.hack//Intermezzo

I actually had watched .hack//SIGN in 2007, and didn't find it too crash hot. I don't think at the time, I had realized that there were more .hack series apart from Legend Of The Twilight and Roots, so I never got round to watching Intermezzo, and the others.

STORY: Couldn't really remember much from the main SIGN series, and I was reminded today about how. .. average the story line was. Of course this is only a one episode special, so there wasn't much to it; Mimiru drags along Bear to check for something in a temporarily re-opened dungeon in The World. I mustn't have been ... paying attention because of the overall story line, because I hadn't realized that majority of this episode is made up of reminiscent scenes, and it became a surprise to realize that the small, un-named 12 year old girl in the reminiscent scenes is actually Mimiru in the past. That made no sense to me, but whatever. Another turn off would be the MMORPG theme, and that would be probably because of the characters which I will discuss later.

ART: .hack art, well, character designs remind me of Angelic Layer's and I honestly can't be screwed looking up whether it is designed by the same person. Anyway. The overall design is pretty smooth and bold, however the noses are a bit of a bother sometimes. Animation was par, apart from some parts, typically involving bright, flashy scenes, oh, and the opening.

SOUND: The sound has always been good in the .hack series, even if I do have to strain my brain to remember. Same goes for both the ending and opening themes, especially the opening. I guess the 'chanting'(?) used in the series is appealing to me.

CHARACTERS: I'm sorry but, do any of these people who play in The World actually have a life? If you completely ignore the fact that the players seem to be almost always online and how serious they play the game, I think I would probably give the overall series a 6. In Intermezzo, the audience is introduced to three 18 year old girls, taking turns to play a single character called Mimika. The three of them go on about how that they can be appreciated in The World, and not in actual life, suggesting that they are 'incompetent' and 'plain'. Sure, on the odd occasion I play MMORPGs, but only for fun when I have spare time and I feel like it. I don't take it very seriously, and I only play at my own pace. But is it really necessary to take a MMORPG, or any game, so seriously that it almost blends in with your own life offline? Many times during Intermezzo, and the other .hack series, I've wanted to remind the characters that "it's just a game."

This special was fine, and I honestly can't expand any further on it. Definitely something I would suggest to a .hack fan, and if you're not interested in MMORPG themes or you didn't really enjoy .hack//SIGN (however I'm the type of person who HAS to watch every series' special, movie, ova, etc, and I don't normally drop anime.), I do not suggest watching this.