.hack//Sign

I tried watching this anime when I was in high school, but couldn't get into it. Nearly 13 years later, I decided to give it another shot.

The art style is good, and the soundtrack is phenomenal. Sadly, that's all this anime has going for it. The story is alright...I do really like the premise, but how the producers carried it out onto the big screen is pretty lackluster and almost seems half-a$$ed. The dialogue was ghastly, and cheesy in most cases. There were a lot of..hiccups in the story progression that made me feel like I missed an episode somehow or that the episodes ... weren't consistent, and things that didn't make sense...like a character that was with the group a second ago is now elsewhere almost as if they were never in the group in the first place.

And the ending was terrible. We're left with a huge cliffhanger and things left unexplained.

Overall, this anime was a big disappointment.

Well First of .Hack Sign is the first Anime in the actual .Hack Series. You either Like the .Hack Series or you Don't.

Story: The story of .Hack/ /SIGN it is about an online game called "The World" . Now the main characters can't log out from the world. He is called Tsukasa, he has a special item called "Guardian" that will protect him from any means of harm. Meanwhile he meets people who become his friends eventually and decide to solve the mysteries of "The World". His friends want try and help him log out before it gets out of hand. Also he gets wanted ... for being contact with an illegal Cat player and for having the special item he possess.

Art: For a 2002 anime the style was quite good for .Hack/ /SIGN. Seeing how "The World's" different areas had a nice appeal to them. Also the monsters and the characters art style was pretty cool as well.

Soundtrack: The Soundtrack for .Hack/ /SIGN had a unique choice of music to suit the mood of the scenes and different areas.

Enjoyment: I quite enjoyed the story of Tsukasa and his friends. Trying to help each other find out the mysteries of "The World" . So I had a good time with it.

Overall: I give .Hack/ /SIGN a 7 for its overall score

It's a decent show - like the older version of Sword Art Online, kind of? I think for a show to come out that time with this plot is pretty impressive and creative (although I keep finding more plots and stories with similar backgrounds). The soundtrack is Yuki Kajiura so you KNOW it's great, but the downside are the characters. The main character is annoying and I feel like it was hard for me to keep up with plot because I couldn't understand what he was thinking / doing. Everyone else was kind of okay; Bear and Mimiru I didn't feel much about but they ... did grow on me.

I finished watching .hack//sign (including OVAs).

Above all else, the soundtrack is phenomenal. Yuki Kajiura is insanely talented.
One of the best OSTs I've heard in recent memory. Strongly recommend you check it out because it seems underappreciated.

Having said the above…
Let me clarify that I only watched the anime. Apparently this is a multimedia project, so others more immersed in the franchise might be more positive than me.

The only other positive thing I have to say is that the voice acting was actually pretty good. Definitely some talented voice actors in the cast.

The fundamental flaw of this anime is that it is extremely ... poorly directed. I literally felt like I was watching a highschool art project. It is that bad. There are occasional engaging scenes but overall the series uses screentime so wastefully. This is coming from someone who prefers slow pacing and SOL and dislikes watching action etc…

>doko tsukasa?
>shiranai lol
Congratulations you've now seen above 75% of .hack//sign.

Even visually the series has low artistic value.

I mainly watched this right before bed because it would lull you to sleep with its repetitiveness and just complete lack of value in most screentime. It was unrefined and incoherent. I mainly finished it because of the soundtrack, atmosphere, and because of its historical significance.

Overall 4/10. Amazing sound but abysmal direction.

.hack//SIGN, the first entry in the .hack// series for me was somewhat of a mixed experience. The soundtrack and the art, though it's a dated anime, definitely stood out as the best elements this series had to offer though admittedly, I personally, as a connoisseur of animation, wasn't exactly driven to finish this series because of the art or the music. Nonetheless, it provided an unforgettable atmosphere that I will constantly go back to whenever reminiscing about the .hack// series. When it comes to the entertainment value, most of it came from the characters or rather lack thereof, as I found them to be quite... ... Driven by experiences that weren't their own.

Without spoiling anything, I understand the series took a concept that, at the time, did not exist, that concept being the usage of cognizance and existence within a virtual medium, a trope that is common today yet was essentially unknown at the time. The characters themselves are incredibly one-note and felt more like a checklist that needed to be fulfilled rather than their own fleshed-out individuals, but that doesn't take away from the mature themes that could be found within the show and though their exploration was vague it still provided an amusing experience with the story beats presented. But I would've liked to see more of that in the show.

The first half of the show was impossibly-difficult to get through in my personal experience due to the sluggish pace, the honestly unbearable main character and the struggles they went through as well as the lack of interesting dynamics between the cast at the beginning. It wasn't until what I would consider the second half that I felt immersed in the plot, and it was a difficult journey to get to that point but once I got to that specific point in the middle of the series it did start to pick up and drew me in enough to cause me to binge the rest of the show. Overall I found the experience to be a mixture between confusion, anger, a test of patience though a rewarding one up to the very end.

The show was alright for me, I'm not nostalgic for it so I am viewing it from a critical lense and while I understand that the show was innovative for its genre and its spiritual successors as well as other entries in the isekai genre, it frankly just didn't do it for me. Maybe my opinion is biased because I am a "modern" anime viewer, but truthfully I didn't find it to be that deep or interesting. Certain dynamics between the main character and the rest of the cast felt forced at best and nonexistent at worst, but don't let my words dissuade you. Every opinion is valid, this is just my own. I'd give it a solid five out of 10.

You don't need to know about the .sign series to enjoy this show, because I didn't know about the franchise and I really liked it. Granted, if you have a fondness for isekai or video games then you'd probably enjoy it a little bit more.

As for the pacing, it is actually good if you know what you are watching it for. I realized that, what felt like every scene (surely not every frame) had something important in it. Granted, not every scene was truly important, but while I watched it you could sense the gradual changing of a character's development.

It is a really ... good isekai, in the broad sense of isekai I mean ("another world"), because the show managed to get me interested in literally "The World" (the literal game) and I could understand how those mmorpg players were so immersed into it.

I remember reading a comment recently and it basically described the show as being about the players who play mmorpgs, and I think that is a spot on comment. It isn't primarily about the game itself or the "isekai" part of it, but instead it's primarily about the types of players who play 'The World" and for what reasons. The lightly touched side stories were I think almost just as interesting as the main story.

It is also worth noting that the soundtrack is amazing. I especially love the very 90s-2000s opening of this anime. And perhaps, the music is what carries a large portion of the show because the animation is often stale. However, I also find that parts of the animation and art style of the show are comfy and special. I don't know much about it myself, but there is certainly a pre-World of Warcraft anime and MMORPG charm to the design of the world. It might not be super unique or actually very beautiful, but I believe it certainly adds to the factor of immersing the viewer into 'The World". However, sometimes the show and the characters in the show are a little bit too immersed into the game, to the point where certain situations where characters interact with each other are silly if you think about it too much, in terms of technological capability and also "nerdiness".

I score it a 8/10 for this review, but personally I believe the show deserves a 9.

Story

.hack//SIGN is the first of its kind. It takes place in an MMORPG (Multi Member Online Role Playing Game) and set the bar for all other online computer game animes and mangas. However, this anime is not what you would expect it to be; a hack and slash dungeon crawler. It is a character study, a story that focuses on the growth and development of the characters. If you are looking for high octane action and mind numbing brain candy, this is not the anime for you by any means. But if you love character development to drive the story and like using your brain ... during your anime experience then you will not be disappointing. .hack//SIGN delivers structural complexity and character strife in full force. Falling in love with characters never felt so natural.

Characters

The entire cast acts like one big dysfunctional family that all center around the protagonist, Tsukasa. Everyone has their own personal drama that exists inside and out of "The World" which becomes integral to the plot. Everyone is foil for another even as they change and learn from their experiences all the while trying to find out more about Tsukasa's offline identity. Throughout the series we are shown real world clips of everyone's offline identity which can be a huge eye opener and explain a lot as to why these characters act the way they do. Just like when you play a MMORPG this diverse cast bands together to reach their goal in an epic battle where the fate of "The World" sways in the balance. Complex character relationship and betrayals will leave you begging to know more.

Sound

Probably one of the most rewarding soundtracks I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. See-Saw's Yuki Kaijura composed the character defined soundtrack for the series, inspired by Celtic music and video game themes. This gives the soundtrack a very misty mountain feel to it with adventure looming over the horizon. Lyrics for all the songs are very powerful in terms of sucking you into this dream world of might and magic. The opening themes "Obsession" and ending "Yasashii Yoake" (優しい夜明け, Gentle Dawn) are both performed by See-Saw and set the perfect town for the series. The voice acting in both the Japanese and English Dub are exception, but nothing out of this world. It's always nice to be able to listen to an anime and not be thrown off by the voices. The characters being an important part of the story, the characters voices needed to fit their roles well.

Art and Animation

Original character designs by Evangelion master artist Yoshiyuki Sadamoto reflects well the "Swords and Sorcery" genre, also relying on Celtic imagery: Director Mashimo acknowledged similarities between Bear's design and Mel Gibson in his role as William Wallace, an example of Celtic warrior. The action animation, for what little there is, is top notch and exciting. When things become action packed in this anime .hack//SIGN can kick things into high gear and deliver. The flashback and real world imagery is always seen through a T.V. static lens with the sounds filtered or taken out all together in exchange for silent film subtitles instead. This gives these moment a very creepy, uneasy feel as if something has gone terribly wrong. This also has to do with the fact that the majority of the anime takes place in game, when we are taken out of game it feels very wrong and unsettling. The art of .hack//SIGN leaves you with many unforgettable scenes.

Entertainment

With all the praise that .hack//SIGN gets this is where it falls short. .hack//SIGN is one of my personal favorite anime of all time, but even considering that when I put on .hack//SIGN I know what I'm getting myself into. Watching this show is mental endurance trial 25min long 26 times over. The only way the story progresses is by the next character interation so you need to be vigulent from conversation to conversation. Re-watching the series is something you need to schedule in advance. Because of its slow nature .hack//SIGN is a difficult series to pick up again after a short amount of time. The story is complex and mysterious with conspiracy and dramatic relationships, but unless you like talking, no matter how highly recommended .hack//SIGN comes to you chances are you won't enjoy it. If you have the will you won't be disappointing, .hack//SIGN's delivery is slow, but gets in your blood very quickly.

Over all .hack//SIGN is a series is a great series breaking the mold of cyber punk anime and pioneering a new theme. It is not as action packed as desired, but what it lacks in action it makes up with an amazing story and supreme character development. The art and animation sets the tone for a fantasy world that almost seems real with a soundtrack that seal the deal for this virtual dream land that is "The World". For anime fans who are looking for a deep anime that can stand on its own as a solid series .hack//SIGN if a fabulous choice, but if you're looking for something that will get your blood pumping more, this may be a series to avoid.

Suggestions

If you enjoyed .hack//SIGN and are looking for something similar or if you didn't enjoy it and are looking for a series that may give you more of a rush, here are a couple suggestions that you may find interesting. Try them out and read their reviews if you're not sure. First, is Sword Art Online which also revolves around the mmo element, featuring the main hero and heroine trying to conquer all 100 floors of the game and free everyone. Second, is Accel World that also uses a virtual reality idea and where the main enters the "Accelerated World" and tries to come on top by defeating everyone else.

Kinda funny how this show comes off as a deconstruction of SAO and other Isekai anime even though this came out years before the Isekai genre went supernova.

Anyway, I can certainly understand why the show has a cult following from it's great soundtrack, solid characters (Ex. Sora is by far my favorite and Dave Wittenberg is a delight in the role) and slight psychological horror atmosphere (Ex. Tsukasa's real-world flashbacks). There are intriguing themes touched on (Ex. depression, social isolationism and escapism) and at it's heart it's a rather touching story of strangers coming together to help a person in need.

But MY GOD ... is this anime slow!! I don't mind slow-pacing at all (Ex. I love Tarkovsky flicks) but this show did not need to be 25 episodes. Too often the dialogue gets bogged down by drab repetitive exposition and the whole thing ends of a frustrating inconclusive note. It's ties to the hack game series also effects this show's ability to stand on it's own. The animation is solid but nothing quite spectacular.

It surprises me that this show aired on Toonami because the promos made it look like an action show when that is far from the case. The action is few and far between and frankly, not very spectacular either.

A flawed but unique series that brings a refreshing emotional depth to it's "trapped in a game" premise.

.hack is one of those animes where everything is separated into different locations, animes, games, mangas, novels, etc. However, the anime is not an adaptation of these other contents, but rather a complement, which makes people who know the universe more immersive in the story.

A highlight not only of this, but of the entire franchise, is its soundtrack, easily becoming an album to listen to while working or doing other tasks.

The anime is focused entirely on the narrative, with combats being "complementary". I would recommend watching it if, for some reason, you are interested in the franchise, that is, watching the other animes, playing the ... games, etc., otherwise it may be boring to watch.

I really gave this a chance, and I just could not get into it. The story was so slow, with constant questions on my mind trying to understand what is going on. I get that the MC doesn't remember himself and is trying to figure it out too, but the things he does and how he does it really piss me off. The MC maybe a young child, even then how he acts towards some characters was ridiculous.

The few action scenes were slow and barely action really. Mostly one sided and after a move or two was over.

One of the things I did really ... enjoy was the music sound track in this anime. The opening was my least favorite of the music though. The background music was surprisingly unique and interesting. It felt like a actual game that made their own music for said game.

There were to many times where the story was creeping alone with the many pauses from the MC that made this a difficult anime to watch. The MC personality post memory loss was extremely annoying. It may have just cause if I continued to watch. Some of the actions of the other characters did not help to make the story better. Some tried to help the MC in very strange ways that just seems selfish more than anything.

Nothing against old style animes, but the direction of the story, the story progression, and characters made this a difficult watch. Not one I am willing to invest more of my time into.

This could've been a 6, maybe even a 7 depending how the ending went but, sadly, that was not the case. This review will contain spoilers, particularly about the ending however, what you at LEAST need to know that isn't a spoiler is, if you watch this anime, expect to have to play the games to get all the answers and possibly also watch the other anime in the franchise for any remaining ones and even then I cannot assure you you'll have all the mysteries solved as i have not played any game or seen any anime besides this one. I have however taken ... a look at stuff which tells me this is likely the only way you're going to get the answers you seek at the end of this season and episode 27 and 28 of this series... (Though someone claimed some of the answers but not all are answered in .hack//Legend Of The Twilight, cannot say if true or not...)

Now, onto the review but as i said spoilers will be mentioned.

.hack//Sign is an anime that has not aged well, I'd argue however it wasn't even good back in the day either and yet, somehow it draws you in. The mystery is nothing special and the writing is honestly bad. Lots of times the anime will simply skip parts so a character or a group of characters will be in one place both during and at the end of the episode, and the next thing they're suddenly in another place, not having shown or continued from where it left off both during and at the start of the episode. The acting in both the sub and Dub is good (I didn't watch the sub much, but what little I saw was as good as the dub) but thanks to the writing, the characters often enough speak in a slow or unrealistic manner, same with their actions. Speaking of action... do not expect to see much of that at all, despite being an MMORPG VR game, the battles are laughable, I swear so many compare this to SAO but none ever ONCE compare it to Spice and Wolf, which it shares FAR MORE in common with in the sense of its mostly just characters talking but unlike Spice and Wolf, .hack//Sign is not even CLOSE to being on the same lv of how GREAT that anime is. SAO it shares a few themes with but honestly, a LOT of anime shares similar themes (Especially these days with so many VR game anime popping up left and right) and in case you're wondering, there is NO comparison for how GOOD SAO is compared to this one. Sure I like SAO and will admit it has its own faults (many i fact) but if you're comparing the two as many have prolly done, SAO is the superior anime/series/franchise here hands down. Bonus points that you DON'T need to play a SINGLE SAO game to understand whats going on and have the mysteries solved for you :P

I normally never make comparisons to other anime when i review an anime unless its one in the series of the anime am reviewing, however, since a lot have made comparisons to SAO and seeing as this is likely the 1st trapped in a VR game world or one of the 1sts odds are, I felt it was needed to make those 2 comparisons. (Fyi, Spice and Wolf is FAR superior to this, even though its mostly talking its night and day difference between it and .hack//Sign)

Anyway, that's enough of the comparison. I'll just say this, as I said at the start of this review, this could've been a 6 or even a 7 depending on the ending, and by now you might've guessed WHY it's rated a 4.0. That is because at the end, the anime just ends... abruptly... The enemy would NOT log them out, yet that's what the anime seems to indicate happened... I suspect its a fake world and they're still in The World but alas, I'll not know unless I talk to a friend who knows, go read up on a wiki or go play the game(s) and if your viewer base has to do ANY of that, you have sadly, succeeded at something that NO writer should EVER make a reality as it turns the viewer off, it ruins it for anime only watchers and I say this not lightly because .hack//Sign left MANY MANY questions UNANSWERED on TOP of that abrupt ending! Again, this is what we call bad writing. The worst part of this is knowing they had EVERY opportunity to answer every question but they seemingly don't and that's made worse when they made more and more anime series in this franchise but didn't bother to properly continue this in the anime. (.hack//Legend Of The Twilight "might" answer some of this but since its focus is on two characters not in the Sign anime and has them playing as avatars based on the look a like Tsukasa and Mimiru called Kite and Black Rose respectively, it is unlikely this would continue the story with the Sign characters and even then you'd need knowledge of Kite and Black Rose possibly from the game(s) to fully enjoy that anime...)

It goes without saying but, even if the games are available to play (Which i doubt) I wouldn't be interested in playing them, especially when the anime's writing and animation were so laughably bad and unrealistic and as an anime only fan of this anime, i guess that means my friend and or a wiki is my only option for knowing what the anime SHOULD have told us. Like I said before, .hack//Sign somehow draws its viewers in, despite how bad it is but, it really did get lucky to release when it did, as bac then it was better as not many if any did what it did, however, that still doesn't make it a good anime/series and somehow it gained many games, anime and more. That just shows you how important timing is for when you release something as you know this wouldn't have gotten a sequel much less a game (and if it did not more than 1) if this had released in this day with modern art but the same style of animation and lastly, while the mysteries are what will likely keep you hooked, the stuff they DID answer was honestly, meh to bad. Totally not worth watching is my take on this but who knows, maybe you'll like it? Hopefully this review helped you to decide if you wanna watch it or not.

Oh, bonus round! You thought we were done? Nah lol Sora says: Oh, looook, later series and games made look a likes who look like Tsukasa, Mimiru, Bear etc. but are not them. THAT'S not confusing especially for kids~

P.s. This reviewer as said hasn't played the games nor seen any other anime, if anything I've said here is wrong my apologies but this SHOWS at the very least how jumbled up, confused the anime only viewers will be thanks to how they told the series' story and that as said is bad.

This is very interesting story, I didn't play the video game or read the stories before it. It starts off with a character from a video game but is really in the game. Mainly about trying to get that character out of the game and back into there real body. It has action since it's an action type role playing game that they are in but it really just deals with the personalities of the characters that surround the main character trying to help him or use him. It was a pretty good story.

"Trapped in a video game" has been a consistently enjoyable sub-genre for me and Yuki Kajiura, who did the soundtrack here, is literally my favorite musician and composer, period, as reflected in my favorite people list in my profile so I really, really wanted to like this. Unfortunately, I just didn't.

It's slow and boring and there's really no way around that. The pacing drags this show down in a huge way. This entire story, told in 26 episodes, could have been told in 18 without much trouble. There are other valid criticisms too such as shallow and minimal character development, a 47 year old man ... hanging out with a bunch of teenage girls daily and no one having any problem with it and a convoluted, messy plot that suffers from a serious lack of explanation but the biggest issue, far and away, is the pacing. There's a ton of talking and not much of anything else. There's very little action and for an MMO this game looks boring as hell because hardly any time whatsoever is spent showing players actually playing the game.

It's not ALL bad. The base plot concept is really cool and explores some deeper themes. There's an intriguing mystery at the core of all this. And, of course, Yuki Kajiura delivers the goods and provides a gorgeous soundtrack. But, again, I just cannot stress strongly enough the extent to which this is overshadowed and borderline ruined by the exhaustingly slow, sleep-inducing pacing.

If you've got the patience for something that moves very, very slowly and dialogue heavy anime doesn't bore you I guess this is worth a look. Ultimately I respect this anime more than I actually like it. It's the OG of the genre and it paved the way for better shows in the future. Hats off for that. I don't see too much value here beyond that though and I have no interest in rewatching this.

OBJECTIVE RATING- 6.5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 6

I'm probably going to come back and fix this review up a bit when I finish the rest of the franchise, but for now, here's my review of .hack//sign.
This was a really enjoyable show but it definitely lagged in parts, and I also got the sense that Bee Train wasn't quite adept at dealing with Sadamoto's at style, because there are many shots that look off-model or strange (there's my two biggest complaints out of the way). I would recommend it if you like 2000s midbudget anime with strong concepts.
One thing that took me by surprise was that the show's tone was completely different than ... what I expected. Growing up the only significant contact I had with the .hack franchise was that my older brother owned two volumes of .hack//legend of the twilight. I guess I had sort of expected this show to feel similar to it, but it really doesn't. Make no mistake, that's to its benefit. I won't praise it too highly by comparing it to Serial Experiments Lain or Boogiepop, because it's much lighter than those, but it could fall under the same general survey in late 90s-early 2000s anime. It captures the feeling of playing a 3D CG video game from that time period perfectly, as well; it's oddly sparse and full of surreal landscapes.
I enjoyed the characters, but since this is part of a multimedia project and there are bits of that I haven't experienced for myself yet, I did find them largely falling a little flat (w/ the exception of Hotaru). For now I'll give it the benefit of the doubt on that and assume that the cast becomes more fleshed out.
The character design and art direction are a strong suit, though I think that the execution isn't always as solid as it wants to be. In particular I think a lot of the cinematography/scene transitions can feel dated, and there are a few experimental shots that don't really work (the only one that really does, though, is my favorite shot in the whole show).
The show's soundtrack is middling, with a few great tracks (those English-language vocal tracks are all stellar) and a couple horrendous ones (Sora's theme is annoying). My biggest complaint with it is that whoever was in charge of the audio mixing did a terrible job, because there are tons of scenes where the background music is so loud it almost completely masks the voice of the person talking (I don't know if this issue is present in the dub).
I know I'm listing a lot of complaints, but my thing is that while I do have many minor nitpicks about the show... they're just that, minor nitpicks. The foundation and concept of it are rock solid; it's just execution, execution, execution.
Also Tsukasa is cute and I support her and her relationship with Hotaru.

A complex and sophisticated character study that requires much attention to overall details, as it's extremely low on action.
The World (Za Warudo) is mostly a game where people go to chill out and escape from reality in a fantasy MMPRPG. There are quests, but there are no real battles to fight. The mystery around the danger facing Za Warudo and focusing around the Key of the Twilight is much more of the investigative kind, so people looking for action will probably be bored.
The relationships between the characters are fascinating, and the one that forms between Subaru and Tsukasa is very moving. Art is good ... for the time and the soundtrack is absolutely amazing!