Anime Analysis - .hack//Sign (Commentary)

[@333Skeith]

Actually .hack// was built around the games not the anime, yes .hack//Sign did come out first in April of 2002 but it was meant to get people interested in getting the game .hack//Infection which came out in June 2002 and .hack//Liminality was actually released on the game discs on the first 4 games. .hack//Legend Of The Twilight takes place between the .hack// games and the .hack//G.U. games and .hack//Roots takes place during a timeskip in the tutorial of the first .hack//G.U. game. The .hack// franchise is confusing.

[@dreweconomic3174]

It is confusing but that's what makes it so interesting....its a very coherent plot just buried under layers of intense dialogue and intrigue

[@timhook2086]

If you think that’s confusing, go look at Kingdom Hearts

[@jaykrolick2822]

@@timhook2086 i still to this day 10+ yrs later have no idea wtf kingdom hearts was trying to do lmao.

[@willliam15]

its not really confusing it just has a lot, do ignore anything after g.u though cause it takes a weird turn that a lot of fans dont want to consider cannon me included

[@nackskott12]

One of the things important to the show is mental illness. I know how that sounds, but if you've experienced (or known someone who has experienced) borderline personality disorder, then there's a lot of symbolism that you'll probably relate to a bit stronger than if you haven't. Tsukasa exhibits quite a few BPD traits (shifts between idolising and hating people, is avoidant of human interaction for fear of being used or seen as a burden, when in social situations is extremely awkward and anxious etc) and the entity manipulating him (to me) seems like an allegory for Tsukasa's internal voice. Or, maybe it's a direct metaphor for Tsukasa's father and how he influenced these behaviours and thoughts in Tsukasa. Anyhow, I think the show is pretty decent. Far from perfect but as a whole, it's a good character piece and it's nice to see a slow paced show that isn't as demanding as Lain or Ergo Proxy. It's definitely melancholic, at times dark and existentialist, but it has fun too. It tackles some tough subjects well and does a good job of getting me invested in the characters. I actually feel like the lack of overt explanation for every little detail was a positive, because if they tried to explain everything I feel it would have lost a good amount of the charm.

[@CaseyLemoineMusic]

I love the way you think

[@GingerBeanie]

I LOVE THE OPENING IT'S SO CATCHY

[@doodlebugfour7070]

SIGN's OST is great as well, though the entire franchise is full of great music.

[@CherryAnime203]

Kalafina and Yuki Kajiuru greatness.

[@doodlebugfour7070]

.Hack series's pretty infamous for basically all the parts of the franchise "fragments' of an entire whole.

[@tomsmith5584]

This was the first anime I really enjoyed. The one thing that blew me away was the soundtrack.

[@luciusirving5926]

Anime nowadays is so lazy like the studios cashing in on the shounen with lame power ups and monster of the week villains. Studios nowadays don't care about quality and making everyone outside the battle shounen audience happy.

[@royaltyx4203]

Your back you just made my month

[@connormcintosh4828]

Man.... I was 8 years old sneaking out of bed to watch this show.

[@syler_nice_7red-guiltys]

Enter the World of .hack//sign, Hate the game, not the Player Only on Toonami.

[@ChibiRiku]

Awwww memories!!!! I freaking miss Tom!!!! thanks for that

[@syler_nice_7red-guiltys]

@@ChibiRiku no problem

[@NightRainGirl43]

As someone who played the .hack//G.U games, I highly recommend also checking out .hack//Roots. It's basically a prequel to the G.U games. In terms of story, the .hack franchise connect to one another. It's a great story once you figure out what's going on.

[@kingdomfantasyomega]

What if I told you that Sora (aka Haseo, as he'd be later called) is the main character of the GU games, which just got an HD remaster? What if I also told you he also gets the most character development out of everyone in the franchise? I'm just saying, you're doing a disservice by not checking it out :)

[@Salkerful]

To be fair, I'm pretty sure the focus of the series was supposed to be the .hack games, specifically the original quadrilogy, not the anime. Both .hack//Sign and .hack//Roots seem more like prequels for their corresponding games or as backstory for the games than actual centers of focus for the overall story. Some of the unexplained stuff in .hack//Sign is explained in the quadrilogy, and the .hack//luminality OVAs were supposed to take place during each of these 4 games (one ova per game). If you're going to bring other parts of the .hack franchise into a review of each anime rather than focus soley on the anime itself then it'd be nice if you could keep this in mind.

[@27Bayleefs]

Yeah I agree. For me the games were the strong point of .hack. The G.U. Trilogy in particular is a great game, that I continue to play.

[@DJMigrane]

I agree. If you want to get the full experience out of the. hack series prepare to give up a month or two of your life for the game and anime. But it is a month or 2 well spent

[@moviesrocks2]

This is one my all time favorite anime. I've played the games & loved playing them so this actually added to the story. I think this is the only franchise where you have to watch every show & play every game to truly understand what the heck is going on. Oddly enough, that's what I liked about it. You are actually going through the rest of the series? Cool! Now .hack/sign is the only one that I watched & the original 4 games are the only ones that I played so I don't have any thoughts or feelings on the rest of the series. Not that it matters. but this is my 2 cents. Or 5 cents seeings as I'm in canada & we don't have pennies anymore

[@connormcintosh4828]

Couldn't agree more I used to catch it on YTV late on Friday nights, Peace from Ontario.

[@moviesrocks2]

@@connormcintosh4828 Greetings from New Brunswick

[@moonstonepearl21]

I remember seeing this series on Tv when I was little. The world actually always looked very visually appealing to me. I only saw bits and pieces of it whenever I happened to catch it on, but I remember finding it very interesting. It's on my list of shows to watch in full.

[@moonstonepearl21]

Pretty much just what I said there. I found it interesting and liked the way it looked, but never got to see the entire show, which I plan on doing eventually. I do remember finding it mysterious and kind of confusing ,which makes sense considering I 1. only saw bits and pieces of it and 2. I saw it when I was small and with this being a psychological anime, it makes sense some of what was going on would go over my head anyway.

[@moonstonepearl21]

It's just a label that means different things to different people. A lot of people just throw the term around as an insult, particularly toward people who like anime and manga. So some people would just consider you and me one anyway. They get a bad rap because of some people who call themselves one being over the top and obnoxious. Some of them could be those who insult people who watch dubs for example. It doesn't matter if you consider yourself one or not; just don't be a jerk. That's it. It's understandable if you don't want the negative connotation. I don't consider myself one. It's just a label, though like I said. You can consider yourself whatever you want.

[@moonstonepearl21]

Remember I said I don't really play RPGs.

[@moonstonepearl21]

Generally 2D. 3D has it's place, but in only certain situations, and it has to be done well. That Land of the Lustrious anime that recently came out, which I have yet to see ,but it's on my list, really did take 3D animation to the next level. Overall 2D just looks better and smoother.

[@moonstonepearl21]

Is that the Ghibli director? Yea I saw an article about that. I don't know of the details. I'm guessing mostly old age?

[@davidtimmer596]

Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, Shadow.

[@greatrieck]

Speaking of Sora, he is actually later on in .Hack G.U./Roots the same person who plays the main character Haseo. Makes me wonder if Haseo is really an edgelord or if Sora is just acting the part?

[@KingYoshiGoD]

I would love to hear this guy explain how the story is flawed lmao

[@otoshigami4228]

Love when Shadow comes around for a new video. Feels like 2010 again, 480p and all.

[@typesaad]

Who else wants a new Top 10 or a new ticket to damnation episode ?

[@CollinMac96]

I dont think the utube gods will allow that :'(

[@cad9751]

Does darkness dragoon brise have a new channel now?

[@thetacticianmusician4603]

@ShadowACS Welcome back! Also, that 11Eyes reference tho (6:33) lol

[@dreweconomic3174]

At the time when it came out the entire "caught in the game and fight your way out" concept was fresh & new. No anime really tackled that plot device until SAO....hence why people CORRECTLY say SAO ripped off .hack

[@okazakikun1]

didn't mention the songs. dot hack sign has a pretty interesting soundtrack and i enjoy listening to them every now and then.

[@ridewild1956]

the games are the actual meat and potatos of the franchise, in the long run of the overall sign has some impact which they call back to in original quadrilogy and some of the gu trilogy but it's mostly for lore and background there's a reason it's a multimedia franchise it's how they meant for it to be

[@Xbuster6]

It’s about the story and the story was great

[@luciusirving5926]

Dot Hack Sign is just one of a kind compared to all these new anime. I'm glad Bee Train never jumped in on the battle shounen bandwagon like other studios before the staff merged with I.G. On the other hand, I am so sick of battle shounen and their lazy, gimmicky writing.

[@shadowpriest2574]

Can u review Rokka No yuusha? I think u would like it. The MC is likeable, its fantasy and there is a nice romance there somewhere.

[@zetsumeimaru]

Hey, ACS. They franchise was actually spawned by the video games. //SIGN is a prequel to they first game series.

[@ShadowACS1]

I believe the anime came out a couple months before the first game. They were definitely in production together though.

[@zetsumeimaru]

ShadowACS oh, it definitely did, but as other comments have stated the anime was supposed to drum up attention for the games. As the games were released, each with an OVA on dvd, the franchise popularity exploded.

[@lucariomew365]

The anime and OVAs are all just complimentary pieces for the games. For example, the .hack//sign anime is really just the opening act/teaser to the first game, which was nearly complete in development and part of a planned a trilogy.

[@SaberChad222]

Love the vids, hope you can make more soon.

[@blkwng]

It spawned a huge following because tastes then were different. SAO is flashy but when you say it involves a lot of feelings that's arguable laughable since the only feelings explored are who is the best waifu and how cool kirito is compared to other players. Season 1 was incredible, and very action packed, whereas all other seasons are just lackluster, and imo, just filler material. I'm recently watching alicization and for now it's the most complex in characterization so that is 1 point in favor to SAO, but .hack brought to life a genre that was not even a thing in those days. There were no other animes about being trapped in an mmo, and I'd go so far as to call this anime the isekai creator, since it was then that a new interest in watching characters develop in new worlds was found out. I think SAO is a great anime but I do believe, contrary to what you commented, that it was the beginning of the genre that spawned sao.

[@ShadowACS1]

I have to wonder how you came to the conclusion that with all that Kirito and Asuna went through that SAO doesn't "involve feelings." It's a romance anime. Other than that, I don't disagree.

[@luciusirving5926]

Forget SAO, we got battle shounen oversaturating the anime industry now. SAO is so five minutes ago.

[@kingxsketch]

I've been watching you forever I'm glad you're still trucking partner

[@tobequitefranco]

I have TRIED. Probably like 5 times now, to get into the show. I played the first .hack game and i liked it well enough, but the pacing on this show was really frustrating for me. I got 8 episodes in. I understood the characters; I just didn't care about them.

[@luciusirving5926]

Good for you and all these battle shounen anime oversaturating the anime industry have made me spend more time watching Dot Hack Sign. It's thanks to battle shounen that I got closer to re-watching the Dot Hack Sign finale.

[@ChibiRiku]

Hey, thanks for an awesome commentary! I love that you didn't mindlessly curse. My ears thank you. I appreciated your calm, clean, to the point video, thumbs up for me. Please if possible, mind telling me if the next season in the series is worth watching, IDK thanks again peace!

[@ShadowACS1]

Thanks for your comment! And there's only one season of the show.

[@Kenzirs]

I wanted to get into this and many others I've missed but the more modern anime I watch the harder it becomes for me to enjoy older ones. Their flaws just become more and more obvious. There's a real difference though between different studios. I finished Hajime No Ippo recently and I can't believe how well animated it is for something made in 2000. I don't even like boxing. It seems even back then Madhouse was dominating. Great review as usual though dude. Honestly I'd say your SAO review is my favorite.

[@kingdoppelganger8951]

You should watch the disastrous life of saiki k. I’m curious to your opinion on something like it

[@staceywoodson8203]

This show was 17 years old when the review was made it is now almost 20 years old. I think the reviewer missed a lot by not knowing/ talking about that. This is still one of my faves and I loved it when I was in my late teens. It's beautiful, the story was unique at the time. The animation pretty darn good. A great psychological story and very emotional. A slow burn. The soundtrack is still one of the best in my opinion. It's a show with a lot of depth. So if you are just into anime for the action, love story, or fan service then don't bother. This one takes time, thpught, and introspection. And the end is beautiful and sad and happy and eye opening.

[@shadowwriter4538]

I got into dot.hack because of this anime along with the game. Even I didn't know there was a card game to this.

[@Trowa71]

Subaru is the japanese name for the Pleiades, a beautiful star cluster you can see with the naked eye. That's why the car company has a logo with a bunch of stars.

[@CelestialReturner]

*Oh.....the memories are coming back!* 😊

[@karasuthedreamer6353]

Could you please review the Ace Attorney anime?

[@DESTROYYER5671]

Yo! You gonna do a review on rwby vol.5?

[@jlion2439]

Could you please see season 1 of the anime Trinity Seven?

[@Bren18B]

I loved .Hack/Sign openning song obsessions by Seesaw & I never got a chance to finish this Anime

[@Bren18B]

@Instrumentality1000 thanks

[@doodlebugfour7070]

Good luck surviving Legend of the Twillight Bracelet Anime, it really deviated from it's manga in so many ways. And of course star a teenage Bryce Papenbrook constantly screaming "REINA!!!!". lol

[@plains7000]

Since I know the Sao cast better than the dot hack cast I prefer the So cast over the dot hack cast. I don't think Sao was ripped off from dot hack.

[@flockinify]

Will you ever watch Log Horizon?

[@RitoReyes2033]

wish he would upload more often since i like his commentary

[@SuiteLifeofDioBrando]

I liked the anime of dot hack sign. The game dot hack gu last recode game was pretty good imo. Other than that I do not know much of the series

[@patyos2]

Yeah - .hack//sign Was more to get people hyped up for the upcoming video game series. Then the story went on from there.

[@SharpestSniper99]

I hope ya take a look at persona 4 the animation (or persona 5 the anime which comes soon) and assassination classroom one day :D

[@dagger1580]

This show is amazing!

[@luciusirving5926]

Two years later, it is and by the way, I hate battle shounen anime.

[@doodlebugfour7070]

Spoilers: The stuff with Morgana continues on in the IMOQ (Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, Quarantine) games, though those are rare and expensive to find nowadays. And even then some of the game mechanics are pretty outdated by today's standards. If only IMOQ gets a remake one day. At least the GU Trilogy was remastered for PS4 and PC.

[@dreweconomic3174]

Another thing you mentioned but failed to get.....hack is a thinking show and a cult show. It was never intended for mass enjoyment but rather a dedicated fanbase who watches the OVAs merely to discover the secrets of the story....

[@SharpestSniper99]

I got into .hack through .hack GU’s remaster that came out last year. Which Is a game I highly recommend

[@SharpestSniper99]

Admittedly The protagonist Haseo starts out as a huuuge dick but he gets a loooot better by the end of volume 1 and becomes a really good protagonist IMO

[@doodlebugfour7070]

Haseo is basically a better executed Sasuke from Naruto, they even share the same VA Yuri Lowenthal too. :D

[@SharpestSniper99]

Doodlebug Four I know. :D I beat all the games in the last recode remaster. I can honestly say Haseo is one of Yuri Lowenthal’s best roles

[@bonezyjonezy3403]

Allow me to clarify when a .hack fan says SAO ripped off .hack, we mean .hack as a whole. SIGN is a fraction of the multimedia franchise. When you look at the bigger picture of .hack you can begin to draw the similarities. SAO is without a doubt heavily influenced by .hack. It's a little overwhelming in some cases. From character names all the way to the music composer, SAO becomes the casual .hack experience. Sure SAO explores elements of a MMO in greater detail, is far more accessible and has a greater budget when it comes to animation but ultimately it lacks the rich lore, characters, story, and thought provoking themes that .hack has to offer.

[@luciusirving5926]

As a dot hack fan, my main problem with SAO is that it's a generic harem show. Even if it didn't take place in a fantasy world. A-1 Pictures or Sony not giving a hoot about anime doesn't help. The reason Sony made SAO and Fairy Tail was to cash in on kid-friendly anime like Toei. In contrast, Bee Train put more heart and soul into making anime instead of doing what big name studios do, cashing in on monotonous dweeb stuff and being lazy.

[@TheSkullbones17]

This .Hack series was a bit confusing after watching it and I was so stoked to seeing this too. Most of it was a bunch of just talking.

[@spiralmatt8946]

Its kind of like log horizon is doing but it does a bit of action here and there. To me. .Hack series is kind of boring and confusing to me.

[@TheSkullbones17]

Spiral Matt O I see well that's pretty understandable

[@spiralmatt8946]

Have you've seen it too?

[@TheSkullbones17]

Spiral Matt Just about a week ago

[@spiralmatt8946]

How was it? Since digibro said its better than SAO

[@Solo_Sessums]

now I wanna check this out.

[@ridewild1956]

sora is actually the protagonist in the gu part of the franchise

[@preston726]

As soon as I heard about the name of the game in the show I just thought of the world from Jjba

[@zhaoyun255]

Keep an eye on Sora because that kid will become THE TERROR OF DEATH!!!

[@archonofplagues1329]

Is that a reference to the quadrilogy games?

[@zhaoyun255]

Actually, it was a reference to the Trilogy game. Remember when Sora got Data Drained by Skeith? Keep that in mind because Skeith full name was Skeith The Terror of Death.

[@tdfern1]

Ahhh the original SAO is here.

[@CelestialReturner]

*Do Blazblue Alter Memory!*

[@nggogoe653]

Im feelin so old now

[@RedFoxReviewer]

Read the dot hack legend of the Twilight manga it's a lot better than the anime. The characters and story are much more fleshed-out.

[@HxH2011DRA]

That ending XD (Pls cover hxh soon)

[@FidensLibertas]

piece of advice. if you want to get into the .Hack, games only play the G.U. games. the first 4 games, Infections, Mutation, Outbreak and Quarantine have a good story but their gameplay is terrible. if you want to know the story of these games check out their cutscenes on KZbin. the only benefit of playing these games is data transferring to the G.U. games for a few bonuses. these bonuses are nothing spectacular and not worth it unless you're a hardcore fan. the G.U. games are much better. along with a masterful story their gameplay won't test your patience.

[@oliveranderson928]

I know you don't often talk about music, but I'm surprised you didn't give it at least a mention for this show. It adds a lot of character, and I think it kind of makes up for the lackluster animation at times.

[@Car-bq5bw]

As Always...Nice Job

[@jf4132]

The games came first, not the anime

[@PrincessNine]

Should probably do your research next time. Also people say sao ripped off its concept and a lot of similar ideas and stakes, that doesn't mean the Sao written had the maturity to make his rip off psychological (if I remember correctly he wrote Sao when he was young and on a fan site or something)

[@tengenforger4944]

Did you watch sub or dub?

[@davestafford4905]

Far too superficial to be called an anlysis.

[@luciusirving5926]

As entitled as he is, he should know by now that anime like Dot Hack Sign are hard to come by these days. I am so sick of Demon Slayer and generic battle shounen oversaturating the anime industry.

[@davestafford4905]

​@@luciusirving5926 Well, to me, the medium basically just 'died', after something like early 2000s. I guess the upside is that when you get older, you don't really have much time to indulge in entertainment as a whole. Still though, titles like that, do kind of stay with you, in a way

[@BradleytheDavis]

I heard this show is an extremely boring and badly written mystery box series, and that the only decent .hack is .hack//Quantum Btw, the way you described Tsukasa is similar to MANY protagonists. One of which is actually Kirito

[@PrincessNine]

A. L. Soryu the games are where the story is. The animes are basically just tie in material

[@willcamick]

2021 VR HEAD SET IN VRCHAT. Generic worlds, Little action and boring dialog. Sounds about right lol.

[@Vegohead]

Roots is hot garbage, coming from a diehard .hack fan.