keep up, and to feel anything for either of them. It's just an overall mess, an anomaly to story lines. It's probably one of the reasons why I didn't give a fuck about Haseo's "desperate" struggle towards insanity.

Tabby is as gutless as a guppy and doesn't think twice before she acts. She just does stupid things and is an idiot. Why she did some of the stuff in the series is beyond me. I don't mind very happy characters with not so strong intelligence outside of the "serious" bits, but yeah, she's stupid everywhere and in every situation.

The music was sub-par. Ali Project is a really good artist, but it didn't seem to fit well as an ending theme in my own personal opinion. Just seemed a little too wacky for something like this show. Yeah, it's dark, but it seemed more wacky Halloween than dark.

The opening of the opening's nice but everything following it is bitter and tasteless like lettuce. The animation's fine, I guess, but it didn't wow me. Anime openings are just a very recycled process. Run sideways, slash slash, stare up at the bright light above you with a solemn expression. How generic.

If you're a fan of .Hack I wouldn't watch this show, and if you're not I would try and forget it ever even existed.

To start off, .hack is well-known by fans as a game within a game. With the online game, "The World" as your setting, you play as a character who interacts with other characters who are all aware that this is all but a game they're facing, from beginning to end. Twists and turns soon crash on the protagonist and his allies as they encounter different obstacles that usually do not play by the game's rules. Most of these rule-breakers are usually rendered as bugs, viruses, glitches, hacked entities and more anomalies that can be defined within the branch ... of computer ethics.

As a fan of the series(more on the games), I appreciated .hack for being a story that most people today can relate. The series also inspired me to play online games which in time, I grew tired to continue due to the fact that it wastes my wallet, time and ego.

The first series, //SIGN made an impact on me by being emotional, mysterious and sharing a piece of action overall but mostly, it was just fantasy with suspense. The second, "The legend of the Twilight", a.k.a. //Dusk, was mediocre for me though, it was good for the series to have a livelier side for a change but the sad fact was that they didn't complete the anime series or at least portrayed it completely from the manga which had a touching(yet surprising) ending.
Here, //Roots now has it's changes for its own respect to the series.

Now, on to the review:

Story:
For the sake of the part of the audience who didn't really seem to get why "The World" has began its new revision, the company of the game, CC(Cyber Connect) Corp. had its main building, set on fire by an unknown cause, thus, deleting most of the original online game. The developers then made an idea to make a new "The World" where more people could enjoy. The ratings soon grew rapidly after debut with the help of interested new players though old members seemed to grow tired and quit the game.

The story begins with a player named, "Haseo" who was back stabbed by his party members during his first try on the game. These players are branded as "Player-Killers" or "PK" for short. Another player, Ovan took care of them and revived the crushed Haseo, thus begins their friendship.

Now, the story more so revolves around Haseo as he copes through his life, in-game. Regularly, you would see him in dilemmas as every decision he makes can affect his friends and enemies. Sometimes, both. The story's pace is rather slow and describes Haseo's life before the events of //G.U., the main plot and climax of Haseo's story.

But there's more to the show than just the life of a misguided player. There are other more things where the online game seems to have trouble with. Soon, Haseo these problems will soon make a drastic impact on the protagonist, changing his shy and dependent attitude into a fierce vengeful vigilante.

The story overall is absolutely more than decent as it combines mystery and drama with fantasy and gaming though the main plot slows down as different characters have their own story, pausing the plot's pace which is sometimes a drag to some part of the audiences who have little interest with those specific characters.

The story ends with a cliffhanger wherein we have to buy the game, .hack//G.U.(all 3 volumes) in order to finalize its story. Now, most people would call this some kind of marketing trickery although the story is appreciable to its own extent, making it a good experience for those audience members who would want a taste of a story about online games which are click in today's society.

Art:
Animation isn't that much different with //SIGN's though you'd have to agree that it has improved in different aspects. The only problems are usually that they are frequently recycled, making it a less remarkable as the show continues on. Clips often repeat here and there though at different times throughout the story which is like budget-saving in terms of business so there's nothing much to say when it comes to the show's art though the digital effects when the characters draw their weapons never become much of a yawn.

Costume and weapon designing can be pleasing to look at, especially when you compare Ovan's look to Haseo's which is an important interpretation to their background. Almost all characters wear the usual part-ethnic, part-medieval attire with a good touch of designing that greatly expresses their form of character. Another not to add is that there are now anthropomorphic characters which are a fresh idea to the franchise since there were limited of those kind in the earlier series.

Guns and swords have their fair share of love and war. You would just really want to hold them..... well, most of them.... at times...

Sound:
The sound effects are good to hear though aren't all that fresh in the world of special effects. The intense blade-bashing and the flickering sounds of weapons drawn are used less than needed which is a real downer although there are some cuteness effects like tail-wags to boot which can really be a reliever at times before and after the action.

Soundtracks are frequently used to fill-in the usual silence and some same tracks are played in every episode. Some people might call it a drag though the ethnic genre can really give a good feel in "The World". It just so happens, that you might get annoyed, hearing the same song over and over again within a span of 26 episodes.

Character:
This is probably one of the most interesting aspects of the story; the characters' personalities vary a lot and you can't exactly tell which character can be like the other. Earlier, Haseo has this introverted persona and later events convert him into a cruel beast which is an amazing change with a little psychology in there while Ovan is the cool-headed and mysterious character. We see a cute, tiny, fuzzy character named Phyllo who is actually a wise old man behind the mask. Shino, the usual kindhearted, nature-loving damsel, Tabby, your cute cheerful catgirl and others more with some returning characters for fanservice.

Overall, they're not too dull to look upon and they can be interesting from time to time.

Enjoyment:
Honestly, you'd love the game more than the anime itself. Delays are usually bound to happen at times. You'd frequently see a long pause after a short conversation/fight where there will come a time where you just want to fast-forward to the juicy parts. This was where I was really disappointed about the show - only a handful of action is present. If you were less of an action-person and more of a talker and in for the soap opera-like drama, this is more for you but if your in it for the sword-fights and the usual "Saving the world while kicking some ass" thing, don't set your hopes too high or you might just end up pulling your hair or glancing through the window rather than the TV screen.

Overall:
This show was merely born for the sake of //G.U. If you played the game but you wanted to know the "why"? You better watch the series. If you haven't played the game yet but you still finished the series, better grab the //G.U. Trilogy movie instead. Saves a lot of money for those who only want to watch rather than play.

The show didn't really swept me off my feet but it was fair enough to be engaging so a forgivable lucky 7 should do nicely.

Okay so if you haven't seen any of the .Hack series or played the game you will be confused.....very confused. Yes the con you on buying the games to know more of the story...so it goes.... .Hack//Sign, .Hack//Dusk, The Games -> .Hack//Infection, .Hack//Mutation, .Hack//Outbreak, .Hack//Quarantine, .Hack//Fragment (Not released in the US), Then .Hack//Roots...then after .Hack//Roots comes the other GU games if you want to know more X3.

Story

The story is what you could call a continuation when i first saw .Hack//roots i was a bit confused on what was going on until i ran into spoilers then it kind of all made sense. So yeah reading ... the manga's and playing the games can help you understand the story. What i love about the .Hack series is it all connects together as a whole so .Hack//roots is just another chapter added to the story. The plot is seireus and interesting it just makes you want to know more on the Twilight about Haseo and everything. It has a mysterious feel you just want more but with all .Hack series there all have that feel.

Art

I love the art in .Hack//Roots its very detailed in the backgrounds and the structure of the characters. I didn't really feel anything unique about it just that it was structured and the animation was very nice. Just in love with the overly created character design and the overall flow of it is very nice.


Sound

I have to say that this is one of the rare anime's that has a great dub i really loved the English and the Japanese both i think there both great. The music~ Its not as great as the .Hack//Sign OST but it still has great music. See-Saw does the ending song and Ali Project does the beginning~ they do most the songs in .Hack//Roots i love them all <3. If your a fan of See-Saw or Ali Project you'll deafently love the OST to .Hack//Roots.


Character's

I love love love the characters in .Hack//roots it makes you of course want to know more about them outside there character they play in the game. They have this mysterious feel about all of them that makes you want to know more about them which i love! And of course you don't get to know much about them in .Hack//Roots since it continues off in GU. But just the overall feel of the characters i love. Tabby and Felo is probably the most you'll know about a character in .Hack//roots which is interesting still overall the characters are great once you know more about them in the manga's and games. Overall i like the uniqueness of the characters personality's, Haseo is probably the first iv seen of a character like him.

Enjoyment

I personally really enjoyed watching this series i really had allot of fun watching to see what would happen next you kind of get suck in with the relationships which there are a few and the mysterious of the anime that never gets solved...unless like iv said you play the games or read the continuation of the manga.

Overall

Overall i gave this anime a 10~ I think you have to be a real .Hack fan to enjoy this series and understand what its all about. Everything overall is a great feel to it but i wish there was more of a completion to it but of course as all .Hack series they don't like completing the anime fully.

To start off, let me just warn to everyone reading this review that I never played the .hack games so this is a view from a person who hasn't played any of the games.

Story

The story is a bit different from the rest of the .hack series, instead of focusing on the mysterious comas that's been happening to the players dying in "The World" this mainly focuses on an item that is supposedly to be in the game but not obtainable, the mysterious item is called the Key of the Twilight. The main character is a new player named Haseo and ... everything pretty much revolves around him, he gets recruited to this guild which is dedicated on finding this secret item by their guild master "Ovan". I do like this kind of story compared to the rest, maybe because I can relate somewhat to their situation, whenever I start to play a video game there's always rumors about a certain item or something that not all players can obtain, and that itself already gives me the drive to try and look for it, and I'm sure many of you experienced the same. The story gets a bit complicated as new characters are introduced as well as familiar ones. Overall the story is quite interesting but still not enough for me to be totally "hooked on"

Art

The art was really good, I'm not surprised though because it was made in 2006, so there was bound to be some 3D graphics placed in it. But they did a good job in placed them though, there are some animes out there that totally fail at combining 2D artwork to 3D artwork and it just makes them look awkward, the fact that the setting is in a video game it's understandable as to why there would be 3D stuff once in a while.

Character

The characters were really great, I personally liked Haseo because he had the most growth out of everyone and that's what the main role is for the protagonist. You can truly see from Episode one to twenty six the experience and situations that he's gone through, and final result at the last episode. Ovan was a character that emitted mystery and myth, and that already gave him that cool suave kind of aura around him, which I'm not surprised since his character design was pretty cool, I mean come on a giant lock on some kind of mechanism as a left arm? How awesome is that.

Overall, the whole anime wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it was the first .hack series that I watched out of all of them and thinking back now it's definitely my favourite. From what I heard from friends, Haseo is a really badass character in the games and when I have the chance to play, I can't wait to see what all the hype was about.

cheers.

OH EM GEE! This has to be one of the most BORING animes ever created EVER! The story moves at -200 miles per hour and their is no ending to it! The problem was NEVER solved! Maybe 3 episodes were interesting but other than that its pretty much staring at still images of boringness.

Story:
A crippled turtle would move faster than this story did. 26 episodes of boringness. It wouldn't have been as bad if it were cut down to about 12 episodes (which could have been easily done) and if there had been an ENDING!

Art:
The art for the most part was pretty good. After a ... while though the colors get too old and not very interesting.

Sound:
ALI Project did a great job with this and the opening theme was outstanding but all of the background music sounded the same. :\

Character:
Most of the characters aren't developed (if developed at all) besides the main character, Haseo. And he's not even developed that much.

Enjoyment:
I forced myself to finish tihs seriesbut never again will I watch this anime. I hated watching it and couldn't wait for it to be over with.

Overall:
Don't waste your time with this.

I'll first say, do not waste your time watching this anime, especially if you were a fan of .hack//SIGN.

The story starts off alright. You meet the characters, the mysterious Ovan, who saves Haseo and thus makes him the root of gossip. The first ten episodes are actually fairly enjoyable. They are all looking for the virus cores, and the mysterious key of the twilight. Meanwhile they are being watched and attacked by the group TaN. So at the climax of this small arc, they discover a trap lying for them, and Ovan vanishes.
And thus ends any and all enjoyment of the series. After ... this point, the next couple episodes are slow, everyone quits and leaves, and it starts getting boring. So boring, in fact, that when a character is killed off, I hardly cared.
They introduce Tri-Edge a little late, when hope for the story has already been lost. The episodes following this are very slow, and it doesn't even really pick up at all at the end of the story.

The characters were okay, but really only Ovan, Shino and Phyllo are worth mentioning. Haseo is somewhat of a dick, Tabby is cute but can get on the annoying side.
The art and music were fine, but I was not amazed by them.

As for enjoyment, like I said, the first 10 episodes were quite enjoyable (it might actually be 9). But after that, I couldn't care less. I would skip through parts of episodes because they were so boring. This series is utterly unwatchable, it only received a 3 because of the first few episodes.
.hack//SIGN was great, but they lost their edge when it came to roots.

Yeah...okay. Here we go. This is going to be short cause honestly I can't find much to say about this series.

STORY:
It was okay. It had the potential to be so good; at one point I was very intrigued...but it fell short a bit. For one, the ending isn't even an ending...nothing is resolved! The only thing that could be called "resolved" is that the characters finally know what they "have to do". But...it's never revealed to the viewer as to what that exactly is. And furthermore, most of what the characters did from around episode 14 onward...was kind of pointless. So, in the end...we're left ... hanging. And not really in a good way.

In short, episodes 1 - 14 are quite enjoyable, but from then on it gets...slightly boring. There's still some enjoyable episodes later on in the series, but for the most part, it's just frivolous things, dead ends, and confusion.

CHARACTERS:
I liked the characters a lot. They each seem to have their own pros and cons about them, and for the most part, they are developed in an acceptable way. If only the story was like the characters.

MUSIC:
Probably one of the things I liked most from this series. The soundtrack isn't stand-out fantastic, but it is quite good. The only thing is that there was one track that was played in almost every episode, which made me kind of get sick of said track. But overall, it was good.

OVERALL:
Meh. It was okay. The best thing about it is the different characters. The ending is...not an ending, in my opinion. But then again, welcome to anime...

If you're really looking to kill time, watch the first 14 episodes, and then just leave it, and you can just imagine an ending for it...it would probably be better than what was given.

I have seen a few of the other anime in the .hack// series before, and I enjoyed them quite a bit, but I'm not going to lie about this one, it sucked quite a bit in my opinion. When I was watching this show it felt like I was going to fall asleep the whole entire time. The episodes dragged on, the development of the story was very slow and seemed pointless most of the time. Most of the characters were very boring and I didn't feel a connection with any of them.

I went into watching this show with a bit of excitement. I was ... looking forward to see how it would go, but after a few episodes I started losing hope. Towards the middle of the series, I was hoping that it would get better in the end. At the end i decided to finish this show just for the heck of finishing it and having it done.

I will say that this review is entirely my opinion of the show when I watched. Maybe there are some people that like this type of story. I was surprised to see so many reviews by people who say that it was good and they they enjoyed it. So, unless you know you're going to like it or you are very dedicated, I suggest that you don't start this series or you might end up half-sleeping through most of the episodes.

The .hack//Series was always one of my favorites. It has astoundish storytelling, great soundtracks and likeable charakters. I have to warn you though: If you are not a fan of long dialogs and little action, or didn't like SIGN, you should stay away from roots.

Story 9:
Like its predecessor, roots has a well written story. While it is nothing completly unique, it still manages to draw the viewer in and makes them want to unravel the mysteries behind it. It has a lot more action than SIGN, which was one of weak points of the series. Who loved SIGN will like ROOTS as well.

Art 8:
ROOTS shows ... you many well drawn panoramas of the different areas. The character drawings are fair average. Some of them will look similar, which is intended, because of the online game setting.

Sound 10:
ALI Project had follow in big footsteps and did well. While it still can't be compaired to Yuki Kajiuras masterpiece, it fits the scenes and has some awesome songs.

Characters 9:
I liked Haseos change as the story processed. You can fell with him, as he despairs over the loss of Shino, which he hold very dear to himself and the absence of his mentor Ovan, when he would need him the most.
Ovan himself is a charismatic leader, but remains mysterious, as he reveals little of his ambition. The rest of the guildmembers are typical characters.

I have seen this anime before not too long ago
and I must say that he is one of my favorites.
The reasons are the following:
The story is a really cool invention
This is about "The World" an online game world with
a virus in him.
There you meet the players, playing "The World"
like a MMORPG.
One problem is perhaps that it can be difficult
to understand the backgrounds of this world,
... if you do not have all the parts to. / / hack saw.
I was fascinated by this series because it is a complex
Anime, with a deep background story
which brought me to, even the other parts of. hack / /
to look.
The openings and endings are very well made and beautifully set to music,
the characters from the mid-series change their appearance,
perhaps bring a little bit more momentum to the story.
Humor and excitement are here were also quite well distributed,
loosens up the series.
All in all a horny anime.

Brrr, my fellow frost furs, today we have a tale to share from the icy lands of .hack//Roots. A snowy saga that might leave you howling in frustration, or, if you're as cool as your old pal Kiba Snowpaw, might just send shivers of delight down your spine. As a seasoned anime watcher since the 80's, I've seen a fair few blizzards blow through the anime landscape. So, strap on your ice-skates, fluff up your fur, and let's hit the ice together, shall we?

This tale takes us to the far reaches of a digital world named 'The World,' a snowy expanse filled with mystery, intrigue, ... and characters as diverse as the Northern Lights. And oh, how I howled with delight at the introduction of Haseo, a character as bold as a blizzard, as intricate as a snowflake. But alas, dear pack, Haseo is but one wolf in a large pack, and not all are as frosty.

First things first, let's bare our fangs at the unfortunate fluff of filler episodes. As we wolves know, not every hunt leads to a feast. Sometimes, we chase our tails in the frosty wilderness, returning home empty-pawed. Similar to these hunts, .hack//Roots too finds itself scampering after elusive plot points, only to return with little to show for it.

And then there's the confusing change in perspective, faster than a snow hare in a wolf's sights. When we've just settled down to watch Haseo's story, we are jerked away to follow another character. It's like trying to follow a snow hare through a blizzard. You might catch glimpses, but you never truly see the whole picture.

Yet, amidst the flurries, there is beauty to behold. Our journey brings us to O-van, a character as striking as a lone pine against a white landscape. And let's not forget the symphony of the wild, the music by Ali Project that echoes through the frosty air. It's a song that could rouse even the laziest snow wolf from their slumber.

Frost furs, as an experienced Ice Wolf, I've learned one thing – not all storms bring despair. Sometimes, they sculpt the most beautiful ice formations. And .hack//Roots, my friends, is a storm that leaves behind an icy sculpture of mixed feelings. It is a blend of the dark and the bright, the tedious and the thrilling, much like our own journeys in life.

To my fellow anime enthusiasts, I offer a word of advice - keep your fur thick and your heart warm, for this anime will test your patience and tug at your emotions in equal measure. But remember, as we wolves say, "In the deepest winter, we find within us an invincible summer." And if you're a true snow wolf like me, you'll find a certain joy in the frozen landscape of .hack//Roots.

In the end, as a furry who has experienced both the chill winds and warm fires of anime, I'd rate .hack//Roots 3 out of 5 frosty paws. It may not be the most satisfying hunt, but it's a journey worth embarking on.

So frost furs, bundle up, grab your snacks, and settle in for a frosty journey through the digital wilderness of .hack//Roots. And remember, as long as we have our pack and our tales, no winter is too cold to bear. After all, we're wolves, and the cold never bothered us anyway.

.hack//Roots is a fine sequel that's kind of bashed because of the plug-in-nature relationship to the .hack//G.U. games. And it's sad it's kind of bashed, because Roots was a really good installment in the .hack// Series. My favorite has and probably will always be SIGN but I found Roots to be very enjoyable at the least.

In terms of the story it struck a fine balance of keeping in the nature of .hack in general with out going over the SAME OLD STORY. While it re-introduced the story of the mystic "Key of the Twilight" as explored in .hack//SIGN and it's sequel quartet. Bringing in all ... new characters, giving the classic 'The World' a make over with all new classes was the change needed. Of course the story of the .hackers was great and so was the story and drama of Tsukasa in .hack//SIGN and that was good for those, but it was time for a change.

.hack//Roots goes back to the darker more somber story line after it's campy epilogue-like predecessor .hack//Legend of the Twilight (aka .hack//DUSK) which was refreshing change. I can't say I liked Legend straying so far from it's roots (no pun intended) of it's predecessor of SIGN, though it's certainly understandable why. But again I felt it was far better to keep on the darker side of the story line, which is why SIGN captivated me in the first place.

The story dwells much more into the dark human psyche of our personal demons, and can show every character has a purpose for playing "The World" that to me is the darker end of why people like to play games for hours on end. Like with SIGN I felt captivated and relatable to every character. I was able to care about them on such personal levels. It's amazing to see the changes all the characters go through, as the series progresses, which made them much more dynamic foil characters. I recall in SIGN the only one who really changed was Tsukasa. So it was a new direction that worked.

You'll notice a big difference between Haseo and Tsukasa, which is something I found worked well. I thought the idea of Haseo's power-binge to avenge the the PKing of Shino was a brilliant concept, and added to sympathy for his character or otherwise maybe more antagonizing concepts. Haseo's journey into the black abyss of PKKing actually really contributes to the GU storyline.

The overall storytelling didn't stay as strong as SIGN. It started off pretty typically, with the set up and the world-of-the-play but soon dissolved into a pretty weak middle, and picked up slightly at the end. The middle episodes that don't involve Haseo feel much like cheap fillers that simply aren't that needed. It could have stood to be a little shorter in length even though it stands at 26 episodes. That's not to say the entire middle is weak, there are some great episodes in the middle such as "The Forest of Pain" arc, and Haseo's ever growing into the "Terror of Death." Other than that, episodes that show attempts by Tabby and others to form a Medic Union or any episode that features Tabby alone, pretty much fall right away.

As I mentioned earlier Roots is a plug-in story to .hack//G.U. for the PS2, so in the end you will want to play the games to continue the story line. (or you can read the novels). Again it's kind of sad Roots takes a lot of flak for that, because I think it's a clever and very unique way to extend a story line. SIGN in some ways was like that as it all lead into .hack//Infection.

Ali Project's music, was fair to mostly mediocre. Project I am coming to like their work quite a bit, but it was a strange direction and style compared to Kajiura's score for SIGN. I was taken aback by it, but it has grown on me enough that I find it okay but still not good as I've come to expect when Mashimo is the director. It's almost deceptive at first because one of the first after-theme piece you hear is very well composed and orchestrated, but after that it's pretty dull, inattentive, and flat. You will also hear a few pieces that sound eerily similar to works by Danny Elfman which doesn't help the case of the music get any better. It's also at times poorly place and orchestrated. Ali Project has provided a good original score with Avenger, but Roots is considerably dull in comparison to SIGN's musical score. On the other hand Kajiura's opening theme with FictionJunction YUUKA is a really unique theme, much different than Obsession almost more like a melancholy and "searching for" or "yearning for" theme.

In the end ROOTS is good but not great. The introduction of more action and more tension helped the story but still I think SIGN will have the stronger storyline. I can't speak for all fans because some might hate it, others might love it, or some will find it in-between. Absolutely there are aspects about it that could have been better. Not likely Roots will go down as the greatest chapter of .hack especially with it's relationship to GU which by the way is a rather fun game for the story experience. It's both a pro and a con at the same time being directly tied into GU so if you want the full experience of the story it is vital to play GU or otherwise get a grasp of the story in another way.

I finished the series and I really loved the plot but the producers didn't really carry is out right.

Okay, good animation does not include focusing on someone's face for over 5 minutes. Shino and Haseo were hugging at the waterfall for like 10 minutes. =.= Seriously, someone's gonna get bored sooner or later. The producers should of at least show them in different angles of something. If the producers were trying to burn off some time in the episodes, this is probably the worst way of doing it.
The art was pretty horrendous. At every scene there's something wrong with a character's face. At the ... begining it wasn't that bad but toward the middle, the art went down another level.
The sound was one of the higher points in this anime. Most of it was made by Ali Project which fit the story pretty well.
I rather liked Haseo's personality in the begining of the series but when they changed him to be a nice guy, I started to hate him. There was barely any development in the characters, okay besides Haseo's personality doing a complete U turn and that was it.

Honestly, out of all hack. series, this one is in my opinion the best one. Characters had more development compared to others. The story was enjoyable too, even if a bit boring at times. I especially liked later episodes, but I won't be spoiling the plot here. And while I'm here, I just want to say that music in this deserves more attention than people give it credit. At least to me. The worst thing among all of this was probably the animation. Because of how much it lacked, action and overall joy were the ones that got hurt the most. Any action sequence seemed ... bland because of the stiff movement and poor perspective. I'm not throwing garbage at style in general though, it was okay.

I am a huge fan of the entire .hack franchise. I have played all of the games and watched the previous anime .hack sign. I even have some of the OST from these downloaded onto my phone. I felt that I should disclose how much I like the series as a whole before diving into this review.

The story: 5/10

The story is not horrible, but it isn't great either. Other than one or two big important events, not too much really happens. I would rate this a little higher if there were fewer episodes, but more should have ... happened in 26 episodes.

The pacing: 1/10

Oh my good sweet lord this show is so boring to watch. There are scenes that drag on and on and on. There is a particular fight scene where the characters yell and run at each other for like two minutes before the episode ends. It feels like they only did this to hit that minute requirement for the episode. To be honest, I was actually laughing really hard during this part because I couldn't believe that they actually did this. The show overall moves way too slow, and it feels like nothing is ever actually happening. The show has 26 or so episodes, but they could have told this story in 7 or 8.

Art: 5/10

Not bad, but not great. The movement is a little stiff, but everyone looks alright when they don't have to move.

Characters: 5/10

As usual, .hack characters have awesome designs. Like with other works in the series, all of the main cast looks really cool, but their looks are where the coolness ends. There isn't really any character development in this show. The purpose of this show is to prepare you to play the .hack GU games, and there is definitely a lot of character development in them, so I can understand why it doesn't happen here.

Overall score: 4/10

If it wasn't for the great games that come after this show, the score would be even lower. I am fully prepared to admit that I am biased toward .hack as a whole, but I tried to be as fair as possible. If you want to play the .hack GU games, I would recommend watching this show first (at 2x speed), but otherwise this is a good one to skip entirely.

.Hack//Roots is not the first .Hack I've seen, as a matter of fact that honor goes to, .Hack//Legend of the Twilight, but Roots is still my favorite, or atleast it has that title since it's the only one I've finish as of my date posting this review. As I must be semi-professional, I should hurry and talk about the important stuff. Roots' biggest triumph, in my opinion, is it's characters. While I feel this had a much darker tone than Twilight, other than the depressing sister in a coma thing, Roots' character made the dark tone by their drama and interactions that inevitably either end ... in pain or false hope. I can't lie the fact that this one only lets up on it's dark tone a few times usually thanks to a select few of characters. Next, it's music was something that gained my fondness and was quickly added to my vast playlist. All and all I loved the anime because of how deep I felt it was and it's art to me was inspiring to see. Sadly I feel like I've been rambling, and should probably leave before I get PK'd. Well so long everybody!

A decent series hampered by it's desire to connect with the next series of games, simular to how signs was conencting to the first set of four games.

Story: the plot sets up and introduces some interesting ideas, that never quite go anywhere as they are all setting up the games, leaving you with a few unanswered questions if you don't play them.

Art and sound: Are decent, I enjoyed them, but nothing really ground breaking I felt.

Characters: You get some glimpses of good characters here, but they feel a little bit limited, and don't always understand their motivations.

Enjoyment and overall: ... This is a hard one to rate as I havn't played the games really yet, though I bought the remake, so I may get around to finishing that and have better idea, but I did enjoy it for what it was, just wish it had been a bit more self contained.

I don't know where to start with this. Short and simple, this anime is horrible. Now continue reading on if you want to know why.

I watched .hack//SIGN over a decade ago, so I can't compare it with that anime in a very detailed matter. However, I can definitely say the music took a nosedive. The music in .hack//SIGN is simply one of the best ever made and leagues above the music in ROOTS because Kaijura was the main person behind it. But in ROOTS, Kaijura only did the OP music.

In ROOTS, the music felt off in many scenes. For example, when something serious ... is happening, you hear some comedic opera singer bull**** that just doesn't match the mood at all. I can go on and on about how mediocre the music was for this show. Simply, the music was horrible.

The story was chockfull of filler. Related to filler is the catgirl character named Tabi. Everytime she appeared, I just wanted to kill myself and became more frustrated with this show. She is the most cringey example of stereotypical NYAA NYAA anime cat girl stereotype. It became apparent this show was going to be bad the moment the "Guild" scenes started to pop up a bit too much. I can only assume it's setting up the viewer for the games that come after. Still, the repetitive, formulaic way of cutting from the important scenes back to Tabi scenes was really what killed this show for me. And that leads to my next point. Whenever an interesting fight or an interesting conversation is about to start, they cut away to something else happening in another area for what I could only guess are budget reasons. Also, there was a lot of unnecessary flashbacks (DBZ syndrome) and lots of static shots which made it even more obvious this was cheaply made anime. The fights were not that interesting and again, whenever the fights would get intense, they cut away to another scene. I always found myself asking myself "What just happened?" because the story moves around so much and way too many trivial things happen and before you know it, they're already talking about something else.

Regarding the other characters, most of them don't matter. The only ones that mattered in my opinion are Haseo, Shino, Ovan, and some mysterious observers that pulls the strings in the background. This should have just been a movie or a few episode OVA focused on those characters only, not 26 episodes. This had me thinking the whole time that this show was a cheap way to make something a 26 episode boxset price. Well, I'm here to tell you that that is exactly why this show is so bad. Whoever produced this thought they could rip off the consumers by adding in bunch of filler to make it an expensive buy. So I'm writing this review to tell you it's not worth your time unless you are a hardcore .hack collector or a completionist. I'm a completionist. That is the only reason I watched it, and I want to play the games just to see the rest of the story the way it was intended to be ingested. So unfortunately, I forced myself to sit through this mediocrity. I've never, EVER, upped the playback speed for an anime, but this was the first anime to ever make me play it at x1.5 speed. The characters talk ridiculously slow, everything happens at a ridiculous slow pace (back to my point about the flashbacks) to make it 26 episodes. It almost makes me not want to play the games, and I'm dreading having to deal with that catgirl again.

This is one of those rare times where I will say I'd watch this English dubbed. I'm not saying the subbed version is worse. I just couldn't bear reading the subtitles because I felt like I was reading dialogue for the stupidest show ever, so listening to it in English at least gave me a break.

So to sum everything up, yes, this show was horrible enough to make me watch it in English. Only watch it if you're going to play the games because it serves as the prequel.