.hack//SIGN Episode 4

Episode 4: Wanted

Tsukasa's guardian is out of control and has been attacking other characters. Subaru gives the order to make him wanted across all the game servers - she needs to talk to him before it's too late.

I love how Tsukasa is doing next to nothing to try and lay low, what with him flaunting his whale around! He’s got everyone in the game talking about him. I also can’t believe after Subaru checked the logs he’s been in that game for 10 straight days and even after seeing that they still have DOUBTS as to whether or not that could be possible. Ugh.

That flashback leads one to believe that the voice is that of his mother’s. I’m curious as to how his dead mother has managed to log herself into a game, as a ghost? Or is someone steering his desires so that he comes to these conclusions himself. Hmm… scratches head

I’ve already said this but BT can’t stand Sora, but as soon as Mimiru get’s mail from him she’s all “let’s go see him.” GREEEEDYYY, all she cares about is that hidden item. I thought it was kind of lame of her to ditch Mimiru after she more or less got what she wanted out of Sora. Doesn’t she understand the “girl” code? Never leave your home girl with a creepy guy! Same rule applies in game as well as out!

It’s only been 4 episodes and I’m already done with this Silver Knight person, complaining about Sora, complaining about Tsukasa. Seems a little possessive, or over protective, clenching his fist when Subaru (who's named after a car) zones out thinking of what Crim would do in their current situation. Talk about temper as well, so quick to draw his sword and I don’t even think Sora said anything in particular that was offensive. Oh Silver Knight… loyal to a fault. “If there’s anything you need…” It probably wouldn’t matter who was in charge with this guy following, as long as they’re powerful, he’ll follow.

I’m not going to lie I was a little confused with the cut away scene of a guy smoking in the rain outside of a hospital. I didn’t know who that was supposed to be, so far most of the cut aways have been flashbacks and they’re apparently done the same as “real” world scenes, so I guess I’ll have to pay closer attention to try and differentiate between the two. But REALLY BEAR?!  You think you may have found Tsukasa’s real body in a coma and it was a girl?!

Did anyone else find it strange, the reaction of Tsukasa when Mimiru asked if he was a girl in real life? Something sounds fishy… that avatar is hiding something; I’m beginning to think that it was he in the hospital and that he’s really a girl out there in the world! Hmph… claiming he’s a boy and scoffing. Running away YET again!

HOLY HAREM batman! 4 girls against 1 little Wavemaster and a whale! Those players didn’t stand a chance, seeing how he’s lost control of his Guardian yet again. I guess there really was nothing left for Subaru (who's named after a car) and the Crimson Knights but act. Oh you done it now little man!! YOU WANTED! Not to mention what the hell happened in the veil land as I’m currently calling it because I don’t know what it is. It was really pretty, with grass and trees everywhere. Now it’s like a barren wasteland, hmm… any connection to the Guardian going AWOL?

.hack//SIGN Episode 3

Episode 3: Folklore

BT and Sora come to the conclusion that Tsukasa is related to a legendary item known as the Key of the Twilight. Mimiru tells everyone that Tsukasa may be a victim of the system as another character was able to take control of Tsukasa's guardian.

I’m really enjoying the music in the series so far, although I can’t really say I support having music with lyrics playing over characters talking. It’s a little distracting especially if the level isn’t set in such a way that the music is more background instead of foreground. Probably doesn’t help that I’m reading subtitles, listening to Japanese speaking, and English lyrics.

I’m finally glad to hear someone say “it’s just a game,” Subaru (which is also the brand of a car) is a female Heavy Axeman with blue-green hair, a puce-colored tattoo on her forehead and ornamental wings on her back. She seems to have founded the Crimson Knights along with another character Crim who has been mentioned but not yet seen. She had to tell that Silver Knight guy to simmer down! So rowdy! I’ve played with people like that; who think everything is the end of the world if one thing is out of the ordinary.

Silver Knight is a Blademaster who is the second-in-command of the Crimson Knights under Subaru (which is also the brand of a car) his avatar is an edited version of the standard Crimson Knight design, with full chest and back plates added to his armor, horns added to his helmet, and red eyes instead of blue. I think he is actually a she in the real world at least that’s what it looked like when he was knocked out by Tsukasa’s Guardian.

Now everyone is going on about this Hidden Item and everyone seems to think that Tsukasa has it, seeing how it would make sense because it appears he’s not playing under the same rules of everyone else in The World. The name of this Hidden Item is The Key of the Twilight and for some reason they say it in English, I don’t speak Japanese so perhaps it’s a translation thing, or it’s supposed to hold more weight being spoken differently.

Sora’s creepy… the end.

No but seriously, something is off about that guy! Just the way he talks to the girls and his overall demeanor. One could say he’s too cool for school, no wonder why BT doesn’t give him the time of day. That and I suppose she doesn’t because of all the times he’s ganked her in the game. Sora is like that creepy uncle that’s coming over for the holidays. Even though he makes you uncomfortable and you’d rather scrape your skin off with a dull rusted razor blade, you’re forced to sit next to him during dinner while he regales the family with stories from his youth breathing a combination of halitosis and cigarette smoke in your face. Meanwhile, he’s managed to slip his hand onto your knee under the table when no one else is looking and all you can do is sit rigid in your seat.

At least that’s how I feel about Sora, so far at least, I know it’s only episode 3 but he’s done little to redeem himself.

Mimiru is cute, it’s like she can’t help herself, and she so very much wants to hate Tsukasa because Tsukasa acts like he hates her but Mimiru isn’t that type of person. She seems like she wants to be everyone’s friend, after all who knows how long she had been sitting at that chest trying to get in touch with him. Not to mention sending Bear in her stead for fear of fighting further with Tsukasa and possibly making things worse between them. It’s funny when she tries to act all cool like she can’t be bothered any further with emo face and his pet that looks like a pair of balls with a ring to separate them.

Meanwhile Tsukasa is in that… otherworld? Like a tear in the veil if you will, staring down the floating girl, who evidently makes him see his past? At least I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it was Tsukasa in the real world, at a young age. Couldn’t actually see if it was a little boy or girl, troublesome age identifying gender.

Poor kitty!!! =^^=

Also, what’s the point in having a bed, whether it is indoors or out if all you’re going to do is float above it all exorcists like? If anyone has some insight on that, I’d love to hear it!

Can we talk about Tsukasa’s Guardian that looks like balls with a ring to separate them sounding like a whale? When I first heard that I thought I was going to see Free Willy come barreling through the happy place where Guardian’s live. I don’t know what sound I expected it to make, but it probably should have been something a little less identifiable especially when it doesn’t resemble what it sounds like. I’m just knit picking I suppose but that might be because the series is still picking up momentum so things like that are sticking out to me.\

Hmm… I don’t know how I feel about BT yet, she seems to hang around Bear a lot, willingly and Sora seems to be more of a play thing, someone to pass the time/shoot the breeze and while they’re doing that they tend to share information, more on Sora’s end than from BT. She’s a Wavemaster as well and her avatar has blonde hair and dresses in light green robes. She seems to be pretty focused on finding the Key of the Twilight and can’t really be bothered with Tsukasa’s predicament. She’ll most likely tag along if it means finding what she wants.

Yeah, I get the feeling that this Bear character and BT as well might be on the older end of the age spectrum in real life; especially the way they reason/talk to everyone. Haha, poor little Tsukasa doesn’t take criticism or yelling very well. If only it were really that easy to just teleport out of every confrontation so you didn’t have to deal with someone lecturing you about things you couldn’t be bothered with. It was sweet though how he was disappointed (what’s new?) that Mimiru didn’t come to see him, even though she arrived after he had already bailed.

.hack//SIGN Episode 2

Episode 2: Guardian

Mimiru and Bear are worried as Tsukasa is unable to logout of the game. The Crimson Knights look upon Tsukasa as an illegal character and are out to capture him. He arranges to meet with Mimiru and Bear to show them his guardian monster.

Wow, where to begin with this episode. Again just a lot more stuff that I’m not really sure about. Turns out the Crimson Knight that Tsusaka’s guardian owned ended up passing out in front of their computer and waking up with amnesia. Shenanigans!

Tsusaka meets up with Bear and although he chats with him for a quick second doesn’t really spend too much time dealing with him, not to mention completely blowing Mimiru off.  We meet a new character Sora, I’m not sure who that blond chick is yet, or maybe I just missed them saying her name not to mention that other chick with the “wings” and axe. Anyway, Sora is a Twin Blade Player Killer who seeks out attractive female characters and attempts to obtain their personal member addresses.

I’m still trying to understand this cat character and what its deal is. Also, how crazy do you have to be to hear voices in real life let alone hear voices while you’re stuck in a game world? The cat’s talking but nothing is coming out of its mouth and Tsukasa is yessing it and then follows it! Often times on the internet people usually create an alter ego, someone they can’t be in real life, because lets face it if you’re spending that much time in a game it’s usually because you’re trying to get away from something that’s going on in your life or you just don’t have friends. I’m beginning to think that Tsukasa isn’t just emo in the game but is emo in real life too. I can’t understand for the life of me why someone would want to create a sad, moping alter ego to act out on the Internet. There have been subtle and not so subtle hints of not really wanting to get back to the real world.

So now Tsukasa is walking through walls much to Sora’s chagrin and he’s off finding pretty floating girls with a teddy bear and a bed out in the middle of the woods. It’s like an outdoor bedroom.

Haha, I wish someone WOULD tell me to reset the terminal ONE more time! It’s like they’re so obsessed in thinking that it’s impossible not to be able to log out that they just keep circling back to, “oh he just needs to reset his terminal” eye roll am I the only one listening? Dude already said he’s not sitting in front of his monitor he’s IN the game, like IN it to WIN it.

What’s the point in having a Guardian you can’t control and then magically gaining a soft spot of Mimiru? Tsukasa needs to make up his mind and Bear needs to simmer down before he ends up like that Crimson Knight. Although having the power to move about the servers with out the use of the gates is pretty sweet.

It’s definitely like an RPG in the sense that you start out by yourself and then as you try and figure “something” out usually a quest you pick up people a long the way to form your group. Even though most of them are interchangeable we all know that you have your core group which Tsukasa’s is currently made up of himself, Mimiru and Bear… and who knows, Sora might be a floater… I don’t know what Sora is, or those other two chicks, at least in relation to Tsukasa.

.hack//SIGN Episode 1

I'm just starting this series I don't know much about it other than what I've read via plot summaries. I'm kind of excited though because it has to do with RPG's and getting stuck in the video game world! I am very much into MMORPG's like World of Warcraft as well as Sim games/Civilization games. The thought of actually logging in to a game one day and not being able to log out would be rather frightening, people become absorbed in video games easily enough without adding insult to injury. It'll also be interesting to see how these people become friends via the game even though they haven't met face to face. I have made countless friends online playing games some of whom to this day I've never seen a picture of. It's crazy to think about!


Episode 1: Role Play

Tsukasa wakes and finds himself in The World, an online game. He can't recall who he is and doesn't know why he is in The World, but he soon finds that he is trapped and attempts to look for a way out.

After watching this episode I have a better idea of what The World looks like. Of course it's only the first episode so I don't really know a lot about any of the characters just surface stuff, in which case I don't even think the main character Tsukasa introduces himself. He comes off very aloof, probably because he woke up extremely out of it and still in the game! Tsukasa is the protagonist; he is a Wavemaster whose consciousness becomes trapped in The World while his real body is in a coma. He is a young silver-haired boy clad in grey robes.

The second character we meet is Mimiru who is a female Heavy Blade, first impressions?? She seems kind of clingy to me! Throughout the episode she keeps popping up wherever Tsukasa is and she won't leave him alone!! Even after he outright tells her, I don't like you, then repeats himself when she asks him if that's what he said later on! Then in typical girl fashion, she doesn't like what she hears and slaps Tsukasa, which he feels physical pain as a result, odd... they're supposed to be in a made up world. I don't think it's intended to be set up like the Matrix, where if you die in the Matrix you die in real life. 

I thought it was actually pretty funny too how Mimiru lectured him on game etiquette, a lot of times when you play these types of games there are all those "unspoken" rules of how you should play the game with other people. Like, don't be a dick so you can still find a group to do instances with. I have always thought it was dumb when people who log in to play a game try to turn the game into REAL life. If I wanted to deal with all that crap, I would just log off and deal with people in the real world. I play games to escape, in Tsukasa's case, well he can't help but stay logged in, even though is solution at the beginning was "I'll just log out."

The 13th Squadron of the Crimson Knights seem like douche bags who take their job too seriously. They're basically game moderators who's job is to look out for illegal game activities and keep them in check. *yawn fest*

It cracked me up when Tsukasa was just looking for things to do so he ran around on his mount which looked like there was a game glitch causing it to run into walls. Reminded me of when I would get bored in WoW and go fishing or just ride around the map. 

Later on we meet Bear for a quick minute who was apparently taking a break from helping someone quest/kill something. He's a large, burly Blademaster and most of his body and face is covered in blue wave tattoos. He tries to talk to Tsukasa but that's a no go, I'm kind of curious what level Tsukasa is because the way he runs around and keeps teleporting or whatever they call it in this game, you'd think he was a low level who was constantly afraid of being ganked by people!

The end of the episode kind of has me confused in the sense like...wtf? We learn that this cat Tsukasa hasn't been able to remember, he suddenly remembers and calls it Macha before it disappears then a weird monster that supposedly has never been in the game appears! What happened to the Crimson dude? The way he was attacked by that monster it kind of looks like he might be dead, dead... like really dead. I like Tsukasa's "when in Rome" mentality after all that drama he's just kind of like... well I can't log, so I'm not out there, and being in here, might not be so bad, then *SIRENS!* 

.hack//SIGN

Even though alphabetically this is wrong to start with, it's the first of the ./hack series.

Related anime:
   

 .Hack//GIFT (OAV)
    

.Hack//Intermezzo (OAV) (sequel) 

.Hack//Unison (OAV) (sequel)

.Hack//Legend Of The Twilight (TV) (sequel)
    .Hack//Roots (TV)
    .Hack//XXXX (manga)

Title: .hack//SIGN

Alternative title:

.hack//SIGN: Atrapados en la red (Spanish)

.hack//SIGN駭客時空 (Chinese (Taiwan))

.хак//ЗНАК (Russian)

Genres: action, adventure, drama, fantasy, mystery, science fiction

Themes: online computer gaming

Objectionable content: Mild (mild bad language and/or bloodless violence)

Plot Summary: Amidst a popular online role playing game in the near future, characters try to play out the goals they set for entertainment and passing of time. The World as the RPG is called is one with a setting of monsters, player characters and dungeons. Tsukasa is a detached and introverted character that has a number of mysteries about his player character. Many weird happenings seem to suround Tsukasa and his involvement in a rare item called 'The Key Of The Twilight' sparks Tsukasa'a meeting with different online characters and the befriending of their real life counterparts; All without ever meeting face to face in reality. What is strange about Tsukasa is that he can't seem to log out of The World. Subaru and Silver Knight of The Crimson Knights continue to look for proof of why Tsukasa can not log out or the existance of The Key Of The Twilight. Meanwhile Bear, Mimiru, and BT as Tsukasa's friends try to help him understand who he really is and how he can return to the real world.

Running time: 25 minutes per episode

Number of episodes: 26

Vintage:

2002-04-04 to 2002-09-25

2003-02-01 to 2003-08-30 (USA)

2004-02-26 (France)

2005-04-01 to 2005-10-07 (Canada, YTV)

2005-08-01 to 2006-01-23 (Latin America Broadcast)

2007-06-05 (Germany - Animax)

2009-11-27 (Spain, Animax)

Opening Theme:

"Obsession" by See-Saw

Ending Theme:

"Yasashii Yoake" by See-Saw

Japanese Cast:

Mitsuki Saiga as Tsukasa

Akiko Hiramatsu as BT

Hiroshi Yanaka as Sora

Kaori Nazuka as Subaru

Kazuhiro Nakata as Bear

Megumi Toyoguchi as Mimiru

Rie Tanaka as Morgana

Shinichiro Miki as Crim

Yumi Touma as Helba

Atsuko Enomoto as A-20

Chiemi Chiba as Female Heavyblade (ep 9)

Isshin Chiba as Silver Knight

Maaya Sakamoto as Aura

Mitsuyo Kondo as Grunty

Nobuyuki Hiyama as Balmung

Nozomu Sasaki as Bear's Son

Sara Nakayama as Kaochin (ep 19)

Takumi Yamazaki as Harold

Tomoyuki Kouno

English Cast:

Brianne Siddall as Tsukasa

Amanda Winn Lee as Mimiru

Dave Wittenberg as Sora

Donna Rawlins as BT

Kim Mai Guest as Subaru

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Helba

Paul Mercier as Bear

Valerie Arem as Morganna

Brianne Siddall as Kaho

Crispin Freeman as Balmung

Debra Rogers as Mia

Doug Rye as Silver Knight

Lani Minella as Girl

Lex Lang as Crim

R. Martin Klein as Harold

Sandy Fox as A-20

Liam O'Brien

Episode List:

1: Role Play

2. Guardian

3. Folklore    

4. Wanted  

5. Captured

6. Encounter  

7. Reason

8. Promise

9. Epitaph

10. Compensation

11. Party

12. Entanglement

13. Twilight Eye

14. Castle  

15. Evidence

16. Depth                   

17. Conflict               

18. Declaration            

19. Recollection       

20. Tempest

21. Despair

22. Phantom

23. The Eve

24. Net Slum

25. Catastrophe 

26. Return

Welcome!

The Plan:

Since a lot of anime websites have matching content, some more than others what I plan on doing is viewing the anime alphabetically, using Hidden-Anime's list to start while referencing some other lists. As I'm watching, I'll blog about what I've watched and my thoughts. If the show is ongoing then I may blog per episode as they're coming out and continue to add/consolidate the original blog entry. 

The idea is hopefully you'll go to any of the websites whether you knew about them or not and watch/discuss right along with me! Kind of like a book club but for anime, haha. I want this to be informative so I'll try to track down opening/ending theme titles, character, plot information etc. I'm sorry to say that I don't read a lot of manga so if you're looking for that here you won't find it. 

But if you're like me then you like watching anime! I've gone to a lot of different anime sites and I'm signed up on about a million different forums all for the sake of finding anime episodes online and for free if possible! If you look over to the right I have three links to my personal top anime sites that I frequent.

AnimeSeason is 100% free and they keep up with the site pretty well. But I'm not sure if it's server issues or what but sometimes the page doesn't load; like it doesn't exist anymore. It's usually fixed within a few minutes or sometimes a few hours. It's quite frustrating when you click to watch the next episode in the series and all of a sudden it acts like you were visiting a blank page. But it's free, so I tend to over look some of the technical issues.

Hidden-Anime takes donations, for a minimal fee of $2.99  you get 1 month ad free. Of course you don't have to donate, but then you have ads.  Plus, they have over 21,000 episodes and the site is VERY, VERY well maintained so for me, well worth the $2.99, it's also non-reoccurring so you don't to worry about your card being charged every month. If after a month you don't want to donate again, you simply do nothing!

Crunchy Roll you can view things for free but with ads and sometimes new episodes that are available to members don't become available to non-members for another week or so. But for a relatively cheap membership you get a lot of really neat perks! They also have a 14 day free trial so you can check it out, if you don't think it's worth it after your trial is over, cancel! This membership bills you on a monthly cycle. One thing I've also noticed on this site is that it doesn't always have the "videos" to accompany the titles. Like, they don't have Bleach episodes here. But it sends you to a page dedicated to Bleach with all the character info, reviews, forums, pretty much everything else.

Along with Anime's Crunchy Roll has Asian Drama's; Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

I'll add one more to this list although I still don't know much about it, I just stumbled upon it a few days ago, it's called GoGoAnime they claim to be the "World's Largest Free Anime Site." What I can tell you and what is obvious when you go to this website is that they tend to release episodes in raw format (no subs) and then I don't know how much longer afterwards they release the same episode with (subs).

Let's get started! :)