.hack//SIGN (2002-2003)

Directed by: Kôichi Mashimo/Yuuki Arie/Shinya Kawazura/Hiroshi Morioka/Koji Sawai
Written by: Kazunori Itô/Michiko Yokote/Hiroaki Jinno/Kôichi Mashimo/Akemi Omode/Mitsuhiko Sawamura

Most anime seems to have a recurring theme to it: balance. Whether it’s the balance between the old and the new or the dark and the light or the good and the evil, there’s always one character who keeps that balance. Kenshin balances good and evil and old and new. Inu Yasha balances good and evil. Kaneda balances Neo-Tokyo and what it will become if Testuo and the Akira project explodes all over the place. In .hack//SIGN, Tsukasa is that balancing agent. He’s stuck between what The World is and what it will become and real life and gaming life. Are the forces of change evil? We don’t really know. All we know is that The World will never be the same after Tsukasa finds a way to leave it.

The World is a game. Hell, it’s not just a game. It’s a way of life. People log into it and it takes over their lives for a little while. It makes them forget what might be wrong with their lives until they have to log off again.

But Tsukasa can’t log off. He’s trapped inside this game and doesn’t know why or how he got there. All he knows is that there’s a strange being following him around protecting him from anyone who might kill him. But that being is an ominous one that seems to have plans of its own for Tsukasa.

He makes some real friends in Mimiru is a young girl who tries to make friends with him, but he doesn’t want anything to do with her. He just wants to be left alone. But, as time goes by, he gets lonely in his prison and reaches out to her in his own way.

Bear is an older guy who is bent on solving the mystery of Tsukasa. He spends a lot of time during the day trying to figure out what is going on with the real Tsukasa and then pals around with Mimiru while he’s in The World. Could Tsukasa be a little girl? Or is he the boy at the hospital who is in a coma?

Subaru is the leader of the Crimson Knights, the folks who kind of police The World. The Silver Knight is in love with her, but he acts more like her servant. Subaru is waiting for Crim to come back. He used to lead the Knights with her, but he quit after a while. Now she looks to him for guidance. She is also obsessed with finding out what’s up with this Tsukasa kid. The Silver Knight, though, thinks that he should be locked away and forgotten about.

BT is a woman who can’t seem to decide whether or not she cares about what happens to Tsukasa. She helps out at times, but she consorts (albeit unwillingly at times) with Sora, an annoying guy who runs around killing people for no reason. He’s trying to answer the question of Tsukasa for his own gain. I can never really figure out if he’s using BT or if she’s using him.

The animation in this series is beautiful. The characters are pretty simple, but the backgrounds are like Roger Dean album covers. They’re complex and surreal, yet still earthly. And the colors are bright and vibrant in The World. It’s almost Disney-esque, but maybe even prettier. The real world is drab and grey and usually rainy. (Maybe there will be a weather crisis in the future.)

The characters are all interesting and three dimensional. I care about all of them (except for Sora…he’s pretty annoying throughout the series…and the Silver Knight is just a little bitch) and want to know more about them. And, unlike some anime characters, the longer I watch, the more interested in them I am.

Tsukasa is, of course, the most interesting character. He’s trapped in this man-made world that could possibly be the end of him. He’s just a great, sympathetic character. There are times that he screams in pain (he’s the only character who can feel pain) that I actually wince at his discomfort. He’s the kind of kid who, every time you see him you want to put your arm around him and say, “It’s gonna be ok, buddy. Don’t worry.”

His dynamic in The World makes you question the difference in the real world and the gaming world. I know some people who are really into online games and they get REALLY into it. I almost imagine that when their characters get killed they actually DO feel pain. And what if you got lost in one? Would you be able to get out? Could you actually be sucked into it, Tron-like, and never come back to the real world?

Of course not, but it makes for a great story.

There are really only two problems with this series. First off, what the fuck is the point of The World? Do you just run around and conquer dungeons (they’re basically puzzles with bad guys at the end)? That seems kind of lame. Is there no end? Why do people get hooked if there’s no object? You just run and run and run. And, second, since all of the characters are just that, characters in a game, none of them can really be killed. They just start the game over from where they saved last. The only one that I feel any anxiety over getting killed is Tsukasa because he may not come back if he gets killed. No one knows. And how much would it hurt him if he did get killed and come back?

.hack//SIGN is a great series that bends the meaning of reality and fantasy. Check it out if you get a chance and have about 12 hours to kill. And if you REALLY have a lot of spare time, check out the rest of the story. It’s all told in manga, novels and games, also. Each media has a different story to tell that revolves around The World. And let me know how it is.

But always remember: “It’s just a game. It should be fun. What do you want to do?”