Finished watching .hack//G.U. Trilogy

Finished watching .hack//G.U. Trilogy (2008, Bandai, 1hr 33min) on 10/28/2016.

After leveling up his virtual character in an MMORPG called The World, Haseo butts heads with Tri-Edge, a powerful virus character who deleted Haseo friend's character effectively putting her in a real coma. Haseo is also defeated and but instead of a coma, all the progress he's made so far in the game disappears. That's when a group called TaN picks him up and promises to awaken a fearsome power within him.

7.5/10 - Trilogy is a CGI movie, and the graphics are appealing and smooth with attractive colors. The only thing that threw me off was the facial animations, specially with characters speaking. Often times the shape of the mouths didn't match the words or would open and only move slightly for each word before closing awkwardly slowly. Although I do have to give it to them for really showing Haseo's emotions with his crazy eyes and stuff. What I did enjoy the most was the fight scenes, they were very powerful!
The story got a bit dull at times though, and I found myself almost falling asleep or my eyes wandering off the screen. Also, I think the movie is an adaptation of the final moments in the games, which is pretty cool. I'd like to try reading the manga adaptation of all the games though.
But overall it was a good movie. Like I said before, the fight scenes I think hold the movie together pretty well and despite it getting dull at times the plot is interesting, albeit a little predictable too. I also liked to see the voice actors reprising their roles from .hack//roots.

Finished watching .hack//Roots

Finished watching .hack//Roots (2006, Bee Train, 26 episodes) on 10/17/2016.

Haseo is a new player of an MMORPG called The World. But as soon as he starts playing he is attacked by other more experienced players in the game. A mysterious man named Ovan saves him and invites Haseo to join his guild, the Twilight Brigade. This guild and its members seek to find the fabled rare item called the Key of the Twilight. But TaN, another guild stands in their way as they too seek the same item.

Hmmm... this show could've been handled a lot better if there weren't so many episodes, most of which dragged on for too long or felt useless to the advancement of the plot. Even some scenes felt like they were purposely stretched to fill in runtime.

The story itself was... alright, I guess. It's apparently a prequel to the PlayStation 2 games, which I've never played, mind you. I'm sure fans would've enjoyed this show a little better. Anyways, the characters weren't quite that interesting to me, except for maybe Haseo, but even he was a little pathetic. I really feel like the story could've benefited from fewer episodes.

The soundtrack didn't seem that great either. Some tracks were just absurd to me even. Not much really stood out to me.

5.5/10 - What can I say, Bee Train just really doesn't do it for me. I don't know what it is but from the stuff I've watched from them, it seems like they don't really... care? That much? Sorry, but this show was just dull to me.

Finished watching .hack//Legend of the Twilight

Finished watching .hack//Legend of the Twilight (2003, Bee Train, 12 episodes) on 9/15/2016.

Shugo is convinced by his twin-sister, Rena to play an MMORPG game called The World. When they begin, they are awarded limited edition character models based on legendary players Kite and BlackRose respectively. As Shugo plays along, odd events take place where he obtains the mysterious Twilight Bracelet from an elusive girl named Aura. The twins set out with new-found friends to unravel the mysteries that surround this odd bracelet.

PLOT - The story is somewhat interesting, and the characters aren't half bad and, but it's not really that complex of a plot more than it is entertaining. The animation is alright with vibrant colors. The way the characters are animated isn't too stiff, which is good. The soundtrack isn't bad, but it's nothing to write home about with only a couple of catchy tunes here and there, but it can be lively for the most part.

6.5/10 - Overall, for a 12 episode show it's not that bad but there's still room for improvement. If you're a fan of the franchise you'll definitely enjoy it, otherwise it's just a cute Saturday-morning cartoon that any little kid would enjoy.

Finished watching .hack//sign

Finished watching .hack//sign (2002, Bee Train, 24 episodes) on 7/09/2016.

Tsukasa is the virtual avatar of a teenager playing an online video game called The World. However, as other players in the game come to find out, Tsukasa seems to be online continuously and has abilities that aren't part of the original code of the game which he uses to mess around with other players. A small group of players like Bear, Mimiru, BT and Subaru, among others become interested in catching Tsukasa to understand what his abilities are all about and what their secret is.

This was quite the popular show back then. I remember watching it and being mesmerized by its mysterious and laid back tone and soundtrack. It was almost lulling, in a pleasant way. Years passed and I finally decided to sit down for the whole season, and I gotta say I'm not impressed. It actually left me a bit confused. I should also mention I never played the games so maybe I'm missing something there.

PLOT - The show's plot seems to advance at a sluggish pace and there's a lot of unnecessary talking and not that much action going on. The show also seems to be very stingy when it comes to Tsukasa's exposition. Everything is shown in vague flashbacks that give you as many answers as it does questions.

ARTWORK - The animation and art quality varies randomly throughout the show but for the most part feels kind of rushed. Then again, there isn't much to animate as most of the shots are characters just standing around talking or plotting about Tsukasa. Sometimes their mouths aren't even in the shots.

MUSIC - The soundtrack has beautiful, catchy melodies but the ones with singing have lyrics that make no sense whatsoever. Notably the opening theme, I mean, what does "How come I must know the direction of relieving?" even mean? It doesn't sound right is what it is.

6.5/10 - Meh, this show's alright if you even just watch a small number of episodes out of order like I did back then. Otherwise you're not missing much. Also, what the hell happened to Sora?