Rating: 
Summary: ^-^ I luv .hack!
Review: One of my favorite shows of all time; though I do admit, its strange. I love the goodies! I'll never wear the shirt--I'm gonna frame it. ^-^The music is awesome--in my opinion. I didn't really need the soundtrack but hey I got it anyway. This is totally worth the money. The only problem I have with the .hack series is its length:
.hack//Sign Anime (26 episodes; 6 DVD volumes--I believe; 3 soundtracks)
.hack Games (four games; four OVAs; 3(?) soundtracks)
.hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet [.hack//Dusk] (12 episodes; 2(?) cds[op and ending singles]) so basically, for the .hack experience, you have to be willing to be in it for the long run to fully understand everything. I'm still partially confused in the series, but I have seen all of .hack//Sign, and have the avalibility to watch .hack//dusk, which I refuse to watch until I finish the games So, I you have no knowledge of .hack, and you're willing and able to stay in the series, it IS worth it. .hack//SIGN does drag at the begining, but does pick up; oh did I mention he music is awesome? (I know I did). The story is original and doesn't seem like any other series which I have seen. I have yet to decide wheter I would call this series a Sci-fi or a fantasy (or both). Maybe if you wish to know, you can see for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Worth every penny! A new and different series...
Review: I gotta admit. I thought .hack was all hype. Until I saw it. The beginning went slow.. but then suddenly I became captivated with it. The whole idea of the series taking place entirely inside of an online RPG is even more interesting than it sounds. Ever play one of your RPGs and think "This is so good.. I kinda wish it were an anime."? Well that's kinda what .hack//SIGN is. .. and if you don't like watching it, you can always invest your money in the .hack video game series for PS2 instead. You will, however, find a lot of the series to be more dialogue-driven than action-driven. If all you want is to see the characters whacking each other with swords, then you might as well get the video game series instead. The main story in .hack//SIGN focuses on a mysterious character in the game named Tsukasa. He's unsocial, isolated, and pretty darn annoying. All he wants is for everyone to leave him alone. Then one day he tries to log out of the online world he's playing in, but he can't! That's only the beginning of all sorts of bizarre happenings that go on with Tsukasa. Bizarre happenings that were thought to be impossible inside "The World" where the game is played. Everything Tsukasa does seems to override the system, and nobody knows why. Could he have acquired a powerful legendary item which was previously thought to be nothing more than fiction? If a unique plot and gorgeous animation aren't enough to win you over, Yuki Kajiura's amazing musical score will. When you buy the Limited Editions of the first 3 .hack DVDs, you'll get all the OSTs from .hack//SIGN along with them. Great deal, if you ask me. (Especially if you chose to buy the Vol 1 L.E. Box set, which is exploding with awesome goodies and is worth every cent you spend on it. ) .hack's character designs are wonderful, which is only to be expected from Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who is one of my personal favorite artists. Sadamoto is the writer and illustrator of the Evangelion manga, as well as the character designer for Evangelion and Nadia, two of Gainax's most popular anime series of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I thought I would like this, but all I had heard about it just turned out to be hype. The characters are all boring, two-dimensional personalities. The art, while pretty, was not enough to keep my interest, and the storyline was, to be frank, not even there. So, Tsukasa is trapped in an online game. *yawns* Big deal. None of the characters had me cheering for them, and some, like Subaru, made me feel the opposite. I found the Crimson Knights to be power-hungry and Subaru to be rather stuck-up. Bear is just...goofy. Mimiru is the only character to evoke any kind of good reaction from me, but she cannot carry the show all by herself. The voice acting falls flat, as the voices either don't fit the character or are just uninteresting. Tsukasa sounds flat and emotionless, Mimiru's English voice gets on my nerves VERY quickly, and Subaru also comes across as rather unemotional and prissy. The voice actors for the Crimson Knights and Bear sound as though they have never done any voice-acting; their acting is stilted and jerky. If you are a fan of online RPGs, you might like this. Otherwise, I suggest you stay away. There are many other anime titles out there. I am currently selling my copy of .hack here on Amazon.
Rating: 
Summary: The Saga Begins
Review: And so it starts. WARNING: if you are a fan of action, or hate long, LONG, periods of talking, STAY FAR AWAY. Since this isn't a problem for me, I enjoyed this emmensely. This is my first anime, and I'm on the last disc. It starts off great, but is very confusing. Things start to make sense around the fourth disc. I recommend it to any fan of MMORPGs, since it takes place in one.
Rating:
Summary: Great series, looks like a great Box Set
Review: I have seen the entire series and it is one of my favorites, ranking right up there with EVA and Cowboy Bebop. It's very easy to give too much of the story away, but basically pretend you are playing a MMORPG one day, and you go to logout, but can't. That's the start of the story for Tsukasa. However it develops a great deal from there and is never boring, a downfall of many series. I couldn't wait to see the next episode, and I had to limit myself to watching one a day to keep myself from blowing through it in a weekend. The storyline overall is serious and dramatic, but not excessively. There is no sappy high school lovestory to suffer through, no horribly shallow characters. If you liked Lain, EVA, and Cowboy Bebop, I think you will like this one to. Subaru is by far my favorite character, while all the others are well done and fit in their roles nicely. The animation is very good. The music gets it's own paragraph. It's simply outstanding. I often found myself ignoring the dialogue just to listen to amazing songs like "Fake Wings". That soundtrack included with this set will not just be a filler I promise you. I don't do many reviews but I felt I just had to for this one. Many people probably haven't heard of this one yet and aren't sure if they would like it. This is an outstanding series and this box set looks like a great deal.
Rating:
Summary: It's all fun and games till somebody losses a soul.....
Review: It's all fun and games till somebody losses a soul.
That's the premise of .hack//SIGN. There's millions of people playing the ultimate online RPG called The World. The players are running around having a good time oblivious to the fact that for one player this is no longer a game and is now life threateningly real. The series opens with the main character Tsukasa waking up in a cave with a case of partial amnesia. He eventually realizes that his consciousness is trapped inside The World and that's he's very powerful and uncontrollable. From there we start to meet the rest of the cast of characters, learn the rules of The World and try to figure out what's going on. This is a series that takes it's time revealing things to you. It makes sense to me that they would present things this way since the main character doesn't know what's happening to him and this is mostly his experience. If you were thrown into a world that is completely different from what you are use to, with little idea of who you are or who you can trust you would probably act weird and not understand what's going on either. Add to that the people you are dealing with are all more or less playing make-believe and your stuck with a very confusing situation.
There's a general feeling of mystery and after awhile a feeling of dread. There's definitely something malevolent laying just under the surface of The World. The characters have even less of an idea then the viewer does of what is threatening them. We at least get to see flashes of the real world and the characters inner musings/memories to give us clues into who the various people really are and what their motives might be.
This is a series all about characterization and plot. There's very little violence or action and it only alludes that people might be having sex in the real world. Mostly what goes on is people sitting around talking to each other. Personally, I like these people, they remind me of people I know. They keep my interest by being believable, even if the situations they are in are not. And you will need to pay attention to what they are saying because they are constantly dropping clues, most of which won't be clear until you watch the whole series, repeatedly. As a result if you miss a single episode you will probably be lose later on.
Lucky for us while they are talking we have absolutely gorgeous animation to look at and amazing music to listen to. The artistic style of the series might not work for everyone. It reminds me of impressionism and realism thrown together. I will admit that at times it feels like they add music for the heck of it instead of trying to match it to the scenes taking place. Generally I let this go because I really love the music and it's not bad enough to detract from what's going on. By the time you get done watching the 5th episode you will either care about the characters and want to know what's behind the mystery or you will have lapsed into a coma from boredom. Which is why it might be a better idea to rent, borrow or buy just the 1st DVD if you have not already seen some of this series. I saw the first few episodes and was hopelessly addicted to everything about this series. So buying the box sets not only feeds my addiction by getting me more episodes and soundtracks sooner but costs less money in the long run because it's cheaper then buying the DVDs and soundtracks separatively.
Rating:
Summary: not too good the only...
Review: the only thing that was good about this series was the music.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the money....
Review: I bought this at the recommendations of many of my friends and after reading several reviews. This is purely a character-driven story and only has one or two fights that are actually worth watching. All in all not up to the standards of a all-around good anime...
Rating:
Summary: bleh
Review: I bought this because I found nothing but awesome reviews. I love watching anime but I did NOT love this. I generally prefer watching dubs if they are good, but this just didn't do it for me. I think maybe if I stuck to watching this subbed, then it would not have been so bad. Probably. As for the action sequences, they show a bunch of them as they are about to start, and then before anything hits anything, cut to a scene where they talk about the fight or not at all. I don't really mind all the talking (love Witch Hunter Robin) but again, I ran into the dub issue. The acting just didn't work for me. Points for the DVD extras though.
Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone, but when it hits you, it hits hard
Review: This is one of the few anime that I've seen where the series is almost entirely dialogue driven. Despite the large swords and spears and such, you won't see them used much. Regardless, the characters are incredibly deep as the story evolves into something much deeper than you'll imagine. This anime, taking place prior to the events in the PS2 game, is an excellent introduction to the .hack series. Don't get me wrong though, this anime is NOT just a long commercial for a video game. Standing on it's own it is one of the most powerful anime out there. Every episode is just dripping with emotion, from total despair, to total happiness. I should also note that the music, performed wonderfully by the talented Yuki Kajiura, is simply incredible. It was the music alone that made me want to see this anime so badly. Still, it is not for everyone. If you want hope to see all kinds of action and explosions and whatnot, look away. But if you want a mature story with depth and emotion, then this is for you.
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