Thoughts on this series? How does it hold up compared to the rest of the franchise?
I remember it being a pretty fun and cute show. For whatever reason, Cartoon Network aired this shit at 5 AM on Saturday mornings and wouldn't even advertise it (even incorrectly referring to it as .hack//SIGN during "Now on Cartoon Network/Next on Cartoon Network" spots).
I wish the rest of the manga got animated too.
It sucks I'd rather play the games.
I remember liking it a lot as a kid, but yeah it was almost impossible to actually be able to watch it since it aired at the worst fucking time slot. Don't think they ever finished it either
aren't the games massive slogs?
I really like //sign (mainly the studio and OST, plus the nostalgia) but always assumed the rest of the franchise wasn't particularly good
Read it as a kid it came out as a kid. As I got older I didn't look back but I know it inspired Sword Art Online and so it's legacy is mixed.
shit, a tokyopop issue of this from the local library was probably the first manga I read as a kid.
this page awakened some kind of memory immediately.
it's so odd to look at. god only knows how long it's been
but it's like the lines of her body were traced over by my eyes so many times they're still seared into my subconscious
Cute. Kind of stupid and admittedly weird when you think about the shitshow that was the timeline leading up to R2 but cute.
//SIGN was my first taste of the franchise. //IMOQ were my favorite games in comparison to //GU and //Link, even if //GU was mechanically better. With the manga I only ever saw LotT. The mood was too different and what the fuck was with that "costume treasure" shit?
>aren't the games massive slogs?
You're talking about fictional MMORPGs and singleplayer console-based JRPGs.
Of course they are.
The dungeons are less linear than say PSO but you can mentally gloss over the non-plot relevant (or sidequest) areas just as easily as you can with mindless grinding.
Although a good chunk of the game is spent not just dungeon diving but reading the glorified VNs that are the forums, news, and emails. You don't have to spend time actually reading that shit but I liked them. Gave me something different to do that wasn't just hitting A.
Coincidentally, I started rewatching SIGN and should finish it by tomorrow. I was wondering what the timeline is, regarding the shows and games? I want to follow the storylines further
I loved the story and the gameplay of the games had potential. Was massively disappointed to find that there was a remake for the much inferior sequel .Hack//GU instead than for them.
>timeline across the franchise's media
Welcome to Hell, user.
It was the most hated piece of .hack media ever created at the time and I personally never understood the hate for it. Then again I never did see how it ended. It used to air very late on Cartoon Network in the US but they would repeat it just when it was getting good.
Its hard to find a decent chart/guide without it being a complete cluster fuck when its not really that all bad. If I had the time(or creativity) I make a better chart than the shit you find online, pic very related. Here's my core order
Signs(anime) --> Liminality(OVA) --> IMOQ(games)
Liminality was a bunch of OVAs that came with each game, totaling in 4 episodes, that also take place at the same time as the games. The idea was that you can watch them at any time either before, during, or after each game as the events in the game and OVA happen at the same time. If I remember right, its been awhile since I played or watched either of them.
Roots(anime) --> G.U.(games)
Nothing much to say here. A lot of the other media is just optional side stories, retellings, epilogues, etc. most of which aren't too important. They're there so if you still enjoy the series and want to dive deeper. I would list more but I don't remember most of them.
I thought I was the last .hack fan alive.
For me, it was the PS2 game.
tsukasa is my husbando (wife)
Same. It's always a delight to see another fan.
Which one?
Tsukasa is.
Elk can go fuck himself.
Timeline media order
Prequels:
AI Buster Novels
.hack//SIGN anime
Original Tetrad:
.hack// IMOQ games
.hack//Liminality OVA
.hack//Another Birth novels, the games' story but Blackrose's perspective
.hack//Legend of the Twilight anime, takes place some time after Quarantine
R:2 era:
.hack//G.U. vol 1 Rebirth game
.hack//ROOTS anime
.hack//G.U. rest of the games, buy or pirate Last Recode
Nothing else worth consuming, though the Cubia alt-story manga and Fragment MMO were interesting. The franchise basically ends after G.U. rest of it's trash.
If Serial Experiments Lain never existed people would be praising .hack for how ahead of its time and prophetic it was
>there are .hack fans who have died
>one day, the last .hack fan will die for real