This series was part of a larger package called "project .hack" and included a four-volume Playstation2 game series and accompanying four-volume OVA. The idea being that the show was the prelude to the games which happened concurrent to the OVA. It was an ambitious idea, but had the unfortunate side effect that despite the series having a conclusive ending, there was still a lot that was left unexplained... until you play through the games.
This is probably one of the first series to introduce the idea of being "stuck" inside of an MMO game. Because it was intended to be more of a seamless lead-in for the rest of the franchise, when viewed separately is unfortunately where things fall apart. The viewer has to have bought into the .hack// universe and continued the storyline for any of it to make sense. The show follows a single character, Tsukasa, a caster character who cannot leave the game, and different groups of players who are either out to help Tsukasa, or they believe he is the key to some secret event within the game.
The artwork is pretty consistent throughout the series and outside of a few key locations, there isn't a lot of detail in either the characters or their backgrounds. What is notable is the contrast between scenes depicting the game world and the real world. The game world is always bright and colourful, while the real world is shown in varying shades of grey with some very muted colours.
The heart of the show is in the characters and its a shame that they don't get the attention they warrant. Mimiru is one of the main characters and one of the first to reach out to Tsukasa, but by the end of the series you know nothing about her. The others get some slightly better treatment, the paraplegic, the travelling businessman, the estranged father, the aging model, the annoying middle-school student, and so on. Don't get me wrong, there is some character development, it just seems to be bogged down in filler or left to be "discovered later".
The sound for the show is actually quite good. SIGN is among the list of shows where I sprung to buy the soundtrack. Yuki Kajiura provides the music as well as the opening and closing themes. The music ranges from some beautiful piano pieces to more celtic-sounding tunes.
Despite what my review seems to say, I did enjoy this series. A big part of that enjoyment came from having immersed myself in the .hack franchise. By the time I had gotten around to watching this anime, I had already completed the games and the accompanying OVA. The result being that I already had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
Would I recommend this series? Yes, as part of the .hack// package. Otherwise, if you have no intention of playing the games and watching the OVA, .hack//SIGN would be a long boring trek.
